NASA

STS-132 ATLANTIS Mission Timeline from Wikipedia

May 14 (Flight Day 1 – Launch was at 2:20 PM EDT)

Space Shuttle Atlantis launches from Kennedy Space Center, May 14, 2010.

Launch of the Space Shuttle Atlantis occurred on time at 18:20 UTC [46][47] with launch commentator George Diller's words upon launch being "liftoff of space shuttle Atlantis, reaching the crest of its historic achievements in space". Powered flight conformed to the standard timeline (see Space Shuttle – Mission Profile – Launch), with main engine cutoff (MECO) occurring at eight minutes and 23 seconds Mission Elapsed Time (MET). A further boost from the Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS) engines was not required due to the nominal MECO and Atlantis settled into its planned preliminary orbit. A subsequent NC-1 engine firing of about 26 seconds adjusted the orbital path of the shuttle to the ISS, by altering the shuttle's velocity by about 41 fps.

May 15 (Flight Day 2 – TPS survey)

    • Atlantis’ Thermal Protection System Survey with Shuttle Robotic Arm/Orbiter Boom Sensor System (OBSS)

    • Extravehicular Mobility Unit Checkout

    • Centerline Camera Installation

    • Orbiter Docking System Ring Extension

    • Orbital Maneuvering System Pod Survey

    • Rendezvous tools checkout

Spacewalks

At least three spacewalks are planned to stage spare components outside the station, including six spare batteries, a boom assembly for the Ku-band antenna and spares for the Canadian Dextre robotic arm extension.[48]

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Space Shuttle Mission: STS-130

STS-130 (ISS assembly flight 20A)[5] is the next scheduled space shuttle mission to the International Space Station. The mission will use Space Shuttle Endeavour, and is currently targeted for a

2010 February 8 launch. Launch time is 4:14 AM EST.[1]

The primary payloads are scheduled to be the Tranquility module and the Cupola, a robotic control station with six windows around its sides and another in the center that provides a 360-degree view around the station.[6]

Crew

Mission parameters

Mission payload

The Node 3 or Tranquility module

Cupola in Kennedy Space Center

STS-130 is scheduled to carry Tranquility and the Cupola to the International Space Station.[8]

Tranquility was shipped from the Thales Alenia Space facility in Turin, Italy. It arrived at Kennedy Space Center on 21 May 2009. It was formerly known as Node 3, and was named by a NASA poll.

Shuttle Processing

Space Shuttle Endeavour was moved from her hanger in the Orbiter Processing Facility 2 to the Vehicle Assembly Building High bay 2 on 11 December 2009.[9] Roll over began at 13:00 EDT and was completed 1hour 5minutes later at 14:05 EDT.

Spacewalks

[4]

See Also

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: STS-130

Image above: Mission Specialists Mike Foreman and Randy Bresnik work outside the International Space Station during the second spacewalk of the STS-129 mission. Photo credit: NASA TV

› Meet the STS-129 Crew

Astronauts Relax Before Preparing for Third Spacewalk

The six member crew of Atlantis will have a half day to relax before getting ready for Monday’s (Nov 23rd) third and final spacewalk.

In the early afternoon, Satcher and Bresnik will prepare spacesuits and tools and review the updated procedures for that third spacewalk. The spacewalk was replanned overnight after Bresnik and Foreman were able to get ahead on tasks during Saturday’s spacewalk, including deploying a third payload attach system.

Tonight Satcher and Bresnik will spend the night in the Quest airlock to prepare for Monday’s spacewalk. The crew is scheduled to begin its sleep period about 5:30 p.m.

Space Shuttle Mission: STS-129

Image above: The Expedition 21 crew welcomes the STS-129 crew aboard the International Space Station. Photo credit: NASA TV

› Meet the STS-129 Crew

Shuttle and Station Crews Begin Joint Operations

Space shuttle Atlantis docked with the International Space Station at 11:51 a.m. EST to deliver 14 tons of cargo essential for the continued operations of the orbiting laboratory.

Atlantis Commander Charles Hobaugh guided the orbiter to a docking with a pressurized mating adaptor located on the station’s Harmony node as the two spacecraft were flying 220 miles above Earth between Australia and Tasmania.

The shuttle and station crews opened hatches and the Atlantis crew was welcomed onboard the space station at 1:28 p.m. The hatch opening signifies the end of astronaut Nicole Stott’s tenure as an Expedition 21 flight engineer. Now an STS-129 mission specialist, Stott will have spent a total of 91 days in space if Atlantis lands, as planned, on Nov. 27.

At 2:52 p.m. Mission Specialists Leland Melvin and Randy Bresnik removed the Express Logistics Carrier 1 from Atlantis’ payload bay and at 3:25 p.m. handed it off from the shuttle robotic arm to the station robotic arm controlled by shuttle Pilot Barry Wilmore and station Flight Engineer Jeff Williams. They installed the carrier on the station’s Port 3 truss at 4:27 p.m.

STS-129 Spacewalkers "Camping Out" in Airlock

Wed, 2009 Nov 18th 08:01:50 PM EST

STS-129 Mission Specialists Mike Foreman and Robert Satcher, set to perform the first spacewalk of the mission Thursday, are spending the night in the Quest airlock as part of the overnight “campout” procedure that helps purge nitrogen from their bloodstreams, preventing decompression sickness once they move out into the vacuum of space.

The International Space Station crew is scheduled to go to sleep at 7:58 p.m. EST, and the shuttle crew heads to bed a half hour later. Both crews are set to wake up Thursday at 4:28 a.m. The first spacewalk is slated to begin at 9:18 a.m Thursday Nov 19th.

STS-129 ATLANTIS SHUTTLE MISSION TO THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION

LAUNCHED MONDAY 2009 NOVEMBER 16th at 2:28:10 PM EST

SHUTTLE ATLANTIS ON ITS WAY TO MEET THE ISS

WEDNESDAY MORNING NOVEMBER 18th

From Wikipedia.com

STS-129 (ISS assembly flight ULF3)[3] is a mission to the International Space Station (ISS) to be flown by Space Shuttle Atlantis.

The launch for the mission occurred on November 16, 2009.[4][5]

STS-129 will focus on staging spare components outside the station. The 11-day flight is scheduled to include at least three spacewalks. The payload bay will carry two large ExPRESS Logistics Carriers holding two spare gyroscopes, two nitrogen tank assemblies, two pump modules, an ammonia tank assembly, a spare latching end effector for the station's robotic arm, a spare trailing umbilical system for the Mobile Transporter, and a high-pressure gas tank. This will be the first flight of an ExPRESS Logistics Carrier. The completion of this mission will leave five space shuttle flights remaining until the end of the program.[6]

NASA is holding its first-ever live Shuttle launch tweetup with 100 members of the general public at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.[7]

Crew

Crew seating designation

Seat[10]

S1

S2

S3

S4

S5

S6

S7

Launch

Charles Hobaugh

Barry Wilmore

Leland Melvin

Randolph Bresnik

Michael Foreman

Robert Satcher

--

Landing

Charles Hobaugh

Barry Wilmore

Randolph Bresnik

Leland Melvin

Michael Foreman

Robert Satcher

Nicole Stott

Seats 1-4 are on the Flight Deck. Seats 5-7 are on the Mid-deck

Mission payload

ExPRESS Logistics Carriers 1 & 2

ELC1

ELC2 with its various orbital replacement units installed.

The primary payload of STS-129 is scheduled to be the ExPRESS (Expedite the Processing of Experiments to the Space Station) Logistics Carrier (ELC1) and the ELC2. The mass capacity of each ELC is 4,445 kg (9,800 pounds) with a volume of 30 meters cubed (total with spares, ELC 1: 13,842 lbs and ELC 2: 13,365 lbs)[11].

ExPRESS Logistics Carrier-1 will launch with an Ammonia Tank Assembly, a Battery Charge Discharge Unit, a Space Station Remote Manipulator System Latching End Effector, a Control Moment Gyro, a Nitrogen Tank Assembly, a Pump Module, a Plasma Contactor Unit and two empty Passive Flight Releasable Attachment Mechanisms.

ExPRESS Logistics Carrier-2 will launch with a High Pressure Gas Tank, a Cargo Transport Container 1 (CTC-1) mounted to a Small Adapter Plate Assembly, a Mobile Transporter/Trailing Umbilical System, a Control Moment Gyro, a Nitrogen Tank Assembly, a Pump Module, Utility Transfer Assembly (UTA) Flight Support Equipment (FSE), one empty Payload Passive Flight Releasable Attachment Mechanism.

ELC1 will be berthed to the P3 truss' lower Unpressurized Cargo Carrier Attachment Systems and ELC2 will be berthed to the S3 truss' upper outboard payload attach structures[10]. NASA Goddard Space Center served as the overall integrator and manufacturer for ELC1 and ELC2.

Materials on International Space Station Experiment (MISSE) carrier

MISSE-7 is the most recent in a series of MISSEs to fly on the exterior of the space station

ELC2 will also carry MISSE-7, an experiment that will expose a variety of materials and coatings being considered for future spacecraft to the extreme conditions outside the space station. The materials are being evaluated for the effects of atomic oxygen, ultraviolet, direct sunlight, radiation, and extremes of heat and cold[12]. The experimental findings will benefit better understanding, development and to test new materials suitable to better withstand the rigors of space environments with applications in the design of future spacecraft.

MISSE-7 is composed of two suitcase-sized Passive Experiment Containers (PECs), identified as MISSE 7A and MISSE 7B. Once installed in the exterior of ISS by space walking astronauts, the PECs are opened. The orientation of MISSE 7A will be space facing/Earth facing while MISSE 7B will face forward/backward relative to the ISS orbit. Both MISSE 7A and MISSE 7B contain active and passive experiments. Passive experiments are designed for pre- and post-flight evaluation in ground-based laboratories. Being a first in the MISSE program, active experiments are designed to interface with the power and communication systems on ISS allowing data to be transmitted back to Earth.

The Naval Research Laboratory handles primary responsibility for MISSE 7A, while the Air Force Research Laboratory, NASA, Boeing, other industry collaborators, and academia have experiments on MISSE 7B[13]. Approximately 1 year after installation, the two PECs will be closed and returned to Earth.

S-Band Antenna Sub-Assembly (SASA) package

The SASA package.

The SASA package is an ISS antenna assembly consisting of

    • Assembly Contingency Radio Frequency Group (RFG or ACRFG)

    • SASA Boom

    • Avionics Wire Harness

Major functions of the ACRFG are to transmit/receive radio signals to/from the transponder, amplification of signals to a power level necessary to be acquired by a Tracking Data and Relay Satellite and to broadcast/receive signals through the selected antenna.

The SASA boom assembly consists of a mast, an Extravehicular Activity (EVA) handle, a harness, a connector panel, a mounting surface for the RFG and a baseplate fitting. The fitting will serve as the structural interface for mounting the SASA to the Zenith 1 truss on the ISS.

The Avionics Wire Harness installed on the SASA Boom provides operational and heater power to the RFG. Another function of the harness is to send command/status/RF signals to and from RFG.

The SASA package will be attached to the sidewall inside the payload bay of Atlantis during the accent to the ISS. It will be installed on the Zenith 1 truss as a spare.

COTS UHF communication unit

In a middeck stowage locker, Atlantis also will carry the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) Ultra High Frequency (UHF) Communication Unit developed by Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) in collaboration with NASA to the ISS[14][15]. It will be integrated on the space station in preparation for future SpaceX flights to the orbiting complex. The unit will allow for communication between the station, SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft and ground-based mission control. It will also allow the station crew to monitor an approaching or departing capsule.

Mission background

STS-129

Mission insignia

Mission statistics

Mission name

Space shuttle

Spacecraft mass

Launch pad

Launch date

Landing

Mission duration

Number of orbits

Orbital period

Orbital altitude

Orbital inclination

Distance traveled

STS-129

Atlantis

Launch: 266,424 pounds (120,848 kg); Landing: 205,168 pounds (93,063 kg)[1]

2009 November 16 at 2:28:10 PM EST

NET November 27, 2009, 9:57 a.m. EST[1]

11 days[2]

TBD

TBD

122 nautical miles (226 km) Orbital Insertion; 191 nautical miles (354 km) Rendezvous[1]

51.6 degrees

TBD

Crew photo

Front row (l–r) are Hobaugh and Wilmore. Back row (l–r) are Melvin, Foreman, Satcher and Bresnik.

Related missions

Previous mission

Next mission

Space Shuttle Atlantis is at Launch Pad 39A after rolled out from the VAB on 14 October, 2009.

The mission marks:

    • 160th American manned space flight

    • 129th shuttle mission since STS-1

    • 31st flight of Atlantis

    • 31st shuttle mission to the ISS

    • 5th shuttle flight in 2009

    • 104th post-Challenger mission

    • 16th post-Columbia mission

Shuttle processing

Workers prepare Atlantis prior to STS-129.

The Ares I-X test rocket lifts off from pad 39B while Atlantis waits to launch on STS 129 from pad 39A.

The canister containing STS-129 payload at pad 39A awaiting installation into Atlantis' payload bay

Atlantis was towed from its hangar in Orbiter Processing Facility-1 to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) on 6 October, 2009 at about 7 a.m. EDT[16][17]. The move, known as rollover, was completed at 8:25 a.m. when Atlantis arrived in the VAB transfer aisle. Atlantis was initially scheduled to roll out to Launch Pad 39A on October 13. However, an issue with a crane that was being used to transfer Atlantis for attachment to its external fuel tank and two solid rocket boosters caused a delay in operations forcing the shuttle managers to add extra 24-hours to the rollout preparations.

Atlantis rolled out from the VAB to the Launch Complex 39A on Wednesday, October 14, 2009, at 6.38 a.m. EDT in a slow drive on the top of the Crawler-transporter. The 3.4-mile (5.5 km) rollout was completed with the launch platform secured in place at about 1:31 p.m EDT[18].

The final flight readiness review (FRR) meeting for the STS-129 mission took place at Kennedy Space Center during the last week of October. The FRR had approved the installation of a special minicam pointing out of window 4 on Atlantis' flight deck. The camera will film the forward portion of the External Tank during the shuttle's ascent to orbit, in order to capture the behavior of the LO2 Ice Frost Ramps (IFRs) located on the upper part of the tank during potential liberation events[19].

NASA managers held a post news conference to brief about the outcomes of the FRR on October 30. The briefing was broadcasted on NASA TV and was attended by William Gerstenmaier, NASA's Associate Administrator for Space Operations, Michael Moses, Launch Integration Manager, Space Shuttle Program and Michael Leinbach, space shuttle launch director. Mr. Gerstenmaier and Mr. Moses mentioned about two issues related to ongoing shuttle processing that had been discussed during the FRR: (1) Effects of vibrations and acoustics associated with the Main Engine ignition - a potential issue with a stinger (bolt) structure on the aft of the shuttle, which may be susceptible to the stresses of Main Engine ignition (2) Shuttle's toilet – a new Aluminum bracket used to help anchor the toilet to the crew module structure had been installed. For future flights, NASA plans to use a redesigned Titanium bracket[20].

The payload for the mission was moved to Launch Pad 39A on the 29 October and is scheduled to be installed into the shuttle's payload bay on the 4th of November.

Spacewalks

Mission insignia

The STS-129 mission patch was designed by Tim Gagnon and Dr. Jorge Cartes[21][22]. The rather unique shape of the patch resulted from the crew's desire for the patch signify the mission's payload (2 ExPRESS Logistics Carriers) providing equipment ensuring the longevity of the ISS.

