[Space] NASA - STS-115 - ISS 12A (Atlantis) [Archivio]

GioFX

02-08-2006, 23:56

Grazie caro!

e, nel mentre...

Da SpaceFlightNow.com:

Shuttle Atlantis rolls to the launch pad

BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: August 2, 2006

Finally catching a break from the weather, the shuttle Atlantis was hauled to its ocean-side launch pad early today for final preparations before blastoff at the end of the month on a space station assembly mission.

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/060801rollout/rollout.jpg

The 4.2-mile move from the Vehicle Assembly Building began at 1:05 a.m., two days late because of showers and thunderstorms that pounded Cape Canaveral Sunday night and Monday. The shuttle's mobile launch platform was "hard down" at the pad by 8:54 a.m.

Atlantis' crew - commander Brent Jett, pilot Chris Ferguson, flight engineer Dan Burbank, Joe Tanner, Steve MacLean and Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper - will fly to the Kennedy Space Center next week to participate in a dress-rehearsal countdown Aug. 10.

Launch currently is targeted for Aug. 27, but NASA managers are considering the possibility of moving the flight up one day to Aug. 26.

Atlantis' launch window is based on the international space station's orbit, the angle between the sun and the plane of the station's orbit and lighting conditions for photo documentation of the ship's external tank and heat shield. Based on those factors, the launch window extends from Aug. 27 through Sept. 13.

But any launch past Sept. 7 would put the shuttle in conflict with launch of a Russian Soyuz capsule carrying the station's next full-time crew. NASA managers and their Russian counterparts want to ensure at least one day between undocking of Atlantis and arrival of the Soyuz. As a result, if Atlantis launches between Aug. 27 and Sept. 3, the Soyuz will take off Sept. 14. A shuttle launch between Sept. 4 and Sept. 7 would result in a Soyuz launch Sept. 18.

A Soyuz launch later than Sept. 18 would result in a dead-of-night landing for the returning station crew, a scenario the Russians want to avoid. That means Atlantis must get off the ground by Sept. 7 at the latest unless the Russians change their launch strategy.

To ensure as many launch attempts as possible, NASA engineers are assessing whether orbital lighting would be sufficient for a shuttle launch as early as Aug. 26. At issue is whether critical areas of the external tank would be illuminated sufficiently for photo documentation after separation from the shuttle.

But Aug. 26 will be a challenge regardless of orbital lighting. Given Atlantis' delayed move to the pad, the launch team only has two days of contingency time left in the pad processing schedule to handle unexpected problems.

The goal of the 116th shuttle mission is to install two new truss segments - port 3 and port 4 - on the left end of the station's main power and cooling truss. The port 3 truss segment features a complex rotary joint that will enable two huge solar panels making up the port 4 segment to track the sun as required to provide maximum power.

Earlier today, the station's mobile transporter, used to carry the lab's robot arm from point to point along the main truss, was moved from work site 4 to work site 7 on the end of the port 1 truss segment to await Atlantis' arrival. The station arm, mounted on the transporter, will be used to move the new truss segments brought up by Atlantis into position for attachment to P1 (there is no P2 segment).

The STS-115 flight plan is being revised to reflect recent changes. But here are two timelines, based on the latest rendezvous projections and a recent decision to move up undocking one day, for launch attempts Aug. 26 and Aug. 27 (in EDT and mission elapsed time):

DAY/EDT DD HH MM EVENT
______________________________________________

08/26/06
Sat 04:52 PM 00 00 00 STS-115 Launch

08/28/06
Mon 12:13 PM 01 19 21 Atlantis docks with space station

08/29/06
Tue 10:52 AM 02 18 00 EVA-1 begins
Tue 05:17 PM 03 00 25 EVA-1 ends

08/30/06
Wed 10:52 AM 03 18 00 EVA-2 begins
Wed 05:22 PM 04 00 30 EVA-2 ends

08/31/06
Thu 08:12 AM 04 15 20 4A solar array mast deploy to 100 percent
Thu 09:42 AM 04 16 50 2A solar array mast deploy to 100 percent

09/01/06
Fri 10:52 AM 05 18 00 EVA-3 begins
Fri 05:17 PM 06 00 25 EVA-3 ends

09/03/06
Sun 02:06 PM 07 21 14 Undocking

09/06/06
Wed 10:36 AM 10 17 44 Deorbit ignition (orbit 170)
Wed 11:38 AM 10 18 46 Landing

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

08/27/06
Sun 04:30 PM 00 00 00 STS-115 Launch

08/29/06
Tue 12:38 PM 01 20 08 Atlantis docks with space station

08/30/06
Wed 10:30 AM 02 18 00 EVA-1 begins
Wed 04:55 PM 03 00 25 EVA-1 ends

08/31/06
Thu 10:30 AM 03 18 00 EVA-2 begins
Thu 05:00 PM 04 00 30 EVA-2 ends

09/01/06
Fri 07:50 AM 04 15 20 4A solar array mast deploy to 100 percent
Fri 09:20 AM 04 16 50 2A solar array mast deploy to 100 percent

09/02/06
Sat 10:30 AM 05 18 00 EVA-3 begins
Sat 04:55 PM 06 00 25 EVA-3 ends

09/04/06
Mon 02:29 PM 07 21 59 Undocking

09/07/06
Thu 11:00 AM 10 18 30 Deorbit ignition (orbit 171)
Thu 12:02 PM 10 19 32 Landing

NASA managers are expected to discuss launch date targets later this week at a program requirements change board - PRCB - meeting. An official launch date will be announced Aug. 16 at the conclusion of a two-day flight readiness review.

If NASA can get Atlantis off within the available window, and if the shuttle's external tank doesn't shed any significant amounts of foam insulation, the space agency will remove a self-imposed restriction to only launch in daylight, greatly expanding the available launch windows for subsequent flights.

But if Atlantis fails to get off in the August/September window, the agency will face the prospect of just three useable launch days - Oct. 26, 27 and Dec. 23 - before the end of the year because of lighting and temperature constraints based on the station's orbit.

Octane

07-08-2006, 11:37

Un'altra foto dell'arrivo dell'Atlantis alla piattaforma di lancio:

http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/153212main_coolroll.jpg (http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/153213main_coolroll-lg.jpg)

GioFX

07-08-2006, 12:28

Un'altra foto dell'arrivo dell'Atlantis alla piattaforma di lancio:

http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/153212main_coolroll.jpg (http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/153213main_coolroll-lg.jpg)

stupendo, nella nebbia è ancora più incredbile...

adsasdhaasddeasdd

07-08-2006, 12:53

malo sciatol russo non vola più??

Legolas84

07-08-2006, 13:50

Shuttle :asd:

albertoz85

07-08-2006, 14:14

malo sciatol russo non vola più??

Se ti riferisci al Buran, ha volato una volta, 20 anni fa, senza equipaggio, e l'unico esemplare costruito è andato distrutto...
Tu ci facevi ancora conto? :D

GioFX

07-08-2006, 14:56

Se ti riferisci al Buran, ha volato una volta, 20 anni fa, senza equipaggio, e l'unico esemplare costruito è andato distrutto...
Tu ci facevi ancora conto? :D

correggo: Buran è il nome dell'orbiter 1.01, l'unico pronto e certificato per il volo. Ptichka è invece il secondo orbiter costruito, identificato con la sigla 1.02, la cui costruzione è inziata nel 1988 e poi sospesa con la chiusura del programma nel 1993, quando era pronto al 97%. Oggi è di proprietà del Kazakistan, si trova ora all'ingresso del complesso turistico all'interno del cosmodromo di Baikonur.

http://www.aerospaceweb.org/question/spacecraft/buran/ptichka1.jpg

Atri 2 orbiter, 2.01, 2.02 sono rimasti incompleti, mentre il 2.03 è stato smantellato.

Altre informazioni su:

www.buran.ru

www.k26.com/buran

Ma vi prego, questo 3d è solo per la missione in oggetto del programma STS, le discussioni sul Buran vanno in un apposito 3d, o in quello globale... ;)

albertoz85

07-08-2006, 17:38

correggo: Buran è il nome dell'orbiter 1.01, l'unico pronto e certificato per il volo. Ptichka è invece il secondo orbiter costruito, identificato con la sigla 1.02, la cui costruzione è inziata nel 1998 e poi sospesa con la chiusura del programma nel 1993, quando era pronto al 97%. Oggi è di proprietà del Kazakistan, si trova ora all'ingresso del complesso turistico all'interno del cosmodromo di Baikonur.

Si si, difatti ho scritto l'unico esemplare costruito, intendendo "pronto al volo" :)
Ti faccio io una correzione, ti è scappato un 1998 invece di 1988 ;)

GioFX

07-08-2006, 17:45

Si si, difatti ho scritto l'unico esemplare costruito, intendendo "pronto al volo" :)
Ti faccio io una correzione, ti è scappato un 1998 invece di 1988 ;)

grazie ci siamo corretti a vicenda :D

la mia cmq non era una correzione, quanto più una puntalizzazione, dato che è talmente comune il riferimento al Buran che il programma stesso è stato definito Buran Space Program in occidente.

lele980

14-08-2006, 15:56

guyver

14-08-2006, 21:50

che la nasa resterà a terra :mc: :D

albertoz85

14-08-2006, 22:37

ragazzi scusate l OT ma credo che voi sicuramente mi possiate meglio indirizzare visto l attinenza del discorso:

vorrei che mi indirizzaste su qualche link o discussione riguardanti la serie hyper-x della nasa e tutti i futuri progetti della sostituzione dello shuttle dato che ufficialmente nel 2010 lo shuttle andra' in pensione, ma ancora devo capire cosa lo sostituira' . e se nn ci fosse ancora l alternativa, cosa succedera'?

Il programma è già definito da qualche anno, si tratta del Project Constellation, puoi trovare tutto sul sito nasa (ovviamente :) )

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/exploration/spacecraft/cev.html
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/exploration/main/index.html

GioFX

14-08-2006, 23:39

C'è l'indice in alto! :O

http://www.hwupgrade.it/forum/showthread.php?p=9551606

GioFX

14-08-2006, 23:40

Da Spaceflightnow.com:

Shuttle communications antenna bolts a concern

BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: August 13, 2006

Engineers are trying to determine whether critical bolts holding the shuttle Atlantis' KU-band antenna box in place are securely threaded, a potentially serious issue that could require tricky repairs before the ship's Aug. 27 launch, sources said Sunday.

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/060813kubolts/kuantenna.jpg
File image of KU-band antenna stowed in Atlantis payload bay. Credit: NASA-KSC

A two-day flight readiness review to assess Atlantis' ground processing, to resolve open issues and to set an official launch date begins Tuesday at the Kennedy Space Center. The launch window for the 116th shuttle mission opens Aug. 27 at 4:30 p.m. and closes Sept. 7.

The KU-band antenna bolt issue will be discussed Monday, but it's not yet clear whether the issue can be resolved before the flight readiness review begins or whether additional work will be needed to determine what, if anything, needs to be done.

The issue involves four bolts that hold the antenna support box to the forward right side of Atlantis' cargo bay. The KU-band antenna is used to relay voice, video and data between the shuttle and NASA's fleet of communications satellites.

During an earlier launch campaign, engineers discovered problems with a certain type of bolt that in some cases were too short and not sufficiently threaded, or screwed in. Engineers began an assessment of similar bolts used elsewhere in the shuttle.

As it turns out, the same type bolts are used to secure the shuttle's KU-band antenna box to the payload bay wall. Engineers replaced the bolts in the shuttles Discovery and Endeavour but not in Atlantis

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/060813kubolts/kuantenna2.jpg
File image of KU-band antenna deployed in space

The bolts have been in place since the antenna was installed aboard Atlantis and there has never been a problem. But it is known that some of the bolts could be engaged just a few threads worth because of a "tolerance stackup" in the way the bolts and washers are installed, according to engineers familiar with the matter.

Should the box break free during ascent, it would fall the length of the shuttle's 60-foot-long cargo bay and could cause catastrophic damage.

The bolts in question cannot be easily inspected at the launch pad. Kennedy Space Center engineers are studying paperwork and earlier analyses to determine whether the bolts are, in fact, sufficiently threaded. At the same time, sources said, they also are studying ways to replace the bolts at the pad, if necessary, a procedure that has never been done before.

Atlantis' launch window is defined by the international space station's orbit and by a post-Columbia requirement to launch two missions in daylight for photo documentation of the shuttle's heat shield and external tank foam insulation.

Because of unexpected foam shedding during the first post-Columbia mission last year, NASA extended the daylight requirement to the third flight in the sequence.

The shuttle Discovery successfully flew in July and a repeat performance by Atlantis would clear the way for the resumption of night launchings, greatly expanding available launch windows.

But if Atlantis isn't off the ground by the end of the September window, NASA would be faced with the prospect of just two launch days in October, none in November and just one in December. As such, agency engineers want to resolve the bolt issue as soon as possible.

GioFX

14-08-2006, 23:42

Aggiornamento di Dave (United Space Alliance):

the KU band ant. bolt problem is a PBA (Probably Be Alright). This has been know for well over 1 1/2 weeks. If required they can be changed on the pad,

lele980

14-08-2006, 23:58

C'è l'indice in alto! :O

http://www.hwupgrade.it/forum/showthread.php?p=9551606

sono cecato, grazie e scusate

GioFX

17-08-2006, 10:38

Da NasaSpaceFlight.com:

NASA give approval for Atlantis launch

Chris Bergin, 8/16/2006 3:48:00 PM

Managers at NASA's Flight Readiness Review (FRR) in Florida have given their final approval for the launch of Shuttle Atlantis to proceed as planned, no sooner than August 27.

Atlantis will be carrying the P3/P4 solar array truss elements to the International Space Station (ISS) - the first assembly flight post-Columbia disaster - on a complex mission involving three spacewalks.

The bolts holding the KU band antenna in place in Atlantis' cargo bay proved to be the biggest topic of discussion at the FRR, with foam liberation concerns on the External Tank being diluted, following a clean STS-121 last month.

Evaluations on what to do with the bolts are still on-going, but not seriousness enough to affect the launch date - despite a previous NASA memo noting that a changeout of the bolts would lead to a rollback of the stack into the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB).

'The longest thing we talked about wasn't the foam,' said Shuttle manager Wayne Hale. 'It was about the famous bolts that were found on the KU antenna. This is a real success story, an example of improving safety on board the Space Shuttle.

'Some 25 or 30 years ago a mistake was made in the design of this particular component, in the way this antenna is bolted on the orbiter. For the last 25 years we've been flying with these thread fasteners - these bolts that barely have a thread or two that holds them on. That is not good engineering practise.

'We had an exhaustive review - which is still ongoing - looking at all the thread fasteners on the orbiters and we found that the bolts weren't long enough. That is not where we want to be. So we changed the bolts out on Discovery and Endeavour.

NASA is evaluating whether they need to change the bolts out on Atlantis at the pad - allowing her to fly without any engineering being required on the antenna. Any work would have to be undertaken with great care, so as not to damage the nearby payload.

'On Atlantis the access very difficult, so we are doing more work to see how much risk is involved with changing those bolts out.'

'I think it's likely we'll change those bolts out, but the analysis is still ongoing,' added Hale.

'This is a normal day in the life of the Space Shuttle and I expect them to go on over the life of the Shuttle.

'All in all the team has worked very hard. We have 17,000 people working around the country on the Space Shuttle program and we're ready to go forward with the completion of a few last items and we aim to be back here on August 27 and hope mother nature will cooperate with us for an on-time launch on Sunday afternoon.'

Dissenting opinion was still in evidence at the FRR, but as with STS-121's meeting, this was encouraged, to ensure no stones were left unturned.

"It was an honor to work with this team, a thrill to see another FRR," said NASA Administrator Michael Griffin. "It was a great review, and I look forward to a great launch."

"The teams have done a great job of getting us here," added Associate Administrator for Space Operations Bill Gerstenmaier, who chaired the Flight Readiness Review. "We still have some minor open work in front of us. We look forward to the return to assembly".

GioFX

24-08-2006, 20:41

Da Spaceflightnow.com:

Atlantis crew arrives as countdown begins early

BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: August 24, 2006

The shuttle Atlantis' astronauts flew to Florida today to prepare for launch Sunday on a long-awaited flight to restart space station assembly. With forecasters predicting a 70 percent chance of good weather, liftoff from pad 39B is targeted for 4:30 p.m. Sunday.

"I hope you can tell by the smiles on our faces that we're very, very happy to finally be here in Florida to start the launch countdown," Commander Brent Jett told reporters at the shuttle runway. "Now there's been a lot of talk in the press lately about NASA being 'back' and I think we would all certainly agree with that talk. But we have a saying back in Texas that it's time to 'walk the walk.' Speaking for myself and my fellow crewmates, I can assure you we are ready for the challenge and we are anxious to restart the station assembly sequence. All we need is a little good weather Sunday and we'll be out of here."

Jett and his crewmates - pilot Chris Ferguson, Joe Tanner, Dan Burbank, Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper and Canadian astronaut Steve MacLean - plan to spend the next two days reviewing their flight plan and relaxing before strapping in for launch Sunday.

