SS2 Pilots:

Virgin Galactic are ramping up their operations, with one powered test flight – or propulsive test – already under their belts.

Several additional powered flights are set to take place – expanding the spaceship’s powered flight envelope – ahead of the “realistic goal” of suborbital test flight by the end of the year.

As such, Virgin Galactic believe the addition of new pilots will enable the company to meet the test schedule demands and prepare for subsequent commercial operations.

They will join up with Mark Stucky and Mike Alsbury – test pilots for SS2′s designers, Scaled Composites – who piloted the recent powered flight over the Mojave desert.

Masucci joins Virgin Galactic from XOJET Inc, a private airline company where he was a Citation X (CE750) Captain and Check Airman, and has more than 30 years of civilian and military operational and test flying experience with more than 9,000 flight hours in over 70 different airplane and glider types.

The former U-2 combat pilot also instructed in the F-16, T-38 and glider aircraft at the USAF Test Pilot School, while also serving as a Branch Chief. As a U-2 test pilot he was instrumental in the development and testing of the aircraft’s glass cockpit and power upgrade programs. In addition, Masucci has commanded USAF developmental and operational test units, as well as combat and training units.

“Virgin Galactic is truly a world-class organization with unique flight opportunities that you just won’t find anywhere else,” Masucci said. “I’m proud to be a part of this team and look forward to contributing to this revolutionary program.”

Former TOP GUN attendee Sturckow has more than 26 years of military flight experience, logging over 6,500 flight hours in more than 60 different aircraft.

However, he is best known for logging 1,200 hours in space via four Shuttle missions. He becomes Virgin Galactic’s first astronaut in their pilot corps.

After joining NASA in 1994, Sturckow flew his first mission with Endeavour as her pilot during STS-88 – the first International Space Station assembly mission. During the 12-day mission in 1998, the Unity model was mated with Zarya, the Russian built Functional Cargo Block (FGB).

His second Shuttle mission was also as pilot, this time with Discovery in 2001. STS-105 was the 11th mission to the ISS, which delivered the Expedition 3 crew, attached the Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module and transferred more than 2.7 metric tons of supplies and equipment to the station.

He then got to fly with Atlantis – this time as her commander – during her STS-117 mission in 2007. The 118th shuttle mission and the 21st mission to visit the ISS saw the S3/4 truss segment – the heaviest element ever delivered by the shuttle to the station – ride uphill, as the orbital outpost took shape.

Sturckow made his final flight with Discovery, commanding the STS-128 mission in 2009. The 128th shuttle mission and the 30th mission to the ISS, delivered 18,500 pounds of hardware to the Station.

He then went on to serve as deputy chief of NASA’s Astronaut Office for the final shuttle missions, flying weather reconnaissance in the T-38 and Shuttle Training Aircraft for launch and landing, before retiring from NASA.

“Viewing the Earth from space is such a unique and unforgettable experience,” Sturckow added. “I’m excited to be a part of the Virgin Galactic team that is revolutionizing access to space, making this opportunity a possibility for all.”

Masucci and Sturckow will report to Chief Pilot David Mackay and Vice President of Operations Mike Moses at Virgin Galactic’s Mojave location, where they will conduct flight training and testing with Virgin Galactic’s WhiteKnightTwo and SpaceShipTwo vehicles.

“I am pleased to have these two incredibly accomplished pilots join us during this important time as we embark on a series of important rocket-powered flight tests for SpaceShipTwo, ultimately testing the vehicle in space,” said Virgin Galactic President and CEO George Whitesides.

“Their collective experience and outstanding performance in various demanding environments will make them invaluable assets to the Virgin Galactic team.”

(Images via NASA and Virgin Galactic).

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STS-107/Columbia – Launch Day/Flight Day 1:

January 16, 2003.

A familiar sight was on Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center, FL: The Space Shuttle Columbia – the pioneer orbiter and flagship of the Shuttle fleet.

Twenty-two years to the day earlier, the Columbia sat on the same launch pad undergoing her very first processing flow toward the inaugural launch of the Shuttle Program.

Since that January morning in 1981, Columbia had flown 27 missions to space.

On January 16, 2003, she was fully-fueled with 536,000 gallons of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, ready for her long-delayed 28th voyage to space – the STS-107 microgravity research mission.

By the time launch day finally arrived, STS-107 was already a storied mission with NASA – suffering a near-record number of delays/postponements to make way for “more important” missions to the International Space Station and the Hubble Space Telescope.

The original launch date, when STS-107 was announced in March 1998, was May 2000. Two and a half years later, with STS-107 having being scheduled for launch (between 2000 and 2003) in every month except March, Columbia and crew were more than ready.

At 10:28am EST, Shuttle Launch Director Mike Leinbach finished polling his team. All was go.

Turning from his team, Leinbach called Columbia’s Commander, Rick Husband. “If there was ever a time to use the phrase ‘all good things come to people who wait,’ this is the one time. For you and your crew, best of luck on your mission. And from the many, many people who put this mission together, good luck and Godspeed.”

At 10:30am EST, the countdown resumed from the T-9min hold, and the Ground Launch Sequencer computer took control of the countdown.

The Orbiter Access Arm swung away. The APUs (Auxiliary Power Units) started. The GOX Vent Arm swung away.

At T-31seconds, Columbia’s five General Purpose Computers took control of the countdown and vehicle.

At 10:38.53.4am EST, Columbia’s three Space Shuttle Main Engines roared to life, and 6.6seconds later, the Solid Rocket Boosters lit.

It was 10:39.00am EST when Columbia left launch pad 39A on a national and international scientific research mission.

After executing a pitch/yaw/roll maneuver to place herself into a heads down, wings level configuration on course for 39 degree inclination orbit, Columbia climbed gracefully out of the Kennedy Space Center.

After 8mins 23.4seconds of powered flight, Columbia’s engines cut off, she separated from her External Tank, and slipped into her preliminary orbit.

Immediately, Commander Husband, Pilot William “Willie” McCool, and Flight Engineering/Mission Specialist 2 Kalpana Chawla readied Columbia for her first in-space engine burn with her Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS) engines.

The OMS-2 burned, performed half-an-orbit after liftoff, boosted and circularized Columbia’s orbit to that of 177×170 statute miles.

Unlike most Space Shuttle missions, Columbia’s flight was designed to be one of 24-hr scientific operation. As such, the seven member crew was split into two shifts: red shift and blue shift.

Blue shift consisted of McCool, Mission Specialist Dave Brown, and Payload Commander Michael Anderson. Red shift was comprised of Husband, Chawla, Mission Specialist Laurel B. Clark, and Payload Specialist Ilan Ramon.

With Brown taking charge of opening Columbia’s Payload Bay Doors (PLBDs), Clark, Ramon, and Anderson set to work reconfiguring Columbia from her launch configuration as a rocket to her much-needed living configuration that the crew would use throughout the mission.

In comparison, Brown’s task of getting the PLBDs open was a much more pressing procedure than Clark, Ramon, and Anderson’s as the inside (as seen from Columbia’s payload bay) of the PLBDs contained the critical radiators needed during on-orbit operations to disperse heat from Columbia’s electrical systems and crew.

During launch and reentry operations at the beginning and end of the mission, Columbia’s Flash Evaporator System handled heat dispersion – but could not do this throughout the entire mission.

Brown got the PLBDs open without incident.

With this complete, Mission Control radio up to Husband that Columbia and crew were “go for on-orbit ops.” Columbia was cleared to begin performing her mission.

At this point, Brown performed the necessary steps to activate the FREESTAR (Fast Reaction Experiments Enabling Science, Technology, Applications and Research) experiment – an experiment in NASA’s shuttle special payloads project. FREESTAR generally flew whenever space was available on a Shuttle science mission, and space was available on Columbia.

Meanwhile, McCool installed film into the CEBAS (Closed Equilibrated Biological Aquatic System) experiment – which was a 2.6 gallon aquarium carrying 16 swordtails, 50 small yellow-belly cichlids, snails, and plants – to complete its activation.

After this, McCool, Anderson, and Brown began their first sleep shift in space.

With blue shift in bed, red shift set to work gaining access to the SPACEHAB double module in Columbia’s payload bay – which would serve as the platform for a vast majority of Columbia’s 80 science experiments.

By the end of FD-1, SPACEHAB was up and running. Columbia and crew were set for their marathon 16-day, ’round-the-clock science mission.

FD-2: After waking up, the blue team began setting up the MEIDEX experiment in Columbia’s payload bay.

The experiment was designed by the Israeli Space Agency to look for dust storms and lightning along an area of interest in the Middle East and Africa.

More importantly, though, it was the first in-space experiment to be flown and operated aboard the Space Shuttle by Israel.

Due to the unique nature of the multiple delays Columbia experienced prior to lift off, the MEIDEX experiment now carried a significantly lower percentage change of actually observing a dust storm over the primary region of interest in the Mediterranean because of the time of year the Columbia actually lauched.

January is typically the least-active month of the year for dust storms along the Mediterranean.

Nonetheless, set up of the MEIDEX experiment proceeded nominally, and Brown and Ramon spent much of FD-2 setting up and operating the experiment in the hopes of finding something in the area of interest.

With the MEIDEX experiment all set up, other activities on FD-2 included the activation of the Commercial Instrumentation Technology Associates Space Factory, the zeolite crystal growth experiment, Astroculture, protein crystal growth, the bioreactor, the moss plant experiments, and Earthquake research experiments.

By 0942 EST, 23 hours after Columbia’s launch, Columbia performed a maneuver to align her Inertial Measurement Units, or IMUs, and orient the Miniature Satellite Threat Reporting System experiment into its proper position.

As the flight day continued, the astronauts aboard Columbia began four experiments that would run continuously throughout the flight. These experiments where the protein turnover during spaceflight experiment, the calcium kinetics during spaceflight experiment, the renal stone risk during spaceflight experiment, and the incidence of latent virus shedding during spaceflight experiment.

These experiments, respectively, were designed to examine why the body does not absorb as much protein in space as it does on Earth, why bones change during spaceflight, why spaceflight tends to result in dehydration and calcium loss from the bones, and why there is an increase in the herpes virus reactivation and shedding into saliva and urine during spaceflight.

During the course of FD-2, the crew also began the Sleep-Wake Actigraphy and Light Exposure During Spaceflight experiment to evaluate how well the astronauts slept during the course of the mission.