The insignia incorporates a number of design elements not typically incorporated into a single patch: the Sun, Moon, Mars, NASA's astronaut symbol (ascending on red, white & blue stripes symbolizing the all-U.S. crew), the ISS, the Shuttle orbiter and the continental United States (representing the major U.S. centers supporting the Space Shuttle Program).

The 13 stars on the patch represent the crewmembers' children, and the moon and Mars represent the future of space exploration.[21] The names of the crew members are denoted on the outer band of the patch.

See also

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: STS-129

v • d • e

Completed

Current

Planned

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STS-129"

Categories: Space Shuttle missions | 2009 in spaceflight | Future human spaceflights

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Space Shuttle Mission: STS-128

Image above: Space shuttle Discovery lands at Edwards Air Force Base in California. Credit: NASA/Tom Tschida

› View High-Res

Discovery Lands in California

Space Shuttle Discovery and its seven-member crew landed at 8:53 p.m. EDT Friday Sept 11 at Edwards Air Force Base in California, capping off a 14-day mission to deliver supplies and research facilities to the International Space Station and its six-person crew.

Mission managers called off Friday afternoon’s landing opportunities at Kennedy Space Center in Florida because of thunderstorms and otherwise unstable weather conditions.

Discovery’s arrival completes a two-week flight for Commander Rick Sturckow, Pilot Kevin Ford, and Mission Specialists Pat Forrester, Jose Hernandez, Danny Olivas and Christer Fuglesang. Friday was the 58th day in space for their crewmate Tim Kopra, who launched on shuttle mission STS-127 in July and spent two months on the International Space Station as an Expedition 20 crew member.

Sturckow: Crew, Discovery 'Great' After Landing

Friday 2009 Sept 11th - 10:58:07 PM EDT

Space shuttle Discovery touched down at Edwards Air Force Base In California on Friday Sept 11 to end a 14-day mission to the International Space Station dedicated to outfitting the orbital laboratory with new experiments, science equipment, supplies and other gear the six people living on the station will need. Unacceptable weather conditions at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida Thursday and Friday forced the detour by Discovery to the West Coast.

"We're very happy to be back on land here in California," STS-128 Commander Rick "C.J." Sturckow said after the astronauts got off the shuttle and surveyed their craft. "It was a great mission and we just want to thank everybody for their support."

The crew of seven astronauts, including former station resident Tim Kopra, will fly to their training base at Johnson Space Center in Houston on Saturday. Meanwhile, technicians at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, adjacent to Edwards, will take about a week to get the spacecraft ready for its cross-country flight back to Kennedy atop a modified 747.

        • IMAGE ABOVE: Space shuttle Discovery lifts off into the night sky on a mission to the International Space Station. Launch was on-time at 11:59 p.m. EDT. Photo credit: NASA TV

Discovery in Orbit, Chasing Space Station

Saturday 2009 Aug 29 - 12:18:13 AM EDT

With seven astronauts and a host of experiments and equipment on board, space shuttle Discovery completed a flawless ascent into orbit Friday night to begin a two-day chase of the International Space Station. With Commander Rick "C.J. " Sturckow at the controls, the shuttle lifted off on-time at 11:59 p.m. EDT from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The crew will rendezvous and dock with the station Sunday and the crew will begin transferring equipment to the outpost during the 13-day mission.

After flying up on Discovery, Nicole Stott will trade places with station resident Tim Kopra, who went into space last month aboard Endeavour. Equipment and science racks for the orbiting laboratory are riding inside the Leonardo cargo module, which is secured tightly inside Discovery's payload bay. The module will be lifted out of Discovery and locked onto the station so the crew can transfer the gear efficiently. The treadmill named for comedian Stephen Colbert also is aboard Discovery and destined for the station.

Space Shuttle Discovery was Launched FRIDAY NIGHT, AUG 28th at 11:59 PM EDT

And Landed at Edward's Air Force Base on Friday Night Sept 11th at 8:53 PM EDT

SEE MORE INFORMATION THAN IS ON THIS PAGE ABOUT THIS MISSION GO TO

MY SHUTTLE MISSIONS & LAUNCH SCHEDULE & NASA Pages at Left Menu

.

STS 128 SHUTTLE DISCOVERY CREW

        • Image above: Seated are Commander Rick Sturckow (right) and Pilot Kevin Ford. From the left (standing) are mission specialists José Hernández, John "Danny" Olivas, Nicole Stott, European Space Agency's Christer Fuglesang and Patrick Forrester. Stott is scheduled to join Expedition 20 as flight engineer after launching to the International Space Station on STS-128 hopefully on August 28th.

        • Commander Rick Sturckow will lead the STS-128 mission to the International Space Station aboard space shuttle Discovery with Kevin Ford serving as pilot. Also serving aboard Discovery are mission specialists Patrick Forrester, José Hernández, John "Danny" Olivas, Christer Fuglesang and Nicole Stott.

        • Stott will remain on the station as an Expedition 20 flight engineer replacing Timothy Kopra. Kopra will return home aboard Discovery as a mission specialist.

        • Discovery is carrying the Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module containing life support racks and science racks. The Lightweight Multi-Purpose Experiment Support Structure Carrier will also be launched in Discovery's payload bay.

        • This is Discovery's 37th mission to space and the 30th mission of a space shuttle dedicated to the assembly and maintenance of the International Space Station.

        • + Read the July 16, 2008, press release

STS-128

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

STS-128 (ISS assembly flight 17A) is the current space shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS). It is using Space Shuttle Discovery, and launched on August 28, 2009. The primary payload is the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Leonardo, containing a collection of experiments for studying the physics and chemistry of microgravity. Three spacewalks are planned during the mission, which will remove and replace a materials processing experiment outside ESA's Columbus module, and to return an empty ammonia tank assembly.[3] The first launch attempt was delayed due to weather concerns, including multiple weather violations in NASA's launch rules, beginning over 2 hours before the scheduled launch.[4][5][6] The second launch attempt scheduled for August 26, at 1:10:22 AM EDT was called off the previous evening due to an anomaly in a fuel valve of the orbiter.[7][8][9] The launch took place on Friday, August 28 at 11:59 PM EDT.

Crew

Crew notes

Nicole Stott was originally scheduled to return aboard Soyuz TMA-15, but a change in the flight plan was made due to the possible flight delays in future shuttle missions, which may extend Canadian astronaut Robert Thirsk's mission beyond the six-month duration preferred for station crew members.[10]

STS-128 is planned to be the final Space Shuttle flight used for ISS crew rotation, with Nicole Stott replacing Tim Kopra. Stott will return on STS-129, but that flight will not bring her replacement.

The mission of Christer Fuglesang is named Alissé by the European Space Agency.[11] The name was proposed by Jürgen Modlich from Baierbrunn, Germany. The name refers to the 15th century explorers who used the trade winds to follow Christopher Columbus across the oceans to the New World.

STS-128 also marks the first time two Hispanic Americans are on the same crew. John "Danny" Olivas of El Paso, Texas, will be making his second trip up into space, and José Hernandez of Stockton, California will be making his first. Both are of Mexican heritage. Franklin Chang-Diaz became the first Hispanic astronaut when he flew aboard STS-61-C in 1986.

Mission payload

Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM) Leonardo

Leonardo, as flown onSTS-102.

The primary payload of STS-128 is the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module. Leonardo's purpose is to assist with establishing a six-man crew capacity by bringing extra supplies and equipment to the station. The Multi-Purpose Logistics Module will contain three racks for life support, a Crew quarter to be installed in Kibo, a new treadmill (C.O.L.B.E.R.T.) that will temporarily be placed in Node 2 and later in Node 3, and an Atmospheric Revitalization System (ARS) that will temporarily be placed in Kibo and later in Node 3.

Leonardo Specifications

    • Length: 21 feet

    • Diameter: 15 feet

    • Payload Mass (launch): 27,510 lbs

    • Payload Mass (return): 16,268 lbs

    • Empty Weight: 9,810 lbs

Lightweight Multi-Purpose Carrier (LMC)

The shuttle will also carry a Lightweight Multi-Purpose Experiment Support Structure Carrier (LMC) with Ammonia Tank Assembly (ATA).[1] The new ammonia tank will replace an empty tank during an EVA.

Other science packages

It will also contain three racks dedicated to science, FIR (Fluids Integrated Rack) and the first Materials Science Research Rack (MSRR-1) to be placed in Destiny and MELFI-2 (Minus Eighty Laboratory Freezer for ISS) to be placed in Kibo.[12][dead link] The FIR will enable detailed study of how liquids behave in microgravity, a crucial detail for many chemical reactions. One experiment, for instance, will examine how mixtures known as colloids behave without being stirred by sedimentation and convection. Another using the Light Microscopy Module (LMM) will examine how an ideal heat pipe works without the distortions of gravity. [13]

Mission experiments

The STS-128 mission (as did STS-125 and STS-127) will take part in crew seat vibration tests that will help engineers on the ground understand how astronauts experience launch. They will then use the information to help design the crew seats that will be used in future NASA spacecraft.

STS-128 will be repeating the Boundary Layer Transition (BLT) Detailed Test Objective (DTO) experiment that was done by the same shuttle during STS-119. In this experiment, one of the thermal protection system tiles will be raised to create a boundary layer transition in which the air flow becomes turbulent beyond a certain speed. During STS-119 the tile was raised 0.25 inches (6.4 mm) above the others, tripping the flow at Mach 15 during reentry. In the modification being done, the tile has been raised 0.35 inches (8.9 mm) which will trip at Mach 18 producing more heat.

Discovery will be also be undertaking the testing of a catalytic coating which is meant to be used by the Orion (spacecraft). Two TPS tiles located in the protuberance downstream from the BLT tile has been fully coated with the catalytic material in order to understand the entry heating performance. The tiles are instrumented to collect a wide variety of data.[14]

Mission background

The mission marks:

  • 159th American manned space flight

  • 128th shuttle mission since STS-1

  • 37th flight of Discovery

  • 30th shuttle mission to the ISS

  • 103rd post-Challenger mission

  • 15th post-Columbia mission

  • 25th anniversary of Discovery's first flight during mission. (August 30, 1984)

Shuttle processing

Discovery rolled from the Orbiter Processing Facility to the Vehicle Assembly Building after the external tank was cleared for use and was mated with it.[15][16] The foam insulation on the tank underwent stringent pull tests after the foam liberated and hit the orbiter during STS-127.[17] The STS-128's tank initially exhibited no concerns while the STS-127 case was determined to be a one off case due to surface contamination prior to foam application.[18][19]

The main change from previous missions is the change of the Ground Umbilical Carrier Plate (GUCP) vent housing. The quick release vents exhibited leaks during STS-119 and STS-127, which were determined to be due to a misalignment in the vent. This led to the one part rigid seal in the external tank being replaced with a two part flexible seal.[20]

Discovery later rolled out from the VAB to Launch Complex 39A on Tuesday, August 4, 2009 in a slow drive on the top of the Crawler-transporter. The 3.4-mile (5.5 km) rollout began at 2:07 a.m. ET, and ended with the launch platform secured in place at about 1:50 p.m. ET. The move took longer than expected due to adverse weather conditions, which included lightning warnings. The crawler also had to pause occasionally so mud could be removed from its treads and bearings. Technicians will quickly ready the shuttle to host the crew’s countdown dress rehearsal known as the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test, or TCDT.[21] Discovery’s seven astronauts flew to Kennedy on Wednesday for the training activity which concludes later in the week with a complete practice countdown, minus liftoff, involving the crew and the launch team.[22] Meanwhile, in an unprecedented operation, modifications were made to the left Solid rocket booster on the pad.[23] The modifications involved replacement of a check valve filter assembly in the booster which was found to have broken.[24] In a potentially delaying factor, in depth testing of the external tank with X-ray revealed voids in the foam which might have formed during the injection molding of the foam. This has also been decided as a suspect factor in the foam shedding during STS-127. The air in the voids could have expanded due to the high temperatures generated during ascent thus breaking the foam. The reviews considered a rollback as an option since the defect could not be set right in the pad.[25][24][26] Later, the tank was cleared for launch as is without any additional inspections.[27]

Discovery rolls out to Launchpad 39A.

Lightning over Launch Pad 39A as Discovery waits for lift-off.

Discovery on the pad August 6, 2009.

Discovery poised for lift-off.

Launch from 180 miles away

Launch delays

The first launch attempt was delayed by 24 hours due to weather concerns including multiple weather violations in NASA's launch rules beginning over 2 hours before the scheduled launch.[4][5][6] During the second attempt on Wednesday morning, a problem with a LH2 fill-and-drain fuel valve inside space shuttle Discovery's aft compartment led to another scrubbing. The problem arose when sensors did not detect the closure of the valve when commanded to do so. The issue was thought to be with the sensors rather than the valve itself.[7][8][9] After inerting the orbiter's tank, which involved draining it, tests were conducted on the valves. Despite the valves working normally, another delay was called for to have more confidence in the system and to give the console operators who preformed the test some rest.[28][29][30] The launch team evaluated the issue, passing on a possible launch window Friday, Aug. 28 at 12:22 a.m. Again, the launch has been delayed till 11:59pm Friday, Aug. 28 to allow the engineers to be fully satisfied with the vehicle. At 11:59pm on Friday, Aug. 28 the launch of Discovery was successful.

attempt

planned

result

reason

decision point

notes

1

2

3

2009-08-25 1:36:02 25 Aug 2009, 1:36:02 am

2009-08-26 00:22:00 26 Aug 2009, 12:22:00 am

2009-08-28 23:59:37 28 Aug 2009, 11:59:37 pm

scrubbed

scrubbed

Successful

weather

technical

2009-08-25 1:25 25 Aug 2009, 1:25 am(T-9:00 hold)

2009-08-25 17:52 25 Aug 2009, 5:52 pm

precipitation and lightning in launch and landing area[4][5][6]

failure indicator on LH2 inboard fill and drain valve[28][29][30]

Mission Timeline

Aug 29 (Flight Day 1 - Launch)

    • Payload Bay Door Opening

    • Ku-Band Antenna Deployment

    • Shuttle Robotic Arm Activation and payload bay survey

    • Umbilical Well and Handheld External Tank Photo and TV Downlink

Aug 30 (Flight Day 2)

    • Discovery’s Thermal Protection System Survey with Shuttle Robotic Arm/Orbiter Boom Sensor System (OBSS)

    • Extravehicular Mobility Unit Checkout

    • Centerline Camera Installation

    • Orbiter Docking System Ring Extension

    • Orbital Maneuvering System Pod Survey

    • Rendezvous tools checkout

Spacewalks

Each spacewalk is planned to last approximately 6.5 hours.[31]

See also

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: STS-128

v • d • e

Completed

Current

Planned

updated 12:03 p.m. ET, Sun., May 24, 2009

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - The space shuttle Atlantis and its crew of seven returned to Earth on Sunday, ending their exalted Hubble Space Telescope repair mission in sunny California after stormy weather prevented a return to NASA’s Florida home base.

Mission Control waited as long as possible for the weather to improve before finally giving up and directing commander Scott Altman and his crew to the Mojave Desert.

Atlantis swooped through a clear morning sky and touched down on the runway at Edwards Air Force Base. “Welcome home, Atlantis,” Mission Control radioed once the shuttle came to a safe stop. “Congratulations on a very successful mission, giving Hubble a new set of eyes that will continue to expand our knowledge of the universe.

“It was a thrill from start to finish,” Altman replied. “We’ve had a great ride.”

After 13 days in orbit, many of them tending to Hubble, Altman and his crew were anxious to be back on the ground. They were supposed to land Friday, but NASA kept the astronauts circling the world for two extra days, in hopes that thunderstorms from a lingering low-pressure system would ease up in Florida.

The weather did not improve enough Sunday, and Mission Control passed up landing opportunities for a third straight day at Kennedy Space Center.

