With the Space Shuttle Program now officially a part of NASA’s past, the agency is continuing the process of getting Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavour ready for their display at museums around the United States. However, following STS-135, NASA did conduct one official post-flight review – an investigation into RCC nose cap/chin strap damage to orbiter [...]
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Following the expected clearance of the Thermal Protection System (TPS) – which was re-checked during Late Inspections, along with the successful checkouts of the systems the orbiter will use to carry her crew back to Earth – Atlantis is in the final hours of orbiting the planet, ahead of an expected early morning landing at [...]
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A master alarm onboard Atlantis woke the crew from their sleep, after a General Purpose Computer (GPC-4) suffered a problem. The issue follows the failure – and subsequent recovery – of GPC-3 earlier in the mission. Meanwhile, the Damage Assessment Team (DAT) provided their full review of the orbiter’s Thermal Protection System (TPS), which has [...]
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Atlantis has docked to the International Space Station (ISS) – one final time – following an emotional R-Bar Pitch Maneuver (RPM) and text book approach to the orbital outpost. Her mission performance continues to be exemplary, as the Damage Assessment Team review the health of the Thermal Protection System, in tandem with data from the orbiter’s [...]
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After nearly 12 days of docked operations with Space Station Alpha, the Space Shuttle Endeavour, NASA youngest Shuttle orbiter, departed the international outpost to begin her final journey home. Thanks to the superb work by her flight crew and her thousands of support staff on terra firma, Endeavour’s Thermal Protection System (TPS) was formally cleared [...]
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As the historic milestones continue to come thick and fast, Endeavour was put through her final inspections via the Orbiter Boom Sensor System (OBSS), ahead of presenting it to the International Space Station (ISS) as a farewell gift. The results of the scans – which focus on her Reinforced Carbon Carbon (RCC) panels – will [...]
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Endeavour’s flight crew have completed the second of four planned EVAs/spacewalks - focusing on port SARJ and Dextre lubrication and ammonia coolant line and tank work - lasting an epic eight hours and seven minutes. The spacewalk came after mission managers officially cleared Endeavour’s Thermal Protection System for reentry, following a multi-day review process of the vehicle’s ascent data, [...]
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Following the decision made by the Mission Management Team (MMT) to press ahead with a Focused Inspection (FI) on one area of Thermal Protection System (TPS) damage located on Endeavour’s belly, the Orbiter Boom Sensor System (OBSS) was used to gain imagery which has successfully allowed managers to clear the vehicle for entry. Later on Flight Day [...]
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Endeavour’s flight crew have completed the mission’s first EVA, focusing on MISSE experiment swap outs and ammonia jumper line installations. Meanwhile, engineers on the ground poured over imagery data from FD-3′s RPM (R-bar Pitch Maneuver) which helped engineers identify a debris impact area on Endeavour which will require a Focused Inspection (FI) during FD-6 (Saturday).
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The STS-134 crew have completed the installation of ExPRESS Logistics Carrier -3 (ELC-3) to round up a busy Flight Day 3, which opened the docked phase of the mission. Meanwhile, the Damage Assessment Team (DAT) are carrying out a Focused Inspection (FI) review of the additional imagery gained during Endeavour’s R-Bar Pitch Manuever (RPM), which [...]
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The Damage Assessment Team (DAT) confirmed Discovery’s clean ascent into space by clearing the orbiter from a Focused Inspection, as STS-133′s mission continues to proceed flawlessly. With a host of robotic operations picking up shortly after Discovery arrived at the orbital outpost for the final time, the crew are heading toward the opening spacewalk – [...]
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Now safely on orbit, Discovery has completed inspections on her Reinforced Carbon Carbon (RCC) panels – the main task of STS-133′s Flight Day 2 (FD 2). Only two minor indications were registered by her sensor equipment embedded into her Wing Leading Edge (WLE) during ascent, while two noticeable debris events are of no concern from [...]
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As access platforms are set up for engineers to begin the removal of the hardware associated with the Ground Umbilical Carrier Plate (GUCP), a large effort to build a repair plan – one which can be conducted at Pad 39A – is being developed for the large crack (and several other smaller cracks) that were found on Discovery’s [...]
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With Atlantis now over one month into her processing flow for the Launch On Need (LON) STS-335 rescue flight for the STS-134 mission, NASA and Shuttle managers have devised a forward plan to complete the mandatory Wing Leading Edge (WLE) Spar inspections on Atlantis – one of only a few mandatory safety inspections required for [...]
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Shuttle Atlantis has managed to dodge unacceptable weather at her home port of the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) on Wednesday, taking the first of the two Florida landing opportunities, ending in a graceful landing. For what may of been her final day in space, Atlantis continued to be in great shape, with only the observation [...]
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As Atlantis’ crew complete final checkouts for entry and arrival back home at the Kennedy Space Center, the Damage Assessment Team (DAT) have successfully concluded their thorough review of Atlantis’ fragile Thermal Protection System (TPS) – clearing the vehicle’s heat shield for entry. Two landing attempts available for Atlantis on Wednesday morning – the first at [...]
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The Damage Assessment Team (DAT) arm of the Mission Management Team (MMT) are no strangers to high praise for their work in ensuring an orbiter is safe to return home, and once again they have proved their worth – as they worked through an array of imagery, data, and historical experience to fill in the [...]
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Russia’s Mini Research Module-1 (MRM-1) “Rassvet” has been successfully docked and installed on to the Russian segment of the International Space Station (ISS). Meanwhile, the Mission Management Team (MMT) are close to clearing Atlantis’ Thermal Protection System (TPS) for Entry, after additional imagery of her Port Wing was acquired during EVA-1.
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NASA’s trusted mitigation approach to problems with their complex hardware has again paid dividends, with efforts to reduce foam liberation from their External Tanks (ETs) rewarded by photography of Atlantis’ ET-136 showing a near-pristine tank. An ongoing FD3 has seen Atlantis dock with the ISS at 9:28am Central, following a somewhat interrupted opening inspection of her TPS [...]
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Discovery’s crew have raced through their Flight Day 12 tasks, completing the berthing of MPLM Leonardo and the Docked Late Inspections (DLI) over three hours ahead of schedule. The crew are now into the final transfers between Station and Discovery’s middeck, ahead of undocking on Saturday morning.
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