This experiment was based on the theory that as a spacecraft orbits the Earth and passes through 16 day-night cycles every 24 hours an astronaut’s circadian rhythm is naturally disrupted and therefore affects his or her sleeping patterns.

For this experiment, the astronauts wore Actilight wristwatches that contained light sensors and motion detectors.

In addition to these NASA sponsored payloads, the crew also began Europe’s ARMS (Advanced Respiratory Monitoring System) experiment.

This experiment was designed to help answer the question of whether human lungs work better when one is lying on one’s stomach for on one’s back. The real world applications for this experiment could be used in hospitals for seriously ill patients to determine whether or not the person should be rolled on to their stomach if they’re on a respirator.

Yet another experiment began on FD-2 was an experiment from Denmark that focused on the displacement of the heart in the chest cavity and what effect if any the heart’s placement has on the circulation of blood throughout the body.

Mike Anderson also activated the STARS educational experiment which investigated how ants would live and tunnel in the microgravity environment of low Earth orbit and how spiders and fruit flies spin webs and hatch, respectively, in space.

FD-3 for the flight crew was spent primarily with the calcium kinetics experiment and performing interviews with the press.

In terms of the calcium kinetics experiment, each of the four crewmembers who were participating in the experiment ingested calcium-44, which is a naturally occurring and harmless radioisotope of calcium. One hour later, they injected themselves with another harmless radioisotope called calcium-42.

This ingestion and injection was performed to study how the microgravity environment of space affected the absorption of the calcium-44 and calcium-42 radioisotopes into the body.

Also worked on this day was the moss experiment. During the course of FD-3, the crew turned off the lights in the experiment to allow the moss to grow without any light source or gravity for the remainder of the mission.

FD-4 saw the start of fire experiments operations aboard Columbia.

As with many things, fire behaves differently in the microgravity environment of space than it does on the surface of Earth.

Flying aboard the shuttle Columbia for STS-107 were three separate experiments, within the Combustion Module 2, designed to study how fire behaved in space.

The first such experiment was the Laminar Soot Process experiment which examined the process of soot generation for the purpose of understanding how cleaner burning engines that can result in reduced exhaust emissions can be created here on Earth.

For these combustion experiments, the Space Shuttle Columbia was reoriented into a gravity gradient free drift attitude – with her engines pointed toward the center of the Earth, her nose pointed toward deep space, and her thrusters deactivated.

During the fourth flight day of the mission, the first technical issue with SPACEHAB presented itself: Both water separators in the dehumidifiers, which use centrifugal force to separate water from the air, failed.

This caused an unsafe buildup of water in the module. There was no way for the SPACEHAB module systems to remove the water vapor from the air anymore.

Always wanting to think of potential issues ahead of time, a workaround was quickly implemented that would involve exchanging the air in the SPACEHAB module with the air in the main crew module of Columbia. This would then allow the Space Shuttle Columbia’s dehumidifiers to remove the excess water from the air.

To accomplish this, the temperature within the SPACEHAB module was raised above that of the dew point while the air temperature in Columbia’s crew cabin was lowered.

The warm environment air of the SPACEHAB module was then pulled naturally into Columbia’s crew cabin where the excess water vapor could then be safely removed.

This workaround procedure resulted in a flight deck temperature of 70 degrees F and a nominal SPACEHAB module temperature of 78 degrees.

FD-5 was a day that helped future International Space Station crews with the water problem in space.

Flight Day 5 saw the first of three days of continual use of the Vapor Compression Distillation, VCD, experiment.

The VCD was a prototype water purifier that converted wastewater, such as urine, into viable drinking water or water that could be used to create breathable oxygen.

The VCD experiment flown aboard the STS-107 mission was a prototype, one that would only remove about 97 percent of urine solids from the final water product.

VCD was a prototype to the eventual distillation assembly that currently serves as the primary mode of water generation aboard the International Space Station.

Unlike the follow-on technology now used aboard the International Space Station, which uses actual urine from the astronauts onboard for conversion into drinking water, the VCD aboard Columbia used imitation urine: deionized water with some salt added to make an equivalent of diluted urine.

While water distillation technology was already in use on Earth and was theorized to be able to work in space, NASA saw the STS-107 Columbia mission as an excellent way to actually test the system in a microgravity environment before integrating it as a major life-support component aboard the International Space Station.

During the course of its operation, the astronauts aboard Columbia noted the clear nature of the samples after each run of the VCD, and onboard telemetry also confirmed low electrical conductivity through the processed water, which indicated that the device was working as expected and removing most of the contaminants from the original sample.

Also started on this day was the microbial physiology flight experiments suite which studied how bacteria grew and reacted to various antibiotics in space.

The experiment was designed out of concern that bacteria became resistant to antibiotics while in space, something that poses a serious issue for astronaut health both during long duration missions and after return from the microgravity environment.

FD-6: While experimentation with the already up and running experiments continued, FD-6 saw a flurry of activity with in-flight interviews.

Particularly, FD-6 saw the in-flight communication between Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Education Minister Limor Livnat.

FD-7: Flight Day seven saw the commencement of one of the more unique experiments flown aboard the Columbia, an experiment designed to study Earthquakes. The experiment worked by simulating how fine sand reacts in microgravity to Earthquake-like conditions.

The experiment, called the Mechanics of Granular Materials (MGM), contained approximately one quart of fine quartz that was mixed with water and placed within a latex cylinder that was specially marked with a grid pattern for precise measurements of the sand-water mixture movement.

A single experiment run of the MGM canister took as long as an hour and a half so that scientists could study in great detail how the sand/water mixture reacted as pressure was gradually applied to the cylinder and the shape of the cylinder changed under that pressure.

Despite an initial issue after the first run (sand clumped together), a total of 10 successful runs were conducted on the MGM experiment, one more than originally planned.

During the course of the experiment, scientists were able to observe how solid ground could act like a liquid during an Earthquake, giving incredible insight into infrastructure development for Earthquake protection.

FD-7 also saw the astronauts perform the Astroculture experiments, a payload designed to test new flavors and fragrances for perfumes.

The experiment involved growing flowers in space to see if the oils they secreted carried different aromas than their counterparts on Earth.

FD-8: Inside the SPACEHAB module, the soot experiment in Combustion Module -2 was completed, thus freeing up the combustion module for reconfiguration for the SOFBALL (Structure Of Flame Balls At Low Lewis-number) experiment.

This experiment was designed to specifically examine how the tiniest-ever flames, producing less than a watt of energy at a time, form under extremely unusual circumstances, specifically in the case of spaceflight within a microgravity environment.

These tiny flames provided scientists with information on the fundamentals of all forms of combustion.

The experiment produced the weakest flame ever observed today at just half a watt and produced the leanest flame ever burned, which burned with 8% fuel and 92% air.

The experiment was run 39 times and produced a total of 55 flame balls, during which a mysterious drift was noted of the flame balls inside the combustion chamber.

This drifting event was observed when the flame balls appeared to float to the side of the combustion chamber. The experiment runs with the SOFBALL experiment proved the theoretical predictions that the flame balls would oscillate, a prediction that was made 15 years prior to the flight of Columbia and STS-107.

FD-8 also saw the commencement of operations with the Commercial Instrumentation technology associates Biomedical Experiments -2, or CIBX-2.

For STS-107, the CIBX-2 module contained two Dual Materials Dispersion Apparatuses, DMDAs, that contained a total of 480 different tubes that were filled with a variety of different chemical mixes.

Also aboard the CIBX experiment suite was the Planetary Society’s Growth of Bacterial Biofilm on Surfaces during spaceflight.

The experiment was designed to test bacteria’s ability to attach to asteroid surfaces in microgravity. Specifically, the results of the experiment could have lent support to the argument of Panspermia, the idea that life on Earth began through asteroidal bombardments that deposited the simplest living organisms on the planet.

Also flown aboard to CIBX experiment suite were an anticancer drug experiment and microencapsulated antitumor drugs and antibiotics that were used to test new time release capsule technologies, an experiment to study bacterial reactions in milk, and an experiment to study the regeneration of nerve cells.

FD-9: The ninth day of Columbia’s voyage saw payload specialist Ilan Ramon performing standard maintenance and experiment check up on the STARS experiment.

Over the course of the day, Ramon searched the STARS experiment for fruit flies, after a request from the Australian team was put into NASA to do so.

Ramon also performed work on the Israeli chemical garden experiment and collected spider’s webbing from the STARS experiment for post-flight analysis.

During this day, while the hands-on experiments inside the SPACEHAB module continued, Columbia’s external payloads on the FREESTAR platform continued to collect data, in large part independently from crew’s other activities.

In particular, two of these crew-free experiments were the SOLSE, the Shuttle Ozone Limb Scattering Experiment, and the SOLCON, SOLar CONstant, experiments.

Another crew-free experiment on FREESTAR was the Low-Power Transceiver, LPT, experiment that tested the ability to transmit data to the ground without any concern about the route taken by the data to reach its destination.

This experiment, in particular, carried future applications for space-based travel as it helped prove that off-the-shelf software and hardware could be used for spacecraft-to-ground communications, thus eliminating the need to create costly, customized software and hardware for spaceflight.

Rounding out the FREESTAR experiments that did not require crew interaction was the SEM experiment, Space Experiment Module.

This module contained numerous passive experiments from school children from around the nation.

Particularly, a large number of SEM experiments were from school children from New York City – in an attempt to do something to help the children of New York deal emotionally with the September 11th terrorist attacks by giving them an uplifting thing to look forward to: having their experiments flown in space aboard the Space Shuttle.

However, not all of the FREESTAR experiments were devoid of crew interaction. The MEIDEX experiment was used during FD-9 as Columbia passed over Australia.

FD-10: Throughout the course of FD-10, the crew continued to interact with the moss experiment, supplying fixative to the moss at certain points to arrest its development so that researchers could study the moss at different stages of growth throughout the flight after Columbia returned to Earth.

The day also saw interaction with the Bioreactor Demonstration System, BDS, which was used to grow artificial prostate cancer tumors.

This experiment was designed to study the growth relationship between bone marrow and prostate cancer cells in an attempt to determine the role that bone marrow plays in the development and growth of prostate cancer.

Also worked on this day were two complimentary payloads designed to study osteoporosis.