Altman was grateful for the pristine conditions at Edwards, NASA’s backup landing site. “A beautiful day in the desert,” he said before heading back.

NASA loses at least a week of work and close to $2 million in ferry costs by landing in California. And the astronauts will have to wait another day to be reunited with their families, who were in Florida.

The previous shuttle landing at Edwards was in November.

Atlantis ended up circling Earth 197 times and logged 5.3 million miles during its journey.

The astronauts left behind a refurbished Hubble that scientists say is better than ever and should keep churning out pictures of the universe for another five to 10 years. They carried out five spacewalks to give the 19-year-old observatory new science instruments, pointing devices and batteries, and fix a pair of broken instruments, something never before attempted. Stuck bolts and other difficulties made much of the work harder than expected.

The $1 billion overhaul was the last for Hubble and, thanks to the crew’s valiant effort, won praise from President Barack Obama and members of Congress. But with space shuttles retiring next year, no more astronauts will visit the telescope, and NASA expects to steer it into the Pacific sometime in the early 2020s.

The astronauts brought back the old wide-field camera they pulled out, so it can be displayed as a souvenir for the masses at the Smithsonian Institution. The replacement camera and other new instruments will enable Hubble to peer deeper into the universe, to within 500 million to 600 million years of creation.

It will take almost all summer for scientists to check out all the new telescope systems. NASA expects to release the first picture in early September.

This mission almost didn’t happen. It was canceled in 2004, a year after the Columbia tragedy, because of the dangers of flying into a 350-mile-high (560-kilometer-high) orbit that did not offer any shelter in case Atlantis suffered damage from launch debris or space junk. The public protest was intense, and NASA reinstated the flight after developing a rescue plan and shuttle repair kits.

Shuttle Endeavour was on standby for a possible rescue mission until late last week, after inspections found Atlantis’ thermal shielding to be solid for re-entry. Endeavour now will be prepped for a June flight to the international space station.

Click for related content:

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© 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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THE ASTRONOMY PICTURE OF THE DAY FOR 2009 May 20

Above Earth, Fixing Hubble

Credit: STS-125 Crew, NASA

Explanation: What is that astronaut doing? Fixing the Hubble Space Telescope. During the fourth servicing mission to upgrade and fix Hubble, astronaut Michael Good can be seen attached to the shuttle's robotic arm, working in an open panel of Hubble. Far below, the terminator between day and night can be seen across planet Earth. Since Hubble was captured by the space shuttle Atlantis last Wednesday, five long space-walks have been used to fix and upgrade the aging telescope which was launched into orbit on 1990 April 24. One of the more ambitious orbital missions yet taken, the toiling astronauts have upgraded the Wide Field Camera, fixed the Advanced Camera for Surveys, repaired the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph, and replaced COSTAR with the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph. Numerous other general repairs included replacing batteries, gyroscopic sensors, and insulation panels. Hubble will now undergo testing as Atlantis prepares to return to Earth on May 22nd

.

ASTRONOMY PICTURE OF THE DAY FOR 2009 May 13

A Space Shuttle Before Dawn

Credit & Copyright: Charles Danforth (CASA, U. Colorado)

Explanation: This shuttle has launched to space. Pictured above, the Space Shuttle Atlantis sat on Launch Pad 39A before dawn last month as it was prepared for the launch. The shuttle itself is visible on the image right, attached to a brown liquid fuel tank and two white solid rocket boosters. In the image center is the Fixed Service Structure which stands just over 100 meters tall, including the white lightning rod at the top. Starting on Sunday, the space shuttle embarked on one of its most ambitious missions ever: its fourth mission to fix and upgrade the ageing Hubble Space Telescope. Hubble's replacement, the James Webb Space Telescope, is currently scheduled for launch in 2014.

        • Payload for Space Shuttle Atlantis - STS 125

        • TO REPAIR AND UPGRADE THE HUBBLE TELESCOPE -

        • LAUNCH OCCURRED SUCCESSFULLY - MAY 11 at 2:01 PM EDT

        • Image above: The payload canister with the Hubble Space Telescope equipment arrives at the base of Launch Pad 39A where space shuttle Atlantis stands. Image Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

        • › View larger image

        • STS-125: Mission to Service NASA's Hubble Space Telescope

        • Veteran astronaut Scott Altman will command the final space shuttle mission to service NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, and retired Navy Capt. Gregory C. Johnson will serve as pilot. Mission specialists rounding out the crew are: veteran spacewalkers John Grunsfeld and Mike Massimino, and first-time space fliers Andrew Feustel, Michael Good and Megan McArthur.

        • During the 11-day mission's five spacewalks, astronauts will install two new instruments, repair two inactive ones and perform the component replacements that will keep the telescope functioning into at least 2014.

        • In addition to the originally scheduled work, Atlantis also will carry a replacement Science Instrument Command and Data Handling Unit for Hubble. Astronauts will install the unit on the telescope, removing the one that stopped working on Sept. 27, 2008, delaying the servicing mission until the replacement was ready.

        • STS-125 Additional Resources

        • › Mission Summary

        • › Press Kit (4.5 Mb PDF)

        • › Meet the Crew

        • › Learn About the Mission

Next Space Shuttle Mission: STS-125

Space Shuttle Atlantis at the Launch Pad for STS-125 Mission

Image above: Space Shuttle Atlantis stands on Launch Pad 39A, ready for final preparations for the STS-125 mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope. Image credit: NASA

› View larger image

STS-125

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This article documents a current or recent spaceflight. Details may change as the mission progresses.

STS-125

Mission insignia

Mission statistics

Mission name

Space shuttle

Launch pad

Launch date

Landing

Mission duration

Number of orbits

Orbital altitude

Orbital inclination

STS-125

Atlantis

LC-39A

May 11, 2009, 2:01:56 p.m. EDT (18:01:56 UTC)[1][2]

May 22, 2009, 11:41 a.m. EDT (15:41 UTC)

11 days

TBD

320 nautical miles (570 km)

28.5 degrees

Crew photo

From left to right : Massimino, Good, Johnson, Altman, McArthur, Grunsfeld and Feustel

Related missions

Previous mission

STS-119

Next mission

STS-127

STS-125, or HST-SM4 (Hubble Space Telescope Servicing Mission 4) is the current space shuttle mission and the fifth and final servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope (HST).[3][4] Launch occurred on May 11, 2009 at 2:01 p.m. EDT.[2][5][6] The mission is being flown by Space Shuttle Atlantis, with another shuttle, Space Shuttle Endeavour, ready to launch in case a rescue mission is needed. Due to an anomaly aboard the telescope that occurred on September 27, 2008, STS-125 was delayed until May 2009 to prepare a second data handling unit replacement for the telescope.[7][8][9]

Atlantis is carrying two new instruments to the HST, a replacement Fine Guidance Sensor, and six new gyroscopes and batteries to allow the telescope to continue to function at least through 2014.[4] The crew will also install new thermal blanket layers to provide improved insulation, and a "soft-capture mechanism" to aid in the safe de-orbiting of the telescope by an unmanned spacecraft at the end of its operational lifespan.[10][11]

The mission is the thirtieth flight of Space Shuttle Atlantis, the first flight of Atlantis since STS-122, and the first flight of Atlantis not to visit a space station since STS-66 in 1994.[2][12] It is the only shuttle mission since the Columbia accident to not visit the International Space Station.[2]

Endeavour is ready on launch pad 39B for immediate flight on the Launch On Need (LON) rescue mission throughout STS-125 should the need arise.[13]Atlantis was cleared officially of any damage during ascent on flight day five, but due to the difference between the orbit of the International Space Station and that of the HST, the orbiter would be unable to use the station as a "safe haven" in the event of micrometeoroid damage or other major failure. Should any issues arise during the final days of the mission, Endeavour would be flown to rescue the crew if needed.[14][15]

Crew

Number in parentheses indicates number of spaceflights by each individual prior to and including this mission.

Crew notes

The crew of STS-125 includes three astronauts who have previous experience with servicing Hubble.[16][17] Altman visited Hubble as commander of STS-109, the fourth Hubble servicing mission, in 2002. Grunsfeld, an astronomer, has serviced Hubble twice, performing a total of five spacewalks on STS-103 in 1999, and STS-109. Massimino served with both Altman and Grunsfeld on STS-109, and performed two spacewalks to service the telescope.

Mission parameters

Mission payload

The Cosmic Origins Spectrograph in the cleanroom

The Wide Field Camera 3 being prepared for launch.

STS-125 will carry the "Soft-Capture Mechanism" and install it onto the telescope.[18] This will enable a spacecraft to be sent to the telescope to assist in its safe de-orbit at the end of its life. It is a circular mechanism containing structures and targets to aid docking.[16]

The mission will add two new instruments to Hubble. The first instrument, the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph, will be the most sensitive ultraviolet spectrograph installed on the telescope.[16][19] Its far-UV channel will be 30 times more sensitive than previous instruments and the near-UV will be twice as sensitive. The second instrument, the Wide Field Camera 3, is a panchromatic wide-field camera that can record a wide range of wavelengths, including infrared, visible, and ultraviolet light.[16]

The infrastructure of the telescope will be maintained and upgraded by replacing a "Fine Guidance Sensor" that controls the telescope's directional system, installing a set of six new gyroscopes, replacing batteries, and installing a new outer blanket layer to provide improved insulation.[16]

The payload bay elements are the Super Lightweight Interchangeable Carrier (SLIC) holding the Wide Field Camera 3, new batteries, and a radiator; the ORU Carrier with the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph and FGS-3R instruments; the Flight Support Structure (FSS) for holding the Hubble during repairs; and the Multi-Use Lightweight Equipment Carrier (MULE) holding support equipment.

Along with the collectible items that are flown on shuttle missions, such as mission patches, flags, and other personal items for the crew, is an official Harlem Globetrotters basketball, as well as a basketball that Edwin Hubble used in 1909 when he played for the University of Chicago.[20][21] Once the mission returns to Earth, the Harlem Globetrotters basketball will be placed in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, and Hubble's ball will be returned to the University of Chicago.[20]

IMAX movie

At the end of September 2007, Warner Bros. Pictures and IMAX Corporation announced that in cooperation with NASA, an IMAX 3D camera will travel to the Hubble telescope in the payload bay of Atlantis for production of a new film that will chronicle the story of the Hubble telescope.[19] IMAX has made a number of movies centered around space, including Destiny in Space, The Dream Is Alive, Mission to Mir, Blue Planet, Magnificent Desolation: Walking on the Moon 3D, and the first trip of IMAX to the ISS in 2001, to make Space Station 3D.[19][22]

Media

Astronaut Michael J. Massimino has been using Twitter to document the training and preparations for the mission. He mentioned that he would like to try sending Twitter updates from space during his off-duty time.[23] Massimino's first update read, "From orbit: Launch was awesome!! I am feeling great, working hard, & enjoying the magnificent views, the adventure of a lifetime has begun!"[24] He is the first person to use Twitter in space.[25]

Mission background

Prince Philip of the United Kingdom visited Goddard Testing Facility in May of 2007, and met with the crew of STS-125.

The mission marks:[12]

    • 157th American manned space flight

    • 126th shuttle mission since STS-1

    • 30th Flight of Atlantis

    • 101st post-Challenger mission

    • 13th post-Columbia mission

STS-125 was originally scheduled to be ISS assembly mission ISS-1J. The mission would have delivered the Kibo Japanese Experiment Module (JEM) and JEM's specialized Remote Manipulator System to the station. Columbia was originally planned to fly the fifth Hubble mission, as Columbia was not the optimum orbiter for ISS assembly due to the weight of the orbiter.

STS-125 will be the first visit to the Hubble Space Telescope for Atlantis; the telescope has been previously serviced twice by Discovery, and once each by Columbia and Endeavour.

Shuttle processing

Atlantis and Endeavour are launch pad neighbors for the last time, in preparation for STS-125.

The RSS retracts to reveal Atlantis at LC-39A

Following the Columbia accident review, the Return to Flight missions, and the reinstatement of the Hubble repair mission, STS-125 was assigned to Discovery, with a launch date no earlier than May 2008.[26] This originally moved the mission ahead of STS-119, ISS Assembly flight 15A.

The crew of Atlantis went to the Kennedy Space Center for the Crew Equipment Interface Test in early July 2008. This allowed the STS-125 crew to get familiar with the orbiter and the hardware they would be using during the flight.

Launch delays

On August 22, 2008, after a delay following Tropical Storm Fay, Atlantis was rolled from the Orbiter Processing Facility to the Vehicle Assembly Building, where it was mated to the external fuel tank and solid rocket booster stack. Problems encountered during the mating process, and delays due to Hurricane Hanna delayed rollout to the pad, which is normally done seven days after rollover.[27][28]

STS-125 was further delayed to October 2008 due to manufacturing delays on external tanks for future space shuttle missions. Lockheed Martin experienced delays during the production changes to make new external tanks with all the enhancements recommended by the Columbia Accident Investigation Board, making it impossible for them to produce two tanks for the STS-125 mission—one for Atlantis, and one for Endeavour for an emergency rescue mission, if necessary—in time for the original August launch date.[29]

The first rollout to Launch Pad 39A occurred on September 4, 2008. On September 27, the Science Instrument Command and Data Handling (SIC&DH) Unit on the Hubble Space Telescope failed.[4] Because of its importance, NASA postponed the launch of STS-125 on September 29 until 2009 so the failed unit could be replaced as well.[4] Atlantis was rolled back to the Vehicle Assembly Building on October 20.

On October 30, 2008, NASA announced that Atlantis would be removed from its solid rocket boosters and external tank stack and sent back to its Orbiter Processing Facility to await a targeted launch time at 1:11 p.m. EDT on May 12, 2009.[7] The stack was turned over to be used on the STS-119 mission instead. On March 23, Atlantis was mated to its new stack in the Vehicle Assembly Building. Roll-out to launch Pad 39A took place on March 31.[30]

On April 24, 2009, NASA managers issued a change request to move the STS-125 launch up one day to May 11 at 2:01 p.m. EDT. The change was made official at the flight readiness review on April 30.[31] The reason cited for the change was to add one more day to the launch window from 2 to 3 days. The shuttle process flow schedule was adjusted to support this change.[31]

Mission timeline

May 11 (Flight day 1, launch)

Following a smooth countdown, Atlantis launched on time, at 2:01 p.m. EDT.[2][5] Almost immediately after launch and during the ascent, flight systems reported problems with a hydrogen tank transducer and a circuit breaker; the crew was immediately advised to disregard the resultant alarms and continue to orbit.[32] During the post-launch news conference, NASA managers said the initial early review of the launch video showed no obvious debris events, but a thorough analysis would be performed to ensure the orbiter sustained no significant damage during ascent.[33] After working through their post launch checklists, the crew opened the payload bay doors, deployed the Ku band antenna, and moved into the robotic activities portion of the day, which included a survey of the payload bay and crew cabin survey with the orbiter's robotic arm.[34][33]

During the post-launch inspection of Pad 39A, a twenty five foot area on the north side of the flame deflector was found to have damage where some of the heat resistant coating came off.[35] Following the launch of STS-124, severe damage was seen at the pad where bricks were blasted from the walls, but NASA officials stated the damage from the STS-125 launch was not nearly as severe and should not impact the launch of STS-127 in June.[35]

May 12 (Flight day 2)

The silhouette of Atlantis in orbit transits the Sun, as seen from a ground-based solar telescope, in Florida.