Forecasters are predicting a 70 percent chance of acceptable weather Sunday, improving to 80 percent "go" Monday and Tuesday. NASA's launch strategy calls for back-to-back launch tries Sunday and Monday, then two more back-to-back tries Wednesday and Thursday to give four launch attempts in five days. Three more launch opportunities are available between then and the end of the launch window on Sept. 7.

While the afternoon weather is expected to be favorable this weekend, forecasters predict afternoon thunderstorms Friday and Saturday. As a result, the launch team moved up the start of Atlantis' countdown from 6 p.m. to noon today to give engineers a better chance for loading on-board oxygen and hydrogen for the shuttle's electricity producing fuel cells.

A hold at the T-minus 19 hour mark that normally lasts just four hours will be lengthened to 10 hours to make up for the early start of the countdown. When the count resumes at 2 a.m. Saturday, all subsequent activities will be synched up with the original schedule.

The goal of the 116th shuttle mission is to deliver and install a $372 million set of solar arrays and a complex rotary joint on the international space station, a complex job requiring back-to-back spacewalks, dual robot arm operations and tight coordination with flight controllers in Houston. It is the first in a series of assembly flights that rank as the most complex ever attempted by NASA.

Station assembly has been on hold since the Feb. 1, 2003, loss of the shuttle Columbia but with a successful test flight last month, NASA managers are counting on Atlantis' mission to restart the assembly sequence and clear the way for more frequent shuttle launchings.

"It's been six years since our payload has been at Kennedy," MacLean said. "It's been four years since Atlantis has been in preparation (for launch) and for us as a crew, it's been four and a half years as well. And finally, on Sunday, we're going to get to walk out to the pad for launch.

"For me, walking out to the pad on Sunday will be much like walking into an Olympic stadium for your athletic event. Many countries will be participating in a spirit of international cooperation and our families and our friends who believe in what we do will be in the front seats of the stadium. So I invite you all to watch what we do over the next week. It will be exciting. It's complex what we do, it's not easy. But with a team like this that I've been working with for the last four years and especially with the focus and dedication of the teams on the ground, I promise you we'll bring home a gold medal."

GioFX

25-08-2006, 10:32

Da NasaSpaceFlight.com:

NASA seeks Shuttle exhaust waiver

By Joseph O. Boggi, 8/24/2006 6:32:00 PM

A waiver has been requested by Space Shuttle engineers, ahead of Atlantis' launch on STS-115 this weekend, to mitigate risk associated with Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) exhaust in the event of the orbiter's computers issuing a shutdown after engine ignition on the pad.

The rationale is based on the risk of Hydrogen in the air - which could cause an explosion in certain conditions.

At T-6.6 seconds, the three SSMEs ignite in sequence. In the event of - for example one SSME failing to reach full power - the orbiter's computers signal for shutdown - that can leave Hydrogen in the air around the aft of the vehicle. If the presence of Hydrogen is of a volume of four percent or higher, combining with Oxygen, it can be a combustion source.

Recently, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) issued a waiver for the system that deals with Unburned Hydrogen. This issue of backflow of Hydrogen appears to remain a problem based on this waiver, only issued for STS-115.

'With urgent engine shutdown, the hydrogen in the air must be dispersed or burned to prevent a fire or explosion on the pad,' noted the document. 'This led to a Hydrogen 'burn off ' system for the following situations.'
1. On pad SSME start sequence. 2. Normal On pad SSME firing. 3. FRF Shutdown. 4. On pad abort shutdown.

However, a Hydrogen Burn Off Igniter (HBOI) system is not available for shutdowns late in the firing sequence, hence the need for a waiver. Numbers three and four are not covered by the HBOI.

HBOIs are activated at T-10 seconds and burn for 8 +5/-0 seconds. Based on that burn time, the current Hydrogen Burn Off System is not be active during a late SSME abort situation.

During this later phase, the Hydrogen that is not burned in the combustion chamber of the SSMEs will mix with atmospheric Oxygen to be consumed in the plume flame. This burning of Hydrogen in the exhaust plume flame continues until the Hydrogen concentration is below levels that will cause them to burn, thus the SSMEs themselves act as the Hydrogen burn off igniters.

Again, if the shutdown occurred earlier in the sequence, the HBOIs would have burned the excess hydrogen, keeping it from exploding. However, the HBOI does not work this late in the sequence as noted in the concerns.

Speculation has considered that a computer simulation still recommends that the HBOI will work during late shutdowns. There has been no report of damage, to the contrary, the report notes more than 1250 late shutdowns on the test stand without detonation.

The waiver request itself only notes that since the HBOI does not work late in the sequence, a waiver is needed. It does not go into why the waiver has become an issue now.

The intent of the HBOI requirement is being fulfilled by the SSMEs and other methods, such as Helium being pumped in to decrease the temperature and purge the Hydrogen. If Hydrogen concentrations are high the Firex sensors alarm - and pump in more water. This eliminates ignition sources by cooling surfaces below Hydrogen auto ignition temperatures. Hydrogen is quickly dispersed and concentrations fall below flammable levels (less than four percent).

The waiver request goes on to say that the permanent fix is to 'fulfil or rewrite the requirement.' Fulfilling the requirement would enable the HBOI system to continue late in the sequence. Rewriting the requirement would essentially make this waiver permanent. The issue of flammable Hydrogen concentrations and detonations late in the sequence would be handled by the SSMEs, Firex, Helium and dispersion into the air until Hydrogen concentrations are less than four percent.

Looking at the diagram to the left (click to enlarge), before the SSMEs ignite, hundreds of thousands of gallons of water (flame hole water), and the HBOIs are working to deal with the impending build up of Hydrogen.

To the left of the diagram, the ROFI Fire Command refers to the start of the HBOI system. Looking at the center of the diagram, typical burn and maximum burn are referring to the HBOI system. That ends at T+3 at best.

Looking to the right of the diagram, the Helium purges, Firex sensor alarm with subsequent additional water deluge (separate from the flame hole water at T-10 seconds) and the burning of the Hydrogen in the SSME exhaust takes care of the issue of elevated levels of hydrogen and possible explosion. The waiver seeks approval for this system.

Currently, flight rules require the continued burning of the HBOI system to function throughout this critical time.

Proper disposition of unburned Hydrogen in the SSME exhaust is a critical event. It carries the possibility of fire and explosion on the pad in the face of a late shutdown of the SSMEs.

However, as already noted, with thee 1250-plus test stand events - and no detonations occurring - it remains unclear and unsupported for this waiver to become permanent.

Octane

25-08-2006, 12:51

GioFX

27-08-2006, 01:34

Da Spaceflightnow.com:

Lightning delays Atlantis launch a day

BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: August 26, 2006

The lightning bolt that hit launch pad 39B Friday was one of the most powerful on record at the Kennedy Space Center, sending some 100,000 amps of current through the lightning protection system, officials said today. While the lightning protection system worked, shielding the shuttle Atlantis from a direct hit, engineers are concerned about induced currents that showed up in a brief spike in one of the shuttle's main circuits and another in a launch pad pyrotechnic system.

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/060826delay/lightning.jpg
A bolt of lightning hits launch pad 39B on Friday. Credit: NASA-KSC

The spike in the shuttle electrical system was very small and within allowable limits. But no such spikes were expected, an official said, prompting engineers to question whether it might have caused any problems.

At the same time, telemetry indicated a spike in the circuitry associated with a pyrotechnic device that releases a hydrogen vent arm from the side of the shuttle's external tank at liftoff. Engineers inspecting the pad later reported a burning smell in the area of the gaseous hydrogen vent arm, but no obvious signs of damage were seen.

LeRoy Cain, chairman of NASA's Mission Management Team and director of shuttle integration at the Kennedy Space Center, delayed Atlantis' launch for at least 24 hours, from Sunday to Monday at 4:04:18 p.m., to give engineers time to inspect the vent arm system and to carry out additional tests and analyses. The forecast Monday and Tuesday is 80 percent "go."

The MMT will meet again at 10 a.m. Sunday to hear an update from the engineering community and to make a decision about whether to proceed to launch Monday or order an additional delay. As of this writing, it's not at all clear how that discussion might go.

Video of the lightning strike at pad 39B showed a large bolt hitting the mast atop the shuttle gantry that anchors the pad's lightning protection system. The shuttle wasn't hit and other than the slight 20-millisecond spike in the shuttle electrical bus, and the concern about the hydrogen pyrotechnic device, there are no other known problems.

"I did press pretty hard to see if it made sense in any way, shape or form to reconvene the team later today to attempt to see if we might be able to still have a viable launch opportunity tomorrow," Cain said. "And based on everything I heard, it was pretty clear to me that we need to let the folks go off and look at their data. So that's what we're going to do.

"We have a launch period here that allows us to go do that. We need to make sure we have a good ground and flight system. So the mission management team will reconvene tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. and we'll see where we are."

The goal of the 116th shuttle mission is to deliver a $372 million solar array truss segment to the international space station, a complex assembly task requiring three spacewalks to complete.

The shuttle's launch window, based on a requirement to launch in daylight and to avoid conflict with a Russian Soyuz launch, runs through Sept. 7. Atlantis' fuel cell system has enough on-board liquid oxygen and hydrogen for launch attempts Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, although NASA does not usually make three attempts in a row.

After that, NASA managers would have to discuss a variety of options based on when the shuttle's fuel cell supplies would need to be topped off to preserve the option of extending the mission in orbit if necessary. Before today's scrub, NASA's launch strategy called for seven launch tries between Sunday and Sept. 7.

GioFX

27-08-2006, 01:36

in questi casi non sarebbe anche possibile chiudere il flusso del comburente 1/4 o 1/2 secondo dopo il cutoff dell'idrogeno? In questo caso il combustibile residuo verrebbe bruciato il maniera "sicura" (oppure come hanno detto pompare gas inerti come elio o azoto per diluire/disperdere l'idrogeno residuo) ed arrivare sotto la concentrazione critica per il rischio esplosioni.. :confused:

Non è possibile chiudere il flusso dell'ossigeno indipendentemente da quello dell'idrogeno, e cmq non si può nemmeno rischiare di creare un'atmosfera di ossigeno oltre una certa soglia, troppo pericoloso.

GioFX

27-08-2006, 13:31

Da Spaceflightnow.com:

Solid rocket booster tests could be ordered

BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: August 26, 2006; Updated at 2 a.m. Aug. 27 following MMT meeting

NASA's Mission Management Team decided early Sunday to continue testing and analysis to assess the possible effects of a launch pad lightning strike Friday on the shuttle Atlantis' solid-fuel booster and self-destruct systems. A Monday launch attempt remains feasible for now, sources said, but only if the community agrees time-consuming tests to verify the health of booster and range safety pyrotechnic systems are not needed. If the tests are required, launch likely would slip to mid week or later.

The Mission Management Team plans to meet again at 6 p.m. Sunday to discuss the progress of the analysis and to make a decision on how to proceed.

The lightning bolt hit Friday, pumping some 100,000 amps of current through the launch pad's lightning protection system. Lightning strikes typically generate 5,000 to 20,000 amps of current and the bolt Friday is one of the strongest on record at the Kennedy Space Center.

Telemetry showed a very small "spike" in one of the shuttle's electrical buses and a larger surge in the circuity associated with a launch pad pyrotechnic device used to disconnect a hydrogen vent arm from the shuttle's external tank.

Concern that induced currents could have affected other sensitive electrical systems on the pad or in the shuttle, Mission Management Team Chairman LeRoy Cain on Saturday ordered Atlantis' launch delayed for at least 24 hours, from Sunday to Monday at 4:04 p.m., to give engineers a chance to assess their systems.

Later Saturday, representatives of the shuttle booster program and the range safety system raised concerns that prompted a late night meeting of the Mission Management Team.

Atlantis was powered up when the lightning struck and an analysis of the powered systems shows no problems. But the boosters were not powered and engineers have no data to assess the health of critical components. At issue is whether the strike might have affected circuity that fires explosive charges used during booster ignition and separation. Similar concerns were raised by Air Force range safety officers about the shuttle's self-destruct system.

To test those circuits and their pyrotechnic initiator controllers, or PICs, engineers would first have to drain liquid oxygen and hydrogen from the shuttle's fuel cell system and open the ship's aft compartment. Ordnance would have to be disconnected and then reconnected as part of the verification process. Then engineers would have to close out the aft and reload the shuttle's fuel cell supplies to ready the ship for launch.

If such tests are ordered, sources said early today, launch likely would be delayed to late this week.

But it may be possible to clear the PIC systems without disconnecting the ordnance based on more detailed analysis of shuttle grounding and response to electrical transients. If that turns out to be the case, NASA could, in theory, press ahead with launching Atlantis Monday.

But as of this writing, it is not clear when a decision to pick up the countdown would have to be made. Updates will be posted as warranted.

GioFX

27-08-2006, 16:37

Da Spaceflightnow.com:

Monday launch no longer appears possible

BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: August 27, 2006

NASA managers debating launch options for the shuttle Atlantis have a new issue to contend with: Hurricane Ernesto, now predicted to strike the west coast of Florida late this week just north of Tampa.

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/060827update/pad39b.jpg
Credit: NASA-KSC

Engineers at the Kennedy Space Center have been told Atlantis' launching is off until at least Tuesday, but NASA has not yet made any official announcement. A launch Monday or Tuesday assumes time-consuming tests of ordnance and control circuitry in the shuttle's solid rocket boosters and self destruct system in the wake of a lightning strike Friday are not required (see our overnight story for details).

Depending on Ernesto's eventual course, the timing of its passage and what needs to be done to recover from the lightning strike, NASA managers could be forced to consider hauling Atlantis back to the protection of the Vehicle Assembly Building, a move that would use up most of the shuttle's September launch window.

NASA wants to launch Atlantis in daylight for photo documentation of the shuttle's external tank and heat shield. If the ship isn't off the ground by Sept. 13, NASA will be faced with the prospect of just three lighted launch days between then and the end of the year: two in late October and one in December.

Complicating the picture, launch tries between Sept. 7 and 13 would require agreement by the Russians to delay launch of a Soyuz capsule carrying the space station's next crew. A shuttle launch past Sept. 7 would require a dead-of-night landing for the returning station crew and the Russians want to avoid that because this will be the recovery team's first landing operation since a recent switch to civilian management.

NASA's Mission Management Team plans to meet at 1 p.m. and a news conference is expected later in he day. Updates will be posted here as new information becomes availabe.

GioFX

27-08-2006, 19:54

eh, madre natura!

I test per verificare che le correnti indotte dal fulmine che ha colpito il launch pad non abbiano compromesso i circuiti dell'orbiter e quelli dei dispositivi pritotecnici del pad e, soprattutto, l'uragano Ernesto, porteranno quasi sicuramente ad un rollback gia questa notte il che significa addio alla finestra di lancio che si chiude il 7.

La prossima finestra, a circa metà ottobre, sarà di soli 2 giorni. A questo punto c'è da attendersi un "rilassamento" del LCC dell'illuminazione dell'ET.

GioFX

27-08-2006, 19:55

Dave, della U.S.A. (United Space Alliance):

We're expecting to hear a rollback being called

http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=4039&start=151

GioFX

27-08-2006, 19:56

At a 2 p.m. press conference today, Bill Gerstenmaier, Associate Adm. for space operations, will provide further details on launch preparations. The briefing will be carried live on NASA TV.

edit: 2:30 ora.

GioFX

28-08-2006, 02:31

0020 GMT (8:20 p.m. EDT Sun.)

A decision for rollback of Atlantis has been deferred until Monday morning around 7 a.m. Technicians will either begin draining the ship's fuel cell reactants at that point to begin work to get the shuttle off the launch pad or else push forward for liftoff on Tuesday as currently planned.

Meanwhile, LeRoy Cain, the launch integration manager, reports that space shuttle Atlantis has been fully cleared of any lingering concerns from Friday's lightning strike that hit pad 39B. Additional testing of the solid rocket booster pyrotechnics is no longer required based on data collected from other systems on the shuttle.

adsasdhaasddeasdd

28-08-2006, 04:49

fulmine di merda

Octane

28-08-2006, 09:13

ancora qualche ora per sapere se l'Atlantis partira' domani alle 20:42 :sperem:

da spaceflightnow (http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/060827postmmt/) :
NASA managers met Sunday evening and agreed to wait until Monday morning to make a decision on whether to roll the shuttle Atlantis back to the Vehicle Assembly Building, preserving for now the option of launching the ship Tuesday on a space station assembly mission.
"We plan to get together early tomorrow morning and take a final look," said LeRoy Cain, chairman of NASA's Mission Management Team. "Based on the current timetable, we plan to make our decision one way or the other by 7 a.m. tomorrow morning."
At issue is the progress of tropical storm/hurricane Ernesto and an updated forecast that calls for 40-knot winds at the Kennedy Space Center early Wednesday. A rollback would take 42 hours, so NASA could afford to wait until Monday morning before making a decision.

GioFX

28-08-2006, 10:23

il fulmine non è un problema ora, lo stack è stato dichiarato sicuro (cleared).