The Canadian and European experiments specifically looked at how bone cells could be treated with estrogen in an attempt to combat bone loss, how sleep deprivation serum could be used to treat bone loss, and how bone gene regulation patterns change in when exposed to a microgravity environment.

FD-11 brought further work and experimentation with human adaptation to the microgravity environment of space.

Included in these experiments, which were started at the beginning of the mission, were the Leukin experiment that studied immune system changes during spaceflight.

Also studied, via the use of the biopack machine, was the BONES experiment, which examined how bone cells and skeletal tissues react to the microgravity environment, and STROMA experiment, which examined how bone marrow stromal cells are altered by the non-gravity environment.

Using biopack, the crew also conducted the REPAIR experiment, which attempted to determine how DNA repaired radiation-induced damage during spaceflight.

Gene expression in human cells as well as bacteria was also studied via the CONNECT experiment.

However, by FD-11, a problem had developed with the biopack experiment: it unexpectedly shut down after the cooler freezer door was open.

Experiments contained within the freezer were quickly transferred to the Passive Thermal Cooler Unit; however, problems with the biopack experiment continued.

Troubleshooting activities on the biopack hardware revealed little, and full operation of the biopack experiment was never restored during the final days of the mission.

Biopack experiments that had to be altered included BACTER, BIOKIN, and YSTRES.

These experiments, respectively, included the growth of bacteria typically found in water, the study of bacterial cultures, and the effect of Baker’s yeast on cell cultures in a microgravity environment.

FD-12 for the crew of Columbia saw the continuation of numerous experiments that had been started on previous flight days.

This included interaction with the FRESH experiment, an experiment which sought information on the how rats’ balance organs and cardiovascular systems are affected by the microgravity environment of low Earth orbit.

Furthermore, in a change from the normal course of events of the mission, the Columbia crew got the unique opportunity to talk with their colleagues aboard the International Space Station during FD-12.

FD-13 for the crew of Columbia began with the request from Australian students using the STARS experiment to release a “backup” spider into a chamber in the hopes that this spider would actually weave a web that the primary spider had not.

After this, the crew worked on reconfiguring the combustion module from the now-completed SOFBALL experiment to the water-mist fire suppression experiment.

The purpose of the mist experiment was to study how a very fine spray of water could be used to extinguish a fire, thus reducing water damage that occurs on Earth when attempting to put out a fire.

While the real world applications for the mist experiment are wide reaching, a problem with setting up the experiment soon presented itself on orbit and threatened to delay most of the Mist experiments scheduled for the now-rapidly concluding 16 day scientific mission.

In short, set up of the mist experiment failed because of the failure of a vacuum pump that was necessary to remove all of the air from the flame chamber.

And O-ring seal in the experiment chamber was found to be the cause of the vacuum failure; however, replacing the O-ring did not fix the issue.

Finally, the team on the ground came up with a solution to fix the experiment, but since FD-13 was a half off-duty day for the crew, the fix would have to wait until the crew came back on duty.

However, something quite unexpected occurred: mission specialist Kalpana Chawla offered to give up her off-duty time, time that could have been spent for personal reflection, looking at the Earth, or interacting with her family members, to conduct the fix for the mist experiment.

Ultimately, it took the combined effort of five of Columbia’s astronauts and two days of repairs to get the experiment running.

Conversely, one experiment that was not started until this flight day involved the growth of flax seeds in an experiment designed to examine how magnetic fields affect the growth of plants.

However, perhaps the dominant moment of the day came at 11:38am Eastern when the crew of Columbia and many on the ground across the world paused for 73 seconds to mark the 17th anniversary of the loss of the shuttle Challenger and the flight crew of STS-51L.

As related by Columbia Cmdr. Rick Husband “It is today that we remember and honor the crews of Apollo 1 and Challenger. They made the ultimate sacrifice: giving their lives in service to their country and for all mankind.

“Their dedication and devotion to the exploration of space was an inspiration to each of us, and still motivates people around the world to achieve great things in service to others.”

As mission experiments continued on FD-14, the crew took time out of their busy schedules to talk with members of the media located at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and NASA headquarters in Washington D.C.

By FD-15, scientists responsible for the MEIDEX experiment were fortunate enough to have a dust storm form over their primary target area of the Mediterranean.

Even more fortunate was the fact that the dust storm formed at a time that allowed Columbia astronaut Ilan Ramon to use the MEIDEX camera during orbit 188 of Columbia’s mission – exactly one orbit before the flight plan called for the experiment to be shut down in preparation for reentry.

Flight day 16 was the final day for science aboard the shuttle Columbia.

One of the final experiments performed aboard Columbia was the culmination of the European experiment called Facility for Absorption of Surface Tension, FAST. The experiment used bubbles to study surface tension and elasticity in microgravity.

Throughout Columbia’s 16 days in space, 2,000 FAST tests were completed.

However, a vast majority of the day’s activities were spent preparing Columbia for her reentry the following day.

Final preparations and deactivation were made in the SPACEHAB module of many of the experiments that had been conducted throughout the course of the mission.

On the flight deck, Cmdr. Rick Husband and Pilot Willie McCool used flight simulator programs to practice the reentry and landing strategies that would be employed as Columbia descended to the runway at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Moreover, Columbia’s Auxiliary Power Units were tested to ensure proper hydraulic flow to the vehicle’s aerosurfaces that would be needed during the reentry sequence.

Columbia’s Reaction Control System was also tested to ensure that all was working properly for reentry.

At 15:20.22 EST (3:20:22pm) on January 31, 2003, Columbia reached an impressive milestone: 300 cumulative days in space over her 28 missions.

FD-17 – Reentry: Mike Anderson and Dave Brown were awakened for FD-17 just after 1630 EST on 31 January.

They spent most of their day configuring Columbia from an in-space home into her reentry configuration – setting up crew seats, making sure all equipment was properly stowed for entry, and getting the crew’s seven orange launch and entry pressure suits out and ready.

By 0139 EST on 1 February, Columbia’s entire crew was awake.

The Entry Flight Control team, led by LeRoy Cain, came on console at Mission Control at 0230 EST.

The only unexpected item the Entry team was briefed on was Columbia’s weight. The obiter had functioned more efficiently than expected, and as a result, Columbia was 11lbs heavier than pre-mission planning estimates.

This would not be an issue for landing.

The hatch between Columbia and the SPACEHAB was closed at 0400 EST, and Columbia’s payload bay doors were closed for landing soon thereafter.

Weather at the Kennedy Space Center, FL, looked promising, with just a slight concern about low-level fog.

Mission Control initially discussed holding off the landing by one orbit to let the fog burn off, but the fog began burning off quickly after sunrise – thus eliminating the need to delay landing.

Just before 0800 EST, Commander Rick Husband and Pilot Willie McCool positioned Columbia into a tail-first, heads down orientation relative to the Orbiter’s direction of travel.

At 0800 EST, LeRoy Cain polled the Entry flight control team. All was “go.”

Columbia was given official “go for deorbit burn” at 0810 EST by CAPCOM Charlie Hobaugh.

Husband, McCool, Clark, and Chawla were seated on Columbia’s Flight Deck. Anderson, Brown, and Ramon were seated on Columbia’s Middeck.

Columbia began her deorbit burn at 0815.30 EST. The burn lasted 2mins 38secs and was performed on Columbia’s 255th orbit while the vehicle travelled 17,500mph at an altitude of 175 miles above the Indian Ocean.

In the following minutes, Mission Control verified the deorbit burn parameters as Columbia began to maneuver into her Entry position – belly first, nose pitched up 40 degrees to the ground.

At 0844.09 EST, Columbia’s aerosurfaces registered first contact with the atmosphere. Columbia had reentered the atmosphere, a moment known as Entry Interface.

At Entry Interface, Columbia was 400,000 feet above the central Pacific Ocean to the northwest of the Hawaiian Islands.

It was here that she began, as all 111 Shuttle missions that attempted reentry had before her, her fierce battle with the Earth’s atmosphere.

All of the energy expending into the vehicle at launch to reach orbit now had to be bled off in 31mins to drop Columbia from 17,250mph to 212mph for touchdown on the runway at Kennedy.

To accomplish this, Columbia began a highly complex and choreographed series of RCS jet firings, aerosurface movements, and roll maneuvers to drop as much energy as possible and manage the lift produced by her wings to limit the rate of descent while maintaining a heading toward the Kennedy Space Center.

Fifteen minutes after Entry Interface, at 0859.32 EST, Columbia – 16mins away from Kennedy – was 207,135 feet above central Texas traveling 12 times the speed of sound.

Mission Elapsed Time was 15 days 22 hours 20 minutes.

Reflections:

Ten years ago today, Space Shuttle Columbia and her seven international crewmembers perished in the skies over Texas.

For a decade, many have paused on February 1 to remember the sacrifices of the Columbia seven and repeatedly vow to never repeat the mistakes that led to the accident.

This kind of remembrance is vital.

But so too is a remembrance of something we have consistently overlooked for 10 years.

Seldom do we remember an important fact: The Columbia crew’s actual mission was an outstanding success. The reason they flew was performed with bravery and dedication admired by many the world over.

The science of the STS-107 mission was used. The International Space Station currently enjoys a waste water recycling system that was first tested in space by the 107 Columbia crew.

Cancer research was advanced.

Knowledge of human adaptability to microgravity was increased.

People were inspired.

The cause for which the Columbia astronauts flew was realized.

Today, we honor the crew of Columbia (Rick Husband, Willie McCool, Kalpana Chawla, Laurel Clark, Michael Anderson, Dave Brown, and Ilan Ramon) by taking pride and satisfaction in their accomplished mission – just as they did.

(Images via NASA).

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Endeavour’s Farewell Tour:

Although departure was delayed by two days – due to poor weather – the end of Endeavour’s career at KSC was always coming, as she awaited departure atop of the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) since the duo were mated over the weekend.

Departing at 7:22am, the flight path took Endeavour to the northwest, across the Florida panhandle and toward Houston after low-level passes over the Stennis Space Center in southwest Mississippi and the Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF), to the east of New Orleans.

Arriving in the Houston area at approximately 9 am CDT, the SCA crew initiated a series of 1,500 foot flyover of various areas of the city, including downtown Houston, before heading to the Clear Lake area – home of the Johnson Space Center (JSC).

The SCA and Endeavour landed at Ellington Field at about 10:45 am CDT, where the duo remained for one night, rather than the pre-planned two. A huge crowd was on hand to see the orbiter.