Following the morning wake up call, the crew set right to work on the day's tasks, which were centered on inspection of the orbiter's heat shield. Using the shuttle robotic arm and the Orbiter Boom Sensor System (OBSS), the crew went through a detailed inspection of the orbiter's thermal protection system (TPS) tile and Reinforced carbon-carbon (RCC) surfaces. During the inspection, engineers on the ground noticed a small area of tile on the forward area of the shuttle's right wing that appeared to have suffered some damage during ascent.[36][37] Mission managers called up to the crew to alert them of the find, advising Altman ("Scooter") that one of the orbiter's wing leading edge sensors recorded a debris event during ascent, around 104 - 106 seconds following liftoff, which may have been the cause of the damage seen in that area.[37] CAPCOM Dan Burbank advised the crew that the damage did not initially appear to be serious, but assured the crew that the image analysis team would be reviewing the imagery further, and engineers on the ground would be analyzing it to determine if a focused inspection would be required.[37]

As part of the Flight Day 2 Execute Package, ground engineers also provided further information on the circuit breaker failure seen at launch.[38] The breaker, (Channel 1 Aerosurfaces, ASA 1), is part of the shuttle's Flight Control Systems (FCS), a subsystem of the Guidance, Navigation and Control (GNC) systems. The failure would have no impact to the mission due to redundant systems.[38]

In addition to the survey of the orbiter's heat shield, the crew gathered and inspected the EVA tools and spacesuits that would be used for the mission's spacewalks, and prepared the Flight Support System (FSS) for berthing with Hubble on flight day three.[39]

May 13 (Flight day 3)

Hubble docked in the cargo bay of Atlantis.

John Grunsfeld uses a still camera with telephoto lens at an overhead window on the aft flight deck during flight day three activities.

Following the crew's post-sleep activities, they went to work performing the rendezvous operations that included burning the orbiter's engines to refine the approach to the Hubble telescope.[40][41] Following some delays due to communications issues, Altman and Johnson ("Ray-J") guided the orbiter within fifty feet of the telescope.[41] McArthur successfully grappled Hubble at 17:14 UTC, and at 18:12 the telescope was safely berthed in the payload bay of Atlantis.[40][41] Later in the day, Grunsfeld and Feustel ("Drew"), along with Good ("Bueno") and Massimino ("Mass") worked on preparing for the next day's spacewalk, gathering tools and checking out the suits and equipment that would be used during the EVA.[40]

At the Mission Management Team (MMT) briefing, MMT Chairman LeRoy Cain reported that the damage assessment team had cleared all of the orbiter's TPS tiles and blankets, and were expected to clear the RCC portion of the orbiter by flight day four.[40] He stated that no focused inspection would be required.[42] Cain also noted that a debris event was recorded on the orbiter's wing leading edge sensors, but it was far below the force that would indicate a problem, and would not impact the mission.[42] The late inspection that is routinely performed prior to re-entry would give any additional information, but Cain stated "We're not concerned that it's done any kind of damage that would be any concern to us, certainly not critical damage."[42]

During the Mission Status briefing, Lead Flight Director Tony Ceccacci noted that during the camera survey of the equipment in the payload bay, the team noticed some fine particulate matter around the box containing the Wide Field Camera 3, and asked the crew to take additional images using a higher resolution camera for the ground teams to assess.[42] Cain later confirmed that the dust was not present prior to launch, and was most likely particulate shaken loose from the thick insulation blankets inside the payload bay during launch.[42] The team advised the crew to avoid the particulate as much as possible during the spacewalks, and use caution when working around the container to avoid the debris, but it was not a significant concern.[42]

May 14 (Flight day 4)

Mission Specialist John Grunsfeld, performing his sixth spacewalk, is reflected in the Hubble telescope's coating as he works during the mission's first EVA.

Following the crew's wake up, they set to work preparing for the mission's first spacewalk. Grunsfeld and Feustel suited up with the assistance of their EVA counterparts, Massimino and Good, and the spacewalk officially began when the two switched their suits to battery power at 12:52 UTC.[43] At the start of the spacewalk, Feustel provided managers on the ground with a visual inspection report on the particulate matter seen earlier around the WFC3 box, reporting to the ground team that "I don't really see any of those particles...It's almost imperceivable. I can see some few particles on the front of the W-SIPE, little, whitish, grey looking, real small. It's low density, too."[44] After getting their tools and equipment for the EVA set up, Grunsfeld and Feustel removed the old Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2, which was installed in 1993 during the telescope's first servicing mission, and replaced it with the new Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3).[43][10] Feustel initially had trouble removing the bolts from the old camera, which after over fifteen years in space required more torque to remove than expected. After multiple attempts, managers on the ground decided to have Grunsfeld get a contingency torque limiter from the airlock, which would allow Feustel to apply more force without exceeding a specific point, but the bolt would still not release.[43] The concern was that the bolt would shear, and the camera would be unable to be removed should that happened.[43] Finally, managers approved Feustel to remove the limiter, and apply as much force as he safely thought it would take to release the bolt, which was successful.[43]

The new camera will allow Hubble to take large-scale, extremely clear and detailed photos over a wider range of colors than the old camera did.[10] After the installation, controllers at the Space Telescope Operations Control Center at Goddard Space Flight Center sent commands to the camera to perform an "aliveness" test, which passed, indicating the camera was installed correctly.[44][11]

The next task was to remove and replace the telescope's Science Instrument Command and Data Handling Unit, or SIC&DH, a computer that sends commands to Hubble’s science instruments, and formats science data for transmission to the ground.[10] This was the item that failed in September of 2008, delaying STS-125 while engineers prepared a replacement part for the mission, and the crew trained for the new task.[10] While the failure of the SIC&DH did not disable the telescope, replacing the unit restores the redundancies.[10][11] The final major task was to install the Soft Capture Mechanism (SCM), a seventy-two inch wide grapple fixture that will allow spacecraft in the future to dock with the telescope, and de-orbit it safely at the end of its life.[10][11] Feustel also installed two of four Latch Over Center Kits, or LOCKs, that make opening and closing Hubble’s large access doors easier for the remaining spacewalks.[10] The spacewalk officially ended at 20:12 UTC, for a time of seven hours and twenty minutes. It was the nineteenth spacewalk devoted to servicing the telescope, and brought the total time in servicing Hubble to 136 hours, 30 minutes.[43] Due to the length of the spacewalk, and the delay in beginning, the crew was over an hour behind their scheduled timeline for the day, but worked through the post-EVA activities and evening activities without problems, and got to sleep only slightly behind their scheduled time. During the mission status briefing, David Leckrone, Hubble Project Senior Scientist, noted he was very relieved that the camera was replaced successfully, and noted that the problems with the bolt caused some concern, "I don't normally reveal my age and I'm not going to here, but I can tell you I'm five years older now than I was when I came to work this morning, we can sleep pretty well tonight, knowing that's been accomplished."[43]

May 15 (Flight day 5)

Mission Specialists Michael Good (right) and Michael Massimino (lower left) work in the payload bay of Atlantis during the mission's second spacewalk.

Tomas Gonzalez-Torres, STS-125 Lead Spacewalk Officer, monitors the progress of the mission.

Following their wake up, the Atlantis crew set right to work preparing for the second spacewalk of the mission, with Massimino and Good suiting up with assistance from Grunsfeld and Feustel. As they were preparing for the EVA, the team on the ground informed the crew that the WFC3 had passed all the overnight "functional" tests, indicating it was in good working order.[45]

While the spacewalk preparations were underway, Altman and McArthur completed a robotic survey of a small row of heat shield tiles that had not been sufficiently imaged during the day two inspection. Following the analysis of the survey, the managers cleared all of the TPS systems until the pre-landing inspection.[14]

The mission's second spacewalk officially began at 12:49 UTC, and the pair set to work removing and replacing the telescope's three gyroscope rate sensing units (RSUs). Each unit contains two gyroscopes that allow the telescope to point itself.[14] The first unit, RSU 2, was replaced without problems, but when they attempted to replace the second unit, RSU 3, the unit would not align onto the guide pins, and they could not seat it into the equipment bay.[46] Managers decided to put the unit originally intended for the RSU 1 bay into the RSU 3 bay, and it was installed without problems.[46] The pair then attempted to install the second unit into the third and final bay, but the unit again would not seat properly, and they were unable to install it.[46][47] Instead, it was decided that an additional unit carried as a spare would be placed into the final bay.[46] The spare unit was one that was removed during the STS-103 mission, and had been refurbished on the ground.[46][48] The installation of all three gyro units was a critical objective of the servicing mission, as three had failed, one was offline due to electrical issues, and the other two had also been experiencing issues with performance.[48] Ground controllers at Goddard Space Flight Center confirmed that all six gyroscopes and the new battery passed preliminary tests.[14]

The problems with seating the second RSU set the spacewalkers back in the timeline by approximately two hours, but after Altman asked Massimino and Good how they felt, they replied they were doing well and felt fine to continue.[49] Flight controllers on the ground evaluated the consumables for the two spacesuits, and decided that if Massimino recharged his suit's oxygen in the airlock, the pair could safely continue with the battery installation.[49] After moving to the battery unit site, Good and Massimino removed one of the original battery modules from Bay 2 of the telescope, and replaced it with a new unit.[14] The batteries provide power to the telescope when it passes into the Earth’s shadow and its solar arrays are not exposed to the sun.[14] The spacewalk officially ended at 20:45 UTC, for a time of seven hours, fifty six minutes.[50] It was the twentieth spacewalk to service Hubble, bringing the total time in EVA servicing the telescope to 144 hours, 26 minutes.[50]

During the mission status briefing, Tomas Gonzalez-Torres, Lead EVA Officer, and Hubble Program Manager Preston Burch both explained that the spare RSU would not impact the life of the telescope, as it had been fully refurbished on the ground with two of the three improvements incorporated in newer models.[48] "I would say the difference in the projected longevity of the observatory in the out years is very small. We don't see this is a significant detriment at all to the observatory. This was a tremendous accomplishment for us." Burch noted.[48] Lead Flight Director Tony Ceccacci noted that due to the length of the spacewalk, and the resulting slip in the timeline, the crew's sleep shift would have to be moved an hour later, to allow them to get the proper amount of rest, and the rest of the docked timeline would also be shifted forward an hour.[14]

May 16 (Flight day 6)

Grunsfeld and Feustel pose for a picture in the airlock of Atlantis prior to the mission's third spacewalk.

After awakening, the crew set to work preparing for the mission's third spacewalk, one that was considered the most challenging and uncertain, yet had some of the highest priority items scheduled.[51][52] The tasks were to remove the failed Corrective Optics Space Telescope Axial Replacement (COSTAR), originally installed during STS-61 to correct the spherical aberration of Hubble's mirror, and install the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS), and to repair the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS).[51][53][54] The ACS failed in June of 2006 due to an electrical issue, and after being restored partially, failed again in 2007 due to an electrical short.[51] The ACS was not designed to be serviced or repaired in space, so the task was considered one of the most challenging of the mission.[51] After running into various snags in the first two spacewalks, managers on the ground were prepared to see unexpected issues arise during the complicated repair work.[55] The spacewalk began at 13:35 UTC, and Grunsfeld and Feustel had no problems. The pair worked through their timeline so efficiently that they were over an hour ahead at one point.[55] After removing COSTAR and stowing it in the orbiter's payload bay, they installed COS, and then moved on to the ACS repair. Using specially designed tools, they removed an access panel, replaced the camera's four circuit boards, and installed a new power supply.[54][55]

The spacewalk was completed in six hours and thirty-six minutes, and the ACS passed the initial "aliveness" tests.[55] It was the twenty-first Hubble servicing spacewalk, and Grunsfeld's seventh EVA, moving him up to fourth in the the record book of spacewalking time.[56] During the previous day's mission status briefing, Dave Leckrone, Hubble Space Telescope Senior Project Scientist, made a prediction, joking that since the first two spacewalks, which were considered to be straightforward, had run into issues, the most difficult EVA —- to repair the ACS, would be the smoothest one of the mission. "I have a prediction, We've always said EVA 3 was going to be the most difficult and the most challenging, and I predict it's going to go more smoothly than any other EVA on this mission. I just think that's some version of Murphy's Law that's going to lead us in that direction."[55]

After the initial aliveness testing, the ACS was put through its functional tests. Managers and engineers had noted that the repairs were designed for only one of the three photo channels, the wide-field channel, and that the issues with the high-resolution channel may not be resolved by the designed fix.[57] During the functional testing, the wide-field channel passed, but issues were seen with the high-resolution channel, indicating that the power issue may be farther "upstream" in the electronic circuits than the spacewalk repair addressed.[57][58] Additional testing would be performed, but Hubble Program Manager Preston Burch noted that the fix was designed to "back power" the high-resolution channel through the paths connected to the wide-field channel, and while feasible, it was a possibility that the short circuit damage was in an area not corrected with the planned repair.[57] Even if the high-resolution channel is unable to be restored, it was considered to be less important, since the bulk of the ACS science output is undertaken by the wide-field channel.[59][58] The third channel, the solar-blind channel, passed overnight functional testing without issues.[59][58]

May 17 (Flight day 7)

Mission Specialist Michael Massimino peers into the orbiter's aft flight deck window during the fourth spacewalk of the mission.

Beginning the mission's fourth spacewalk at 13:45 UTC, Massimino and Good went to work repairing the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS). The spectrograph failed in 2004 due to a blown power supply.[59] As with the ACS, the STIS was not designed with the intention of servicing it while in space, and one of the major challenges was to remove a cover plate held tight with over 100 screws using a specially designed tool called a "fastener-capture plate", designed to trap the screws and washers and prevent them from floating into space when removed.[59] While preparing the fastener-capture plate, Massimino encountered issues with a handrail that had to be removed to accomodate the fastener-capture plate.[60][61][62] The handrail had a stripped bolt on the bottom, preventing it from being released.[61][62] After trying multiple options without success, managers on the ground advised Massimino to use "brute force" to remove the handrail, so he could proceed with the removal of the cover plate.[61][63] The procedure was tested at Goddard Space Flight Center prior to approving it, and showed that the stripped bolt could be broken off safely using force.[63] Working inside the orbiter, Grunsfeld walked Massimino through the procedure slowly, advising him to tape the handrail with Kapton tape to prevent any parts from breaking off or flying loose, to be aware of the reaction the force would have, as well as to watch for sharp edges on the handrail after removal.[63]

Once the handrail was removed, Massimino went to work attaching the capture plate, but ran into additional problems when the battery in one of his power tools failed.[64] Massimino was instructed to return to the orbiter's airlock to retrieve a spare tool and to recharge his suit's oxygen reserves, to allow for completion of the STIS repair.[64] The rest of the STIS repair work was completed without any problems, but the spacewalkers were nearly two hours behind the scheduled timeline, so managers on the ground decided to postpone the task of installing a New Outer Blanket Layers (NOBL) onto the telescope's outer shell.[61] The spacewalk, originally scheduled to last six hours and thirty minutes, ended at 21:02 UTC, for a time of eight hours and two minutes, making it the sixth longest spacewalk in history.[61] It was the twenty second spacewalk devoted to servicing the Hubble telescope, and Massimino's fourth spacewalk, bringing his total EVA time to thirty hours, forty four minutes.

