A leak relating to Discovery’s RCS (Reaction Control System) Helium Isolation Value – on the Right Hand (RH) OMS (Orbital Maneuvering System) fuel system – is undergoing troubleshooting at Pad 39A. Due to redundancy, flight rationale may be accepted to fly STS-131 “as-is” – should blowdown procedures fail to correct the issue – otherwise rollback and [...]
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As expected, STS-131 has passed its latest milestone, with the approval to push forward to the Agency level Flight Readiness Review on March 26 – following the conclusion of the SSP (Space Shuttle Program) FRR this week. No issues of note are being worked on Discovery out at Pad 39A, as engineers work through hypergolic [...]
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Shuttle and International Space Station (ISS) managers have been busy discussing the launch dates for what are currently the final flights of the manifest, although STS-131 remains on track for April 5. With STS-134’s Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) issue now confirmed to be a thermal leak observed during ongoing testing in Holland, STS-132 and STS-133 have [...]
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No major topics are expected at next week’s Space Shuttle Program (SSP) Flight Readiness Review (FRR), as Discovery continues to push towards her April 5 launch date. Processing is also proceeding well for May’s STS-132 flight with Atlantis, although Endeavour’s STS-134 mission is subject to program level meetings – starting next Monday – due a [...]
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Discovery has rolled out of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) just after midnight on Wednesday morning in preparation for her April 5 STS-131 launch date. With rollover to Pad 39A is completed, further repairs will take place on the stack’s External Tank (ET-135), following “avian induced damage” to the tank’s TPS (Thermal Protection System) foam.
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Following initially positive opening investigations into the possibility of allowing a Space Shuttle orbiter to be present (i.e. docked) to the International Space Station (ISS) during Russian Progress and/or Soyuz dockings and undockings, Space Shuttle Program and ISS Program officials have decided that more investigation and information is necessary before allowing this scenario to unfold.
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Discovery and External Tank ET-135 have completed mating operations with no issues reported, as STS-131 continues to enjoy a smooth flow towards rollout next week. Meanwhile, STS-132’s ET-136 is due to arrive at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) early next week, as managers discuss the “schedule crunch” of the final three “scheduled” shuttle missions.
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Endeavour has safely returned to her Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF-2), following the highly successful STS-130 mission – which concluded on Sunday night with a safe landing at the Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF). Only hours after all three orbiters were reunited in the OPFs, Discovery bid her farewells and rolled over to the Vehicle Assembly Building [...]
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Despite STS-131’s slip to April, managers are continuing to push forward with plans to launch Atlantis on STS-132 the following month, on May 14. Dependant on Discovery launching in early April, Atlantis will target two launch windows – with a Soyuz-related Dual Docked Operations (DDO) constraint sandwiched inbetween.
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Rollover of Discovery is still pending, due to temperature constraints relating to several systems on the orbiter, resulting in new rollover date of February 22. Meetings are also likely to recommend to delay the launch until early April, to allow the Russian Soyuz TMA-18 to dock at the ISS – pending evaluations on the constraint [...]
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With less than two weeks until STS-130’s launch with Endeavour, managers are already setting up the readiness meetings for STS-131 – which is scheduled to launch the following month with Discovery. With Flight Readiness Reviews (FRRs) overlapping the missions, engineers and managers will be working at full pace for several weeks.
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With Endeavour enjoying a smooth flow on Pad 39A, preparations for Discovery’s STS-131 mission in March are picking up the pace – with the milestone of External Tank (ET-135) mating with the twin Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs) set to take place next Monday. Meanwhile, the Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF) in New Orleans has been handed [...]
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With Endeavour undergoing pad validation work – as engineers make the hundreds of connections to prepare her for launch in a month’s time – processing of her older sisters, Atlantis and Discovery, is pushing ahead. While STS-131’s boosters are being stacked inside the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB), work has been completed on repairs to Atlantis’ [...]
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With work complete for the year on Endeavour in the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB), her older sister is in the final stages of processing, ahead of the Christmas holidays. With the External Tank now enroute to Florida, Discovery’s Forward Reaction Control System (FRCS) has been successfully reinstalled – following a few issues during its original [...]
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Preparations for Discovery’s STS-131 mission have encountered a slight hiccup during the installation of the reserviced Forward Reaction Control System (FRCS). The large unit of thrusters – which sits in the nose section of the vehicle – has been uninstalled for repairs to its bolts and seals, ahead of a second reinstallation effort on Thursday, [...]
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STS-129 is pressing ahead with the next processing milestone, with Atlantis preparing to roll over from her Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF-1) for the short journey to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the shipping dates have been set for the next two External Tanks (ETs) – both scheduled to arrive at the Kennedy Space [...]
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With the weather failing to improve on the Florida coastline, Discovery has landed at the Edwards Air Force Base (EAFB) in California – where she will undergo initial deservicing prior to a ferry trip back to the Kennedy Space Center on the back of the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA). The deorbit burn took place at [...]
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With Discovery deep in preparations for her STS-128 mission, shuttle managers are already mapping out the processing flow for her STS-131 flight – allowing for a smooth transition between the conclusion of STS-128 and her flow towards the 2010 mission. As with all flows, numerous modifications will be carried out on the veteran orbiter, as [...]
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Even though shuttle managers are preparing for two missions in the space of a month, efforts on the downstream flights are at various stages of processing and planning, all the way through to STS-135 – which is currently the LON (Launch On Need) placeholder for what is currently the last shuttle mission – STS-134 – [...]
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As NASA continues to plan for a potential extension to the Space Shuttle Program past the original retirement date of September 30, 2010 – as well as the addition of the STS-134 flight to bring the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer to the Station – the Program Requirements Control Board (PRCB) has officially baselined the STS-131/ISS-19A mission, the [...]
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