The SCA/Endeavour departed at dawn on Thursday and make a fueling stop at Biggs Army Air Field in El Paso before proceeding to Dryden Flight Research Facility at Edwards Air Force Base, California.

On Friday they will depart Dryden for a flyover of northern California and areas of the Los Angeles basin before landing at LAX between 11 am and noon PDT.

There preparations will be made for Endeavour’s move to the California Science Center in October.

*Refer to the Live Coverage Area for up-to-the-second updates – Click Here*

Endeavour Leaves With Honor:

OV-105 had big shoes to fill, as she replaced the fallen sister she never got to meet, Challenger.

Born out of the structural spares created during the construction flows for Discovery and Atlantis, and bearing the name of Captain James Cook’s British exploration ship, Endeavour was transported into KSC by the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft in 1991.

Joining the rest of the fleet, Endeavour made her mission debut on May 7, 1992 – launching on the STS-49 mission from Pad 39B. It would be the first of 25 missions carried out by the the orbiter, successfully launching and returning 148 crewmembers, who enjoyed nearly 300 days and 4,671 orbits in space under the protection of their good ship.

Although 122 million miles on the clock may sound like Endeavour has enjoyed a full career as a spaceship, the orbiter was designed – and absolutely could have flown – for many more missions.

Her departure, farewell tour across the United States, and arrival in California will be rightly treated as a celebration, at least in the context of the vehicle’s achievements, along with the inspiration her presence will undoubtedly provide to her visitors at the California Science Center.

However, retired spaceships do little to change the misconception the general public have about NASA at present – as recently noted at a political hearing, where concerns were raised that a large section of Americans are of the opinion the space program ended with the fleet’s retirement, despite the obviousness of the International Space Station (ISS), along with recent success of flagship missions, such as Mars Science Laboratory (MSL).

The bottom line – it was suggested – is that the majority of the public view the launching of American astronauts on the Space Shuttle will forever be the icon of NASA for years to come, simply due to the fact that is what they have seen the Agency do for the past 30 years.

Sadly, the reality is the most powerful nation on Earth no longer holds that capability, for at least another three years – and even then it will not be on the iconic Space Shuttle, but more likely on small capsules, riding atop of commercial rockets.

The Efforts To Save Endeavour From Early Retirement:

Less publicized was the effort to extend the Space Shuttle Program (SSP) past STS-135 – itself an “extra” mission to help stockpile the ISS during the transition to Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) missions.

Multiple high level attempts were made to keep the orbiters flying over recent years, starting with the late Sally Ride’s effort at the Augustine Commission into the future of Human Space Flight – which took into consideration options for an extension to 2015, in tandem with the development of a Heavy Lift Launch Vehicle (HLV). (L2 Link to documentation).

While the main Shuttle contractor – the United Space Alliance (USA) – also produced proposals, first via the Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) drive, before then calling for a study to finalize the architecture for a Commercial Shuttle Transportation Service (CSTS) – (L2 Link).

The problem with the proposals was not technical, despite efforts from some bodies to claim safety concerns. The issue was – as always – was mainly related to funding, with NASA’s budget simply unable to bridge the gap between the end of Shuttle and the development of both the commercial crew development, along with the money required to build the exploration architecture involving the Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion.

However, behind the scenes and held under embargo, a secret effort to keep Endeavour and Atlantis flying was worked, involving billions of dollars of private investment being pumped back into shuttle operations, saving the two orbiters for a return to flight operations no earlier than the end of 2014.

The plan – most of which remained private – would have resolved the problem of NASA funding constraints, worked around the issue of shuttle contractors being shut down over previous years and extended the role of Shuttle through the decade, in a staged return to flight involving one flight at the end of 2014, then two in 2015, three in 2016, and four a year beginning in 2017.

Details of the plan – and some of those involved with the effort – were revealed by NASASpaceFlight.com in December of 2011. However, the plan was only released for publication after the key meetings with NASA, meetings that ultimately ended the effort.

While the team was aware of the programmatic, technical and operational issues which required resolution before returning the orbiters to flight operations, the plan was to initially request NASA issued a “stop order” on further T&R work for Atlantis and Endeavour, allowing for a several month period to finalize solutions to all known challenges relating to restart.

Via the discussions with NASA, the main problem did not prove to be the technical ability to return the two orbiters to flight, nor the often-used dark cloud of crew safety.

The roadblock in the plan was the transition – or repurposing – of KSC to being able to host SLS, despite the Shuttle Derived Heavy Lift Launch Vehicle (HLV) being classed as a system friendly to Shuttle extension at the Augustine Commission.

The team’s final communication confirmed the end of their effort, noting they were refocusing on evaluations into a next-generation, Shuttle-capable vehicle.

Follow on resources:
Public Forum Reaction To Restart Plan Thread.
L2 Q&A with team members on the Shuttle Restart Effort.
L2 Q&A and Updates on the Next Gen Vehicle Effort.

To read about the orbiters -  from birth, processing, every single mission, through to retirement, click here for the links:
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=25837.0

(Images: Via L2 and NASASpaceFlight.com, Philip Sloss/NASASpaceflight.com. Additional via NASA and NASA TV)

(L2 and NSF are continuing to follow the orbiters through to their retirement. To join L2, click here: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/l2/)

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SCA/Endeavour Tour:

The iconic 747 arrived at the spaceport after its journey from the Dryden Flight Research Center (DFRC) in California, swooping in on the Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF) just after 5pm local time.

NASA 905 is the only SCA in service, after NASA 911 made its final flight February 8, 2012. The latter’s final mission was a short flight lasting only about 20 minutes to the Dryden Aircraft Operations Facility adjacent to Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California.

The 747 four-engine intercontinental-range, swept-wing “jumbo jets” first flew in 1969, before entering commercial service in 1970, prior to being purchased by NASA to ferry orbiters cross-country.

The SCA sports three struts with associated interior structural strengthening protruding from the top of the fuselage (two aft, one forward) on which the orbiter is attached. They also have two additional vertical stabilizers, one on each end of the standard horizontal stabilizer, to enhance directional stability.

After NASA 905 completes its role with the orbiters – which will be marked by Endeavour’s trip to California – both SCAs will support NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) Boeing 747SP aircraft.

Parked near the Mate-Demate Device (MDD), the SCA will wait for Endeavour to be rolled out of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) – where she has been staying since departing Orbiter Processing Facility -2 (OPF-2) in mid-August – and towed to the SLF.

This event, scheduled for Friday, will involve preparations to attach Endeavour to the MDD, rising her off the ground, in order to allow the SCA to carefully roll beneath the lofted orbiter. Lowered on to the back of the SCA, mating operations will be carried out over the weekend, ahead of Monday’s final departure.

Due to security and variations in the weather over the flight path, the actual farewell tour destinations and timings may be subject to change. However, plan is for an ambitious and respectful farewell to the large team – based around the country – that helped Endeavour fly into the heavens.

The tour will be spread over three days, beginning at sunrise on Monday, as the SCA and Endeavour will depart the SLF and perform a flyover of various areas of the Space Coast, including the Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and Patrick Air Force Base.

Click here for additional T&R Articles: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/tag/tr/

This opening leg of the farewell to her home base will be similar to Discovery’s trip north on the SCA, when large crowds gathered to wave goodbye to the flagship.

The SCA will head west and conduct low flyovers of NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi – a key center for the testing of the Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSMEs) that lofted Endeavour uphill during her 25 missions. Stennis has already transitioned to the future, highlighted by J-2X engine testing for the Space Launch System (SLS).

Next up on Endeavour’s list is the famous Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF) in New Orleans, home of the External Tanks that rode with her for the opening nine minutes of her missions. The facility lost most of its workforce after the retirement of the fleet, though some work is continuing with the Orion and SLS programs.

As the duo arrives over the Texas Gulf Coast area, the SCA will perform low flyovers above various areas of Houston, Clear Lake and Galveston before landing at Ellington Field near NASA’s Johnson Space Center – home of the Mission Control Center (MCC) that watched over the orbiters during their missions.

Weather permitting, the SCA and Endeavour will stay at the nearby Ellington Air Field for the remainder of September 17 and all day September 18, the same facility the duo flew over on the way back to Florida, following her landing in California to conclude STS-126.

At sunrise on Wednesday, September 19, the aircraft will depart Houston, make a refueling stop at Biggs Army Airfield in El Paso, Texas, and conduct low-level flyovers of White Sands Test Facility near Las Cruces, New Mexico, home to the only shuttle landing in the State – Columbia’s STS-3 return – and numerous orbiter hardware testing facilities, such as on the Reaction Control Systems (RCS).

From there, the duo will arrive at NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base in California, before landing around mid-day at Dryden.

On the morning of September 20, the SCA and Endeavour will take off from Dryden and perform a low-level flyover of northern California, passing near NASA’s Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, California, along with taking in various landmarks in multiple cities, including San Francisco and Sacramento.

Endeavour and the SCA also will conduct a flyover of many Los Angeles sites before landing about 11 am local time at LAX.

To read about the orbiters -  from birth, processing, every single mission, through to retirement, click here for the links:
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=25837.0

(Images: Via L2 and special photography provided by Larry Sullivan/MaxQ Entertainment, NASASpaceFlight.com, Philip Sloss/NASASpaceflight.com – many thousands of super hi-res image stock available on L2′s new Photo Section covering all three orbiters – around 750 gbs in size. Additional via NASA and “BenWL“)

(L2 and NSF are continuing to follow the orbiters through to their retirement. To join L2, click here: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/l2/)

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VAB High Bays:

The VAB is an iconic building at the heart of the Florida spaceport, originally built to handle the integration and processing needs of the giant Saturn V launch vehicle, including the mating of the Apollo crew capsule.

The huge facility stands 525 feet tall and consists of four High Bays and a transfer aisle, including two giant bridge cranes that can span its upper reaches to transport hardware across its expanses.

High Bays 1 and 3 were used for integration and stacking of the complete Space Shuttle vehicle. High Bay 2 was used to process the Shuttle’s External Tank (ET) after its arrival from the Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF), in what were known as checkout cells.

High Bay 4 was also used for ET checkout and storage, as well as for payload canister operations and Solid Rocket Booster (SRB) contingency handling.

During a Space Shuttle flow, the integrated SRB segments were transferred from nearby SRB assembly and checkout facilities – such as the Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility (RPSF) – hoisted onto a Mobile Launcher Platform (MLP) in High Bays 1 or 3 and mated together to form two complete SRBs.