During the mission status briefing, Jennifer Wiseman, Chief of Exoplanet and Stellar Astrophysics for Goddard Space Flight Center, noted that the repair of STIS was a major victory for both the mission and the science community, as that part of the telescope performed unique functions, helping scientists understand the materials planets are composed of, and looking at things like the motion of stars around black holes.[52][61][65]

After initial aliveness testing that showed no issues, STIS was taken into functional testing, and issues were seen when the telescope put itself into "safe mode" due to a low thermal limit sensor.[61][60][64] Ground controllers at Goddard would restart the testing once the thermal limit sensor was back in normal sensor range, but it is believed the component is in good shape.[61]

May 18 (Flight day 8)

Completing the fifth of the five planned spacewalks, Grunsfeld and Feustel successfully installed the second battery, removed and replaced the Fine Guidance Sensor number three, and worked so efficiently that they were over an hour ahead of the timeline, giving them time to remove degraded insulation panels from three bays of the telescope, and install three New Outer Blanket Layer (NOBL)s.[66] Beginning the spacewalk at 12:20 UTC, the pair first worked on removing an aging battery module, and replaced it with a new pack, which combined with the battery replacement performed during the second spacewalk, gave the telescope all new nickel-hydrogen batteries.[66] They then moved on to the removal and replacement of the Fine Guidance Sensor unit number three, improving Hubble's focus and stability when imaging.[53] NASA engineers liken the new FGS to being able to keep a laser beam focused on a U.S. dime coin that is 320 km away.[53] Both the new batteries, and the FGS passed aliveness, and functional testing. The mission's final EVA concluded at 19:22 UTC, after seven hours and two minutes.[67] The total time spent during the mission in extra-vehicular activity was thirty six hours, fifty six minutes.[67] The twenty third and final spacewalk to service Hubble brought the total time spent in EVA working on the telescope to one hundred and sixty six hours, six minutes.[67] Lead Flight Director Tony Ceccacci noted that the final EVA was also the last planned spacewalk from a shuttle airlock.[68]

The completion of all the major objectives, as well as some that were not considered vital, upgrade the telescope to its most technologically advanced state since its launch nineteen years ago, and make it more powerful than ever.[69] The upgrades will also help Hubble to see deeper into the universe, and farther into the past, closer to the time of the Big Bang.[70] Hubble's importance to science is not just seen in the dramatic images it provides, but also in the volume of work it has generated — an average of fourteen scientific articles are published each week based on data gathered from the telescope.[70] Officially, the upgrades should extend Hubble's life through the year 2014, but Hubble Space Telescope Senior Scientist David Leckrone noted prior to the mission that if all of the mission's objectives were successful, the telescope could easily last longer than that.[69] The next large telescope scheduled to be launched is the James Webb Space Telescope in 2014, which is infrared-only, so to have Hubble, which has ultraviolet, visible, and near-infrared capabilities, still operational after 2014 would be of great benefit to the scientific community.[69][71]

Extra-vehicular activity

Five back-to-back EVAs were planned for the mission.[34] Spacewalks one through four were originally scheduled to last six hours, thirty minutes, while the fifth spacewalk was scheduled to last five hours, forty five minutes.[34] All five EVAs were conducted successfully, for a total time in EVA activity of thirty six hours, fifty six minutes.[34][72][67]

“

As Arthur C. Clarke says, the only way of finding the limits on the possible, is by going beyond them into the impossible. And on this mission, we tried some things that many people said were impossible - fixing STIS, repairing ACS, achieving all the content that we have in this mission. But we've achieved that and we wish Hubble the very best. It's really a sign of the great country that we live in that we're able to do things like this on a marvelous spaceship like the space shuttle Atlantis. And I'm convinced that if we can solve problems like repairing Hubble, getting to space, doing the servicing we do traveling 17,500 miles an hour around the Earth, that we can achieve other great things, like solving our energy problems and our climate problems, all things that are in the middle of NASA's prime and core valves.[66] —- John L. Grunsfeld

”

Wake-up calls

A tradition for NASA human spaceflights since the days of Gemini is that mission crews are played a special musical track at the start of each day in space. Each track is specially chosen, often by their families, and usually has a special meaning to an individual member of the crew, or is applicable to their daily activities.[75][76]

Contingency mission

Main article: STS-400

Due to the inclination and other orbit parameters of Hubble, Atlantis would be unable to use the International Space Station as a "safe haven" in the event of structural or mechanical failure.[26][77] STS-400 is the flight designation given to the Contingency Shuttle Crew Support (CSCS) mission which would be launched in the event Atlantis becomes disabled during STS-125.[13]

To preserve NASA's post-Columbia requirement of having shuttle rescue capability, a second shuttle was on Launch Pad 39B at the time of STS-125's launch. This imposed a constraint on deactivation and conversion of LC-39B for the upcoming test flight of the Ares I booster for Project Constellation. NASA earlier had investigated whether it would be possible to use the same pad to launch both STS-125 and STS-400.[78]

NASA has had contingency rescue missions on standby for all nine flights conducted between the Columbia accident, and STS-125, but all of the other rescue missions use the International Space Station as a "safe haven", and would require only an expedited roll-out of a shuttle stack and checkout on LC-39A, which is not slated for conversion for the Ares V until the Shuttle is retired in 2010.

See also

Media

Space Shuttle Atlantis launches from launch pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center as part of the STS-125 mission

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: STS-125

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STS-125"

Categories: Spaceflights | Space Shuttle missions | 2009 in space exploration | Hubble Space Telescope servicing missions | 2009 in spaceflight

STS-125 Summary: Mission has Serviced NASA's Hubble Space Telescope for the Last Time

Veteran astronaut Scott Altman has commanded the final space shuttle mission to service NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, and retired Navy Capt. Gregory C. Johnson has served as pilot. Mission specialists rounding out the crew are: veteran spacewalkers John Grunsfeld and Mike Massimino, and first-time space fliers Andrew Feustel, Michael Good and Megan McArthur.

During the 11-day mission's five spacewalks, astronauts have installed two new instruments, repaired two inactive ones and performed the component replacements that will keep the telescope functioning into at least 2014.

In addition to the originally scheduled work, Atlantis has also replaced the Science Instrument Command and Data Handling Unit for Hubble. Astronauts will install the unit on the telescope, removed the one that stopped working on Sept. 27, 2008, which delayed the servicing mission until the replacement was ready.

› Learn more about the STS-125 mission which serviced the Hubble Space Telescope

STS-119 Concludes

The seven astronauts from space shuttle Discovery's STS-119 mission are back home in Houston after flying in from NASA Kennedy Space Center in Florida on March 29.

Discovery and its crew of seven safely touched down on runway 15 at Kennedy's Shuttle Landing Facility at 3:14 p.m. EDT on March 28. The weather cooperated enough to allow the spacecraft to land on the second opportunity.

Mission Specialist Sandra Magnus also returned to Earth with the STS-119 crew. Magnus spent 129 days aboard the International Space Station as flight engineer for Expedition 18. Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata took her place on the orbiting laboratory and will return to Earth with the STS-127 crew.

The 13-day mission included three spacewalks, about 6-hours a piece, to install the S6 truss and enormous starboard-side solar arrays. They also unfurled the arrays and performed other get-ahead tasks.

Mission STS-119's crew of seven completed a successful mission aboard the International Space Station -- increasing the orbiting laboratory's power capacity and giving it the ability to accommodate additional crew members in the future.

› View the shuttle and station crew members speaking with President Obama

› Listen to President Obama's call to the space station (19.2 Mb MP3)

Additional Resources

› STS-119 Flow Valve Fact Sheet (447 Kb PDF)

› STS-119 Mission Summary (562 Kb PDF)

› STS-119 Fact Sheet (788 Kb PDF)

› STS-119 Press Kit (5.06 Mb PDF)

› STS-119 Information for Educators

› Meet the STS-119 Crew

THE SPACE SHUTTLE DISCOVERY WAS LAUNCHED ON 2009 MARCH 15

More on this Mission at MANNED SPACE MISSIONS at Left Menu

Space shuttle Discovery launching on assembly flight 15A, will deliver the fourth starboard truss segment to the International Space Station.

Astronauts Wrap Up Third Spacewalk

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 06:13:47 PM EDT

Astronauts Joseph Acaba and Richard Arnold ended the mission's third spacewalk at 6:04 p.m. EDT. They helped robotic arm operators relocate the Crew Equipment Translation Aid (CETA) cart from the Port 1 to Starboard 1 truss segment, installed a new coupler on the CETA cart, lubricated snares on the "B" end of the space station's robotic arm and performed a few "get ahead" tasks.

They were unable to deploy the Port 3 unpressurized cargo carrier attachment system (UCCAS) and tied it safely in place while engineers evaluate the problem. Because the issue is not yet understood, Mission Control cancelled the installation of a similar payload attachment system on the starboard side.

Today's spacewalk lasted six hours, 27 minutes. It was the second spacewalk for both Acaba and Arnold and the 123rd spacewalk in support of station assembly and maintenance, totaling 775 hours. The three STS-119 spacewalks totaled 19 hours, 4 minutes. Steve Swanson has performed four spacewalks totaling 26 hours, 22 minutes. Acaba has two spacewalks totaling 12 hours, 57 minutes. Arnold has two spacewalks totaling 12 hours, 34 minutes.

NASA Television will carry a news briefing at 7 p.m. with STS-119 Lead Space Station Flight Director Kwatsi Alibaruho and STS-119 Lead Extravehicular Activity Officer Glenda Laws-Brown.

Image: Mission Specialist Joseph Acaba takes a ride on the International Space Station’s robotic arm during the mission's third spacewalk. Photo credit: NASA TV

Commander Lee Archambault leads Discovery's crew of seven, along with Pilot Tony Antonelli, and Mission Specialists Joseph Acaba, John Phillips, Steve Swanson, Richard Arnold and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Koichi Wakata on mission STS-119 to the International Space Station.

The STS-119 crew members are flying the S6 truss segment and installing the final set of power-generating solar arrays to the International Space Station. The S6 truss will complete the backbone of the station and provide one-fourth of the total power needed to support a crew of six.

SCROLL DOWN TO SEE THE COMPLETE NASA LAUNCH SCHEDULE TO EARLY 2011

Extra-vehicular activity

Three spacewalks were scheduled and completed during STS-119. The cumulative time in extra-vehicular activity during the mission was 19 hours and 4 minutes.

STS-119

Mission insignia

Mission statistics

Mission name

Space Shuttle

Launch pad

Launch date

Landing

Mission duration

Number of orbits

Orbital altitude

Orbital inclination

Distance traveled

STS-119

Discovery

LC-39A

March 15th 2009[1]

March 28 at 1:42 PM EDT

13 Days

TBD

122 nautical miles (225 km) orbital insertion; 195 nautical miles (361 km) rendezvous

51.6 degrees

TBD

STS-119 CREW (LABELLED BELOW)

Front Row (L-R) ANTONELLI, PILOT- ARCHAMBAULT, COMMANDER - Front Row (L-R) ACABA, PHILLIPS,SWANSON,

ARNOLD and WAKATA, MISSION SPECIALISTS

PRESS KIT AVAILABLE AT:

STS-119 Press Kit (5.3 Mb PDF)

COMPLETE UPDATED STS 119 FLIGHT PLAN from SPACEFLIGHTNOW.COM

DATE/EDT.......DD...HH...MM...EVENT

Flight Day 1

03/15/09

Sun 07:43 PM...00...00...00...Launch

Sun 08:20 PM...00...00...37...OMS-2 rocket firing

Sun 08:33 PM...00...00...50...Post insertion timeline begins

Sun 10:13 PM...00...02...30...Laptop computer setup (part 1)

Sun 10:13 PM...00...02...30...GIRA installation

Sun 10:23 PM...00...02...40...SRMS powerup

Sun 11:16 PM...00...03...33...NC1 rendezvous rocket firing

Sun 11:23 PM...00...03...40...SRMS checkout

Sun 11:28 PM...00...03...45...SEE setup

Sun 11:38 PM...00...03...55...Group B computer powerdown

Sun 11:53 PM...00...04...10...Wing leading edge sensors activated

Sun 11:53 PM...00...04...10...ET photo

03/16/09

Mon 12:03 AM...00...04...20...ET video downlink

Mon 12:13 AM...00...04...30...TPS imagery downlink

Mon 02:13 AM...00...06...30...Crew sleep begins

Flight Day 2

Mon 10:13 AM...00...14...30...Crew wakeup

Mon 12:42 PM...00...16...59...NC-2 rendezvous rocket firing

Mon 12:58 PM...00...17...15...SRMS unberths OBSS

Mon 01:23 PM...00...17...40...PGSC setup (part 2)

Mon 01:33 PM...00...17...50...Spacesuit checkout preps

Mon 02:03 PM...00...18...20...Spacesuit checkout

Mon 02:28 PM...00...18...45...OBSS starboard wing survey

Mon 04:18 PM...00...20...35...Ergometer setup

Mon 04:23 PM...00...20...40...OBSS nose cap survey

Mon 05:13 PM...00...21...30...Crew meals begin

Mon 06:13 PM...00...22...30...OBSS port wing survey

Mon 06:13 PM...00...22...30...Spacesuit prepped for transfer to station

Mon 08:13 PM...01...00...30...SRMS berths OBSS

Mon 08:18 PM...01...00...35...OMS pod survey

Mon 08:38 PM...01...00...55...LDRI downlink

Mon 09:08 PM...01...01...25...Centerline camera setup

Mon 09:38 PM...01...01...55...Orbiter docking system ring extension

Mon 10:08 PM...01...02...25...Rendezvous tools checkout

Mon 11:53 PM...01...04...10...NC-3 rendezvous rocket firing

03/17/09

Tue 01:43 AM...01...06...00...Crew sleep begins

Flight Day 3

Tue 08:53 AM...01...13...10...ISS crew wakeup

Tue 09:43 AM...01...14...00...STS crew wakeup

Tue 10:23 AM...01...14...40...ISS daily planning conference

Tue 11:23 AM...01...15...40...Group B computer powerup

Tue 11:38 AM...01...15...55...Rendezvous timeline begins

Tue 01:02 PM...01...17...19...NC-4 rendezvous rocket firing

Tue 01:48 PM...01...18...05...Spacesuits removed from airlock

Tue 02:34 PM...01...18...51...TI burn

Tue 04:06 PM...01...20...23...Rendezvous pitch maneuver

Tue 04:38 PM...01...20...55...Docking port prepped

Tue 05:13 PM...01...21...30...DOCKING TO THE ISS

Tue 05:38 PM...01...21...55...Leak checks

Tue 06:08 PM...01...22...25...Orbiter docking system prepped for ingress

Tue 06:08 PM...01...22...25...Group B computer powerdown

Tue 06:23 PM...01...22...40...Post docking laptop reconfig

Tue 06:28 PM...01...22...45...Hatch open

Tue 06:58 PM...01...23...15...Welcome aboard!