Il percorso della tempesta tropicale (per ora) Ernesto dall'National Hurricane Center:

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/060827update/11pm.gif

GioFX

28-08-2006, 10:30

Da Spaceflightnow.com:

NASA defers rollback decision to Monday

BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: August 27, 2006

NASA managers met Sunday evening and agreed to wait until Monday morning to make a decision on whether to roll the shuttle Atlantis back to the Vehicle Assembly Building, preserving for now the option of launching the ship Tuesday on a space station assembly mission.

"We plan to get together early tomorrow morning and take a final look," said LeRoy Cain, chairman of NASA's Mission Management Team. "Based on the current timetable, we plan to make our decision one way or the other by 7 a.m. tomorrow morning."

At issue is the progress of tropical storm/hurricane Ernesto and an updated forecast that calls for 40-knot winds at the Kennedy Space Center early Wednesday. A rollback would take 42 hours, so NASA could afford to wait until Monday morning before making a decision.

If Ernesto weakens or its path changes, NASA could simply press ahead and make a run at launching Atlantis Tuesday at 3:42 p.m. Engineers have concluded there is no need to conduct time-consuming booster and self-destruct system tests in the wake of a launch pad lightning strike Friday. Forecasters say the forecast for Tuesday is favorable.

But if Ernesto continues to threaten, however, NASA's Mission Management Team will order engineers to begin preparing for rollback early Monday.

"With the current storm predictions, it would take a relatively significant change from the current forecast we're seeing to prevent us from going into rollback preparations," Cain said. "If we see a change like that, then we'll press on. If we don't, then we'll be getting into our rollback preparations."

Before Atlantis can be moved from the launch pad, engineers must first drain liquid oxygen and hydrogen from the ship's fuel cell system, a hazardous operation that requires the launch pad to be evacuated. After that, a variety of pyrotechnic charges would have to be disconnected and Atlantis would not be ready to roll until Tuesday afternoon.

Draining the fuel cell system would preclude any chance of launching Tuesday. But if the forecast changes before rollback begins, NASA could keep Atlantis at the launch pad and avoid a long delay that would threaten to use up the available launch window. In that case, subsequent launch attempts could be made after Ernesto passes and after engineers reload the shuttle's fuel-cell system.

If a rollback is ordered, Atlantis likely could not be returned to the launch pad until Saturday or Sunday. From that point, engineers would need at least eight days to ready the ship for launch. That would prevent any chance of launching Atlantis by Sept. 7, the current end of the launch window.

NASA managers said earlier Sunday a rollback decision was needed by midnight based on earlier predictions that high winds could reach the Florida spaceport Tuesday night. While the shuttle can endure, in theory, 70-knot winds at the launch pad where wind and lightning protection is available, a shuttle cannot be rolled back to the VAB in winds higher than 40 knots.

"We're going to get some effects from the storm at the Kennedy Space Center," said launch director Mike Leinbach. "It remains to be seen how bad those effects are and that's the risk trade we make when these storms threaten us. Do we stay at the pad and accept some amount of wind? Or do we expect to have those levels of winds that would harm the orbiter and we have to roll back and protect her?"

The goal of Atlantis' mission is to deliver a new set of solar arrays to the international space station. To reach the station, the shuttle must launch into the plane of its orbit during periods when the angle between that plane and the sun doesn't result in lower-than-allowable temperatures. Such temperature problems occur when the so-called beta angle drops below 50 to 60 degrees.

In this case, the launch window also is affected by a self-imposed NASA requirement to launch in daylight for photo documentation of the shuttle's heat shield and external tank. Based on all three constraints, Atlantis' launch window extends through Sept. 13.

The Russians plan to launch a fresh crew to the space station in mid September and to bring the lab's current crew home 11 days later. The Russians do not want to launch past Sept. 18 at the latest to avoid a dead-of-night landing for the returning station crew. This will be the first Soyuz recovery carried out under civilian management.

As it now stands, Atlantis must launch by Sept. 7 to complete its docked mission and depart before arrival of the Soyuz.

Mike Suffredini, space station program manager at the Johnson Space Center, said Sunday he planned to open discussions with the Russians early Monday about possible options.

"My opinion is, I think the system is fairly robust for night landings but again, you're weighing a risk to the crew with the schedule to go fly," he said. "We're responsible for shuttles. It's up to us to say we feel comfortable. They're responsible for Soyuz. So a really big part of this is not my opinion on risk trade, but whether they're willing, whether they want to take that risk because they're ultimately responsible for the crew. And just like how we feel about protecting our crews, they feel the same way."

If Atlantis misses the September window, NASA would be faced with the prospect of just three lighted launch days between then and the end of the year - Oct. 26-27 and Dec. 23. The next lighted launch window after that opens Feb. 19, and that assumes NASA would launch with a beta angle of less than 50 to 60 degrees.

Asked if NASA might be willing to relax the daylight launch constraint to open up more opportunities, Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA's senior space flight manager, said "we really want to keep the daylight launch" to ensure photo documentation of the shuttle's external tank, especially so-called ice-frost ramps that are still considered potentially dangerous.

"We really want to see how the ice-frost ramps perform, we really want to gather this data," said Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA's administrator for space flight. "So I think it's a pretty strong requirement. We may kind of nibble around the edges, do we need umbilical camera lighting? Do we need lighting during ascent? Are there other things we can do that might allow us to shave a little bit one way or the other? But I think from where we are really in this flight test mode, this data's pretty important to us and it's going to carry a pretty high priority."

GioFX

28-08-2006, 11:47

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/storm_graphics/AT05/refresh/AL0506W+gif/084606W_sm.gif

GioFX

28-08-2006, 13:51

NASA call off Shuttle launch - Rollback

Chris Bergin, 8/28/2006 6:45:00 AM

As expected, Hurricane Ernesto has forced NASA to call off the launch of Shuttle Atlantis - ordering a rollback of the vehicle to the Vehicle Assembly Building.

All eyes are now on discussions with the Russian Space Agency, as evaluations are taking place on delaying the launch of their Soyuz vehicle, to give Atlantis a chance of launching after the first week of September.

http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/content/?cid=4740

GioFX

28-08-2006, 13:52

1048 GMT (6:48 a.m. EDT)

NASA officials this morning ordered rollback preparations to begin at launch pad 39B. The predicted track of Ernesto continues to shift ever closer to Kennedy Space Center.

Octane

28-08-2006, 14:36

ma un edificio grande come il VAB non ha mai subìto danni da tutti gli uragani che son passati?

GioFX

28-08-2006, 15:43

ma un edificio grande come il VAB non ha mai subìto danni da tutti gli uragani che son passati?

tu che dici?

http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/64617main_VAB_full.jpg

Leggi dei danni fatti in pochi tempo da ben due uragani: http://www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/lookingatearth/frances.html

:D

Octane

28-08-2006, 15:48

tu che dici?

:eek:

Leggi dei danni fatti in pochi tempo da ben due uragani: http://www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/lookingatearth/frances.html
:D

alla faccia! :D

GioFX

28-08-2006, 15:50

Octane... io domani parto... quindi lascio il comando a te! ;)

Spero di ritornare prima del lancio dell'Atlantis, nel caso (come sembra ora possibile) i russi acconsentano a posticipare il lancio della Soyuz con la speizione ISS 14, e quindi di consentire agli americani di lanciare lo shuttle oltre la fine della finestra che scade il 7.

In ogni caso, magari se ce la fai posta le news più importanti da SpaceFlightNow.com o NASASpaceFlight.com... cmq cercherò di collegarmi da un Internet Point se possibile... cmq tonerò al max sabato 9.

grazie! :mano:

;)

Octane

28-08-2006, 15:56

GioFX

28-08-2006, 15:57

No problem!! ;)
e ovviamente buone ferie! :sborone:

grazie caro! ;)

GioFX

28-08-2006, 15:58

La previsione per le prossime 120 ore:

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/060828rollback/8am.gif

GioFX

28-08-2006, 16:03

Da SpaceFlightNow.com:

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/060828rollback/

Rollback preps ordered for Atlantis

BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: August 28, 2006

In what amounts to a "perfect storm" of high winds, high stakes and international drama, tropical storm Ernesto is now predicted to hit southern Florida as a possible category two or three hurricane early Wednesday, passing within a few miles of the Kennedy Space Center later that day.

NASA managers early today ordered engineers to begin preparations for rolling shuttle Atlantis off the launch pad and back to the protection of the Vehicle Assembly Building, eliminating any chance of launching the shuttle Tuesday.

While its movement over land will decrease Ernesto's strength, the current track likely will bring tropical storm-force winds to Florida's space coast by Wednesday morning and possible category one hurricane-force winds by Wednesday night. Here is the National Hurricane Center five-day forecast.

NASA managers met this morning at 7 a.m. to discuss the storm and quickly decided to begin preparations to roll Atlantis off the launch pad, a move that would take 42 hours to complete. Rollback can be called off at any point between now and Tuesday afternoon if the storm changes strength or direction.

NASA's safety rules forbid moving the unprotected orbiter off the pad in winds higher than 40 knots. On Sunday, when the storm's track was well west of the space center, NASA managers expected 40-knot winds early Wednesday morning, giving them time to complete a rollback, if necessary, by Tuesday evening.

NASA managers considered ordering a rollback Sunday night but deferred a decision to today believing they had time before the onset of 40-knot winds. By deferring a decision, NASA kept open the possibility of launching Atlantis Tuesday on a space station assembly mission if Ernesto's track or strength dramatically changed. That option is now closed.

Atlantis' launch window closes Sept. 7, based on a desire to launch in daylight for photo documentation of the shuttle's heat shield and external tank and because of conflict with launch of a Russian Soyuz rocket carrying the space station's next crew.

While the shuttle can launch as late as Sept. 13 from a lighting standpoint, any launch past Sept. 7 would force the Russians to delay the Soyuz launch and, more important, delay the return to Earth of the station's outgoing crew. A shuttle launch on Sept. 7 would result in a pre-dawn landing for the returning Soyuz.

Every day past Sept. 7 would move the landing earlier in the day and Russian managers want to avoid a dead-of-night touchdown because the recovery team will be conducting its first operation under new civilian management.

A rollback likely would use up NASA's available launch window, barring a concession form the Russians to delay the Soyuz launch. Even if Ernesto passes without causing major damage, it would take NASA at least eight days to ready the ship for flight after rolling back out to pad 39B.

If Atlantis remains at the launch pad, either because of high winds preventing a rollback or because the storm changes strength or direction, NASA managers believe it's unlikely any launch attempts could be made before Sunday at the earliest.

Space station program manager Mike Suffredini planned to open discussions with the Russians today about the possibility of a launch past Sept. 7, but it's not yet known whether that's a real possibility.

As for relaxing the lighted launch requirement to open up more opportunities after the Soyuz flight, Bill Gerstenmaier, chief of spaceflight for NASA, said Sunday the agency considers photo documentation of the shuttle's tank and heat shield a high priority.

GioFX

28-08-2006, 20:26

1500 GMT (11:00 a.m. EDT)

Cape Canaveral is now under a hurricane watch.

The 11 a.m. advisory from the National Hurricane Center indicates Ernesto is down to 40 mph sustained winds as it interacts with Cuba. But it is expected to regain hurricane strength after emerging over water before striking Florida.

GioFX

28-08-2006, 23:25

Da Spaceflightnow.com:

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/060828rollback/index3.html

Crawler problems add hours to rollback time

BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: August 28, 2006

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/060828rollback/crawlerpad39b.jpg
The transporter to haul Atlantis back to the Vehicle Assembly Building nears launch pad 39B today. Credit: Gene Blevins/LA Daily News

Problems with one of NASA's ponderous crawler-transporters will force engineers to take the shuttle Atlantis to the far side of the Vehicle Assembly Building Tuesday if a rollback from the launch pad is ordered because of tropical storm/hurricane Ernesto. The change in plans will add three hours or so to the time necessary to get Atlantis out of harm's way.

If rollback is, in fact, ordered, NASA will be in a race against the clock to get Atlantis moved before any thunderstorms develop along Florida's space coast. NASA safety rules forbid moving a shuttle "stack" in winds above 40 knots or if lightning is present within 20 nautical miles.

At the launch pad, a shuttle and its propellant-loaded solid-fuel boosters are protected from the weather by a lightning protection system and rain barriers that effectively surround the orbiter. No such protection is available during a roll to or from the pad.

NASA has not yet committed to hauling Atlantis off pad 39B, but Ernesto's projected track and the prospect of tropical storm- or hurricane-force winds Wednesday could leave the agency with little choice. But a final decision is not required until Tuesday morning, when a crawler-transporter picks up the shuttle's mobile launch platform.

NASA had planned to move Atlantis into high bay 3 in the VAB, which faces the launch pad, after moving another mobile launch platform out of the way. A crawler-transporter moved that MLP out of the bay earlier today, but had to put it back after hydraulic problems developed.

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/060828rollback/sts116srb.jpg
A partially-stacked solid rocket booster for shuttle Discovery's STS-116 launch leaves the VAB today. Credit: Gene Blevins/LA Daily News

The only available bay for Atlantis, high bay 2, is on the opposite side of the VAB. Because more turns and maneuvering are required to reach high bay 2, Atlantis' trip, if ordered, will take up to three hours longer to complete. It is scheduled to begin around 9 a.m. and take about 11 hours to complete.

The forecast for Tuesday calls for winds out of the southeast at 8 knots in the morning, increasing to 14 to 20 knots in the afternoon. After 8 p.m., the winds will jump to 17 to 25 knots, still well below the 40-knot limit. There is a 30 percent chance of rain showers in the morning with a 20 percent chance of thunderstorms, a forecast that currently extends to 5 p.m. Tuesday. Between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m., the chance of showers increases to 40 percent with a 30 percent chance of thunderstorms. Between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m., the rain chance goes up to 60 percent with a 40 percent chance of thunderstorms and after 10 p.m., the probability of rain increases to 70 percent with a 60 percent chance of thunderstorms.

"They would like to be moving as soon as they can in the morning so they can be in the barn by eight o'clock," said NASA spokesman George Diller.

If an electrical storm develops during the roll back to the VAB, the safety plan calls for the crawler crew to stop the move and leave the transporter until the storm passes.

GioFX

29-08-2006, 15:47

il maltempo mi tiene ancora qui a casa. Partirò con un giorno di ritardo... :O

dato che son qui, le ultime dalla Florida:

NASA decides to roll Atlantis off pad

NASA has decided to roll back to protect shuttle Atlantis from severe weather associated with Tropical Storm Ernesto, a move that likely eliminates any chance of a September launch to resume construction of space station. First motion of the crawler is imminent. The trip should take most of the day. More to come.

Marilson

29-08-2006, 19:36

GioFX

29-08-2006, 20:36

Da SpaceFlightNow.com (http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/060829ernesto):

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/060829ernesto

Ernesto forces shuttle Atlantis off the launch pad

BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: August 29, 2006

With tropical storm Ernesto threatening Florida, NASA managers today reluctantly ordered engineers to proceed with plans to move the shuttle Atlantis back to the protection of the Vehicle Assembly Building, a move that likely will delay the flight to late October.

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/060829ernesto/leavingpad.jpg
Atlantis takes the slow journey back from launch pad 39B to the Vehicle Assembly Building. Credit: Stephen Clark/Spaceflight Now News

Launch director Mike Leinbach made the decision shortly before 9:45 a.m. after a final weather briefing and a last-minute discussion about the possibility of riding out Ernesto at the launch pad.

By keeping Atlantis at the pad, NASA could, in theory, be ready for launch by Sunday or Monday assuming the storm caused no major damage. But with forecasters predicting 50-knot winds Wednesday with gusts to 65 knots, Leinbach and other senior managers decided to err on the side of caution.

Engineers operating a powerful crawler-transporter then jacked up Atlantis' mobile launch platform and began the slow trip to the VAB at 10:04 a.m.

The 4.2-mile trip from the launch pad to high bay 2 on the west side of the Vehicle Assembly Building was expected to take about 10 hours to complete. That's two hours faster than originally expected because of a decision to run the crawler at its top speed of 1 mph when possible. But the average speed will be less.

The slow speed is not surprising given the enormous mass of the shuttle and its mobile launch platform. The two-story MLP, which measures 160 feet by 135 feet, weighs 9.25 million pounds. With an unfueled space shuttle attached, the weight climbs to 12 million pounds.

The original plan called for moving Atlantis to high bay 3 on the east side of the VAB closest to the launch pad. That would have reduced the travel time to about eight hours. But problems with NASA's only other crawler prevented engineers from moving another MLP out of the way Monday. As a result, Atlantis will have to make a longer trip to the far side of the VAB.

The forecast for today's move calls for an increasing chance of showers as the day wears on with the odds of thunderstorms climbing to 30 percent between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. Between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m., there's a 40 percent chance of thunderstorms, 60 percent between 10 p.m. and midnight.

At the launch pad, the shuttle is shielded by a very effective lightning protection system. A 100,000-amp lightning strike at the pad last Friday caused no major damage. But during the roll back to the VAB, the shuttle is exposed to the elements and NASA hopes to avoid thunderstorms if at all possible.