Next up, the ET – following its arrival on the Pegasus Barge into the KSC Turn Basin – would be inspected and checked out in the High Bays 2 or 4 checkout cells and then transferred to High Bay’s 1 or 3 by crane to be attached to the SRBs already in place.

The orbiter would then be transported over from her Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF) to the VAB transfer aisle, raised to a vertical position by crane, shortly followed by the requirement to photograph her belly’s Thermal Protection System (TPS), transferred over to the awaiting ET and SRB stack and then mated.

When assembly and checkout was complete, the Crawler-Transporter would enter the High Bay, picks up the platform and assembled shuttle vehicle and carried to the launch pad. (Click Here for 15,000+ exclusive Hi Res Shuttle Photos in L2)

With the Space Shuttle Program (SSP) retired, the entire Kennedy Space Center is undergoing its transition to a multi-user spaceport, with a goal of launching both commercial and government vehicles.

While no commercial vehicles have committed to using the VAB at this time, the next big government vehicle – the Space Launch System (SLS) – will be using the famous building, not least because it’s the only facility on the Space Coast that can host the Heavy Lift Launch Vehicle (HLV).

The only problem is the fixed platforms in the High Bays are still configured for use only with the Space Shuttle, meaning they have to be removed, ahead of the installation of a new set of “relocatable” platforms.

“The scope of this project is to safely remove and dispose of the seven extensible platforms in High Bay 3 (HB-3) of the VAB,” noted a construction update presentation for KSC – available on L2 LINK. “This work also involves selective structural, mechanical, plumbing and electrical modifications.”

For SLS, the booster build up – this time five segments high, and installed on the new Mobile Launcher (ML) – will be similar to that observed during a Shuttle’s VAB processing. However, instead of an External Tank being mated to the boosters, the large SLS core stage will arrive into the transfer aisle, complete with its four Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne RS-25s already installed.

For previous SLS Articles, click here: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/tag/hlv/

The core will be then hoisted over to the awaiting boosters and mated, followed by the interstage, and then the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS). With the stack rising towards the roof of the VAB, the Orion crew capsule would then arrive from the Operations & Checkout (O&C) building, to be lofted to the top of the stack and mated.

To complete the stack, the Launch Abort System (LAS) and shroud would then be mated, completing the 321 foot tall vehicle, ready for rollout to Pad 39B.

During the processing, several decks of platforms will surround the vehicle, prior to retracting – again similar to Shuttle operations – for the rollout to begin.

The configuration of the platforms would need to change as SLS evolves, with the giant 130mt Block 2 being so much taller than its younger cousin, it will only just fit under the VAB doors during its rollout operations.

“The HB-3 platforms were a vital part of space shuttle stacking operations, but they are not properly configured to support NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS),” added the update presentation. “After the existing platforms are removed, a new, relocatable platform system, designed to accommodate the SLS and other potential future launch vehicles, will be installed.

“That design effort is underway and the work will be executed under a separate construction contract.”

The work, designed by BRPH Architects-Engineers, Inc. – and contracted to Ivey’s Construction, Inc. – is expected to last until March, 2013.

The fate of the famous platforms is not known, although the contract includes their disposal, likely to involve the breaking down of the large structures on site, prior to being sent for scrap.

(Images: Via L2′s specific sections, which include presentations, videos, graphics and internal updates. Discovery rollout photo by Larry Sullivan, MaxQ Entertainment/NASASpaceFlight.com. Other images via NASA.)

(L2 is – as it has been for the past several years – providing full and exclusive vehicle coverage.  To join L2, click here: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/l2/)

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ASAP:

Vice Admiral Joseph W. Dyer, USN (Ret.), Chairman of the ASAP once again led the meeting, conducted in May, before the minutes were sent in a letter to General Bolden in mid-June.

The meeting was conducted at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), with Admiral Dyer noting his “great respect for the Center and the workforce, and the progress with the Space Launch System (SLS) is but one example of why that respect is well placed.”

At the time of the meeting, the media was all abuzz with SpaceX’s success with their Dragon spacecraft, as it successfully concluded its C2+ mission objectives via its debut trip to the International Space Station (ISS). Admiral Dyer opted to rightly praise the Californian company in his opening remarks.

“The ASAP recognized the successful launch of the SpaceX Dragon capsule and its rendezvous with the ISS, and conveys the Panel’s compliments to both SpaceX and NASA for achievement of this important milestone,” noted the Admiral.

“Progress in other areas includes significant advancements in the management of the Commercial Crew and Cargo Program. Important aspects that have been discussed by this Panel are showing progress: cost estimation, budgeting, and planning; advancement in success criteria and certification; and development of acquisition options.”

One ASAP member also noted an “attaboy” to MSFC, in relation to Dragon’s success. The rather loose association was made due to “Dragon being launched on a Falcon 9 rocket, which is powered by nine Merlin engines, engines have a heritage traceable to the MSFC Fastrac engine design.”

The ASAP are a naturally cautious body, not least due to the word “safety” in its title.

The panel members were notably vocal in its opposition to any form of additional Space Shuttle flights in the post Augustine Commission hearings, to the point they appeared to insult the documented progress made via the huge safety improvements that were successfully implemented since Return To Flight (RTF) – even claiming Shuttle had become “more risky”.

(Animation created from some of the 114 hi res photos (all available in L2) taken by Mike Fossum on the ISS)

The remarks lead to a swift rebuttal by Space Shuttle Manager (SSP) John Shannon, in comments made to the entire shuttle team, cited in the Shuttle Standup/Integration report published shortly after the hearing.

“There were some disturbing remarks from the head of the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP). We are working to understand these concerns from a Shuttle risk standpoint,” Mr Shannon noted. “We are flying safer now, and have a better safety culture and integrated team approach with many checks and balances to ensure that we are flying as safely as absolutely possible.”

Mr Shannon was proven to be correct, as the addition of STS-135 was approved to the manifest, along with each flight since the remarks showing an actual increase in safety, based on key documented parameters, such as the clear trend in the reduction of damage observed on the orbiter’s Thermal Protection System (TPS) during the run of final flights. The Panel also rejected a late call to cancel the retirement of the Space Shuttle in 2011.

NASA’s relationship with commercial companies was also the target of ASAP, with a 2011 meeting recommending that NASA personnel embedded at commercial companies should be rotated, in order to avoid them “going native”, which they fear threatens rule bending as the working relationship becomes closer over time.

“Rationale: History has shown that buyer representatives embedded with supplier development teams are subject to “bending the rules” to aid the development team that they begin to feel part of,” noted the meeting notes from their September meeting. “Preplanned rotation is one means of minimizing this effect.”

It is not clear if NASA managers implemented the recommendation.

Although the ASAP appeared to be more satisfied with the Commercial Cargo and Crew programs at this latest meeting, they still noted a cautious tone, especially on the area of certification.

“There are still some anxieties associated with commercial crew – how to move forward both expeditiously and safely and how to certify for human spaceflight,” added the final line of their opening statement.

After noting the “sea change” in the way NASA is to fund the commercial partners over the coming years – covering the next phase of the Program, Commercial Crew Integrated Capability (CCiCAP) – the Panel added their commitment to ensuring a commercial crew company has to complete NASA certification procedures, prior to being allowed to transport NASA astronauts.

“The CCiCap extends through FY 2014; at that point, there are decisions to make,” noted the minutes. “One option forward is a more classic plan, which is to transition from Space Act Agreement to a classic Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR)-based requirement with a NASA certification program, the completion of which would enable missions with NASA and NASA-sponsored crew members.

“Another option is being discussed: at the end of the CCiCap base period, the potential commercial providers would continue to perform optional milestones that would include an industry program for validating that requirements have been met and might even include company test pilots flying on crewed test flights. The Panel’s interest was piqued at this juncture.

“The ASAP strongly believes that NASA certification must be accomplished before the transport of NASA astronauts. Could it proceed concurrently with a partner validation? Perhaps, although funding limitations have been recognized. While either approach is potentially successful, the ASAP believes that NASA certification is a requirement and is on record as stating that a FAR-based requirements contract is the better way to proceed.

“The ASAP cautions against an option that would detract from, or in the minds of some, negate the necessity for a full NASA certification.”

At this point of the meeting, ASAP member John Frost added that the panel “want success in the upcoming commercial flights,” but that “interestingly, success could create friction”.

“If the commercial partners have a number of successes and fly commercial crew successfully, some who don’t understand the process might think that there would be no need for NASA insight and certification,” noted Mr Frost.

“It is important that NASA lay out the requirements early, and that they be tailored as appropriate for each company and design concept so as to be firm and clear and not subject to debate later in development. The plan for how NASA will certify is expected in September 2012, with final approval in October.

“NASA should avoid the illusion of no need for certification because of a few early successes. Certain flight successes can play an important role in developing confidence in the design, but should not negate the need for a formal certification by the government.”

The ASAP recognized that the certification of commercial crew vehicles for the transportation of NASA astronauts will require negotiations, citing the Space Shuttle is the only Earth-to-orbit system that NASA has certified past Preliminary Design Review (PDR) for many years.

“There will probably be a lot of give and take on requirements during acquisition,” the minutes added. “The ASAP will be following closely and asking questions as time goes on.”

(Images via L2, ULA, Boeing and NASA).

(With the shuttle fleet retired, NSF and L2 are continuing to provide full transition level coverage, available no where else on the internet, from Orion and SLS to ISS and COTS/CRS/CCDEV, to European and Russian vehicles.) 

(Click here: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/l2/ - to view how you can access the best space flight content on the entire internet)

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The Final Effort To Save Shuttle:

It was an emotional final three flights of the shuttle fleet, with the beginning of the end marked by Commander Steve Lindsey’s “Get ready to witness the majesty and the power of Discovery as she lifts off one final time” speech over the flight loop moments before the start of STS-133′s mission, with the flying days ended by Commander Chris Ferguson’s personal tribute to the fleet after Atlantis’ wheels stop, thanking them for protecting the crews.

As millions watched these final flights launch and land, each time marked by the emotional sound of the orbiter’s Auxiliary Power Units (APUs) being extinguished of life for the final time, the public started to realize the United States – and indeed the world – was losing the most capable space vehicle ever built.