Tue 07:03 PM...01...23...20...Safety briefing

Tue 07:28 PM...01...23...45...Soyuz seatliner transfer/installation

Tue 07:43 PM...02...00...00...Spacesuits transferred to ISS

Tue 08:48 PM...02...01...05...REBA checkout

Tue 09:03 PM...02...01...20...Playback ops

Tue 09:58 PM...02...02...15...ISS evening planning conference

03/18/09

Wed 12:13 AM...02...04...30...ISS crew sleep begins

Wed 12:43 AM...02...05...00...STS crew sleep begins

Flight Day 4

Wed 08:43 AM...02...13...00...STS/ISS crew wakeup

Wed 10:13 AM...02...14...30...ISS daily planning conference

Wed 11:08 AM...02...15...25...SRMS powerup

Wed 11:38 AM...02...15...55...SSRMS S6 grapple/unberth

Wed 12:53 PM...02...17...10...SSRMS moves S6 to handoff position

Wed 01:13 PM...02...17...30...Equipment lock preps

Wed 01:43 PM...02...18...00...SRMS grapples S6

Wed 01:58 PM...02...18...15...EVA-1: Tools configured

Wed 02:03 PM...02...18...20...SSRMS ungrapples S6

Wed 02:18 PM...02...18...35...SSRMS maneuvers XLAT

Wed 02:43 PM...02...19...00...SOKOL suit leak check/dry

Wed 02:58 PM...02...19...15...PAO event

Wed 03:18 PM...02...19...35...Crew meals begin

Wed 04:18 PM...02...20...35...EVA-1: Tool audit

Wed 04:43 PM...02...21...00...SRMS moves S6 to handoff position

Wed 05:58 PM...02...22...15...SSRMS grapples S6

Wed 06:28 PM...02...22...45...SRMS ungrapples S6

Wed 06:43 PM...02...23...00...SSRMS to overnight park position

Wed 08:28 PM...03...00...45...ISS evening planning conference

Wed 08:43 PM...03...01...00...EVA-1: Procedures review

Wed 10:38 PM...03...02...55...EVA-1: Mask pre-breathe

Wed 11:23 PM...03...03...40...EVA-1: Airlock depress to 10.2 psi

Wed 11:43 PM...03...04...00...ISS crew sleep begins

03/19/09

Thu 12:13 AM...03...04...30...STS crew sleep begins

Flight Day 5

Thu 08:13 AM...03...12...30...Crew wakeup

Thu 08:48 AM...03...13...05...EVA-1: 14.7 psi repress/hygiene break

Thu 09:38 AM...03...13...55...EVA-1: Airlock depress to 10.2 psi

Thu 09:43 AM...03...14...00...ISS daily planning conference

Thu 09:58 AM...03...14...15...EVA-1: Campout EVA preps

Thu 11:08 AM...03...15...25...SSRMS moves S6 to pre-install

Thu 11:28 AM...03...15...45...EVA-1: Spacesuit purge

Thu 11:43 AM...03...16...00...EVA-1: Spacesuit prebreathe

Thu 12:43 PM...03...17...00...EVA-1: Crew lock depressurization

Thu 01:13 PM...03...17...30...EVA-1: Spacesuits to battery power

Thu 01:18 PM...03...17...35...EVA-1: Airlock egress

Thu 01:48 PM...03...18...05...EVA-1: Setup

Thu 02:03 PM...03...18...20...EVA-1: S6 attach

Thu 03:08 PM...03...19...25...EVA-1: S6 umbilical connect

Thu 03:08 PM...03...19...25...SSRMS releases S6

Thu 04:03 PM...03...20...20...EVA-1/EV-2: Blanket box launch lock release

Thu 04:03 PM...03...20...20...EVA-1/EV-1: PVR cinch/winch

Thu 04:48 PM...03...21...05...EVA-1/EV-1: Keel pin stow

Thu 05:03 PM...03...21...20...EVA-1/EV-1: BGA release

Thu 05:33 PM...03...21...50...EVA-1: Unstow blanket boxes

Thu 06:33 PM...03...22...50...EVA-1: SSU/ECU

Thu 06:43 PM...03...23...00...EVA-1: Cleanup and ingress

Thu 07:43 PM...04...00...00...EVA-1: Airlock pressurization

Thu 07:58 PM...04...00...15...Spacesuit servicing

Thu 08:58 PM...04...01...15...ISS evening planning conference

Thu 09:13 PM...04...01...30...SSRMS walkoff node 2

Thu 11:13 PM...04...03...30...ISS crew sleep begins

Thu 11:43 PM...04...04...00...STS crew sleep begins

Flight Day 6

03/20/09

Fri 07:43 AM...04...12...00...Crew wakeup

Fri 09:38 AM...04...13...55...ISS daily planning conference

Fri 09:48 AM...04...14...05...F1 DOUG review

Fri 10:53 AM...04...15...10...SSRMS grapples OBSS

Fri 11:13 AM...04...15...30...SSRMS unberths OBSS

Fri 11:28 AM...04...15...45...Spacesuit swap

Fri 11:43 AM...04...16...00...SSRMS moves OBSS to handoff position

Fri 12:13 PM...04...16...30...SRMS grapples OBSS

Fri 12:33 PM...04...16...50...SSRMS ungrapples OBSS

Fri 01:23 PM...04...17...40...Focused inspection (if needed)

Fri 01:23 PM...04...17...40...Crew meals begin

Fri 01:58 PM...04...18...15...PAO event

Fri 03:18 PM...04...19...35...Glacier transfer

Fri 04:23 PM...04...20...40...Equipment lock preps

Fri 04:58 PM...04...21...15...SSRMS grapples OBSS

Fri 05:03 PM...04...21...20...Tool configuration

Fri 05:13 PM...04...21...30...SRMS ungrapples OBSS

Fri 05:28 PM...04...21...45...SSRMS berths OBSS

Fri 06:03 PM...04...22...20...EVA-2: Tool audit

Fri 06:33 PM...04...22...50...SSRMS walkoff PDGF-1

Fri 06:43 PM...04...23...00...Distillation assembly transfer

Fri 07:43 PM...05...00...00...EVA-2: Procedures review

Fri 08:18 PM...05...00...35...SSRMS maneuvers XLAT

Fri 08:48 PM...05...01...05...ISS evening planning conference

Fri 10:08 PM...05...02...25...EVA-2: Mask pre-breathe

Fri 10:53 PM...05...03...10...EVA-2: Airlock depress to 10.2 psi

Fri 11:13 PM...05...03...30...ISS crew sleep begins

Fri 11:43 PM...05...04...00...STS crew sleep begins

Flight Day 7

03/21/09

Sat 07:43 AM...05...12...00...Crew wakeup

Sat 08:18 AM...05...12...35...EVA-2: 14.7 psi repress/hygiene break

Sat 09:08 AM...05...13...25...EVA-2: Airlock depress to 10.2 psi

Sat 09:13 AM...05...13...30...ISS daily planning conference

Sat 09:28 AM...05...13...45...EVA-2: Campout EVA preps

Sat 10:58 AM...05...15...15...EVA-2: Spacesuit purge

Sat 11:13 AM...05...15...30...EVA-2: Spacesuit prebreathe

Sat 11:33 AM...05...15...50...Distillation assembly install part 1

Sat 12:03 PM...05...16...20...EVA-2: Crew lock depressurization

Sat 12:43 PM...05...17...00...EVA-2: Spacesuits to battery power

Sat 12:48 PM...05...17...05...EVA-2: Airlock egress

Sat 01:03 PM...05...17...20...EVA-2: Setup

Sat 01:33 PM...05...17...50...EVA-2: S6 battery R&R preps

Sat 02:43 PM...05...19...00...EVA-2: P3 nadir UCCAS deploy

Sat 03:28 PM...05...19...45...Distillation assembly install part 2

Sat 03:58 PM...05...20...15...EVA-2/EV-2: P1/P3 fluid jumper

Sat 03:58 PM...05...20...15...EVA-2/EV-1: P1/P3 SSAS and RBVM MLI

Sat 04:13 PM...05...20...30...EVA-2/EV-1: P1 FHRC P-clamps

Sat 04:28 PM...05...20...45...EVA-2/EV-2: P1 FHRC P-clamps

Sat 05:03 PM...05...21...20...EVA-2: S2 PAS deploys

Sat 06:03 PM...05...22...20...EVA-2/EV-2: Tool stanchion relocate

Sat 06:03 PM...05...22...20...EVA-2/EV-1: APFR retrieval

Sat 06:28 PM...05...22...45...EVA-2: Cleanup and airlock ingress

Sat 07:13 PM...05...23...30...EVA-2: Airlock repressurization

Sat 07:28 PM...05...23...45...Spacesuit servicing

Sat 09:08 PM...06...01...25...Evening planning conference

Sat 10:43 PM...06...03...00...ISS crew sleep begins

Sat 11:13 PM...06...03...30...STS crew sleep begins

Flight Day 8

03/22/09

Sun 07:13 AM...06...11...30...Crew wakeup

Sun 08:43 AM...06...13...00...ISS daily planning conference

Sun 09:33 AM...06...13...50...Maneuver to solar array deploy attitude

Sun 10:18 AM...06...14...35...1B to 49 percent

Sun 11:03 AM...06...15...20...1B to 100 percent

Sun 11:48 AM...06...16...05...3B to 49 percent

Sun 12:33 PM...06...16...50...3B to 100 percent

Sun 12:58 PM...06...17...15...Spacesuit component swap

Sun 01:28 PM...06...17...45...Crew meals begin

Sun 02:28 PM...06...18...45...Equipment lock preps

Sun 03:13 PM...06...19...30...Tool configuration

Sun 03:58 PM...06...20...15...APFR heat shield/SPDM setup/DPART prep

Sun 05:28 PM...06...21...45...PAO event

Sun 07:13 PM...06...23...30...EVA-3: Procedures review

Sun 08:13 PM...07...00...30...Evening planning conference

Sun 09:08 PM...07...01...25...EVA-3: Mask pre-breathe

Sun 09:53 PM...07...02...10...EVA-3: Airlock depress to 10.2 psi

Sun 10:13 PM...07...02...30...ISS crew sleep begins

Sun 10:43 PM...07...03...00...STS crew sleep begins

Flight Day 9

03/23/09

Mon 06:43 AM...07...11...00...Crew wakeup

Mon 07:18 AM...07...11...35...EVA-3: 14.7 psi repress/hygiene break

Mon 08:08 AM...07...12...25...EVA-3: Airlock depress to 10.2 psi

Mon 08:28 AM...07...12...45...EVA-3: Campout EVA preps

Mon 08:43 AM...07...13...00...ISS daily planning conference

Mon 09:58 AM...07...14...15...EVA-3: Spacesuit purge

Mon 10:13 AM...07...14...30...EVA-3: Spacesuit prebreathe

Mon 11:13 AM...07...15...30...EVA-3: Crew lock depressurization

Mon 11:43 AM...07...16...00...EVA-3: Spacesuits to battery power

Mon 11:48 AM...07...16...05...EVA-3: Airlock egress

Mon 12:13 PM...07...16...30...EVA-3: Setup

Mon 12:33 PM...07...16...50...EVA-3: CETA relocate

Mon 01:33 PM...07...17...50...EVA-3/EV-1: SPDM tasks

Mon 01:33 PM...07...17...50...EVA-3/EV-2: S1 tasks

Mon 03:03 PM...07...19...20...EVA-3/EV-1: LEE B lube

Mon 03:43 PM...07...20...00...EVA-3/EV-2: S0 1A-D PRCM R&R

Mon 04:48 PM...07...21...05...SSRMS stow

Mon 05:03 PM...07...21...20...SPDM stow

Mon 05:18 PM...07...21...35...EVA-3/EV-1: Cleanup and ingress

Mon 05:43 PM...07...22...00...EVA-3/EV-2: Cleanup and ingress

Mon 06:13 PM...07...22...30...EVA-3: Airlock repressurization

Mon 06:28 PM...07...22...45...Spacesuit servicing

Mon 07:48 PM...08...00...05...Evening planning conference

Mon 09:43 PM...08...02...00...ISS crew sleep begins

Mon 10:13 PM...08...02...30...STS crew sleep begins

Flight Day 10

03/24/09

Tue 06:13 AM...08...10...30...Crew wakeup

Tue 08:13 AM...08...12...30...ISS daily planning conference

Tue 10:38 AM...08...14...55...Post-EVA reconfig

Tue 11:53 AM...08...16...10...UPA DA observation

Tue 12:08 PM...08...16...25...Oxygen system teardown

Tue 01:08 PM...08...17...25...Crew news conference

Tue 01:48 PM...08...18...05...Crew photo

Tue 02:08 PM...08...18...25...Joint meal

Tue 03:08 PM...08...19...25...Shuttle crew off duty

Tue 05:08 PM...08...21...25...Farewell ceremony

Tue 05:23 PM...08...21...40...Hatches closed

Tue 05:53 PM...08...22...10...Orbiter docking system leak checks

Tue 05:58 PM...08...22...15...Centerline camera setup

Tue 06:38 PM...08...22...55...Rendezvous tools checkout

Tue 06:43 PM...08...23...00...Evening planning conference

Tue 06:53 PM...08...23...10...Reboost

Tue 09:43 PM...09...02...00...ISS crew sleep begins

Tue 10:13 PM...09...02...30...STS crew sleep begins

Flight Day 11

03/25/09

Wed 06:13 AM...09...10...30...Crew wakeup

Wed 07:43 AM...09...12...00...ISS daily planning conference

Wed 08:13 AM...09...12...30...Group B computer powerup

Wed 09:03 AM...09...13...20...Undocking timeline begins

Wed 09:28 AM...09...13...45...PMA-2 depressurization

Wed 09:47 AM...09...14...04...UNDOCKING FROM THE ISS

Wed 11:02 AM...09...15...19...Separation burn 1

Wed 11:30 AM...09...15...47...Separation burn 2

Wed 11:33 AM...09...15...50...Post undocking computer reconfig

Wed 11:48 AM...09...16...05...Group B computer powerdown

Wed 12:08 PM...09...16...25...Crew meal

Wed 01:08 PM...09...17...25...OBSS unberth

Wed 02:23 PM...09...18...40...EVA unpack and stow

Wed 02:23 PM...09...18...40...OBSS starboard wing survey

Wed 02:53 PM...09...19...10...Post ISS EVA entry preps

Wed 04:03 PM...09...20...20...OBSS nose cap survey

Wed 04:53 PM...09...21...10...OBSS port wing survey

Wed 06:38 PM...09...22...55...OBSS berthing

Wed 06:38 PM...09...22...55...LDRI downlink

Wed 06:43 PM...09...23...00...ISS daily planning conference

Wed 07:08 PM...09...23...25...JAXA PAO event

Wed 10:13 PM...10...02...30...Crew sleep begins

Flight Day 12

03/26/09

Thu 06:13 AM...10...10...30...Crew wakeup

Thu 09:13 AM...10...13...30...SRMS powerdown

Thu 09:43 AM...10...14...00...Crew off duty time

Thu 02:43 PM...10...19...00...Crew meal

Thu 03:43 PM...10...20...00...Crew off duty time

Thu 09:13 PM...11...01...30...Crew sleep begins

Flight Day 13

03/27/09

Fri 05:13 AM...11...09...30...Crew wakeup

Fri 08:28 AM...11...12...45...Cabin stow begins

Fri 09:43 AM...11...14...00...FCS checkout

Fri 10:53 AM...11...15...10...RCS hotfire

Fri 11:48 AM...11...16...05...Crew meal

Fri 12:48 PM...11...17...05...PAO event

Fri 01:08 PM...11...17...25...Deorbit review

Fri 01:38 PM...11...17...55...Cabin stow resumes

Fri 02:28 PM...11...18...45...Landing comm checks

Fri 03:43 PM...11...20...00...Ergometer stow

Fri 04:13 PM...11...20...30...Recumbent seat setup

Fri 04:58 PM...11...21...15...PILOT operations

Fri 05:13 PM...11...21...30...Launch/entry suit checkout

Fri 05:58 PM...11...22...15...Wing leading edge sensor system deactivation

Fri 06:18 PM...11...22...35...PGSC stow (part 1)

Fri 06:38 PM...11...22...55...KU antenna stow

Fri 09:13 PM...12...01...30...Crew sleep begins

Flight Day 14

03/28/09

Sat 05:13 AM...12...09...30...Crew wakeup

Sat 07:53 AM...12...12...10...IMU alignment

Sat 08:38 AM...12...12...55...Deorbit timeline begins

Sat 12:39 PM...12...16...56...Deorbit ignition (rev. 201)

Sat 01:42 PM...12...17...59...Landing

THE LAUNCH OF THE SPACE SHUTTLE ENDEAVOUR ON NOV 14 at 7:55 PM EST

ENDEAVOUR LANDED AT EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE ON NOV 30 at 4:25 PM EST

NOTE THE CRESCENT MOON JUST ABOVE THE WING ALONG WITH VENUS THEN JUPITER ABOVE

JUST AFTER THE SPACE SHUTTLE ENDEAVOUR LANDED AT EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE LAST NOV 30

Image above: Space shuttle Endeavour and the STS-126 crew land at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. after completing a 16 day mission to the International Space Station. Photo credit: NASA/Tony Landis

› High-res Image

› Submit your comments on STS-126

With commander Chris Ferguson and pilot Eric Boe at the controls, space shuttle Endeavour descended to a smooth landing at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. The STS-126 crew members concluded their successful mission to the International Space Station when the shuttle touched down at 4:25 p.m. EST on Nov 30.

