As expected, STS-131 has passed its latest milestone, with the approval to push forward to the Agency level Flight Readiness Review on March 26 – following the conclusion of the SSP (Space Shuttle Program) FRR this week. No issues of note are being worked on Discovery out at Pad 39A, as engineers work through hypergolic [...]
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With less than two weeks until STS-130’s launch with Endeavour, managers are already setting up the readiness meetings for STS-131 – which is scheduled to launch the following month with Discovery. With Flight Readiness Reviews (FRRs) overlapping the missions, engineers and managers will be working at full pace for several weeks.
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Managers at the STS-129 Agency Flight Readiness Review (FRR) have been discussing an issue relating to an attach point between the aft Reaction Control System and OMS Pod, which may be around 20 flights beyond their predicted fatigue lifespan. Due to potential structural integrity problems via localized acoustics during Main Engine Ignition a forward plan [...]
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STS-128 entered into S0007 (launch countdown) operations at 11pm on Friday evening, as engineers at Launch Pad 39A are nearly complete with both standard and non-standard pre-launch processing operations. Meanwhile, NASA managers continue to review past-vehicle and hardware performance ahead of Tuesday morning’s scheduled liftoff – with the L-2 Mission Management Team (MMT) set to [...]
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With STS-128 and Discovery officially cleared by the SOMD (Space Operations Mission Directorate) FRR for an opening launch attempt on Tuesday, August 25 at 1:36A.M. EDT, NASA’s ongoing effort to ensure that all aspects of the Space Shuttle system are safe to fly was not dedicated just to the External Tank, as managers thoroughly reviewed [...]
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The Agency Flight Readiness Review (FRR) is still expected to slip STS-128’s launch date by one day – to August 25 – due to additional pad flow work related to repairs on an ETVAS (External Tank Vent Arm System) ordnance cable. However, managers will meet again on Wednesday to set the launch date, as they [...]
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At last week’s Space Shuttle Program (SSP) FRR, program managers discussed a wide range of topics, including Weather Satellite limitations, the Boundary Layer Transition DTO (Detailed Test Objective), several new operations that will be a part of STS-128 – including Discovery’s debut of new flight software – as well as previous flight performance of the MPLM [...]
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As STS-128 tracks an August 24 launch date – pending final clearance of the Ice Frost Ramp foam liberation concern – the Space Shuttle Program Flight Readiness Review (SSP FRR) has conducted thorough review of Discovery’s mission/payload content and launch opportunities.
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The LO2 Ice Frost Ramps (IFRs) will be modified to mitigate against foam liberation – pending design verification – from ET-133 onwards. However, ET-132 has gained the opening round of “rationale for acceptance” via the Space Shuttle Program (SSP) Flight Readiness Review (FRR), which will be verified by a Safety Panel and up for approval [...]
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Meetings are taking place through Friday to work on risk acceptance for two LO2 Ice Frost Ramps (IFRs) on Discovery’s External Tank (ET-132), following a full review of STS-127’s LO2 IFR liberation event during launch. If managers call for foam loss mitigation on the ramps, the STS-128 stack will rollback to the Vehicle Assembly Building [...]
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With final launch processing underway on Shuttle Endeavour at Launch Pad-A, NASA managers have outlined several changes to Endeavour’s Main Propulsion System (MPS), Ground Umbilical Carrier Plate (GUCP), and Flight Operations & Integration procedures that will debut on STS-127 next week.
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NASA officials have cleared Space Shuttle Endeavour for launch on June 13 at 7:17a.m. This mission, the STS-127/2J/A flight, will complete assembly of the Japanese Kibo Laboratory complex during the 16-day journey to space. With this approval for flight comes one of the final steps of flight rationale for Endeavour’s Reusable Solid Rocket Motors (RSRMs) [...]
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Atlantis is finally home after a cross-country trip on top of a Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) and will now be prepared for rollback to her Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF). Meanwhile, Endeavour’s preparations for launch head into another milestone on Wednesday, when managers meet at the Agency level Flight Readiness Review (FRR), which will set the [...]
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Atlantis’ piggyback ride back to the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) is expected to come to a conclusion between 6pm and 6:30pm at the Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF). Meanwhile, managers have been reviewing the foam loss from STS-125’s External Tank (ET-130) as part of the STS-127 Flight Readiness Review (FRR).
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Endeavour remains on track for the setting of a June 13 or 14 launch date at next week’s Agency level Flight Readiness Review (FRR), despite the requirement for additional SSP (Space Shuttle Program) level evaluations. Several factors, including Atlantis’ In Flight Anomalies (IFAs) – notably the Aerosurface Servoamplifer (ASA) channel 1 fault – are still up [...]
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Engineers will carry out the repair on Atlantis’ damaged port radiator over the weekend, as STS-125 pushes ever closer to the launch countdown for the mission to Hubble. Meanwhile, the issue relating to the Forward Reaction Control System (FRCS) F5R thruster issue on Discovery has been cleared on both Atlantis and Endeavour.
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With Space Shuttle Atlantis and her crew now less than two weeks away from launch on the highly anticipated fifth and final servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope, NASA managers are continuing their review of all critical elements of the mission ahead of the now planned May 11 launch date.
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No issues are being worked on Atlantis at Pad 39A, as STS-125 continues to proceed towards launch in just over a month’s time. One crucial element for the May 12 launch is the replacement hardware that Atlantis will carry to the Hubble Space Telescope, with several days of mission content simulations taking place next week, [...]
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With Space Shuttle Atlantis undergoing her second round of pad processing for the much anticipated flagship mission to the Hubble Space Telescope in May, NASA managers continue to refine the complex ballet of procedures for STS-125 and its associated Launch On Need (LON) mission, STS-400 – with Endeavour on track for rollover to the VAB [...]
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As expected, the Flight Readiness Review (FRR) has cleared Discovery to target a launch at 9:20pm on March 11, following a final review of the Flow Control Valve (FCV) flight rationale. One constraint – relating to the left SRB (Solid Rocket Booster) Range Safety System – will be worked over the weekend.
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