While NASA went into a public relations overdrive to try and emphasize that America’s loss of its domestic crewed launch capability was only going to be for several years, political and public disappointment that NASA funding would be spent on buying taxi rides on Russian Soyuz vehicles to an International Space Station (ISS) mainly constructed and paid for by the United States, was main concern.

Eventually, commercial crew capsules, such as SpaceX’s Dragon will be able to ferry astronauts to the ISS, but not until after the middle of this decade. Even under the current best case scenario for commercial crew and cargo, a return to the full capability enjoyed by the shuttle will never be regained via the current commercial suitors.

However, behind the scenes, details of a major proposal were revealed to NASASpaceflight, pointing to what was the last – but by far the most comprehensive – attempt to return the Shuttle to flight operations.

The plan – held under an agreed embargo by this site’s editor, so as not to damage negotiations – involved billions of dollars of private investment being pumped back into shuttle operations, saving Atlantis and Endeavour to return to flight operations no earlier than the end of 2014.

Even before Atlantis had landed for the final time, opponents to shuttle extension were citing the problem of key contractors shutting down, all based around President Bush’s decision to retire the fleet following the completion of ISS assembly. This challenge would have been partially mitigated by potential changes to the contracts and mechanisms used by NASA during the Space Shuttle Program (SSP).

“One of the advantages of our purely commercial approach is that it allowed our engineers to consider alternative suppliers and advances in manufacturing, materials, processing, and production across the globe and across several industries,” noted Dr. Mary Lynne Dittmar, who helped lead strategic development and served as the primary government and industry liaison for the team designing the restart plan.

“Our objective was to benefit the Commercial Shuttle venture by implementing best of breed systems engineering and risk assessment and maintaining a focus on shortening the post-flight-to-flight processing cycle while upholding safety as the prime consideration.”

While Discovery was officially removed from flight status during the evaluations, along with the Shuttle Program being handed over to Transition and Retirement (T&R) operations, Endeavour and Atlantis remained in a flow which did not technically preclude a stay of execution.

It was also these two orbiters which were the focal point of all recent “extension” studies (L2 Link to documentation), ranging back to the Augustine Commission into the future of Human Space Flight (HSF) and continued through to the United Space Alliance’s interest in commercial operations of the orbiters via NASA’s Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) awards.

The United Space Alliance (USA) also submitted a proposal this year (L2 Link), one which called for funding of a study to finalize the architecture for a Commercial Shuttle Transportation Service (CSTS). But that proposal did not go forward.

By way of removing one of the major barriers to previous commercial proposals – government funding – members of the new team allied with potential investors both in the United States and in Europe, which proved to be the breakthrough for the new proposal to approach NASA.

“A number of potential investors were contacted, and one of those was Kevin Holleran – a businessman and investor from London, England. Kevin was sufficiently interested to enter into a process of due diligence and eventually decided he would invest in the concept. He then set about identifying individuals and organizations that would be critical to the success of the venture and the building of a credible plan.

These included former NASA scientists and officials, notably ex-Deputy Center Director and former Director of MOD Randy Stone, who introduced Kevin to Dr. Dittmar as someone with substantial political, industry and operational expertise within the space industry.  The team then evolved, ensuring many complex elements of a restart plan were evaluated.

Over time the concept developed toward a full “go forward” plan, based around a return to flight operations returning at a gradually increasing pace, notably wiping out the majority of the US domestic launch capability gap, before hitting the pace of four flights per year in 2017.

Based on “available demand” – details of which are proprietary – it was anticipated one flight would have taken place at the end of 2014, then two in 2015, three in 2016, and four a year beginning in 2017.

The major difference between the team’s concept and the extension studies of the past was the cost impact to NASA. It had always been a central problem for the Agency, where it simply could not afford to pay for everything it wanted to do – specifically the continued flight of the Space Shuttle and the development of the next generation exploration vehicles.

This proposal partially removed that barrier, as explained by Dr Dittmar.

“In previous proposals, NASA was asked to put a substantial amount of funding into the effort – anywhere from $500M to over $1B a year, basically to subsidize the commercial effort as well as to purchase services from the Commercial Shuttle organization.

“In our case, however, Private Investment, individuals, as well as institutional investors and banks, came to the table with significant startup funding for refitting the Orbiters, refurbishing processing facilities, starting up production lines, etc. 

“However, one of our guiding principles was a “non-interference/no negative impact” policy with regard to existing NASA programs and another was that a commercial shuttle would require rapid access to infrastructure in order to be responsive to the market. 

“Much more of the infrastructure had been repurposed toward the existing NASA Programs of Record than we knew when we began.  In the end, it became obvious that this  is one of those situations in which even very substantial funding could not address these issues sufficiently.

“NASA’s support of the discussions was invaluable in helping everyone fully understand the ‘facts on the ground’, while at the same time encouraging the team’s interest in space. We are also grateful for the support of Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson, who advocated a thorough consideration of the initiative from early on in the process.”

The End Of The Restart Effort:

The orbiters continue to be cared for at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC), a facility which has already started to transition towards the 21st Century Launch Complex – the name given for the conversion of the Florida spaceport into a future home for the Space Launch System (SLS) and commercial vehicles.

One Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF) is being redesigned to host the flow requirements of Boeing’s CST-100 capsule, resulting in one orbiter taking her turn to enjoy a vacation inside the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB).

Unlike Discovery, whose wings have effectively been clipped by the decommissioning of her OMS Pods, Atlantis and Endeavour have not reached a point of no return – at least not during the evaluations.

Via the construction and evaluation of the restart proposal, the team was aware of the programmatic, technical and operational issues which required resolution before returning the orbiters to flight operations, not least because the vehicles will be changing call signs from Agency to Commercial spacecraft.

The plan was to request NASA issue a “stop order” on further T&R work for Atlantis and Endeavour, allowing for a several month period to finalize solutions to all known challenges relating to restart.

Via the discussions with NASA, the main problem did not prove to be the technical ability to return the two orbiters to flight, nor the often-used dark cloud of crew safety. The roadblock in the plan – a plan which remained in discussion between the team and NASA until this week – was the transition to SLS.

This is ironic, given one of the most expansive shuttle extension studies via the Augustine commission into the future Human Space Flight resulted in former astronaut Sally Ride presenting findings that a preferred transition be the extension of space shuttle operations through until around 2015, providing the follow on program worked with an element of commonality with Shuttle’s hardware. (L2 Link to Documentation)

Despite it taking over two years for NASA to finally announce the Heavy Lift Launch Vehicle (HLV) configuration as one which was Shuttle Derived, it came after the last flight of the Shuttle Program. Regardless, Sally Ride’s plan did fail on costs, which showed NASA funding simply could not afford to continue flying the space shuttle at the same time as developing the new vehicle, a key component which would have been mitigated by the new proposal.

In the end, it was the amount of “repurposing” that has already taken place for SLS which resulted in agreement with NASA that any potential return of the Space Shuttle was no longer viable, ending the discussions.  Whether the technical issues could have been overcome will therefore never be known.

“During the past few months, a last ditch attempt to re-fly the Space Shuttles Endeavour and Atlantis under a truly commercial banner has finally come to an unworkable conclusion,” noted Mr. Holleran in a statement to NASASpaceflight.com.

“A group of space interested investors and technical and operational experts have been working quietly in the background with NASA and major Shuttle suppliers to look at the feasibility of operating the Shuttles commercially. Despite the best efforts of all involved it was simply too late.

“Much of the infrastructure has already been disassembled, or repurposed for SLS and opportunity is lost.”

Despite the setback, Mr. Holleran added the group is now refocusing its efforts on a next generation vehicle, one which includes the numerous advantages of the Space Shuttle’s capabilities. This effort is now in work behind the scenes, ahead of an announcement next year into the outlines of the new system.

“This space interested investment group has now switched its focus to a next generation Space transportation vehicle with Shuttle capabilities,” added Mr. Holleran. “The group hopes to make announcements as to its intentions end of the first quarter of 2012.”

Follow on resources:
Public Forum Reaction Thread.
L2 Q&A with team members on the Shuttle Restart Effort.
L2 Q&A and Updates on the Next Gen Vehicle Effort.

Please note: Clickable links with (L2) references point directly to cited L2 content. Such content is only available to L2 members (please ensure you are logged in). All other clickable links point to NSF articles and open content.

Images: Via L2 content. Larry Sullivan MaxQ Entertainment/NASASpaceflight.com Other images via NASA.)

(NSF/L2 will continue to follow the fallout from this story, along with discussion and updates on the next gen option. To join L2, click here: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/l2/)

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1. Senate pass NASA bill for extra funding – shuttle extension goalsThe US Senate has passed the new NASA Authorization Bill...

MAF:

Working under the motto of “Finish Strong”, the Michoud managers, engineers and technicians proved to be the unsung heroes of the final phase of the Space Shuttle Program (SSP).

Fighting back from the tragedy of Columbia’s loss, caused by a piece of hardware from one of their own External Tanks – as much as a series of events outside of their control contributed to the disaster – the MAF team and center became one of the focal points for the implementation of Return To Flight (RTF) modifications – L2 link.

Initially, this proved to be anything but smooth sailing, with the first tank to fly since Columbia’s launch liberating a large slice of its PAL (Protuberance Air Load) ramp during Discovery’s STS-114 ascent – resulting in further changes via the complex science of mitigating foam loss during the ride uphill.

Further finite modifications were made to the tank’s Thermal Protection System (TPS) as the fleet began to up the pace, itself a massive challenge, with each change to a highly refined system carefully studied and refined further.

One such example was the modifications made to the LH2 Ice Frost Ramps (IFRs), which were fine-tuned over a number of flights, based on their performance during actual launches. The LO2 IFRs were also monitored through to the end of the program.

These numerous changes, in tandem with an improving flight rate, resulted in additional challenges, such as achieving the delivery dates for the tanks based on the projected flight manifests created by the Flight Assignment Working Group (FAWG) – L2 Link.

Via the mix of ingenious management brainstorming at numerous Technical Interchange Meetings (TIMs), the dedication of the Michoud workforce working seven days a week and solid leadership from Lockheed Martin’s ET boss Wanda Sigur, refined delivery dates supported the desired manifest – as seen ahead of the flagship STS-125 mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope.

Click here for numerous ET news articles: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/tag/et/

More importantly – not least in the case of Atlantis’ Hubble mission – the tanks started to enjoy a run of increasing success in the mitigation of foam liberation from the critical areas of the tank, resulting in mainly “clean” orbiters – no serious TPS damage caused by foam loss) – especially in the latter missions for the fleet.