Endeavour arrived at the station Nov. 16, delivering equipment that will help allow the station to double its crew size to six. In addition, the STS-126 astronauts delivered Expedition 18 Flight Engineer Sandra Magnus, who replaced Greg Chamitoff, now a mission specialist who returned to Earth aboard Endeavour.

STS-126 is the 124th shuttle mission and 27th shuttle flight to visit the space station.

Due to the late landing time of space shuttle Endeavour, the previously reported STS-126 post-landing news conference at Kennedy Space Center, Fla., has been canceled.

SPACE SHUTTLE ENDEAVOUR VIEWED FROM THE SPACE STATION BEFORE RENDEZVOUSING AND DOCKING

FOURTH SPACE WALK - 2008 NOVEMBER 24

STS-126 Mission Specialist Steve Bowen works outside the International Space Station during the mission’s fourth spacewalk. Credit: NASA TV

STS-126 mission specialists Steve Bowen and Shane Kimbrough will perform the last of the mission's scheduled spacewalks today. Their tasks will include lubrication of the port solar alpha rotary joint, work on the Kibo laboratory and installation of a video camera.

Pilot Eric Boe will be the intravehicular officer, or spacewalk choreographer. The spacewalk is scheduled to last 6.5 hours.

When I saw the live views via NASA-tv during the STS-126 mission of a damaged S1 radiator I started thinking that my resolution should actually be sufficient to photograph it.The damage causes a considerable 'shade'on the brightly white reflecting radiator.You can see that nicely in this youtube video taken from the shuttle: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXC85g5cjOI&feature=related It also is on the Earth-facing side of the radiator.A close up taken from the ISS is available here: http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=2084.0;attach=95506;image On November 29,the same pass when I took the attached image of the shuttle,just 2 minutes before the ISS,I imaged indeed a dark shade on the place of the damage.Firstly I though it belongs to the big shade at the lower part of the radiators,but when I watched it more exactly I think it is the damage. (10inch >Newtonian,manually tracked)

R. VANDEBERGH IN THE NETHERLANDS

STS-126 MISSION SCHEDULE

From http://www.space.com/spaceshuttle/

Toolbag lost during spacewalk at International Space Station - It is being tracked by Ground based telescopes as a new tiny satellite of the Earth

by Rich Bowden - Nov 18 2008, 19:56

Image: STS-126 first spacewalk. Credit: NASA

NASA has reported that the first spacewalk conducted by the STS-126 crew outside the International Space Station will resume after a toolbag (worth about $100,000) was lost into the depths of space.

According to the U.S. space administration, mission specialist Heide Stefanyshyn-Piper reported that one of her lubrication tools had leaked grease into the toolbag while she was performing exterior maintenance. Then, while attempting to clean the tools and equipment of grease, the entire toolbag floated away beyond her reach.

However, NASA has been keen to stress the mishap does not pose a major threat to the mission and there is enough remaining equipment for the astronauts to complete their four scheduled spacewalks. Another bag carrying identical equipment will now be shared by the mission crew.

Earlier, the officials described the first spacewalk of Stefanyshyn-Piper and her colleague Steve Bowen as including "the replacement of a nitrogen tank assembly, assorted station assembly tasks, and the start of cleaning and lubrication of the starboard solar alpha rotary joint."

The spacewalk is set to resume after the mishap and expected to continue for six-and-a-half hours.

From www.Techherald.com

Crews Work on Home Improvements

Image above: STS-126 mission specialists Heide Stefanyshyn-Piper and Steve Bowen participate in interviews with the Associated Press, KMSP-TV in Minneapolis and WCVB-TV in Boston. Photo credit: NASA TV

› Submit your comments on STS-126

The STS-126 and Expedition 18 crews worked Wednesday to prepare the station for larger crews. They also prepared for the second spacewalk of the mission.

Expedition 18 flight engineer Sandra Magnus and her predecessor Greg Chamitoff installed two new bedrooms in the Harmony node. Meanwhile, STS-126 mission specialist Don Pettit and Expedition 18 commander Mike Fincke spent the bulk of the day configuring hardware on the new Water Recovery System.

The crews also moved equipment and supplies between the two spacecraft.

Mission specialists Heide Stefanyshyn-Piper and Shane Kimbrough will camp out overnight in the station’s Quest Airlock in preparation for the second spacewalk of the mission. The purpose of this “camp out” is to purge the nitrogen from their bodies before their planned exit Thursday at 1:45 p.m. EST. Piper and mission specialist Steve Bowen completed the mission’s first spacewalk Tuesday.

Astronauts Perform First Spacewalk

Image above: Mission Specialist Greg Chamitoff removes spacewalker Steve Bowen's spacesuit helmet following the first spacewalk of the STS-126 mission. Photo credit: NASA TV

› Submit your comments on STS-126

STS-126 mission specialists Heide Stefanyshyn-Piper and Steve Bowen worked outside the station Tuesday for the first of the mission's four spacewalks. Their tasks included the replacement of a nitrogen tank assembly, assorted station assembly tasks, and the start of cleaning and lubrication of the starboard solar alpha rotary joint.

Inside the station, STS-126 mission specialist Don Pettit and Expedition 18 flight engineer Sandra Magnus operated the station's robotic arm, and mission specialist Shane Kimbrough served as the intravehicular officer, or spacewalk coordinator.

The spacewalk began at 1:09 p.m. EST and ended at 8:01 p.m.

Nov. 6, 2008 Update

Four spacewalks await the astronauts of space shuttle Endeavour during STS-126, so the group is spending part of its time studying again what to expect in orbit. The brush-up on spacewalking is taking place at the astronauts’ training facilities at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. It includes another look at the tools they will use and how they will work.

Working in teams of two, the crew members specializing in extravehicular activity, or EVA, will put on their spacesuits and head outside the safety of the International Space Station. They will make their way along the metal span that holds the station’s huge solar arrays and work on the two joints that turn the arrays to track the sun.

They will use a few specialized tools during the work, plus an assortment of more conventional instruments that have been adapted for work in space. They also will take pictures of the areas they work on.

The astronauts will fly to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday for the launch, which is scheduled for Nov. 14 at 7:55 p.m. EST.

Workers at Kennedy are diligently moving through the standard procedures to make Endeavour ready for liftoff. Technicians continue work to closeout the aft section of Endeavour, which is the compartment housing the shuttle’s three main engines.

Additional Resources

› STS-126 Press Kit (4.4 Mb PDF)

› STS-126 Mission Summary (475 kb PDF)

› About the Crew

› Shuttle Launch Manifest

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Report: Space Shuttle Retirement Date in Jeopardy

By Becky Iannotta

Space News Staff Writer from SPACE.com

posted: 4 November 2008

3:37 pm ET

WASHINGTON - The addition of an extra mission to NASA's space shuttle flight manifest could significantly reduce the chance of retiring the orbiter fleet in 2010 as planned, possibly to as low as 5 percent, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) said in a report released Monday.

The CBO studied risks associated with delaying the space shuttle's retirement and how that would affect work on the replacement system - consisting of the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle and the Ares I launcher - which is expected to debut in 2015.

The report concluded there was a 20 to 60 percent chance NASA would be able to fly all of the 10 scheduled shuttle missions in the next two years. The addition of an 11th mission to transport the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer to the space station, as Congress has directed, would reduce that probability to between 5 and 30 percent, the CBO report said.

NASA plans to shift space shuttle program money to Orion and Ares after the shuttle retires, and has stated, according to the CBO report, that it might cancel shuttle flights not accomplished by September 2010. Meanwhile, the U.S. space agency continues to study options for speeding up the first Orion and Ares I flights by up to 18 months.

NASA currently is working toward a September 2014 debut for the new system, a target six months sooner than the March 2015 date it has promised the White House and Congress it can meet, budget permitting.

The CBO report notes that until August, NASA had said there was a 30 percent chance Orion and Ares I would be operational by September 2013 if an extra $1 billion was added to the agency's 2009 and 2010 budgets. NASA now says additional funding "can no longer significantly change either the estimated date for or NASA's level of confidence about its achievement of the [initial operating capability] milestone," the report states.

The gap between the shuttle's retirement and the first flight of Orion and Ares I could widen if NASA cannot keep Orion's mass from growing during development. Other issues that could delay Orion and Ares I include a longer-than-expected development of Ares I's J-2X upper-stage engine, difficulties with the Orion's heat shields and excessive thrust oscillation in Ares 1's first stage, the CBO report said.

The report also said a $577 million reduction in NASA's 2007 funding prompted NASA to forego some robotic lunar surface exploration missions, which could delay plans to return astronauts to the Moon by 2020.

**************************************************************************************************************************************************************

NASA link

Note: Due to a Recent Malfunction aboard the Hubble Telescope, the Scheduled Repair Mission for October 14 has been Postponed to at least May 11, 2009 in order to have extra time to Train the Astronauts for this New Repair and to have a Backup Second Shuttle Ready to Launch if Necessary.

NASA NEWS at: http://www.nasa.gov/news/index.html

UPDATE FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES BELOW

NASA Set to Reboot Hubble, Again

Launch is Now Set for 2009 May 11 at 2:01 PM EDT on STS 125

By DENNIS OVERBYE

Published: October 23, 2008

NASA is once again trying to reboot the Hubble Space Telescope, agency officials said Thursday.

The telescope’s instruments have been shut down since September 27 when a router that formats science data for transmission to the ground suffered an electrical failure.

Last week, the telescope’s managers succeeded in turning the router back on, using a backup electrical and data channel that had not been used in the 18-year life of the telescope. A pair of electrical anomalies, however, sent the telescope back into “safe mode.”

One of the anomalies, an incorrect voltage in Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys, was the result of a timing problem between a pair of software routines in the camera and has been corrected, said Art Whipple, an engineer at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

The second anomaly was apparently a temporary short circuit or some other ghost electrical signal that caused the telescope’s payload computer and the router to reset themselves. The payload computer handles Hubble’s scientific data and commands the instruments. There was apparently no lasting harm and no fuses were blown.

“Events like this are not uncommon in electrical circuits that have been turned off for a long time,” said Mr. Whipple, adding that “we might see more.”

If all goes well, Hubble’s main camera, the wide-field planetary camera 2, should begin sending pictures back to Earth on Saturday. Meanwhile, at Goddard, engineers are testing a spare router in the hopes that astronauts can take it to Hubble and replace the damaged unit as part of the next and last maintenance mission, now set for May 11.

NASA PRESS RELEASES ON THIS PROBLEM:

NASA to Discuss Hubble Anomaly and Servicing Mission Launch Delay

WASHINGTON -- NASA will host a media teleconference at 6 p.m. EDT Sept 29 to discuss a significant Hubble Space Telescope anomaly that occurred this weekend affecting the storage and transmittal of science data to Earth. Fixing the problem will delay next month's space shuttle Atlantis' Hubble servicing mission.

The briefing participants are:

- Ed Weiler, associate administrator of the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington

- John Shannon, Shuttle Program manager at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston

- Preston Burch, Hubble manager at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

To participate in the teleconference, reporters in the U.S. should call 1-800-369-6087 and use the pass code Hubble. International reporters should call 1-773-756-0843.

As a result of the launch delay, NASA has postponed the planned Oct. 3 Flight Readiness Review and subsequent news conference. The review will occur at a later date.

The malfunctioning system is Hubble's Control Unit/Science Data Formatter - Side A. Shortly after 8 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 27, the telescope's spacecraft computer issued commands to safe the payload computer and science instruments when errors were detected within the Science Data Formatter. An attempt to reset the formatter and obtain a dump of the payload computer’s memory was unsuccessful.

Additional testing demonstrates Side A no longer supports the transfer of science data to the ground. A transition to the redundant Side B should restore full functionality to the science instruments and operations.

The transition to Side B operations is complex. It requires that five other modules used in managing data also be switched to their B-side systems. The B-sides of these modules last were activated during ground tests in the late 1980’s and/or early 1990, prior to launch.

The Hubble operations team has begun work on the Side B transition and believes it will be ready to reconfigure Hubble later this week. The transition will happen after the team completes a readiness review.

Hubble could return to science operations in the immediate future if the reconfiguration is successful. Even so, the agency is investigating the possibility of flying a back-up replacement system, which could be installed during the servicing mission.

Audio of the teleconference will be streamed live at:

http://www.nasa.gov/newsaudio

Related images for the briefing will be available at:

http://www.nasa.gov/hubble

For more information about the Space Shuttle Program, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle

*******************************

Hubble set for critical switch to backup electronics

BY WILLIAM HARWOOD

STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION

Posted: October 14, 2008

After two weeks of engineering reviews and discussions, NASA managers have decided to press ahead with plans to put the Hubble Space Telescope into electronic hibernation Wednesday to carry out what amounts to long-distance neurosurgery. To work around the failure of a science data formatter that shut down science operations late last month, the engineering team will reconfigure Hubble to work with redundant data management subsystem components that have not been powered up since launch some 18 years ago.

"It is obviously a possibility that things will not come up," said Art Whipple, manager of the Hubble Space Telescope Systems Management office at the Goddard Spaceflight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

That's the bad news. The good news is "there is very little aging that goes on with an unpowered component in space."

"It's actually a very benign storage environment," he said. "We have very good confidence this will work. In addition, we have contingency plans built in at each step of the transition where if something does not go the way we expect it to, we'll be able to back out and go down an alternate path."

NASA was in the process of preparing the shuttle Atlantis for launch - the target date was today - when channel A of the telescope's control unit science data formatter, or CU/SDF-A, began acting erratically. The telescope's flight computer, following pre-programmed instructions, then acted to "safe" the payload computer and science instruments. An attempt by ground controllers to reset the formatter was not successful and engineers quickly determined the box had suffered a "hard" failure.

While a backup system was available, NASA managers decided to postpone Atlantis' launch on mission STS-125, also known as Hubble Servicing Mission 4, until mid February at the earliest to give engineers time to test and certify a spare unit, used for ground testing, that will be added to the shuttle manifest.

Whipple said ongoing paperwork reviews have not turned up any show stoppers. Vibration, thermal-vacuum and electromagnetic testing will begin next week and engineers should have a good idea by early November whether February is a real possibility for launch. In the meantime, program managers decided to go ahead and attempt a switchover to side B of the telescope's data management subsystem to restore normal science operations.

"The Hubble team has developed and tested the process for switching the Hubble Space Telescope observatory over to its side B and received the necessary approvals for proceeding," Jon Morse, director of NASA's astrophysics division, told reporters today. "The process will commence tomorrow morning and it's expected to take a couple of days to bring the observatory back to science operations.

"Switching to side B accomplishes two main things. One is to recover Hubble's science productivity using its main science instruments, especially the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 and the solar blind channel of the Advanced Camera for Surveys. It will also give the team the opportunity to restart the NICMOS cryo cooler, to bring that NICMOS infrared camera back to operational status. Another benefit is to test the side B functionality of the observatory in order to verify HST's redundancy. Restoring that redundancy was the main reason for delaying STS-125."

The transition to side B will involve 40 to 50 engineers at Goddard. Commanding will begin around 6 a.m. Wednesday, Oct 15 with the most critical phase between 8:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. After that, the team will work to bring Hubble out of an induced coma, or "safe mode." If all goes well, Hubble should be back in normal science mode early Friday.