Today's decision to roll the shuttle back to the VAB was a critical milestone for NASA because it all but eliminates any chance of launching before the Sept. 7 end of the shuttle's current launch window.

The end of the launch window is defined by NASA's desire to launch in daylight for photo documentation of the shuttle's heat shield and external tank and by Russian plans to launch a Soyuz rocket by Sept. 18 to deliver a fresh crew to the international space station.

Based on lighting alone, Atlantis could launch as late as Sept. 13. NASA would need at least eight days to ready the shuttle for flight after a roll back out to the launch pad after Ernesto passes and if lighting alone was the limiting factor, at least a few launch attempts would be possible.

But any launch past Sept. 7 would force the Russians to delay the Soyuz beyond Sept. 18, resulting in a dead-of-night landing for the space station's outgoing crew. The Soyuz recovery team is operating under new civilian management for the first time and so far, Russian space managers, citing flight safety, have refused to move the launch date past the 18th.

If that holds up, NASA will be forced to delay Atlantis' launch on a long-awaited space station assembly mission until a two-day window that opens Oct. 26. The next lighted window after that is a one-day opportunity Dec. 23.

NASA managers already are discussing ways to expand the October window slightly, by either relaxing some of the lighting requirements or changing station operations to loosen temperature constraints.

As it now stands, a launch by Atlantis in October almost certainly would delay a planned Dec. 14 flight by the shuttle Discovery to mid January. That, in turn, would delay three critical post shuttle-undocking spacewalks by the station crew to February in a ripple effect that could have implications for other downstream flights.

But in the near term, Ernesto is the center of NASA's focus as engineers haul Atlantis back to the VAB and prepare the launch pad and other facilities for tropical storm-force winds Wednesday.

GioFX

29-08-2006, 20:37

Live del roll-back su NASA TV Media Channel:

http://www.nasa.gov/ram/145591main_Digital_Media.ram

Marilson

29-08-2006, 21:25

azz giofx ti giuro che avevo capito che stavi li! :D

GioFX

30-08-2006, 00:35

Atlantis is returning to Launch Compex 39B!! I heard that from a USA employee who is a member of another forum I'm visiting. No specific reason yet.

GioFX

30-08-2006, 00:35

Rollback cancelled!

NASA has cancelled its plans to shelter shuttle Atlantis in the vehicle assembly building and is returning it to the launch pad. Check our status center for live updates.

GioFX

30-08-2006, 00:36

Da SpaceFlightNow.com (http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/060829rollout):

Atlantis no longer seeks shelter and returning to pad

BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: August 29, 2006

Launch director Mike Leinbach, buoyed by a more favorable forecast for tropical storm Ernesto, ordered engineers to stop the shuttle Atlantis' trip back to the Vehicle Assembly Building today and instead to return to the ship to the launch pad.

The National Hurricane Center now expects Ernesto to bring sustained winds of 45 knots to the Kennedy Space Center Wednesday, with gusts to 60 knots. That's within NASA's safety limits and the protection provided by wind screens and the massive rotating service structure that surrounds the shuttle on the pad.

Atlantis' rollback began at 10:04 a.m. after a long debate about the forecast and whether to ride out the storm at the pad. In the end, Leinbach decided predictions of 65-knot gusts were too much and the slow move began.

Then at 2:45 p.m., the massive crawler-transporter stopped in its tracks, loud speakers along the crawlerway announced the decision to reverse course and at 2:45 p.m., the shuttle began moving back toward pad 39B. Engineers expect to put it back in place by 8 p.m. and to extend the rotating service structure by 8:30 p.m. to provide some level of protection.

GioFX

30-08-2006, 00:37

Atlantis was about a mile from VAB when the decision was taken to reverse course. The shuttle started back to the launch pad at about 2:45 p.m. EDT (1845 GMT).

GioFX

30-08-2006, 00:41

Scusatemi ma mi son accorto di aver postato precedenti messaggi nel thread indice! :muro:

:sofico:

GioFX

30-08-2006, 01:16

azz giofx ti giuro che avevo capito che stavi li!

LOL no Marilson, magari! :D

GioFX

30-08-2006, 02:40

Da SpaceFligtNow.com (http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/060829postbrief):

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/060829postbrief

Atlantis could be ready for launch attempt by Sept. 6

BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: August 29, 2006

If shuttle Atlantis weathers tropical storm Ernesto without any major problems, and if engineers can complete hurried preparations, NASA may be ready to make a launch attempt as early as Sept. 6, one day before the shuttle's launch window closes, officials said late today.

Launch Director Mike Leinbach said earlier that if the shuttle was moved from its launch pad, it would take eight days to ready the ship for takeoff from the point it was returned to the firing stand.

"If we were in the VAB (vehicle Assembly Building) and had to roll out to the pad to get to our first launch attempt, that was eight days," he said. "We'll already be at the launch pad, that saves a half day right there. We'll also kick off as much of the launch pad connections as we can get done tonight, that saves more time.

"Any kind of launch dates are predicated on how long we'll be cleared from the space center (because of Ernesto)," he added. "We're assuming it'll only be tomorrow afternoon and tomorrow evening and we should be able to get back into the space center Thursday. If that's the case, the plan rolls out to an attempt September the sixth or September the seventh. We're finalizing that now, we do not have a firm date. But it's in the sixth/seventh kind of time frame."

Leinbach and other senior managers decided early today to move Atlantis off the launch pad and back to the VAB because of concern about high winds from Ernesto. At the time, forecasters were predicting sustained winds of 50 knots as the storm passed by the Kennedy Space Center with gusts to 65 knots.

NASA's launch pad safety limit is 70 knots and shuttle managers, deciding it was too close to call, erred on the side of caution and ordered engineers to start moving Atlantis off the pad. The 4.2-mile trip began at 10:04 a.m. and was expected to take about 10 hours to complete.

But later in the day, the forecast changed. While south Florida was expected to get hit by 55-knot winds and gusts up to near hurricane strength, the space center was expected to see 45-knot winds with gusts to 55 Wednesday night, well below the launch pad's 70-knot limit.

After discussing the weather with forecasters and other senior managers, Leinbach and LeRoy Cain, chairman of NASA's Mission Management Team, ordered an unprecedented rollback reversal. At 2:45 p.m., NASA's ponderous crawler-transporter began creeping back toward the pad. If all goes well, Atlantis and its mobile launch platform will be "hard down" at the pad shortly after 8 p.m. A massive rotating service structure will be moved into place around the shuttle shortly thereafter and wind screens will be extended.

The wind screens and the RSS virtually surround the space shuttle at the pad, protecting the orbiter from wind-borne debris and rain. A lightning protection system shields the orbiter from electrical activity. The external fuel tank, at least the side away from the shuttle, is pretty much exposed to the elements.

"We followed the data, we met our criteria and I feel very good about the decision," Leinbach said. "There's no trepidation in my mind at all about the decision. This is the right way to go. It was a good exercise in time, we protected both options."

It remains to be seen whether NASA can, in fact, ready Atlantis for a launch attempt as early as Sept. 6. If so, a standard three-day countdown would begin this Sunday afternoon and engineers would begin pumping hydrogen and oxygen rocket fuel into the shuttle's external tank around 2:30 a.m. next Wednesday for a launch attempt at 12:29 p.m.

"The plan to get back to a launch attempt once we return from the storm is really very straight forward," Leinbach said. "We'll go through a launch pad validation process, that's about a day-long test or so, that's where we do all the connections, data, power and gases, connections from the launch pad to the mobile launch platform. We will be opening the payload bay doors and giving our payload friends a battery boost.

"Then on day two, we will reconnect our ordnance, we need to pressurize our MPS (main propulsion system) and our RCS (reaction control system) tanks. We depressurized those for the roll back, so we'll repressurize those. Then we'll get into our launch countdown. It's going to be a full three-day standard launch countdown."

Pad processing will not take as long as usual because many tasks have already been completed. Rocket fuel for the shuttle's maneuvering jets is already on board, the payload - a new solar array truss for the international space station - is already in the cargo bay and the crew has already completed a dress-rehearsal countdown.

"So those things do not have to be re-performed and that saves us a heck of a lot of time," Leinbach said. "So the short answer is, I feel good about it. I can't give you a firm date yet. When we have a better plan, I'm sure we'll advertise it to you."

The current Sept. 7 end of the shuttle's launch window is the result of three factors: The need to launch into the plane of the space station's orbit; the desire to launch in daylight for photo documentation of the shuttle's heat shield and external tank; and the need to complete the docked phase of the mission before launch of a Russian Soyuz rocket carrying the station's next full-time crew.

For Atlantis to launch past Sept. 7, the Russians would have to agree to a Soyuz launch delay that, in turn, would force the outgoing crew of the station to land in pre-dawn darkness, something the Russians don't want to do.

Earlier today, Mike Suffredini, space station program manager at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, said more discussions were planned but as of today, Sept. 7 was the cutoff. Cain seemed to imply at one point that Sept. 8 might already be on the table, but that could not be confirmed.

GioFX

30-08-2006, 08:39

ALL HURRICANE WATCHES FOR FLORIDA DISCONTINUED!

Non c'è più timore di un cat 1, rimarrà una tropical storm come previsto, ottima decisione quella di aspettarla al pad! Dai che la prox sett si lancia.

Io vado ragazzi, mi raccomando!

Octane mi fido! :D

Ciao! :)

Octane

30-08-2006, 09:37

il tempo quest'estate ha proprio :incazzed:

:D

Octane

30-08-2006, 09:47

LOL no Marilson, magari! :D

gia'! mica male la Florida!! :cool:

(uragani e tempeste tropicali a parte :rolleyes: )

Marilson

30-08-2006, 13:45

io ho avuto la fortuna immensa di andarci l'anno scorso, sono stato ad orlando.. e ovviamente al ksc. Ho anche avuto il cagotto di una tropical storm, cmq c'è da dire che lì ad agosto ogni sera piove fortissimo..

Octane

31-08-2006, 15:04

da NASA.gov

Atlantis Weathers Ernesto at the Pad

http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/153212main_turnaround.jpg
Atlantis rolls on the crawler transporter. Image above: Atlantis heads back to Launch Pad 39B where it will ride out Tropical Storm Ernesto. Photo credit: NASA
+ View Larger Image (http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/153213main_turnaround-lg.jpg)

Atlantis is at Launch Pad 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center to weather Tropical Depression Ernesto in place. Mission managers are confident in the ability of the rotating service structure to protect the vehicle on the pad. Mission managers are considering Sept. 6, 7 and 8 as potential launch dates, depending on how Ernesto affects the center.

Emergency operations teams are set to begin initial damage assessments of NASA's Kennedy Space Center starting at 2 a.m. EDT Thursday, after Ernesto has moved past the center. As of now, the center is expected to reopen Thursday morning.

At a press conference Tuesday afternoon, Leroy Cain, launch integration manager, explained that when the decision was made Tuesday morning to roll back to the Vehicle Assembly Building, the "forecast was just not quite good enough."

During a morning meeting, however, Launch Director Mike Leinbach introduced the option for stopping the rollback if the forecast improved, and the team implemented that option during the afternoon when the 11 a.m. EDT forecast showed enough improvement.

The decision came as the projected path for Tropical Storm Ernesto skirted further west than first expected, allowing a sufficient decrease in winds to permit the shuttle to ride out the storm at the pad. The team made the determination at 2:40 p.m. and Atlantis began the return trip to the pad. Its trek to the Vehicle Assembly Building atop the crawler-transporter had started at 10:04 a.m.
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html

da Spaceflightnow.com

NASA reconsiders its daylight launch rule
If the shuttle Atlantis fails to get off the ground before the Sept. 7 end of its current launch window - a scenario that could delay the flight to late October - NASA managers may reconsider an earlier decision to only launch in daylight.http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/060829windows/

Atlantis could be ready to launch by next week
If shuttle Atlantis weathers tropical storm Ernesto without any major problems, and if engineers can complete hurried preparations, NASA may be ready to make a launch attempt as early as Sept. 6, one day before the shuttle's launch window closes, officials said late Tuesday.http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/060829postbrief/

Shuttle launch window extended to Sept. 8
NASA and Russian space managers agreed today to extend the shuttle Atlantis' launch window by one day, to Sept. 8, to bolster the U.S. space agency's chances of getting the weather-delayed shuttle off the ground this month.http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/060830window/

Octane

01-09-2006, 09:35

da Spaceflightnow.com

Atlantis launch officially rescheduled for next week
THURSDAY, AUGUST 31, 2006

NASA managers today formally selected September 6 as the new target launch date for shuttle Atlantis after inspections revealed no damage from tropical depression Ernesto's encounter with Kennedy Space Center. Liftoff is set for 12:28:49 p.m. EDT.

The peak wind experienced at launch pad 39B from Ernesto was 44 mph, and the total rainfall accumulation was 4.16 inches. The space center was reopened this morning.

The Atlantis crew -- commander Brent Jett, pilot Chris Ferguson, flight engineer Dan Burbank, Joe Tanner, Steve MacLean and Heide Stefanyshyn-Piper -- will return to the Cape on Saturday morning. The flew back to Houston earlier this week for some additional mission simulations while launch was delayed for Ernesto.

The countdown is scheduled to begin Sunday at 8 a.m. EDT.

As it now stands, NASA will have three days to get Atlantis off the ground: Sept. 6, 7 and 8. If not, the flight will be delayed to late October or, if NASA relaxes a daylight launch requirement, at some point after the Sept. 29 landing of a Russian Soyuz spacecraft carrying the international space station's outgoing crew.
pagina con gli aggiornamenti sulla missione:
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/status.html

GioFX

01-09-2006, 19:21

[viaggio-mode on]
Beh, quindi alla fine i russi hanno concesso un giorno in piu', meglio che niente... d'altra parte non e' certo colpa loro se gli americani non riescono per un motivo o per l'altro a lanciare in tempo... :D

Certo se lo lanciano il 6 io non faro' a tempo a vederlo... vabbe', mi leggero le info da qui.

A presto, ciao Octane!
[/viaggio-mode on]

Octane

05-09-2006, 11:34

da Spaceflightnow:
Shuttle Atlantis launch preps going smoothly

Engineers loaded the shuttle Atlantis' fuel cell system with liquid hydrogen and oxygen early Monday, a key step in readying the spacecraft for launch Wednesday on a weather-delayed space station assembly mission. There are no technical problems of any significance at launch complex 39B, officials said Monday, and forecasters are continuing to predict an 80 percent chance of good weather.http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/060904count/

Octane

05-09-2006, 11:35

da Spaceflightnow:
Launch team set for three tries in a row, if needed

NASA managers Monday agreed to make three consecutive attempts to get the shuttle Atlantis off the ground if bad weather or technical problems prevent an on-time liftoff Wednesday.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/060904threetries/

Octane

05-09-2006, 12:31

copertura televisiva del lancio:
NASA Television Schedule
COMPILED BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
Posted: Sept. 1, 2006

Editor's note:
NASA's daily video highlights reel will be replayed on the hour during crew sleep periods. The timeing of actual events is subject to change and some events may or may not be carried live on NASA television.

NASA Note: NASA Television is now carried on an MPEG-2 digital signal accessed via satellite AMC-6, at 72 degrees west longitude, transponder 17C, 4040 MHz, vertical polarization. A Digital Video Broadcast (DVB) - compliant Integrated Receiver Decoder (IRD) with modulation of QPSK/DBV, data rate of 36.86 and FEC 3/4 will be needed for reception. NASA mission coverage will be simulcast digitally on the Public Services Channel (Channel #101); the Education Channel (Channel #102) and the Media Services Channel (Channel #103). Further information is available online. Mission Audio can be accessed on AMC-6, Transponder 13, 3971.3 MHz, horizontal polarization.

REV.EVENT..................................MET........EDT........GMT

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 5
.*..COUNTDOWN STATUS BRIEFING.........................11:00 AM...15:00
....VIDEO FILE FEED OF EXPEDITION 14/.................12:00 PM...16:00
....ANSARI DEPARTURE

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6
....ATLANTIS LAUNCH COVERAGE BEGINS...................06:30 AM...10:30
....LAUNCH.................................00/00:00...12:29 PM...16:29
....MECO...................................00/00:08...12:37 PM...16:37
1...LAUNCH REPLAYS.........................00/00:16...12:45 PM...16:45
1...ADDITIONAL LAUNCH REPLAYS FROM KSC.....00/00:46...01:15 PM...17:15
2...POST LAUNCH NEWS CONFERENCE............00/01:01...01:30 PM...17:30
il resto qui:
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/fdf/115tvsked.html

il piano di volo aggiornato:

STS-115 Master Flight Plan
COMPILED BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/fdf/images/115flightplan06.gifil link alla pagina originale:http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/fdf/sts115flightplan.html

comunque se dovessero decollare in orario mi perderei pure io il lancio, perche' a quell'ora saro' in macchina.. :muro:

Octane

06-09-2006, 14:52

Atlantis launch scrubbed
BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: September 6, 2006

NASA managers stopped the shuttle Atlantis' countdown early today and put launch on hold for at least 24 hours because of problems with one of the ship's three electricity producing fuel cells.

