Shuttle Atlantis has managed to dodge unacceptable weather at her home port of the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) on Wednesday, taking the first of the two Florida landing opportunities, ending in a graceful landing. For what may of been her final day in space, Atlantis continued to be in great shape, with only the observation [...]
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As Atlantis’ crew complete final checkouts for entry and arrival back home at the Kennedy Space Center, the Damage Assessment Team (DAT) have successfully concluded their thorough review of Atlantis’ fragile Thermal Protection System (TPS) – clearing the vehicle’s heat shield for entry. Two landing attempts available for Atlantis on Wednesday morning – the first at [...]
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Following a spectacularly successful docked mission to the ISS, Atlantis has undocked from the orbiting international science laboratory for the final time in her career. Meanwhile, should mission managers deem necessary, a week’s worth of investigation into the L3D thruster heater failure has produced a potential workaround for the failed “off” heater during post-undock operations.
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There’s always a chance the unavoidable end of the shuttle program may be at least paced out via at least one additional flight, although the official schedule continues to dictate that Flight Day 10 of STS-132 will be the last time Atlantis will be docked with the International Space Station (ISS).
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Russia’s Mini Research Module-1 (MRM-1) “Rassvet” has been successfully docked and installed on to the Russian segment of the International Space Station (ISS). Meanwhile, the Mission Management Team (MMT) are close to clearing Atlantis’ Thermal Protection System (TPS) for Entry, after additional imagery of her Port Wing was acquired during EVA-1.
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NASA’s trusted mitigation approach to problems with their complex hardware has again paid dividends, with efforts to reduce foam liberation from their External Tanks (ETs) rewarded by photography of Atlantis’ ET-136 showing a near-pristine tank. An ongoing FD3 has seen Atlantis dock with the ISS at 9:28am Central, following a somewhat interrupted opening inspection of her TPS [...]
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STS-127 Spacewalkers Dave Wolf and Tom Marshburn have completed EVA-2, following robotic work to handover the Integrated Cargo Carrier-Vertical Light Deploy (ICC-VLD) to the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS). Meanwhile, Endeavour has been cleared for re-entry following the DAT (Damage Assessment Team) evaluations on the orbiter’s TPS (Thermal Protection System), while Discovery’s ET-132 intertank [...]
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The last humans to visit the Hubble Space Telescope have departed, leaving behind a rejuvenated spacecraft that will keep astronomers happy well into the next decade. Atlantis’ highly successful mission has completed Flight Day 9, which included Late Inspections – with one RCC panel (11R) deemed to be of increased interest due to a potential [...]
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The STS-125 crew are completing the final servicing tasks on the Hubble Space Telescope via the fifth and final spacewalk of the mission. EVA-5 spacewalkers John Grunsfeld and Drew Feustel have completed all the required tasks to ensure full mission success on the servicing mission.
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For Flight Day 7 of STS-125, Atlantis’ crew turned their attention to the forth EVA of the mission, focusing on the repair of the STIS instrument. Mike Massimino and Mike Good beat EVA-2′s duration by recording an eight hour EVA-4, which was forced to delete one item from the timeline. Meanwhile, the Damage Assessment Team (DAT) have overviewed Atlantis’ TPS to [...]
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After the marathon spacewalk (EVA-1) by astronauts John Grunsfeld and Drew Feustel on Thursday, Mike “Mass” Massimino and Mike “Bueno” Good have conducted an even longer second EVA, changing out all three units of Rate Sensor Units (RSUs) on the Telescope – one of which is proving to be very problematic – and replacing Hubble’s batteries [...]
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STS-125′s John Grunsfeld and Andrew Feustel have completed and extended 7hour, 20 minute EVA-1 – the first of five back-to-back spacewalks – which included with the replacement of the troublesome SI C&DH (Science Instrument Command and Data Handling) system. No major issues have been reported with Atlantis, as her Thermal Protection System (TPS) is provisionally cleared for [...]
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With the debris strike on Atlantis’ starboard chine Thermal Protection System (TPS) - now confirmed as a liberation from an Ice Frost Ramp on External Tank (ET-130) – cleared within hours of its observation via the Orbiter Boom Sensor System (OBSS), the orbiter and her STS-125 crew have completed rendezvous operations with the Hubble Space Telescope [...]
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STS-125′s Flight Day 2 has been completed, highlighted by the inspections of Atlantis’ Thermal Protection System (TPS) as she prepares for Wednesday’s capture of Hubble. Atlantis’ launch suffered from a few minor issues during ascent – which hold no mission impact – although the blast-off damaged Pad 39A, with up to 50 sqaure feet of Fondu [...]
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Discovery is completed her opening Thermal Protection System (TPS) inspections on Flight Day 2 of STS-119, as engineers on the ground evaluate ascent imagery and the opening ‘funnies’ reported to the Mission Evaluation Room (MER). In total, engineers have reported eight issues – all of which are minor and have no mission impact.
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The second launch attempt for STS-119 will take place on Sunday at 19:43pm local time, pending the expected resolution of the leak related to the Ground Umbilical Carrier Plate (GUCP) – which caused the scrub of Wednesday’s attempt. Engineers are currently in S007.300 scrub turnaround procedures, but are eight hours down on the timeline – [...]
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Engineers are currently working no serious issues with the Discovery, as the Mission Management Team (MMT) sailed through L-2 ahead of STS-119′s opening launch attempt on Wednesday. The main topic of conversation related to an issue with Discovery’s OMS (Orbital Maneuvering System) Engine Gimbal Controller during her previous flight, STS-124.
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With Flight Day 14 marking the STS-126 crew’s final day onboard the International Space Station (ISS), the performance of Endeavour during her docked mission has been almost issue-free mission, which has allowed the Mission Management Team (MMT) to focus their attentions on other elements of the mission.
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The Mission Management Team (MMT) have initially cleared a Micrometeoroid Orbital Debris (MMOD) strike to Endeavour’s window 6 (Pilot’s window), with full re-entry rationale expected. Meanwhile, Shuttle manager John Shannon praised Kennedy Space Center (KSC) engineers for an “unbelievable” vehicle.
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The Mission Management Team (MMT) has decided to extend STS-126 by an additional docked day. This will allow for additional troubleshooting time on the Water Recycling System (WRS) that was carried to the Station by Endeavour. Meanwhile, EVA-4 has concluded the mission’s spacewalk tasks.
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