Here's how Whipple described the initial failure and the transition procedure:

"On Sept. 27, just a little over two weeks before the planned October 14th launch of SM-4, the main flight computer on Hubble detected an error signal from the science instrument command and data handling subsystem and correctly responded by putting the SIC&DH and the four science instruments into protective safe mode. The failure was quickly isolated to a hard failure in one of the science data formatters in the SIC&DH. There are two formatters in that unit, one that failed and a second that has been kept as an unpowered backup since Hubble was launched in April 1990.

"There are no indications that this failure affected any other components in the SIC&DH, the science instruments or, in fact, anywhere else on the spacecraft. In its current configuration, Hubble can perform all of its normal health, safety and housekeeping functions but it can only perform astrometry science with the fine guidance sensors, since they do not communicate through the SIC&DH.

"Starting on Wednesday, Oct 15 we will reconfigure Hubble to use the redundant science data formatter in the SIC&DH and six redundant associated components in the spacecraft data management system to restore science operations. Five of the six redundant components in this data management system that will be brought on line have also not been powered since 1990. The command procedures to accomplish this transition have been thoroughly tested. ... So beginning early tomorrow morning, engineers at Goddard will start commanding the reconfiguration and we expect to see the first science data by midnight on Thursday with Hubble back in its science mode on Friday morning."

"Over the last few weeks, the HST operations team has worked hard to be sure the procedures are in place to accomplish an efficient and safe transition. We are confident that all preparations are complete and the team is ready to go."

Because of the way Hubble was designed in the 1970s, it isn't possible to simply power up the B side data formatter and add it to the A side electronics. Instead, ground controllers must power down the telescope and switch over a half-dozen other components as well.

"When we talk about bringing up the B side of the science data formatter, it's actually in a component with the control unit," Whipple said. "You sometimes see people refer to the CU/SDF, that's the box that will be on the B side. That involves the redundant power bus into the SIC&DH and with that comes the use of the redundant computer in that SIC&DH. You can actually run either computer from either bus, but the most straight forward configuration is running it straight through the B side. So that's how the SIC&DH will be configured.

"Because of the way the science payload is wired to the spacecraft bus and the whole data management system on the spacecraft, there are six other boxes that have nothing to do with the science payload - it's a telemetry format control module, a timing interface module, a communications module, a command data interface module, a data interface unit interface and then data interface unit No. 5 - all of those boxes, just because of the way the architecture was designed in the 1970s, are not fully cross-strapped. ... so those six boxes need to come over with the CU/SDF."

Assuming the switchover works, the telescope will again be able to downlink photos from the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 and the infrared NICMOS camera. The observatory's other two major instruments, the partially operational Advanced Camera for Surveys and the Space Telescope Infrared Spectrograph, are awaiting repairs during the upcoming servicing mission.

During the five-spacewalk mission, the Atlantis astronauts also plan to install two new science instruments, six new batteries, six stabilizing gyroscopes, a fine guidance sensor and replacement insulation. The upgrades are expected to extend Hubble's life at least five years. It's not yet clear where the computer unit swap out needed to restore redundancy in the science data management subsystem will be inserted in the timeline.

Shuttle engineers are currently planning for a possible launch around Feb. 17, 2009. But space station operations, the readiness of the new computer unit and a variety of other factors could force NASA to delay Hubble Servicing Mission 4 to early May 2009. UPDATE AS OF 2008 NOVEMBER 24 - THE FEB 2009 LAUNCH DATE IS POSTPONED - THE EARLIEST POSSIBLE LAUNCH DATE IS NOW 2009 MAY 11.

"We think in the first week or two in November we will have a much better handle on the actual state of the hardware," Whipple said. "The paperwork says February should be supportable, but we should have much higher confidence (in November)."

NEXT NASA MOON MISSION BEGINS VACUUM THERMAL TEST

ON THE LUNAR RECONNAISSANCE ORBITER (LRO)

LAUNCH IS SCHEDULED FOR 2009 JUNE 2

2008 OCT 23

This video shows the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter entering the Thermal Vacuum Chamber at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

> View video

Photo of LRO as it was lowered into Goddard's Thermal Vac, which simulates both the vacuum and temperatures of space. Credit: NASA/Debbie McCallum

> Larger image NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, has begun environmental testing in a thermal vacuum that simulates the harsh rigors of space.

The spacecraft, built at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., has been lifted into a four-story thermal vacuum chamber there for a test that will last approximately five weeks. Once sealed in the chamber, the satellite will undergo a series of tests that simulate the space environment it will encounter when it orbits the moon.

During the tests, NASA engineers will operate the spacecraft to ensure it is performing as planned. The project also will conduct mission simulations to further train and develop the team that will operate the spacecraft.

"This is an exciting time for our project" said Cathy Peddie, LRO deputy project manager at Goddard. "Thermal vacuum testing is one of our major milestones. Not only are we checking out LRO in a test facility that most closely matches its final destination, but we are getting more 'hands-on' time operating LRO as we will see it next year at the moon."

The orbiter will carry seven instruments to provide scientists with detailed maps of the lunar surface and enhance our understanding of the moon's topography, lighting conditions, mineralogical composition and natural resources. Information gleaned from LRO will be used to select safe landing sites, determine locations for future lunar outposts and help to mitigate radiation dangers to astronauts.

The orbiter will be shipped to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida early next year to be prepared for its June 2 launch aboard an Atlas V rocket. Accompanying the spacecraft will be the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, a mission that will impact the moon's surface in its search for water ice.

Launch Schedule - NASA's Shuttle and Rocket Missions

A variety of vehicles, launch sites on both U.S. coasts, shifting dates and times... the NASA Launch Schedule is easy to decipher by checking out our Launch Schedule 101 that explains how it all works!

Updated -- April 24, 2009 - 3:30 p.m. EDT

Legend: + Targeted For | * No Earlier Than (Tentative) | ** To Be Determined

2009 Launches

Date: March 5 - OCCURRED SUCCESSFULLY WITHIN 3 SECONDS OF SCHEDULED TIME!

Mission: Kepler

Launch Vehicle: United Launch Alliance Delta II

Launch Site: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station - Launch Complex 17 - Pad 17-B

Launch Time:10:49 p.m. EST

Description: The Kepler Mission, a NASA Discovery mission, is specifically designed to survey our region of the Milky Way galaxy to detect and characterize hundreds of Earth-size and smaller planets in or near the habitable zone.

Date: March 15 OCCURRED SUCCESSFULLY and LANDED ON MARCH 28

Mission: STS-119

Launch Vehicle: Space Shuttle Discovery

Launch Site: Kennedy Space Center - Launch Pad 39A

Launch Time: 7:43 PM EDT on March 15 and landed at 3:14 PM on March 28

Description: Space shuttle Discovery launching on assembly flight 15A, will deliver the fourth starboard truss segment to the International Space Station.

Date: May 5

Mission: STSS ATRR - Missile Defense Agency

Launch Vehicle: United Launch Alliance Delta II

Launch Site: Vandenberg Air Force Base - Launch Pad SLC-2

Launch Window: 1:24 - 1:52 p.m. PDT

Description: STSS ATRR serves as a pathfinder for future launch and mission technology for the Missile Defense Agency. To be launched by NASA for the MDA.

Date: May 11 OCCURRED SUCCESSFULLY AT 2:01 PM EDT

Mission: STS-125

Launch Vehicle: Space Shuttle Atlantis

Launch Site: Kennedy Space Center Launch Pad 39A

Launch Time: 2:01 p.m. EDT +

Description: Space Shuttle Atlantis will fly seven astronauts into space for the fifth and final servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope. During the 11-day flight, the crew will repair and improve the observatory's capabilities.

Date: May 20 *

Mission: GOES-O

Launch Vehicle: United Launch Alliance Delta IV

Launch Site: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station - Launch Pad 37-B

Description: NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) are actively engaged in a cooperative program, the multi-mission Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite series N-P. This series will be a vital contributor to weather, solar and space operations, and science.

Date: June 2 *

Mission: LRO/LCROSS

Launch Vehicle: United Launch Alliance Atlas V

Launch Site: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station - Launch Complex 41

Description: LRO will launch with the objectives to finding safe landing sites, locate potential resources, characterize the radiation environment and test new technology. The Lunar CRater Observing and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS, mission is seeking a definitive answer about the presence or absence of water ice in a permanently shadowed crater at either the Moon's North or South Pole.

Date: June 13 +

Mission: STS-127

Launch Vehicle: Space Shuttle Endeavour

Launch Site: Kennedy Space Center - Launch Pad 39A

Launch Time: 7:19 a.m. EDT +

Description: Space shuttle Endeavour will deliver the exposed facility of Japan's Kibo laboratory to the International Space Station.

Date: July 11 +

Mission: Ares I-X Flight Test

Launch Vehicle: Ares I-X

Launch Site: Kennedy Space Center - Launch Pad 39B

Description: The Ares I-X flight test is NASA's first test for the Agency's new Constellation launch vehicle -- Ares I. The Ares I-X flight will provide NASA with an early opportunity to test and prove flight characteristics, hardware, facilities and ground operations associated with the Ares I.

Date: July 29

Mission: STSS Demonstrators Program - Missile Defense Agency

Launch Vehicle: United Launch Alliance Delta II

Launch Site: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station - Launch Complex 17, Pad B

Description: STSS Demonstrators Program is a midcourse tracking technology demonstrator and is part of an evolving ballistic missile defense system. STSS is capable of tracking objects after boost phase and provides trajectory information to other sensors and interceptors. To be launched by NASA for the Missile Defense Agency.

Date: Aug. 6 +

Mission: STS-128

Launch Vehicle: Space Shuttle Discovery

Launch Site: Kennedy Space Center - Launch Pad 39A

Description: Space shuttle Discovery will use a Multi-Purpose Logistics Module to carry experiment and storage racks to the International Space Station.

Date: Oct. 14

Mission: SDO

Launch Vehicle: United Launch Alliance Atlas V

Launch Site: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station - Launch Complex 41

Description: The first Space Weather Research Network mission in the Living With a Star (LWS) Program of NASA.

Date: Nov. 1

Mission: WISE

Description: The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) will survey the entire sky in the mid-infrared with far greater sensitivity than any previous mission or program ever has. The WISE survey will consist of over a million images, from which hundreds of millions of astronomical objects will be cataloged.

Date: Nov. 12 +

Mission: STS-129

Launch Vehicle: Space Shuttle Atlantis

Launch Site: Kennedy Space Center - Launch Pad 39A

Description: Space shuttle Atlantis will deliver components including two spare gyroscopes, two nitrogen tank assemblies, two pump modules, an ammonia tank assembly and a spare latching end effector for the station's robotic arm to the International Space Station.

Date: Dec. 10 +

Mission: STS-130

Launch Vehicle: Space Shuttle Endeavour

Launch Site: Kennedy Space Center - Launch Pad 39A

Description: Space shuttle Endeavour will deliver the final connecting node, Node 3, and the Cupola, a robotic control station with six windows around its sides and another in the center that provides a 360-degree view around the International Space Station.

2010 Launches

Date: Jan. 23 *

Mission: Glory

Launch Vehicle: Orbital Sciences Taurus Rocket

Launch Site: Vandenberg Air Force Base - Launch Pad SLC 576-E

Description: The Glory Mission will help increase our understanding of the Earth's energy balance by collecting data on the properties of aerosols and black carbon in the Earth's atmosphere and how the Sun's irradiance affects the Earth's climate.

Date: Feb. 11 +

Mission: STS-131

Launch Vehicle: Space Shuttle Atlantis

Launch Site: Kennedy Space Center - Launch Pad 39A

Description: Space shuttle Atlantis will carry a Multi-Purpose Logistics Module filled with science racks that will be transferred to laboratories of the International Space Station.

Date: April 8 +

Mission: STS-132

Launch Vehicle: Space Shuttle Discovery

Launch Site: Kennedy Space Center - Launch Pad 39A

Description: Space shuttle Discovery mission will carry an integrated cargo carrier to deliver maintenance and assembly hardware, including spare parts for space station systems. In addition, the second in a series of new pressurized components for Russia, a Mini Research Module, will be permanently attached to the bottom port of the Zarya module.

Date: May 23

Mission: Aquarius

Launch Vehicle: United Launch Alliance Delta II 7320

Launch Site: Vandenberg Air Force Base - SLC 2

Description: The Aquarius mission will provide the first-ever global maps of salt concentrations in the ocean surface needed to understand heat transport and storage in the ocean.

Date: May 31 + THE LAST SHUTTLE LAUNCH EVER!!!!!

Mission: STS-133

Launch Vehicle: Space Shuttle Endeavour

Launch Site: Kennedy Space Center - Launch Pad 39A

Description: Space shuttle Endeavour will deliver critical spare components including antennas and gas tanks to the International Space Station.

2011 Launches

Date: **

Mission: Mars Science Laboratory

Launch Vehicle: United Launch Alliance Atlas V

Launch Site: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station

Description: The Mars Science Laboratory is a rover that will assess whether Mars ever was, or is still today, an environment able to support microbial life and to determine the planet's habitability.

NASA Spacecraft Ready to Explore Outer Solar System with the OCTOBER 19 IBEX LAUNCH

UPDATE: IBEX WAS LAUNCHED AT 1:47:23 PM EDT OCT 19

SEE UNMANNED SPACE MISSIONS AT LEFT MENU ABOVE

GREENBELT, Md. -- The first NASA spacecraft to image and map the dynamic interactions taking place where the hot solar wind slams into the cold expanse of space is ready for launch Oct. 19. The two-year mission will begin from the Kwajalein Atoll, a part of the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean.

Called the Interstellar Boundary Explorer or IBEX, the spacecraft will conduct extremely high-altitude orbits above Earth to investigate and capture images of processes taking place at the farthest reaches of the solar system. Known as the interstellar boundary, this region marks where the solar system meets interstellar space.

"The interstellar boundary regions are critical because they shield us from the vast majority of dangerous galactic cosmic rays, which otherwise would penetrate into Earth's orbit and make human spaceflight much more dangerous," said David J. McComas, IBEX principal investigator and senior executive director of the Space Science and Engineering Division at the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio.

The story of the outer solar system began to unfold when the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 spacecrafts left the inner solar system and headed out toward the boundary between our solar system and interstellar space.

"The Voyager spacecraft are making fascinating observations of the local conditions at two points beyond the termination shock that show totally unexpected results and challenge many of our notions about this important region," said McComas.

Other spacecraft have continued the exploration of the interstellar boundary region. Recently, a pair of NASA sun-focused satellites, the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory mission, detected a higher-energy version of the particles IBEX will observe in the heliosphere. The heliosphere is an area that contains the solar wind. It stretches from the sun to a distance several times the orbit of Pluto.

IBEX is poised to thoroughly map this interstellar boundary region of the solar system. The images will allow scientists to understand the global interaction between our sun and the galaxy for the very first time.

IBEX will be launched aboard a Pegasus rocket dropped from under the wing of an L-1011 aircraft flying over the Pacific Ocean. The Pegasus will carry the spacecraft approximately 130 miles above Earth and place it in orbit.

"What makes the IBEX mission unique is that it has an extra kick during launch," said Willis Jenkins, IBEX program executive at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "An extra solid-state motor pushes the spacecraft further out of low-Earth orbit where the Pegasus launch vehicle leaves it."

The IBEX mission is the next in NASA's series of low-cost, rapidly developed Small Explorers spacecraft. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., manages the Explorers Program for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The mission was developed by Southwest Research Institute with national and international partner participation.

For more information about IBEX, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/ibex