Engineers are continuing to troubleshoot the issue in hopes of getting Atlantis off the ground Thursday or Friday, the end of the current launch window. NASA's Mission Management Team plans to meet later today to discuss repair options.

It may be possible to press ahead with launch Thursday or Friday if the engineering community can get comfortable with the apparent internal short that was observed when fuel cell No. 1 was powered up earlier today.

But if not, and if the powerplant cannot be repaired at the launch pad, NASA could be forced to haul Atlantis back to its hangar for a fuel cell swap out, a move that would delay launch several weeks. As of this writing, however, no such decisions have been made.[...]il resto dell'articolo:
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/060906scrub/

Fuel Cell forces Atlantis scrub
By Chris Bergin, 9/6/2006 4:38:00 AM

NASA have been forced to scrub Wednesday's launch of Shuttle Atlantis, following a "lost phase A on the FC coolant pump motor" on Fuel Cell 1.

Engineers are working on a troubleshooting plan, although Atlantis will not be able to launch in the early September window if a replacement of the Fuel Cell is called. A meeting has been called (9am local) with the vendor on flying without replacement.[...]il resto dell'articolo:
http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/content/?cid=4761

Launch Delayed by Fuel Cell Problem

http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/153212main_scrub1.jpg
Atlantis at the launch pad. Image above: As dawn breaks at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Space Shuttle Atlantis waits at Launch Pad 39B. Photo credit: NASA

The launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis was postponed today for at least 24 hours because of an issue with the shuttle's fuel cell number 1. A short (a spike and drop in voltage) in the fuel cell coolant motor was seen shortly after the cell was activated.

The Mission Management Team is scheduled to meet at 1p.m. EDT today, and a news conference will follow.[...]http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html

Octane

07-09-2006, 14:55

lancio posticipato di un altro giorno ancora per valutare l'impatto del cortocircuito alla pompa di raffreddamento della cella a combustibile:
Atlantis launch slips to Friday at the earliest
BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: September 6, 2006

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/060906postmmt/atlantisdawn.jpg
Atlantis could launch Friday morning. Credit: NASA-KSC

NASA managers late today ruled out an attempt to launch the shuttle Atlantis Thursday but held open the possibility of a last-ditch Friday launching if engineers can resolve a problem with one of the ship's three electrical generators before time runs out.

The decision came at the end of a long day of troubleshooting, engineering analysis and discussion in which LeRoy Cain, chairman of NASA's Mission Management Team, recommended proceeding with a launch try Thursday. Shuttle Program Manager Wayne Hale and other senior agency officials disagreed and decided to err on the side of caution, ordering an additional 24-hour stand down.http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/060906postmmt/

Octane

08-09-2006, 09:28

si tentera' il lancio oggi pomeriggio alle 17:41 ora italiana

da Spaceflightnow:
Fuel cell cleared for launch
NASA managers Thursday cleared the shuttle Atlantis for launch Friday despite a suspect electrical generator, deciding the risk of an in-flight fuel cell shutdown that could prompt a shortened mission was not a credible threat to the thrice-delayed space station assembly flight.http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/060907go/

da NasaSpaceFlight:
NASA to proceed with Friday attempt
NASA's Management Mission Team (MMT) meeting has concluded with the approval to proceed with a launch attempt on Friday for STS-115.

There will be one more meeting during the launch countdown, however, pending motor 2 phase analysis. The final Go/No Go confirmation for Shuttle Atlantis is expected to come after that analysis is presented.http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/content/?cid=4774

da Repubblica.it:
Atlantis, la Nasa ha deciso
"Oggi il lancio dello shuttle"

Atlantis, la Nasa ha deciso "Oggi il lancio dello shuttle"

CAPE CANAVERAL - La Nasa ha deciso di effettuare il lancio dello shuttle Atlantis, più volte rinviato. Dean Acosta, il portavoce dell'Agenzia spaziale degli Stati Uniti, ha confermato che il decollo è previsto per oggi, alle 11.41 ora locale del Kennedy Space Center di Cape Canaveral in Florida (in Italia saranno le 17.41), dopo che un inconveniente elettrico lo aveva impedito sia ieri che due giorni fa.

Il piano iniziale era di far partire Atlantis mercoledì 6 settembre, ma poco prima del lancio era stato rilevato un problema a una delle tre pile a idrogeno, che forniscono l'elettricità alla navetta spaziale. Se anche questo tentativo dovesse fallire, la prossima finestra sarebbe il 26 ottobre.

La missione di Atlantis, che avrà a bordo sei astronauti, deve consentire la ripresa della costruzione della Stazione spaziale internazionale, la Iss, bloccata da tre anni e mezzo, cioè dalla tragedia del Columbia, disintegratosi al rientro nell'atmosfera il primo febbraio del 2003.
(8 settembre 2006)http://www.repubblica.it/2006/08/sezioni/scienza_e_tecnologia/shuttle-atlantis/atlantis-nuovo-lancio/atlantis-nuovo-lancio.html

Octane

08-09-2006, 09:35

da Spaceflightnow:
0653 GMT (2:53 a.m. EDT)
FUELING UNDERWAY. The filling of space shuttle Atlantis' external fuel tank with a half-million gallons of supercold propellants has begun at launch pad 39B.

The tanking operation commenced with the chilldown thermal conditioning process at 2:49 a.m. This will be followed by the slow-fill mode and then the fast-fill mode.

The cryogenics are pumped from storage spheres at the pad, through feed lines to the mobile launcher platform, into Atlantis' aft compartment and finally into the external fuel tank.

There are two tanks inside the shuttle's external fuel tank. The liquid oxygen tank occupies the top third of the bullet-shaped tank. It will be filled with 143,000 gallons of liquid oxygen chilled to minus 298 degrees Fahrenheit. The liquid hydrogen tank is contained in the bottom two-thirds of the external tank. It holds 385,000 gallons of liquid hydrogen chilled to minus 423 degrees Fahrenheit.

Octane

08-09-2006, 14:11

Engine cutoff sensor could scrub launch
NASA managers are mulling two options for dealing with the failure of a hydrogen fuel level sensor in the shuttle Atlantis' external tank: Flying as is today or standing down for 24 hours for additional troubleshooting.
report completo: http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/060908eco/index2.html
mission status: http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/status.html

Octane

08-09-2006, 14:24

procedono comunque i preparativi al lancio:

1200 GMT (8:00 a.m. EDT)

The AstroVan just passed the 52-story Vehicle Assembly Building where Discovery was attached to its external tank and solid rocket boosters and the adjacent Launch Control Center. The Press Site is located across the street, and reporters have run outdoors to watch at the passing convoy. This is a launch day tradition to say farewell and good luck to the astronaut crews.

Octane

08-09-2006, 15:47

l'equipaggio e' ora a bordo ma ancora non si sa se avranno il via libera per il decollo.

1340 GMT (9:40 a.m. EDT)

The shuttle's crew compartment hatch is swinging shut

1335 GMT (9:35 a.m. EDT)

Approval has been given to close Atlantis' crew module hatch.

1328 GMT (9:28 a.m. EDT)

Weather conditions are looking good for today's 11:41 a.m. EDT launch time. Thunderstorms are likely this afternoon, something Atlantis would experience if a scrub is called and the ship remains on Earth for another day.

1320 GMT (9:20 a.m. EDT)

A series of routine communications checks between the Atlantis crew on various audio channels is underway.

1310 GMT (9:10 a.m. EDT)

The engine cutoff sensor situation continues to be discussed and debated among engineers and mission managers. No decision about today's launch attempt has been made yet.

Octane

08-09-2006, 15:56

NASA TV:

http://www.nasa.gov/ram/35037main_portal.ram (apritelo con Real Player)
http://www.nasa.gov/55644main_NASATV_Windows.asx (apritelo in media player)
http://www.nasa.gov/qtl/151335main_NASA_TV_QT.qtl (per chi avesse un MAC o preferisse quicktime)

:sborone:

Octane

08-09-2006, 16:17

1407 GMT (10:07 a.m. EDT)

The ground pyro initiator controllers (PICs) are scheduled to be powered up around this time in the countdown. They are used to fire the solid rocket hold-down posts, liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen tail service mast and external tank vent arm system pyros at liftoff and the space shuttle main engine hydrogen gas burn system prior to engine ignition.

The shuttle's two Master Events Controllers are being tested. They relay the commands from the shuttle's computers to ignite, and then separate the boosters and external tank during launch.

1405 GMT (10:05 a.m. EDT)

The final engineering assessements of the engine cutoff sensor are being made now. A decision from the management team is expected shortly.

1345 GMT (9:45 a.m. EDT)

The crew module hatch has been sealed and latched for flight, the closeout crew reports.

1345 GMT (9:45 a.m. EDT)

Now passing the T-minus 1 hour mark in the countdown. Two scheduled holds are planned at T-minus 20 minutes and T-minus 9 minutes, leading to the target liftoff time of 11:41 a.m., if the hydrogen fuel sensor issue is deemed not a violation of NASA rules.

Octane

08-09-2006, 17:30

1453 GMT (10:53 a.m. EDT)

SCRUB! The engine cutoff sensor issue has forced NASA to scrub today's countdown. The plan calls for the external tank to be drained and another countdown performed tomorrow to evaluate how the hydrogen fuel level gauge acts. If it behaves in the same manner, officials could allow Atlantis to launch with only three of the four sensors working. Tomorrow's launch time is 11:15 a.m. EDT.

1446 GMT (10:46 a.m. EDT)

T-minus 9 minutes and holding. Countdown clocks have gone into the planned 45-minute built-in hold. Today's launch remains set for 11:41 a.m. EDT. However, the failed engine cutoff sensor remains an unresolved issue right now.

1443 GMT (10:43 a.m. EDT)

The Main Propulsion System helium system has been reconfigured by pilot Chris Ferguson. Soon the gaseous nitrogen purge to the aft skirts of the solid rocket boosters will be started.

1440 GMT (10:40 a.m. EDT)

Now one hour away from launch of Atlantis.

Pilot Chris Ferguson is configuring the displays inside Atlantis' cockpit for launch while commander Brent Jett enables the abort steering instrumentation. And Mission Control in Houston is loading Atlantis' onboard computers with the proper guidance parameters based on the projected launch time.

1435 GMT (10:35 a.m. EDT)

T-minus 20 minutes and counting. The countdown has resumed after a 10-minute hold. Clocks will tick down for the next 11 minutes to T-minus 9 minutes where the final planned hold is scheduled to occur. The hold length will be adjusted to synch up with today's preferred launch time of 11:41 a.m.

Atlantis' onboard computers are now transitioning to the Major Mode-101 program, the primary ascent software. Also, engineers are dumping the Primary Avionics Software System (PASS) onboard computers. The data that is dumped from each of PASS computers is compared to verify that the proper software is loaded aboard for launch.

1433 GMT (10:33 a.m. EDT)

The launch team has been briefed on today's launch window and countdown procedures. Standing by to resume the clock momentarily.

1425 GMT (10:25 a.m. EDT)

T-minus 20 minutes and holding. The countdown has paused for a 10-minute built-in hold. Launch remains scheduled for 11:41 a.m. EDT, pending the engine cutoff sensor issue.

During this built-in hold, all computer programs in Firing Room 4 of the Complex 39 Launch Control Center will be verified to ensure that the proper programs are available for the countdown; the landing convoy status will be verified and the landing sites will be checked to support an abort landing during launch today; the Inertial Measurement Unit preflight alignment will be verified completed; and preparations are made to transition the orbiter onboard computers to Major Mode 101 upon coming out of the hold. This configures the computer memory to a terminal countdown configuration.

1415 GMT (10:15 a.m. EDT)

Commander Brent Jett is pressurizing the gaseous nitrogen system for Atlantis' Orbital Maneuvering System engines, and pilot Chris Ferguson is activating the gaseous nitrogen supply for the orbiter's Auxiliary Power Units' water spray boilers.

GioFX

09-09-2006, 19:41

1514:55 GMT (11:14:55 a.m. EDT)

LIFTOFF! Liftoff of Atlantis -- launching solar wings to harness the Sun's energy and power our international station in space. And the shuttle has cleared the tower!

1514:24 GMT (11:14:24 a.m. EDT)

T-minus 31 seconds. AUTO SEQUENCE START! The handoff has occurred from the Ground Launch Sequencer to the space shuttle. Atlantis' computers now controlling.

In the next few seconds, the solid rocket booster hydraulic steering system will be started, the orbiter's body flap and speed brake moved to their launch positions, the firing chain armed. Main engine ignition begins at T-minus 6.6 seconds.

1513:55 GMT (11:13:55 a.m. EDT)

T-minus 1 minute. Computers are verifying that the main engines are ready for ignition. Sound suppression water system is armed. The system will activate at T-minus 16 seconds to suppress the sound produced at launch. And the residual hydrogen burn ignitors are armed. They will be fired at T-minus 10 seconds to burn off hydrogen gas from beneath the main engine nozzles.

Shortly, the external tank strut heaters will be turned off; Atlantis will transition to internal power; the liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen outboard fill and drain valves will be closed; the payload bay vent doors will be positioned for the launch; and the gaseous oxygen vent arm will be verified fully retracted.

1512:55 GMT (11:12:55 a.m. EDT)

T-minus 2 minutes. The astronauts are being instructed to close and lock the visors on their launch and entry helmets.

At T-minus 1 minute, 57 seconds the replenishment to the flight load of liquid hydrogen in the external tank will be terminated and tank pressurization will begin.

1512:25 GMT (11:12:25 a.m. EDT)

T-minus 2 minutes, 30 seconds. The external tank liquid oxygen vent valve has been closed and pressurization of the LOX tank has started.

Atlantis' power-producing fuel cells are transfering to internal reactants. The units will begin providing all electricity for the mission beginning at T-50 seconds.

And pilot Chris Ferguson has been asked to clear the caution and warning memory system aboard Atlantis. He will verify no unexpected errors in the system.

In the next few seconds, the gaseous oxygen vent hood will be removed from atop the external tank. Verification that the swing arm is fully retracted will be made by the ground launch sequencer at the T-minus 37 second mark.

1511:55 GMT (11:11:55 a.m. EDT)

T-minus 3 minutes. Orbiter steering check is now complete; the main engine nozzles are in their start positions.

1511:25 GMT (11:11:25 a.m. EDT)

T-minus 3 minutes, 30 seconds. The main engine nozzles now being moved through a computer controlled test pattern to demonstrate their readiness to support guidance control during launch today.

1510:55 GMT (11:10:55 a.m. EDT)

T-minus 4 minutes. Activation of the APUs is complete. The three units are up and running normally.

And the final helium purge sequence is underway in the main propulsion system. This procedure readies fuel system valves for engine start. In the next few seconds, the aerosurfaces of Atlantis will be run through a pre-planned mobility test to ensure readiness for launch. This is also a dress rehearsal for flight of the orbiter's hydraulic systems.

1509:55 GMT (11:09:55 a.m. EDT)

T-minus 5 minutes. The "go" has been given for for Auxiliary Power Unit start. Pilot Chris Ferguson is now flipping three switches in Atlantis' cockpit to start each of the three APU's. The units, located in the aft compartment of Atlantis, provide the pressure needed to power the hydraulic systems of the shuttle. The units will be used during the launch and landing phases of the mission for such events as moving the orbiter's aerosurfaces, gimbaling the main engine nozzles and deploying the landing gear.

Over the course of the next minute, the orbiter's heaters will be configured for launch by commander Brent Jett, the fuel valve heaters on the main engines will be turned off in preparation for engine ignition at T-6.6 seconds and the external tank and solid rocket booster safe and arm devices will be armed.

1509:25 GMT (11:09:25 a.m. EDT)

T-minus 5 minutes, 30 seconds. APU pre-start is complete and the units are ready for activation. The orbiters flight data recorders have gone into the record mode to collect measurements of shuttle systems performance during flight.

1508:35 GMT (11:08:35 a.m. EDT)

T-minus 6 minutes, 20 seconds. Pilot Chris Ferguson has been asked by Orbiter Test Conductor Jeff Lauffer to pre-start the orbiter Auxiliary Power Units. This procedure readies the three APU's for their activation after the countdown passes T-minus 5 minutes.

1507:25 GMT (11:07:25 a.m. EDT)

T-minus 7 minutes, 30 seconds. The Ground Launch Sequencer has started pulling the orbiter access arm away from the crew hatch on the port side of the vehicle. The arm was the passage way for the astronauts to board Atlantis a few hours ago. The arm can be re-extended very quickly should the need arise later in the countdown.

1506:55 GMT (11:06:55 a.m. EDT)

T-minus 8 minutes and counting. Pilot Chris Ferguson has flipped the switches in the cockpit of Atlantis to directly connect the three onboard fuel cells with the essential power buses. Also, the stored program commands have been issued to the orbiter for the final antenna alignment and management for today's launch.

1505:55 GMT (11:05:55 a.m. EDT)

T-minus 9 minutes and counting! The Ground Launch Sequencer is now actively running this final phase of today's countdown to launch space shuttle Atlantis at 11:14:55 a.m. EDT.