Michoud even managed to add a tank to the manifest, namely ET-122, allowing for the addition of STS-135, a mission which has proved to be extremely vital for the International Space Station’s logistical health, especially during what has proven to be a problematic year for the Russians.

ET-122, damaged by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 when it was located in Cell-A of MAF’s Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB), required a large amount of work, both from a repair standpoint, but also via the requirement to implement the numerous RTF modifications.

And Katrina didn’t just damage the tank, but also displaced large amounts of the MAF workforce, some of whom were technically homeless at the time NASA needed them the most during the comeback from negative delivery dates.

Sadly, most of that workforce fell foul of NASA’s ongoing transition, as much as most saw it coming since the decision was made to retire the Shuttle fleet once ISS assembly was complete - although the since-cancelled Constellation Program (CxP) was a hammer blow to the facility. Just a handful of ET engineers remained at MAF by the end of August, with the rest of what is now a small workforce working on Orion and other contracts.

The official end of ET work at MAF resulted in the spare tanks – such as ET-94 – no longer being serviced by Lockheed Martin. They have been turned over to the ownership of Jacobs Technologies.

A number of workers might of been saved, had NASA administrator Charlie Bolden announced the Space Launch System (SLS) when lawmakers had requested it. MAF leaders had hoped for an end to the delays earlier this year, extending the period prior to the handing of WARN notices to a number of workers several times, before finally losing patience.

Now the SLS program is up and running, MAF are hoping to be involved in the resulting contracts, with one of the main contractors likely to be building the core stage, Boeing, already noted to have utilized the facility for their SLS-related Pathfinder tank. Meanwhile, other major weld tooling has been placed into storage.

MAF At The Movies:

Ironically, some of the remaining workforce found themselves with job sheets that had nothing to do with the space program, as they spent some of their days removing equipment to make space for a string of production companies to use the facility to film parts of their blockbuster films, per L2 information.

The first of which was GI Joe 2 (Retaliation) – which has now completed filming inside MAF, ahead of its summer 2012 release date.

This movie stars Bruce Willis – who is no stranger to space hardware, following his staring role in the blockbuster movie Armageddon, which filmed at numerous NASA centers, including the Johnson Space Center (JSC) and the Kennedy Space Center (KSC).

Universal Pictures will arrive in January to film two movies (the titles of which are being kept secret), while Disney and MGM are also in the process of negotiating the use of MAF’s 101 building for filming purposes.

Despite the major handover to Jacobs, Lockheed Martin still had control of final assembly position 3. However, current MAF employees have been told to clear out all equipment to make room for yet another studio. At this time all four final assembly positions, the entire VAB, and the 420 building at Michoud are now classed as movie sets.

It has also been noted that the BP oil company has also taken control of BLDG 451 – otherwise known as the LH2 proof test building – to store the blow out preventer that caused the Gulf oil spill in 2010.

It is hoped that sometime in 2012, MAF will see the work being carried out on the Orion which will fly on the Exploration Flight Test (EFT-1) being joined by work on commercial vehicles and the SLS, as opposed to providing a large indoor facility to Hollywood.

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(L2 is – as it has been for the past several years – providing full exclusive SLS coverage, available no where else on the internet. To join L2, click here: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/l2/)

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Hearing:

Wednesday’s hearing by the Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics was headlined as a review into the “lessons from the Soyuz Rocket Failure and Return to Flight”, which resulted in positive responses on both the Russian investigation into the failure of the Soyuz – which saw Progress M-12M/44P crash back to Earth - and the effort to return to flight in November.

Those responses came from the high level witness panel, led by Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA Associate Administrator, Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate, Lieutenant General Thomas P. Stafford, USAF (Ret.), Chairman, International Space Station Advisory Committee, and Vice Admiral Joseph W. Dyer, USN (Ret.), Chairman, Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP).

During the hearing, which was led by lawmakers noting it was ironic the failure came one month after the final shuttle mission – with the STS-135 crew in attendance at the hearing – the root cause of the Soyuz problem was noted by Mr Gerstenmaier as related to a low fuel feed to the gas generator – caused by contamination – resulting in the Upper Stage engine failure.

With confirmation the Russians have been cooperative and forthcoming with NASA with regard to the failure investigation – with Mr Gerstenmaier adding they were given overviews first hand, consisting of detailed data, allowing Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) engineers to conduct a background check which resulted in agreement with the Russian findings – questions turned towards the eventual end of the reliance on Soyuz vehicles.

Questions remain on the schedule of handing over to the commercial fleet for US independence – with dates ranging between 2015 and 2017 – although it was stressed by Mr Gerstenmaier the commercial partners are aware they should only fly only when they are ready to fly.

Funding remains the key element of the commercial schedule, while NASA’s two main partners, SpaceX and Orbital, are also working through what was described as “normal start-up transients” – referencing Orbital’s major work at their launch site at Wallops, and SpaceX’s unspecified software issues.

From a cargo perspective, the ISS isn’t racing against deadlines, partly due to the support of other vehicles, such as Europe’s ATV and Japan’s HTV, but also because the final flights of the Shuttle provided the orbital outpost with enough supplies to last until the end of the next calendar year.

Despite this, one lawmaker posed the question on the viability of restarting the shuttle program.

Shuttle Restart:

While General Stafford correctly identified the long pole was the restart of External Tank production at the Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF) – citing a period of two years (as much as claims have been made it would take 18 months) until the tanks reached their flow points to support missions – Admiral Dyer was dismissive, claiming this had been previously looked into and that the question would have only been “interesting” if it had been asked three or four years ago.

This wasn’t a surprising response from the head of the ASAP, who has been steadfast in his opposition to all additional shuttle missions, even the ones which were praised for leaving the ISS in the current acceptable logistics state.

However, a more expansive explanation – at least from a post-retirement standpoint – was forthcoming via the ASAP 2011 Third Quarterly Report, acquired by this site, which quoted an exchange between Scott Spencer, Transportation Management Consultant and co-author of an open letter to the NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden, with the ASAP board.

The letter, co-authored by Christopher Kraft, former Director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center, and endorsed by Space Shuttle astronauts Robert Crippen and Frederick Hauck; Apollo astronauts Neil Armstrong, James Lovell, and Eugene Cernan; the former Director of Mission Operations and Flight Director, Gene Kranz; and other space industry experts, expressed concerns with the Space Shuttle fleet’s retirement from ISS operations.

As noted in the ASAP report, the letter noted concerns with the inability to make repair spacewalks to restore safe and reliable operations if an incident rendered the ISS uninhabitable; and an uncontrolled, catastrophic reentry (with risks to populated areas around the world and the attendant ramifications to foreign relations) from an abandoned ISS.

Ironically, the letter was written before the Soyuz failure and the potential decrew situation.

“Mr Spencer stated that the Space Shuttle fleet is the only spacecraft that is equipped with the airlocks, life support supplies, and robotic arm needed to support the required two-person spacewalking repair crew,” noted the ASAP report into his comments.

“He noted that the letter’s authors and endorsers also believe that the loss of the ISS would destroy the commercial viability of commercial cargo and crew, which is essential for the U.S. return to manned spaceflight if the Shuttles are retired. Keeping the Space Shuttles in service would maintain vital backup contingency for possible risks to U.S. manned spaceflight and the ISS business for the emerging commercial space industry.

“In addition, the letter recommended establishing a new, internationally accepted flight safety criterion: Any object in orbit that is too large for an uncontrolled reentry must have a spacecraft available to support independent extravehicular activity (EVA) repairs.

“With regard to costs associated with the Shuttle fleet, he contended that use of private capital would make it financially and technically feasible to reverse the retirement of the Shuttles and restore U.S. manned spaceflight capabilities in as little as 18 months.”

As such, Mr Spencer requested that the ASAP issue an immediate recommendation for NASA, Congress, and the White House to reverse the decision to retire the Space Shuttles. This request received a negative response from Admiral Dyer.

“In the Panel’s opinion, there was a time for this debate, but it has passed. In the latter part of the last decade, the ASAP highlighted in its reports to both Congress and the NASA Administrator that if the Shuttle’s continuation beyond the planned retirement was to be discussed, the subject needed to be taken up at that time – not only because of knowledge loss, but especially for the second and third tier suppliers of piece parts and critical components, which have now been out of business – well over three years in many cases.

Click here to read further coverage on Shuttle Extension: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/tag/extension/

“VADM Dyer noted that the Panel understood Mr Spencer’s message and what he highlighted, but in the Panel’s opinion, the time has passed for implementing Shuttle’s continuation.”

In response, Mr Spencer stated that that issue was addressed before the letter was written and endorsed, and it was confirmed that the ability to reconstitute and return Shuttle to flight could be accomplished safely and successfully in about 18 months. That would be a faster return-to-flight than what is anticipated for commercial alternatives. He agreed that there would be a delay, but opined that it would not be technically insurmountable.”

Turning to safety – an issue which Admiral Dyer went on the record to cite concerns about when sat alongside then NASA administrator Mike Griffin at the 2009 House hearing to discuss the initial findings of the Augustine Review into the forward path for Human Space Flight – Mr Spencer was questioned on his evaluations into safe flight.

“Mr Spencer noted that the Shuttle’s ability to continue to fly safely is not without risk. However, in his opinion, the safety of the subsequent spacecraft will not be determined until they pass a 100-flight threshold themselves. In terms of relative risk, tradeoffs would have to be accepted,” the notes recorded.

“He felt that the potentially uncontrolled ISS reentry threat to populated areas around the world is an unacceptable risk. Even if the ISS remains safely in orbit after being abandoned, the hearing and review boards that would result would criticize NASA’s decision to leave the ISS without any way of being restored.”

Mr Spencer also noted that the late call to continue shuttle operations came in part due to the lack of an EVA capability being seen on any of the future vehicles, something he felt no one specifically discussed this before Congress or the ISS partners. Mr Spencer also claimed the ISS was designed and built to be operated, maintained, and de-orbited with the support of the Shuttle’s capability.

It was then noted that plans have been in work for the commercial operation of the Shuttle. These plans have been very secretive due to the investor-related nature of such proposals, although it appears Mr Spencer and his co-authors had been made aware – likely the reason for the passionate pro-shuttle return comments from former Apollo commander Gene Cernan at a recent hearing when he claimed the shuttle was in the prime of its life.