1504:55 GMT (11:04:55 a.m. EDT)

Now 10 minutes from launch of Atlantis. All remains ready for liftoff.

1503:55 GMT (11:03:55 a.m. EDT)

Countdown clock will resume in two minutes.

Once the countdown picks up, the Ground Launch Sequencer will be initiated. The computer program is located in a console in the Firing Room of the Complex 39 Launch Control Center. The GLS is the master of events through liftoff. During the last 9 minutes of the countdown, the computer will monitor as many as a thousand different systems and measurements to ensure that they do not fall out of any pre-determine red-line limits. At T-minus 31 seconds, the GLS will hand off to the onboard computers of Atlantis to complete their own automatic sequence of events through the final half minute of the countdown.

1502 GMT (11:02 a.m. EDT)

NASA launch director Mike Leinbach has finished his final poll. He has wished commander Brent Lindsey and crew good luck and God speed. Launch is set for 11:14:55 a.m.

1502 GMT (11:02 a.m. EDT)

Mission Management Team chairman LeRoy Cain polled his team for a readiness call to proceed with the countdown. No constraints were reported.

1501 GMT (11:01 a.m. EDT)

Weather is "go."

1501 GMT (11:01 a.m. EDT)

NASA launch director Mike Leinbach is conducting his poll.

1501 GMT (11:01 a.m. EDT)

The final readiness poll of the launch team by NASA test director confirms there are no technical issues being addressed. Range has given its clear to launch as well.

1457 GMT (10:57 a.m. EDT)

The weather aircraft is taking a look at the clouds around the Shuttle Landing Facility to ensure the conditions don't constitute a low ceiling that would violate launch rules. A low ceilings could be a problem for both launch tracking optics as well as the Return to Launch Site emergency landing capability at the runway.

1455 GMT (10:55 a.m. EDT)

Coming up in the next few minutes will be the final readiness polls of the management and launch teams to clear Atlantis for liftoff.

1445 GMT (10:45 a.m. EDT)

Space shuttle Atlantis stands 30 minutes from liftoff to resume construction of the International Space Station.

1437 GMT (10:37 a.m. EDT)

Weather conditions are observed "go" currently and forecast to be acceptable at launch time.

1435 GMT (10:35 a.m. EDT)

Now a third of the way through this quiet hold period.

1425 GMT (10:25 a.m. EDT)

The International Space Station is orbiting 220 miles above Earth. Right now, the outpost is flying south of Australia. At launch, it will be over the North Atlantic. Liftoff is timed to place Atlantis on course to dock with the station Monday at 6:45 a.m.

1420 GMT (10:20 a.m. EDT)

T-minus 9 minutes and holding. Countdown clocks have gone into the planned 45-minute, 55-second built-in hold. Today's launch remains set for 11:14:55 a.m. EDT.

1417 GMT (10:17 a.m. EDT)

The Main Propulsion System helium system has been reconfigured by pilot Chris Ferguson. Soon the gaseous nitrogen purge to the aft skirts of the solid rocket boosters will be started.

1415 GMT (10:15 a.m. EDT)

Now one hour away from launch of Atlantis.

And Mission Control in Houston is loading Atlantis' onboard computers with the proper guidance parameters based on the projected launch time.

1412 GMT (10:12 a.m. EDT)

Pilot Chris Ferguson is configuring the displays inside Atlantis' cockpit for launch while commander Brent Jett enables the abort steering instrumentation.

1409 GMT (10:09 a.m. EDT)

T-minus 20 minutes and counting. The countdown has resumed after a 10-minute hold. Clocks will tick down for the next 11 minutes to T-minus 9 minutes where the final planned hold is scheduled to occur. The hold length will be adjusted to synch up with today's preferred launch time of 11:14:55 a.m.

Atlantis' onboard computers are now transitioning to the Major Mode-101 program, the primary ascent software. Also, engineers are dumping the Primary Avionics Software System (PASS) onboard computers. The data that is dumped from each of PASS computers is compared to verify that the proper software is loaded aboard for launch.

1406 GMT (10:06 a.m. EDT)

The launch team has been briefed on today's launch window and countdown procedures. The window opens at 11:10:39 and closes at 11:19:36 a.m. EDT. The target liftoff time remains 11:14:55 a.m.

1400 GMT (10:00 a.m. EDT)

The weather aircraft reports the area of cloud cover to the west is thin and doesn't appear to be developing into anything yet.

1359 GMT (9:59 a.m. EDT)

T-minus 20 minutes and holding. The countdown has paused for a 10-minute built-in hold. Launch remains scheduled for 11:14:55 a.m. EDT.

During this built-in hold, all computer programs in Firing Room 4 of the Complex 39 Launch Control Center will be verified to ensure that the proper programs are available for the countdown; the landing convoy status will be verified and the landing sites will be checked to support an abort landing during launch today; the Inertial Measurement Unit preflight alignment will be verified completed; and preparations are made to transition the orbiter onboard computers to Major Mode 101 upon coming out of the hold. This configures the computer memory to a terminal countdown configuration.

1354 GMT (9:54 a.m. EDT)

The Orbiter Closeout Crew is leaving the launch pad now.

1349 GMT (9:49 a.m. EDT)

Commander Brent Jett is pressurizing the gaseous nitrogen system for Atlantis' Orbital Maneuvering System engines, and pilot Chris Ferguson is activating the gaseous nitrogen supply for the orbiter's Auxiliary Power Units' water spray boilers.

1345 GMT (9:45 a.m. EDT)

Astronauts Kent Romginer and Steve Lindsey aboard the Shuttle Training Aircraft are flying weather reconnaissance around the Kennedy Space Center today. Right now, they are heading westward to examine an area of clouds that could be developing into a storm.

1341 GMT (9:41 a.m. EDT)

The ground pyro initiator controllers (PICs) are scheduled to be powered up around this time in the countdown. They are used to fire the solid rocket hold-down posts, liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen tail service mast and external tank vent arm system pyros at liftoff and the space shuttle main engine hydrogen gas burn system prior to engine ignition.

The shuttle's two Master Events Controllers are being tested. They relay the commands from the shuttle's computers to ignite, and then separate the boosters and external tank during launch.

1336 GMT (9:36 a.m. EDT)

Ground Launch Sequencer main line activation is complete.

1319 GMT (9:19 a.m. EDT)

Now passing the T-minus 1 hour mark in the countdown. Two scheduled holds are planned at T-minus 20 minutes and T-minus 9 minutes, leading to the target liftoff time of 11:15 a.m., if the hydrogen fuel sensor issue is deemed not a violation of NASA rules.

1307 GMT (9:07 a.m. EDT)

The crew hatch is confirmed to be closed and latched for flight.

1302 GMT (9:02 a.m. EDT)

The shuttle's crew compartment hatch has swung shut.

1259 GMT (8:59 a.m. EDT)

The "go" was just given to close Atlantis' crew module hatch for launch.

1250 GMT (8:50 a.m. EDT)

A series of routine communications checks between the Atlantis crew on various audio channels is underway.

1249 GMT (8:49 a.m. EDT)

T-minus 90 minutes and counting. Countdown clocks continue to tick down to T-minus 20 minutes where the next hold is planned. Countdown activities remain on track for liftoff at 11:15 a.m.

At this point in the count, the ground launch sequencer software that will control the final nine minutes of the countdown has been initialized. Also, the solid rocket boosters' gas generator heaters in the hydraulic power units are turned on, the aft skirt gaseous nitrogen purge is starting and the rate gyro assemblies (RGAs) are being activated. The RGAs are used by the orbiter's navigation system to determine rates of motion of the boosters during the first stage of flight.

1247 GMT (8:47 a.m. EDT)

With the astronauts strapped all aboard, the Orbiter Closeout Crew is beginning work to remove access platforms and equipment inside the crew module in preparation for shutting the hatch.

1243 GMT (8:43 a.m. EDT)

Initialization of the Ground Launch Sequencer has been performed. The GLS is the master computer in the Firing Room that runs the final nine minutes of the countdown.

1235 GMT (8:35 a.m. EDT)

Dan Burbank, the flight engineer for Atlantis' mission, is now climbing aboard the ship for today's launch to take the flight deck's center seat. He is the sixth and final astronaut to enter the shuttle this morning.

The 45-year-old, a native of Connecticut, is a commander in the Coast Guard with more than 3,500 flight hours, primarily in helicopters, and has flown over over 300 search and rescue missions. His space career includes the STS-106 space station assembly mission in 2000. On STS-115, Burbank will perform the second spacewalk with Steve MacLean. Read his biography here.

And a video interview with Burbank is available here.

1222 GMT (8:22 a.m. EDT)

Canadian Space Agency astronaut Steve MacLean, Atlantis' mission specialist No. 4, has climbed to the flight deck aft-right seat.

MacLean, 51, was born in Ottawa, Ontario. Selected as one of the first six Canadian astronauts in 1983, he flew as a payload specialist aboard shuttle Columbia in 1992. His role on STS-115 includes conducting the mission's second spacewalk along with Dan Burbank and becoming the first Canadian to operate the space station's Canadarm2 robotic arm. Read MacLean's biography here.

And a video interview with MacLean is available here.

1215 GMT (8:15 a.m. EDT)

Now three hours from the launch of Atlantis. The launch team in Firing Room 4 of the Complex 39 control center is not reporting any problems and weather still looks good for liftoff at 11:15 a.m. this morning.

1204 GMT (8:04 a.m. EDT)

Now climbing through the hatch is mission specialist No. 3, Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper. She is assigned the right seat on the middeck.

Piper, a Navy commander, was born in St. Paul, Minnesota. The 43-year-old is a space rookie. She will be performing the first and third spacewalks of Atlantis' mission along with Joe Tanner. Read her biography here.

And a video interview with Piper is available here.

1203 GMT (8:03 a.m. EDT)

Pilot Chris Ferguson, the next crewmember to enter the shuttle, is making his way to the flight deck's front-right seat.

Ferguson is a spaceflight rookie. The 45-year-old Navy captain was born in Philadelphia. He has three childen, and when not preparing to fly in space he plays drums in the astronaut band Max Q. Read his biography here.

And a video interview with Ferguson is available here.

1153 GMT (7:53 a.m. EDT)

Joe Tanner, mission specialist No. 1, just climbed aboard Atlantis to take the seat closest to the hatch on the left side of the middeck.

This will be Tanner's fourth trip to space. The Illinois native is 56 years old. His flight history includes the STS-66 atmospheric science mission in 1994, the second Hubble Space Telescope servicing in 1997 and the 2000 space station construction flight, STS-97, that launched the first solar array truss. His experience from that mission has proved valuable in planning STS-115. He will conduct the first and third spacewalks along with Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper. Read his biography here.

And a video interview with Tanner is available here.

1151 GMT (7:51 a.m. EDT)

Commander Brent Jett is the first astronaut to board the shuttle. He is taking the forward-left seat on the flight deck.

Jett, 48, calls Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, his hometown. The Navy captain has flown in space on three earlier missions, including serving as the pilot on STS-72 in 1996 to retrieve a Japanese science satellite, pilot on the STS-81 mission to the Russian space station Mir a year later, and commander of STS-97 in 2000 that delivered the first set of U.S. solar arrays to the International Space Station. Read his biography here.

And a video interview with Jett is available here.

1146 GMT (7:46 a.m. EDT)

Commander Brent Jett has made his way across the catwalk-like Orbiter Access Arm to the White Room positioned against the side of Atlantis. The closeout crew is helping him don other survival gear.

1145 GMT (7:45 a.m. EDT)

The Atlantis astronauts have ascended up to the 195-foot level of the tower.

1143 GMT (7:43 a.m. EDT)

The astronauts are taking a few moments to gaze up at the shuttle before heading to the tower.

1142 GMT (7:42 a.m. EDT)

Atlantis' crew arrived at launch pad 39B at 7:41 a.m. The AstroVan came to a stop on the pad surface near the Fixed Service Structure tower elevator that will take the six-person crew to the 195-foot level to begin boarding the shuttle.

1135 GMT (7:35 a.m. EDT)

The AstroVan just passed the 52-story Vehicle Assembly Building where Atlantis was attached to its external tank and solid rocket boosters and the adjacent Launch Control Center. The Press Site is located across the street, and reporters went outdoors to watch at the passing convoy. This is a launch day tradition to say farewell and good luck to the astronaut crews.

1124 GMT (7:24 a.m. EDT)

The astronauts are en route to launch pad 39B. They just walked out of the Kennedy Space Center crew quarters to board the AstroVan for the 20-minute ride from the Industrial Area to launch pad 39B on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean.

Veteran commander Brent Jett leads the STS-115 crew, and rookie astronaut Chris Ferguson serves as pilot. The four mission specialists are paired up as the spacewalking teams that will activate the new solar arrays. Joe Tanner and Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper are scheduled to perform the first and third spacewalks; Dan Burbank and Canadian Steve MacLean will do the second EVA.

1119 GMT (7:19 a.m. EDT)

T-minus 3 hours and counting. The countdown has resumed on schedule from this planned three-hour built-in hold. Clocks will now tick down to T-minus 20 minutes when the next hold is planned. A final hold is scheduled at the T-minus 9 minute mark to synch up with the 11:15 a.m. EDT launch time.

1107 GMT (7:07 a.m. EDT)

The Final Inspection Team is departing launch pad 39B, having finished its work. The team will be returning to the Firing Room to give a briefing to management on their observations. But there were no problems reported in real-time during the inspections this morning.

1055 GMT (6:55 a.m. EDT)

The crew has donned the day-glow orange launch and entry partial pressure spacesuits. After final adjustments and pressure checks, the astronauts will depart the suit-up room and take the elevator down to the ground level of the Operations and Checkout Building to board the AstroVan for the trip to launch pad 39B.

1050 GMT (6:50 a.m. EDT)

The astronauts' weather briefing just occurred. Moron, Spain appears to have the best weather of the three overseas abort landing sites available to receive Atlantis if the shuttle has has an emergency during launch.

1019 GMT (6:19 a.m. EDT)

The countdown continues holding at the T-minus 3 hour mark. Clocks are slated to resume ticking in an hour.

0955 GMT (5:55 a.m. EDT)

The Final Inspection Team is not reporting any areas of concern during their observations of Atlantis this morning. And the team says the one thruster on the shuttle's nose, which lost its protective cover during a storm Thursday evening, looks just fine.

The team is responsible for checking Atlantis and the launch pad one last time prior to liftoff. The team is comprised of engineers and safety officials from NASA, United Space Alliance and tank-builder Lockheed Martin. At the conclusion of their two-hour tour-of-duty, the team will have walked up and down the entire fixed service structure and mobile launcher platform.

The team is on the lookout for any abnormal ice or frost build-up on the vehicle and integrity of the external tank foam insulation.

The team uses a portable infrared scanner that gathers temperature measurements on the surface area of the shuttle and can spot leaks. The scanner will be used to obtain temperature data on the external tank, solid rocket boosters, space shuttle orbiter, main engines and launch pad structures. The scanner can also spot leaks of the cryogenic propellants, and due to its ability to detect distinct temperature differences, can spot any dangerous hydrogen fuel that is burning. The team member also is responsible for photo documentation.

The team wears the highly visible day-glow orange coveralls that are anti-static and flame resistant. Each member also has a self-contained emergency breathing unit that holds about 10 minutes of air.

GioFX

09-09-2006, 19:42

1725 GMT (1:25 p.m. EDT)

A camera mounted on the side of the shuttle Atlantis' external tank showed several pieces of what appeared to be foam insulation separating from the tank about four minutes after liftoff. But that was well above the denser atmospheric regions where debris poses a major threat to the shuttle's heat shield. In any case, there were no obvious signs of damage.

1702 GMT (1:02 p.m. EDT)

The shuttle's high-speed Ku-band communications antenna has been deployed successfully.

1654 GMT (12:54 p.m. EDT)

The payload bay doors have been opened and Mission Control has just given the astronauts a "go" for on-orbit operations. Deployment of the Ku-band antenna is upcoming.

1638 GMT (12:38 p.m. EDT)

Mission Management Team chairman LeRoy Cain says the very preliminary look at the onboard video from the external fuel tank shows some small pieces of debris coming off the tank at T+plus 4 minutes, 7 seconds. But the events occurred after the time debris striking the orbiter could cause damage because the vehicle was out of the atmosphere.

1624 GMT (12:24 p.m. EDT)

Today's official liftoff time was 11:14:55.066 a.m. EDT.

1615 GMT (12:15 p.m. EDT)

The space shuttle Atlantis took off today on its fifth try, kicking off a long-awaited flight to restart assembly of the international space station three years after the Columbia disaster derailed construction.

Considered one of the most complex flights in shuttle history, commander Brent Jett and his five crewmates, with help from the station's three-man crew, will attach a 35,000-pound 45-foot-long solar array truss to the lab complex and stage three spacewalks to make critical electrical connections, hook up the array's cooling system and deploy the giant panels.

Read our full story.

1604 GMT (12:04 p.m. EDT)

A quick review of video from the external tank-mounted camera shows a couple of very small pieces of debris shedding from the tank well after solid rocket booster separation. So far, it looks like Atlantis had a clean ascent.

1555 GMT (11:55 a.m. EDT)

T+plus 40 minutes, 30 seconds. The twin Orbital Maneuvering System engines on the tail of Atlantis have been fired successfully to propel the shuttle the rest of the way to orbit.

1553 GMT (11:53 a.m. EDT)

T+plus 38 minutes, 30 seconds. The maneuvering engines have ignited for the two-minute orbit raising burn.

1541:55 GMT (11:41:55 a.m. EDT)

T+plus 27 minutes. Atlantis is orienting itself into the upcoming OMS engine firing attitude.

1539:55 GMT (11:39:55 a.m. EDT)

T+plus 25 minutes. The two flapper doors on the belly of Atlantis are being swung closed to shield the umbilicals that had connected to the external fuel tank.

1530:55 GMT (11:30:55 a.m. EDT)

T+plus 16 minutes. The OMS engine burn to insert Atlantis into the higher orbit will begin at T+plus 37 minutes and 16 seconds.

1529:55 GMT (11:29:55 a.m. EDT)

T+plus 15 minutes. The "go" has been given to the crew for Auxiliary Power Unit shutdown as planned.

1528:55 GMT (11:28:55 a.m. EDT)

T+plus 14 minutes. Atlantis has reached a preliminary sub-orbital trajectory with a high point of 137 statute miles and low point of 36 miles. Coming up, the Orbital Maneuvering System engines will be fired to raise the orbit to 143 by 116 miles.

1524 GMT (11:24 a.m. EDT)

T+plus 9 minutes, 45 seconds. Atlantis has returned to space for the first time in four years. The shuttle is 1,200 miles northeast of the launch pad, traveling 17,000 mph.

1524 GMT (11:24 a.m. EDT)

T+plus 9 minutes, 30 seconds. Commander Brent Jett is maneuvering the orbiter so digitial and film cameras embedded in the umbilical well on the belly of Atlantis can photograph the discarded fuel tank. In a few minutes, two of the mission specialists will shoot still photos and camcorder video out the cockpit windows.

1523:55 GMT (11:23:55 a.m. EDT)

T+plus 9 minutes. The emptied external tank has been jettisoned from the belly of space shuttle Atlantis. The tank will fall back into the atmosphere where it will burn up harmlessly.

1523 GMT (11:23 a.m. EDT)

T+plus 8 minutes, 34 seconds. MECO! Confirmation that Atlantis' main engines have cutoff as planned, completing the powered phase of the launch.

1521:55 GMT (11:21:55 a.m. EDT)

T+plus 7 minutes. Main engines continue to perform well as Atlantis nears the completion of powered ascent.

1520:55 GMT (11:20:55 a.m. EDT)

T+plus 6 minutes. The shuttle has started rolling to a heads-up position to improve communications with the TDRS satellite network.

1519:55 GMT (11:19:55 a.m. EDT)

T+plus 5 minutes. Atlantis is 225 miles northeast of the launch pad at an altitude of 65 miles, traveling at 7,000 mph.

1519 GMT (11:19 a.m. EDT)

T+plus 4 minutes, 5 seconds. Negative return. The shuttle is traveling too fast and is too far downrange so it can no longer return to the launch site in the event of a main engine problem.

1518 GMT (11:18 a.m. EDT)

T+plus 3 minutes, 45 seconds. Atlantis traveling over 4,000 mph.

1517:55 GMT (11:17:55 a.m. EDT)

T+plus 3 minutes. The twin Orbital Maneuvering System engines on the ship's tail are burning for an extra boost in thrust. Atlantis' main engines continue to fire, guzzling a half-ton of propellant per second.

1517 GMT (11:17 a.m. EDT)

T+plus 2 minutes, 20 seconds. Guidance is converging as programmed. Atlantis' engine nozzles are swiveling to steer the ship for a precise point for main engine cutoff about six minutes from now.

1517 GMT (11:17 a.m. EDT)

T+plus 2 minutes, 8 seconds. The twin solid rocket boosters have cleanly separated from the space shuttle Atlantis. The shuttle continues its climb to space on the power generated by the three liquid-fueled main engines.

1516 GMT (11:16 a.m. EDT)

T+plus 90 seconds. A smooth ride for Atlantis and the six astronauts. Commander Brent Jett, pilot Chris Ferguson, flight engineer Dan Burbank and Canadian astronaut Steve MacLean are seated on the flight deck, with mission specialists Joe Tanner and Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper down on the middeck.

1516 GMT (11:16 a.m. EDT)

T+plus 80 seconds. Atlantis' engines have revved back to full throttle. Mission Control has given the "go" at throttle call and commander Brent Jett has roger'ed that. No problems have been reported in today's ascent.

1515 GMT (11:15 a.m. EDT)

T+plus 35 seconds. Atlantis' three main engines are throttling down to reduce the aerodynamic stresses on the vehicle as it powers through the dense lower atmosphere.

1515 GMT (11:15 a.m. EDT)

T+plus 20 seconds. Atlantis has completed the roll maneuver, placing the ship on a trajectory to rendezvous with the International Space Station on Monday. The outpost with its three-man crew is currently flying 220 miles over the North Atlantic.

GioFX

09-09-2006, 19:49

SpaceFlightNow.com (http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/060909debris/)

Ascent debris spotted; no apparent threat

BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: September 9, 2006

A camera mounted on the side of the shuttle Atlantis' external tank showed several pieces of what appeared to be foam insulation separating from the tank about four minutes after liftoff. But that was well above the denser atmospheric regions where debris poses a major threat to the shuttle's heat shield. In any case, there were no obvious signs of damage.

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/060909debris/debriscircled.jpg
Credit: NASA TV/Spaceflight Now

"It's extremely preliminary but so far, we didn't see anything in the region of highest concern and the things that folks did see ... were well into the ascent phase where we really don't have debris concerns," said LeRoy Cain, chairman of the launch-site Mission Management Team.

For foam debris to pose a threat to the shuttle's tiles or wing leading edge panels, it must come off early in flight when the shuttle is still within the denser regions of the atmosphere. That can cause separated foam to decelerate very rapidly, allowing the shuttle to ram into it at a high relative velocity. After about two-and-a-half minutes, the shuttle is beyond that danger zone.

The video also showed the tank's externally mounted 17-inch-wide liquid oxygen feedline flexing a fair amount as the shuttle thundered away. A foam ramp that used to provide aerodynamic shielding was removed to eliminate another potential source of ascent debris. The oxygen line appeared to move more than one used during Discovery's launch in July, but Atlantis made a so-called high-Q ascent that subjected the shuttle to higher aerodynamic stress. Whether that played any role in the movement of the oxygen line it not yet known. But the line is designed to flex and again, the ascent appeared uneventful.

Engineers will need several days to evaluate footage from a variety of cameras, data from wing leading edge sensors, a detailed inspection by the astronauts Sunday and additional inspections Monday during final approach to the station before Atlantis will be given a clean bill of health.

In the meantime, "what you saw today was a flawless count, a majestic launch and it was tough to get here," said NASA Administrator Mike Griffin. "This vehicle has not flown in many years and not everything in the count leading up to this day was easy. And in between we had to dodge tropical storms, lightning strikes and things like that. But we got here and it was just a flawless day."

GioFX

09-09-2006, 19:51

SpaceFlightNow.com (http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/060909launch)

Atlantis roars into space to restart station assembly

BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: September 9, 2006

The space shuttle Atlantis took off today on its fifth try, kicking off a long-awaited flight to restart assembly of the international space station three years after the Columbia disaster derailed construction.

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/060909launch/atlantisvabroof.jpg
Atlantis blasts off from pad 39B at 11:15 a.m. Credit: Ben Cooper/Spaceflight Now

Considered one of the most complex flights in shuttle history, commander Brent Jett and his five crewmates, with help from the station's three-man crew, will attach a 35,000-pound 45-foot-long solar array truss to the lab complex and stage three spacewalks to make critical electrical connections, hook up the array's cooling system and deploy the giant panels.

"In my opinion, every one of these flights we're flying in the next 12 to 18 months ranks right up there as the most complicated flights we've every flown, including Hubble Space Telescope repair missions," said Paul Hill, mission operations manager at the Johnson Space Center.

"The fact that we're going to go conduct a series of them for 18 months, each one of which is absolutely necessary for the next one to happen, without a doubt makes this the most complicated, most complex 18 months of manned spaceflight we have ever experienced.

Said shuttle Program Manager Wayne Hale: "Clearly these are the most complicated spacewalk and assembly tasks that have ever been done before."

Two weeks after being grounded by a launch pad lightning strike, tropical storm Ernesto, a fuel cell glitch and trouble with an external tank fuel sensor, Atlantis's main engines flashed to life on time, followed 6.6 seconds later by ignition of the shuttle's twin solid-fuel boosters at 11:14:55 a.m.

With a crackling burst of incandescent flame, Atlantis began accelerating skyward, hitting 120 mph in just 10 seconds and then rolling about its long axis to line up on a trajectory carrying it up the East Coast of the United States.

A launch try Friday was called off because one of four hydrogen low-level engine cutoff - ECO - sensors manfunctioned. NASA managers decided to press ahead today using an amended flight rule that permitted a launch if the other three sensors worked properly. As it turned out, ECO sensor No. 3 worked normally today and the malfunction Friday remains an unexplained anomaly.

"Brent, it looks like you're long wait is over," Launch Director Mike Leinbach radioed the crew a few minutes before liftoff. "We wish you all the best luck in the world, Godspeed, and we'll see you back here in about two weeks."

"We appreciate those words and the effort to make this launch window," Jett replied. "It's been almost four years, two return to flight missions, a tremendous amount of work by thousands of individuals to get the shuttle program back to where we are right now and that's on the verge of restarting the station assembly sequence.

"We're confident over the next few weeks, and few years for that matter, that NASA's going to prove to our nation, to our partners and our friends around the world that it was worth the wait and the sacrifice. We're ready to get to work."

Atlantis put on a spectacular Saturday skyshow as it climbed away from Florida's space coast atop a long cloud of churning exhaust, knifing through a partly cloudy sky. A camera mounted on the external fuel tank provided dramatic live views as the shuttle climbed toward space, showing the Florida coast line dropping away in the brackground as the ship arced out over the Atlantic Ocean.

There were no obvious problems with the tank's foam insulation and no obvious signs of debris that might have posed a threat to the shuttle's fragile heat shield.

But engineers will need several days to evaluate footage from a variety of cameras, data from wing leading edge sensors, a detailed inspection by the astronauts Sunday and additional inspections Monday during final approach to the station before Atlantis will be given a clean bill of health.

Atlantis made the climb to orbit using an external tank featuring so-called ice-frost ramps that are officially classified as "probable/catastrophic" in NASA's risk matrix, meaning there is a 50-50 chance of a catastrophic failure over the 100-flight life of a space shuttle.

NASA is in the process of redesigning the ice-frost ramps but an interim fix will not be available until next year and the shuttle Discovery will make another flight with the old design in December. But based on the footage seen during today's launch, the ramps appeared to perform well with no obvious signs of trouble.

Joining Jett and Ferguson aboard Atlantis were flight engineer Dan Burbank, Joe Tanner, Canadian astronaut Steve MacLean and Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper.

The astronauts have been training for nearly four years to install the new solar arrays and a massive rotary joint that will permit the giant panels to slowly turn like a huge waterwheel as the station streaks around the planet at five miles per second.

The solar alpha rotary joint, or SARJ, is the main component of what NASA calls the P3, or port 3, truss element. The solar arrays, their electronics and cooling radiators make up the P4 truss element. Both are bolted together and NASA refers to the combination as the P3/P4 truss.

Getting P3/P4 attached to the station's port truss will require one of the most ambitious flight plans ever put together for a shuttle mission.

Atlantis will dock with the space station Monday around 6:45 a.m. Just two hours later, Burbank, operating the shuttle's robot arm, will lift the P3/P4 truss out of the cargo bay and hand it off to MacLean, who will be operating the station's more massive Canadarm 2. Canadarm 2 will be mounted atop a mobile transporter on the far end of the port truss.

"Normally, once we finish the rendezvous, we open the hatches, everybody says hello and we get down to doing some (equipment and supply) transfers and a few things like that," said lead shuttle flight director Paul Dye. "We have so much on this mission that on this day, we're going to do the rendezvous and then we're going to ... take the payload, the P3/P4 truss segment, out of the bay and hand it off to the station before the crew goes to bed.

"So while we are equalizing air pressure between the spacecraft and opening the hatches and getting things connected and shaking hands and greeting, we're going to have crew on the aft flight deck getting ready to pull the P3 out."

Because the 50-foot-long orbiter boom sensor system, or OBSS, will be in place along the right side of Atlantis' payload bay, Burbank will have about one inch of clearance as he unberths P3/P4. To get past the OBSS, he will have to move the arm in a complex sequence, being careful not to bang into anything along the way.

"We'll grapple the payload, we'll move it up, back a little bit, up a little bit more to where we're clear, then out to the side and then we have a large automated maneuver which will put it into what we call the handoff position so the station can go and grab that with the big arm," Dye said.

"This is a pretty significant activity by itself and putting it on rendezvous day makes this a pretty long and very interesting day. Once we have it held in the handoff position, the station arm will move in and grapple. Once they've got it, we'll release it with our arm and at that point, it becomes (the station's) piece of equipment."

MacLean will leave P3/P4 parked overnight on the left side of the shuttle just below the station's unfinished truss. Before the crew goes to bed, they will change the orientation of the shuttle-station complex, rolling 45 degrees to port. That will aim the left side of the truss down toward Earth and help keep the stowed solar array blankets warm.

The next day, MacLean will move P3/P4 up to the station's P1 truss (there is no P2 element). Once properly aligned, motorized bolts in P1 will be powered up to lock the new truss in place.

As soon as three of the four attachment bolts are engaged, Tanner and Piper will exit the station's Quest airlock and begin a complex spacewalk to make critical electrical connections required to power heaters and other systems necessary to keep the new arrays alive.

Electrical power to the U.S. section of the space station currently is provided by solar arrays mounted atop a short truss, known as Z1, that extends up in the zenith direction from the station's multi-hatch Unity module.

Those arrays, known as P6, will be moved down to the main solar array truss next year and attached to a short spacer, known as P5, that will be bolted to P4 during the next shuttle assembly mission in December.

To wire in the new P4 arrays, flight controllers in Houston will carefully power down the station's two P6 electrical channels, one at a time, so Tanner can hook up 13 umbilical cables between P1 and P3/P4.

"There are about a hundred pages of ground commanding that have to go on in order to get things powered down in the right order and get things switched over and powered back up again afterwards," station flight director John McCullough said in an interview. "It's one of the more tightly choreographed EVAs that we've done as far as ground and crew interaction."

The P4 solar arrays are packed up like venetian blinds in four large "blanket boxes." Tanner and Piper will prepare those boxes for deployment and start the process of readying the SARJ for operation.

NASA managers may insert an extension day after the first spacewalk to give the astronauts time to carry out additional heat shield inspections if any "areas of interest" are identified during the inspections Thursday or during final approach to the station.

But as it now stands, MacLean and Burbank will carry out a second spacewalk the day after the first to complete preparations for SARJ operation and solar array deploy. That night, flight controllers will send commands to extend the arrays one mast bay in a confidence test before the astronauts take over the next morning. First, they will extend each array to 49 percent and then, after letting the sun heat them up a bit, the rest of the way.

The stepwise approach is being taken because of problems encountered in December 2000 when the P6 array was deployed. When the first P6 wing unfurled, several solar cell panels stuck together, resulting in a jerky motion that caused a tension cable to unwind and jump from its spool.

The second P6 array was deployed in high-tension mode, which prevented additional problems. Engineers now believe the "stiction" was caused by subtle effects of atomic oxygen coating the arrays and low temperatures. For the P3/P4 deploy, the arrays will be extended in high-tension mode with enough solar heating to preclude similar problems.

Fully extended, the 38-foot-wide arrays will span 240 feet from tip to tip. Some 66,000 solar array cells will generate nearly 66 kilowatts of usable power. A dozen massive batteries will provide power when the station moves into Earth's shadow and ammonia lines inside accordion-like radiator panels extending 44 feet will shed the heat generated by the electrical circuits.

But the new arrays will not provide power to the station until the next shuttle mission in December when the left side of the P6 array is retracted. In its current position, the port wing of the P6 array is at right angles to the P4 wings, extending into the area where P4 eventually will rotate.

With the new arrays deployed, Tanner and Piper will stage a third spacewalk the following day to complete SARJ activation, to carry out critical repairs on the station's S-band antenna system and to install a thermal blanket around components of the lab's high-speed KU-band antenna.

If all goes well, Atlantis will undock from the space station Sept. 17 - Sept. 18 if the flight is extended a day. The next day, the crew will carry out heat shield inspections to make sure Atlantis hasn't been hit by any orbital debris or micrometeoroids since they carried out a post-launch inspection on the second day of the mission.