“Plans for commercial operation of Space Shuttles have been proposed, but they were never presented to Congress,” Mr Spencer was noted as claiming. “One aspect is the use of private capital and revenue from countries that would want to have space-faring capabilities, which would ultimately neutralize the additional budget that would be required to fly the Shuttles.

“Interest is already being expressed from capital sources who say that with a 20- to 30-year flight service agreement, a significant amount of private capital could be funded to reconstitute the Shuttle program and its operations and minimize the impact on the NASA budget. When safety is at stake, cost is a lower issue to consider in the criteria.”

ASAP appeared to be unaware of such plans and asked Mr Spencer for further information, to which he noted one example, which related to the United Space Alliance (USA) looking at about $1.5B per year for at least two Shuttle flights per year, as well as a Shuttle being available for launch-on-need capability.

He added that at least $500M would be required up front to restart the parts and tanking line, that private capital could put these funds into place to supplement NASA’s effort, although he wasn’t able to say specifically what return-on-investment rate would be required for investors. However, in the discussions that USA had, they were satisfied with the business case.

Notably, the United Space Alliance were not party to Mr Spencer’s letter and no recent news has been heard on any progression to the commercial shuttle effort.

With Endeavour now signed over to her retirement home in California, Discovery’s wings effectively clipped by the decommissioning of her OMS Pods and the effort to remove Main Propulsion System (MPS) hardware for use on the Space Launch System (SLS), it is likely the question from lawmakers on Wednesday was the last time it will be asked.

To read about Atlantis and her sisters – from birth, processing, every single mission, through to retirement, click here for the links:
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=25837.0

Click here for the amazing MaxQ Entertainment STS-135 Mission Review Music Video:
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=26178.0

(Images: L2 (animation via L2 sequence set), NASA, USA and Hearing Webcast).

(To join L2, click here: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/l2/)

Related posts:

1. Senate pass NASA bill for extra funding – shuttle extension goalsThe US Senate has passed the new NASA Authorization Bill...

SLS Development:

With all related centers and contractors noting a significant ramp up in planning for SLS – now that it has finally been announced by NASA’s top brass – the development phase will be key to ensuring the mistakes of the Constellation Program (CxP) are not repeated.

CxP claim their problems were related to a lack of promised funding, although continual changes to the baseline design and integration between the Ares I first stage and the Orion capsule – from very early in the process – caused major impacts to the schedule milestones.

NASA managers know such a repeat would likely result in SLS being the last vehicle they’d ever gain political support to build.

Thankfully – from a design standpoint – the SLS is utilizing a lot of commonality with the esteemed Shuttle engineering arm, utilizing a workforce which is fully focused on vehicle engineering, as opposed to the CxP days, when Shuttle was still the priority and hosted the majority of the hardware skillset, leaving CxP noticeably short in that department.

While the SLS’ heritage from both CxP and Shuttle are obvious – via the likes of the “External Tank” core, J-2X driven Upper Stage, and initially the Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs) – the aft of the SLS relies on the power which was very specific to the Shuttle orbiters.

Initially three RS-25Ds will – along with the boosters – provide the thrust to launch the giant vehicle uphill, prior to five engines – by that time moving to the expendable RS-25Es – providing part of the evolvability of the SLS.

Given the commonality with the SSME’s partner in crime, the orbiter MPS, engineers felt it would be a waste of valuable, flight proven, hardware to send it out on display (as much as it won’t be visible) with the rest of the orbiters – when they head to their retirement homes.

This led to a study into removing the orbiter’s array of plumbing, allowing for it to be donated to the SLS development program.

PRCB STS-MPS-SLS:

Following a Program Requirements Control Board (PRCB) meeting this month, those plans have been refined, to the point of an overall approach and associated costs, along with the impacts such work would add to what is known as the Transition and Retirement (T&R) phase for the orbiters.

“The purpose of this (review) is to identify both specific and general guidelines to be followed in the preparation (work paper generation) and execution of the removal of Main Propulsion System hardware from the Space Shuttles in support of SLS,” noted one of three PRCB presentations on the effort (all available in L2).

“Potential Cost and Schedule mitigation option for SLS. MPS component development can pace the overall core stage schedule. Retaining and utilizing SSP MPS hardware can have large initial cost savings.

“Beyond the existing Transition & Retirement (T&R) plan: Acquire high value items from the Orbiters, LRU (Line Replacement Unit) spares, GSE, Tooling and Documentation. SLS is needing hardware to support a test program and first two flights. Core Stage Option Utilizing Shuttle MPS. RS25 Engines. MPS. TVC (Thrust Vector Control) and Avionics.”

The initial plans involved all three orbiters. However, following an opening evaluation into the best path forward, Discovery won’t be donating any hardware – other than the three SSMEs which flew on her final mission (STS-133).

It is not documented as to why this decision was made – although it would match the shuttle extension studies, which concluded Discovery would be retired, allowing Atlantis and Endeavour to continue with additional flights.

This was partly based on Discovery being due for her Orbiter Modification Down Period (OMDP), which would have likely involved work on ‘areas of interest’, such as the MPS feedline ball struts and VJ annulus on the LH2 side and all the MPS components. Previous engineering notes did reveal small cracks in the ball strut.

Further checks – along with a high level of protection – will be provided on all MPS hardware to be removed, now specific to Atlantis and Endeavour, as the PRCB documentation outlined.

“All SLS-hardware is to be maintained ‘flight like’. The term ‘flight like’ is defined as follows: Parts will be maintained visibly clean, appropriately handled/transported, and maintained in good working condition. Part cleanliness shall be maintained using best shop practices: Cleanliness will be maintained via work in an environmentally controlled atmosphere.”

This relates to the Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF) maintaining purges as appropriate, using double clean bags/tape/caps/plugs to secure open ports/lines, and undertaking a best effort to maintain an acceptable level of cleanliness using field expedient techniques if work is to be performed in an uncontrolled environment, such as the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB), where the orbiters are taking it in turns to visit.

“Field cleaning of MPS parts/tooling using approved cleaning materials/fluids is acceptable. Parts obstructing removal of MPS components such as pneumatic tubes, clamps, brackets etc., are not required to be re-installed but shall be recorded in a list of removed parts within the Work Authorization Document,” added the presentation.

For SLS/HLV Articles, click here: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/tag/hlv/

“All removed parts will be identified by part number, part description, and serial number (when readily identifiable). Cosmetic discrepancies (not affecting fit/form/function) of the part do not require Squawk (issue) initiation, but shall be noted/documented during the part final inspection results.”

All of the removed MPS hardware would then be placed into storage at the Assembly & Refurbishment Facility (ARF), which also includes the large GSE equipment used on the orbiter MPS, which is currently located in the NSLD (NASA Shuttle Logistics Depot) at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC).

“Preserve Shuttle Heritage MPS Hardware for SLS Opportunities: Put a Hold on Retired Shuttle MPS, TVC and Avionics Assets. Remove & Store Critical Orbiter MPS, TVC and Avionics Components at the ARF. MPS components are the most critical – saving cost and schedule,” added another presentation.

“Develop cost and schedule impacts to remove & store existing orbiter hardware. Develop cost to retain all MPS, TVC and Avionics related LRU spares and sub-assemblies at the KSC logistics warehouse. Develop cost impacts to retain all MPS GSE, tooling and component documentation from NSLD.”

The ARF is under the control of the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), while some hardware will also take up residency at KSC’s Logistics Warehouse.

“Remove high value MPS, TVC and Avionics hardware from the aft compartment of orbiters prior to sending them to museums. Package, transport and store the hardware in the Assembly Refurbishment Facility. Floorspace is available to store hardware in an environmentally controlled area,” the overview continued.

“NSLD Bld 3 MPS Test equipment, special tooling and servicing documentation. Building needs to be restored to original configuration and GSE needs to be removed ASAP. Maintain Spare MPS, TVC and Avionics components, subassemblies and parts at the KSC Logistics Warehouse.”

While long lists of specific hardware and costings are noted, two different schedules are shown, one showing no delay to the final departure of the orbiters to their exhibitions, while another shows a seven month impact for Endeavour’s trip to the West Coast, and a 12 month slip to Atlantis’ trip up the road to the KSC Visitor Center.

Regardless, no official dates have been confirmed, even with Discovery, who’s role with the SLS is now no longer required, ahead of the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) ferry to the Smithsonian.

“The Museum is working closely with NASA to determine the schedule for delivery of Discovery and removal of Enterprise from the Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center. No date has been set,” noted Isabel T. Lara, Media Relations at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, adding their timeline closely involves Enterprise, as she would have to be moved to make way for Discovery.

“The tentative plan calls both spacecraft to be moved over the course of a few days. Enterprise is expected to be on display until Discovery arrives to replace it.”

Enterprise will eventually be taking up residency in New York City.

If the new plan can avoid impacts to the T&R timeline – as may now be the case with only two orbiters involved – all associated facilities will also be released on a nominal timeline. However, if the additional T&R impact becomes the reality, the slip is significant, per the documentation.

“OPF-1 remains occupied for an additional 17 months. OPF-2 remains occupied for an additional 7 months. Logistics remains occupied for an additional 17 months. Release of MDD (Mate Demate Device) delayed ~7 months. Overall completion of T&R delayed 8.5 Months.”

In conclusion to the documentation, the PRCB noted they are in a position to green light the MPS donation, with the final approval likely to be forthcoming in the coming weeks – following the conclusion of the ongoing hardware inspections and planning.

Click here for Shuttle T&R Articles: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/tag/T&R/

“Recommendation: Approve CR (Change Request) to remove MPS, TVC and Avionics hardware from orbiters and store at the ARF. Concur with Plan to remove transport MPS component GSE tooling and Documentation from NSLD and store at the ARF. Concur with plan to maintain orbiter MPS, TVC and Avionic spares at the KSC logistics Warehouse.”

(Images: Via L2 content, driven by L2′s new SLS specific L2 section, which includes, presentations, videos, graphics and internal updates on the SLS and HLV. Other images via NASA and Larry Sullivan, Chris Gebhardt (MaxQ Entertainment/NASASpaceflight.com) orbiter engineering tour video (1000mb) available on L2.)

(L2 is – as it has been for the past several years – providing full exclusive SLS coverage, available no where else on the internet. To join L2, click here: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/l2/)

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