Landing back at the Kennedy Space Center is targeted for a few minutes before 6 a.m. on Sept. 20, Sept. 21 if the flight is extended. Assuming the shuttle's external tank performed well and no major impact damage occurs, NASA managers will relax a post-Columbia requirement to launch in daylight, opening up more space station launch windows and clearing the way for a night launch of Discovery Dec. 14.

Octane

10-09-2006, 09:48

un paio di links ai replays del lancio:

http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/on_demand_video.html?param=|http://anon.nasa-global.edgesuite.net/anon.nasa-global/ccvideos/sts_115/ksc_090906_sts115_launch.ram|http://mfile.akamai.com/18566/wmv/etouchsyst2.download.akamai.com/18355/wm.nasa-global/sts-115/090906_launchattempt/ksc_090906_sts115_launch.asx#
http://multimedia.repubblica.it/home/401030

GioFX

10-09-2006, 11:48

Per i video consiglio:

InsideKSC.com (http://www.insideksc.com) (STS-115)

in formato DivX

e

Space Multimedia (http://www.space-multimedia.nl.eu.org/index.php?option=com_search&Itemid=5&searchword=sts-115+download&submit=Search&searchphrase=all&ordering=newest)

GioFX

10-09-2006, 11:50

SpaceFlightNow - Status Report (http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/status.html)

Sunday September 10, 2006 - 0518 GMT (1:18 a.m. EDT)

The astronauts were just awakened for the start of their first full day in space. Mission Control played the song "Moon River" for commander Brent Jett, requested by his wife, to begin the crew's Flight Day 2. Sunday will be spent inspecting the shuttle's wing leading edges and nose cap for any launch damage and preparing the spacewalking suits for the upcoming space station assembly EVAs on the mission.

Marilson

11-09-2006, 09:10

ma perchè non li svegliano mai con learn to fly o next year dei foo fighters? :D

GioFX

11-09-2006, 12:05

Da: SpaceFlightNow.com (http://www.spaceflightnow.com)

Atlantis in rendezvous mode, nears station

The shuttle Atlantis is closing in on the interational space station this morning for a linkup that will kick off a busy week of work to attach and deploy a $372 million set of solar arrays. Docking is expected around 6:46 a.m. EDT (1046 GMT).

GioFX

11-09-2006, 12:06

1003 GMT (6:03 a.m. EDT)

Space station flight director John McCullough has passed his "go" for docking to the shuttle flight controllers.

0958 GMT (5:58 a.m. EDT)

The shuttle is about halfway through its trek from below the station to a point directly in front of the orbiting complex.

GioFX

11-09-2006, 12:14

1014 GMT (6:14 a.m. EDT)

About 275 feet from docking.

1009 GMT (6:09 a.m. EDT)

Flight director Paul Dye has given the "go" for docking.

1008 GMT (6:08 a.m. EDT)

The shuttle crew is powering up the orbiter's docking mechanism in the payload bay.

1005 GMT (6:05 a.m. EDT)

Atlantis has reached the point directly in front of the station along the imaginary line called the velocity vector, or +V bar. The shuttle is 380 feet from the station.

GioFX

11-09-2006, 12:31

1024 GMT (6:24 a.m. EDT)

The shuttle has closed within 150 feet of the space station.

1019 GMT (6:19 a.m. EDT)

Atlantis now 207 feet out, closing at a tenth of a foot per second.

1015 GMT (6:15 a.m. EDT)

The spacecraft are moving into orbital sunset above Indonesia now.

1014 GMT (6:14 a.m. EDT)

Now 250 feet from docking.

GioFX

11-09-2006, 12:34

1031 GMT (6:31 a.m. EDT)

The shuttle is approaching to the station's front docking port along the velocity vector. Distance is less than 100 feet.

GioFX

11-09-2006, 12:38

1035 GMT (6:35 a.m. EDT)

Atlantis is at 75 feet and continuing to slowly close.

GioFX

11-09-2006, 12:39

1039 GMT (6:39 a.m. EDT)

Now 50 feet to go. Meanwhile, station flight engineer Jeff Williams has begun downlinking the pictures of Atlantis' heat shield taken a little while ago. Some of those images should be released by NASA later today.

GioFX

11-09-2006, 12:40

1042 GMT (6:42 a.m. EDT)

The alignment between docking ports on Atlantis and the space station is acceptable and no "fly out" maneuver by the shuttle is necessary.

GioFX

11-09-2006, 12:44

1043 GMT (6:43 a.m. EDT)

Atlantis is 25 feet from docking.

GioFX

11-09-2006, 12:47

1046 GMT (6:46 a.m. EDT)

Ten feet separating the shuttle from the station. Atlantis' thrusters are programmed to fire in a post-contact maneuver to force the two docking ports together. That procedure is now armed and ready.

GioFX

11-09-2006, 12:49

1048 GMT (6:48 a.m. EDT)

CONTACT AND CAPTURE! Atlantis has arrived to the International Space Station, docking with the outpost to resume orbital construction by installing a 35,000-pound solar array truss that will double the station's electrical power.

The relative motions of the shuttle and station will be allowed to damp out over the next few minutes by the spring-loaded docking system. Later, the hooks and latches will be closed to firmly join the two craft and Atlantis' Orbiter Docking System docking ring will be retracted to form a tight seal.

The opening of hatches between the station and shuttle is expected in about two hours. That will be followed by a welcoming ceremony and safety briefing. Then the joint crews will get down to business and use the shuttle robot arm to hoist the truss out of Atlantis' payload bay for handoff to the station's arm.

GioFX

11-09-2006, 12:51

1050 GMT (6:50 a.m. EDT)

Docking occurred 220 miles high above the Pacific west of Chile as the spacecraft moved into an orbital sunrise.

GioFX

11-09-2006, 14:40

1235 GMT (8:35 a.m. EDT)

WELCOME ABOARD! Expedition 13 crewmembers Pavel Vinogradov, Jeff Williams and Thomas Reiter are welcoming the Atlantis astronauts aboard the International Space Station.

1230 GMT (8:30 a.m. EDT)

Atlantis' arm has a grasp on the Port 3/Port 4 solar array truss structure. Latches holding the truss in the payload bay will be released, allowing the arm to raise the 35,000-pound station piece out of the shuttle for handoff to the station's robotic arm.

1222 GMT (8:22 a.m. EDT)

The shuttle's 50-foot robot arm is in en route to pick up the solar array truss for unberthing from the payload bay this morning.

1215 GMT (8:15 a.m. EDT)

Hatch opening and the welcome ceremony are coming up shortly. Meanwhile, members of the shuttle crew are preparing to power up Atlantis' robot arm for grappling the truss in the payload bay.

1130 GMT (7:30 a.m. EDT)

Commander Brent Jett guided the shuttle Atlantis to a gentle docking with the international space station today after a spectacular end-over-end flip across Africa, Italy and the Balkans to let the lab crew photograph the spaceplane's heat shield.

While the rotational pitch maneuver is a now-standard part of every post-Columbia flight, the lighting today was ideal and video beamed down from the space station provided crystal clear views of the orbiter as it slowly pirouetted some 600 feet below against the backdrop of northern Africa and the Mediterranean Sea.

1125 GMT (7:25 a.m. EDT)

The shuttle crew reports a successful leak check has been performed on the docking interface between Atlantis and station. Everything continues to go very well this morning.

1105 GMT (7:05 a.m. EDT)

Atlantis is taking over attitude control of the combined shuttle-station complex.

1100 GMT (7:00 a.m. EDT)

The docking ring between the two craft has been retracted into Atlantis' Orbiter Docking System, pulling the station to a tight mating. Now, the hooks and latches will drive shut to firmly connect the two spacecraft.

Pressure and leak checks will be performed by the crews before the hatchway is opened.

adsasdhaasddeasdd

11-09-2006, 21:31

nn cè modo per vedere in diretta quello che accade dentro??

GioFX

11-09-2006, 23:52

NASA TV @ www.nasa.gov/ntv

Dentro dove?

GioFX

11-09-2006, 23:55

Da SpaceFlightNow.com (http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/060911truss):

New solar array truss pulled from shuttle cargo bay

BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: September 11, 2006

With only an inch or so of clearance, astronauts Dan Burbank and Chris Ferguson, operating the shuttle Atlantis' 50-foot-long robot arm, carefully lifted a 35,000-pound solar array truss from the orbiter's cargo bay today, maneuvered it safely past the ship's heat shield inspection boom and out over the shuttle's left wing.

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/060911truss/truss.jpg
The truss is hoisted out of Atlantis' payload bay this morning. Credit: NASA TV/Spaceflight Now

Canadian astronaut Steve MacLean, operating the space station's more massive Canadarm 2 from inside the Destiny laboratory module, then grappled the massive payload in a high-flying handoff, setting the stage for attachment to the station's unfinished solar array truss Tuesday.

"There you have it, the great Canadian handshake," MacLean called around 10:50 a.m. Both robot arms were built in Canada and both were critical to today's operation.

A few moments later, the shuttle arm released the 45-foot-long $372 million P3/P4 truss segment, leaving it firmly in the grip of Canadarm 2, perched on the far left end of the station's unfinished truss at an anchor point known as work site 7.

The station's solar array truss runs at right angles to the long axis of the outpost, which is made up of four pressurized modules connected end to end. U.S. and Russian airlock modules are mounted on the right side of that long axis and on the bottom respectively.

The central segment of the truss, attached to the top of the Destiny lab module, is known as S0 for "starboard zero." Two other sections, known as S1 and P1, are attached to the right and left sides of S0 respectively.

The station design originally sported two more segments - S2 and P2 - but they were eliminated earlier in the lab's development.

The new P3/P4 truss segment, made up of a massive rotary joint (P3) and a new set of solar arrays (P4) will remain suspended on the end of the station's robot arm overnight. If all goes well, MacLean and station astronaut Jeff Williams will maneuver it into position just a few inches from the end of the P1 truss early Tuesday

After motorized bolts are engaged to lock P3 to P1, Joe Tanner Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper will begin a complex spacewalk to remove launch restraints and to wire the new segment into the station's power system. That's a critical step, because the new components need station power to operate internal heaters until the new arrays can be deployed later.

"This truss has a lot of electronic components on it, a lot of bits and pieces that we don't want to get cold," said lead flight director Paul Dye. "So we have a clock that's running and we want to be able to get the umbilicals hooked up on the EVA tomorrow in order to make sure we can keep that thing alive and in good shape."

With the completion of the handoff maneuver between the shuttle arm and Canadarm 2, the Atlantis astronauts wrapped up an extremely busy day in space that began with a series of rendezvous rocket firings to catch up with the station, a spectacular end-over-end flip for photography of the shuttle's heat shield and finally, docking with the station.

"It was really spectacular stuff today," said Dye. "The rendezvous this morning was probably just about as perfect as a rendezvous as I have ever been a part of. Everything was just dead on, the timing was great, the tracks were perfect, Brent did a masterful job along with his crew. ... My prop(ulsion) officer was real happy because he said Brent used well below the mean amount of prop that we usually allocate for a rendezvous.

"In general, they docked pretty much on time and that was the only thing they did on time today because everywhere else they've been ahead of sked by a significant amount. ... Again, this is an extremely busy day, one of the fullest days I've ever put together on paper for a mission and they're handling it extremely well."

After a review of the procedures planned for Tuesday's spacewalk, Tanner and Piper plan to seal themselves inside the station's Quest airlock module where they will spend the night at a reduced pressure of 10.2 pounds per square inch to help purge nitrogen from their blood streams.

The so-called "camp out" procedure will save an hour of preparation time and help prevent the bends when the astronauts spend the day in their 5-psi spacesuits. Piper, a former Navy diver, is more familiar than most with the need to guard against decompression sickness.

"One of the things about doing EVAs in space is you have the opposite effect of going diving," she said in a NASA interview. "When you go diving, you go from the Earth's atmosphere [atmospheric pressure] to a higher atmosphere and so when you come back up you have to decompress. Well, the same thing happens when you go out on a spacewalk because you're inside the space station at 14.7 [pounds per square inch] nominally, and when you go out on your spacewalks, you're only down at 4.3 psi.

"We've taken care of that on the space shuttle," she said. "The EVA crew members get locked in the airlock the night before, they bring the pressure in the airlock down to 10.2 psi, and so instead of living in the shuttle at 10.2 you're just living in the airlock at 10.2. Since you're locked in there, it's been given the name of 'camp out', because you have to take your sleeping bags in there and you're, in a sense, camping out.

"By doing that, we're able to start our EVAs one hour earlier, and so that means now we're not crunched at the end of the day. When you come back in from an EVA you have to clean up your suits and put all your tools away, and all of that takes time. What happened in the past is that, that would run into the crew member's sleep time. And we don't want to compromise our crews for sleep because that'll just lead to fatigue by the end of the mission. So in doing the camp out, if we're able to get out the door one hour earlier, then that gives us one more hour at the end of the day so we can finish all of our tasks and not have to run into our sleep period."

The astronauts are scheduled to go to bed at 4:15 p.m. today and wake up at 12:15 a.m. Tuesday to begin spacewalk preparations. If all goes well, Tanner and Piper will exit Quest, after attachment of the P3/P4 truss, around 5:15 a.m. The spacewalk is expected to last about six-and-a-half hours.

A spacewalk by MacLean and Burbank is planned Wednesday to complete activation and checkout of the new truss segment and if all goes well, the giant arrays will be unfurled Thursday, stretching 240 feet from tip to tip. A third spacewalk, by Tanner and Piper, is on tap Friday to carry out communications system upgrades.

Octane

12-09-2006, 09:26

Devo dire che fa un certo che vedere una struttura del genere tenuta da un braccio meccanico (in proporzione) finissimo.. :D

Cmq, quanta energia elettrica dovrebbero arrivare a produrre questi nuovi pannelli?

GioFX

12-09-2006, 10:18

Eh già... grande cosa la gravita zero che ti permette di sollevare una struttura di 16 tonnellate con un braccio robotico... :D

La produzione di energia elettrica da parte dei nuovi pannelli comincierà solo con la prossima missione, a fine anno.

I due pannelli solari del nuovo segmento P3/P4 raddoppieranno la produzione di energia elettrica, da soli generano energia per circa 60 kW potenza assorbita.

GioFX

12-09-2006, 10:22

Da SpaceFlightNow.com (http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/060911postmmt):

Additional heat shield inspections ruled out

High-resolution photographs of the shuttle Atlantis' underbelly shot today during final approach to the international space station show the orbiter's heat shield tiles are in good shape with no obvious signs of damage.

Agency engineers decided late today that additional heat shield inspections, a move that would have triggered a one-day mission extension, were not required. While NASA could still extend the flight if problems are encountered attaching a new solar array to the space station, the current plan is to stick with the pre-launch timeline.

"The initial report is all the tile on the undersurface of the vehicle looks great," John Shannon, chairman of NASA's Mission Management Team said earlier today.

But analysts did spot three protruding gap fillers, thin spacers between tiles, that worked themselves loose during ascent.

Two of the exposed gap fillers are on the doors covering propellant feedline fittings just behind the main landing gear doors. The gap filler on the port door "is almost gone, it is barely hanging in there by one little corner," Shannon said. "The one on the starboard ET door side looks like it was ripped away, it's a very, very small protrusion."

The third exposed gap filler is located on the port wing and sticks up about .15 inches.

During the first post-Columbia shuttle mission, STS-114, a spacewalking astronaut pulled two protruding gap fillers out to make sure they would not trigger turbulent flow early during re-entry, which can cause higher downstream heating.

Another worrisome gap filler was spotted during Discovery's flight in July on mission STS-121. Located near one of the external tank feedline doors, the gap filler was left in place and while higher downstream heating was observed during entry, it was well within the shuttle's design limits.

Another gap filler was left in place extending above the surrounding tile on one of Discovery's wings. It happened to be located near a temperature sensor, which allowed engineers to improve computer models used to predict the onset of turbulent flow.

"None of these really concern the team a great deal at this time," Shannon said of the three gap fillers noted on Atlantis' belly. "The one on the external tank door is very similar to the one that was cleared on STS-121. The team is going to go through the normal process of looking at that and when it might trip the aerodynamic boundary layer and cause some additional heating.

"The process we honed on STS-121 to understand the impacts, the team will go through that and we'll get a report in subsequent days whether that will be any kind of impact to us. I do not expect it to be."

On Sunday, the astronauts carried out a now-standard close-up inspection of the shuttle's wing leading edge panels and nose cape, the areas that experience the most extreme heating - more than 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit - during re-entry. Shannon said engineers identified 495 "regions of interest."

Of that total, 116 were immediately eliminated because they were present in pre-launch photo documentation. Another 318 were determined to be benign. That left 61 that were still under discussion today, "which might worry you, but what that means is that's just another level of looking at where it is, what kind of heating would happen during re-entry in that area and then deciding whether it was something that needed to be looked at further or not," Shannon said.

Late today, the engineering community decided no additional inspections were needed and that Atlantis' heat shield is in good shape for the trip back to Earth Sept. 20.

Shannon said the numbers were similar to what was observed during the first two post-Columbia missions. The big difference this time around is that NASA's post-launch engineering teams now have flight experience and actual flight data to feed back into the process. The result is a more streamlined operation.

"This is just standard work now," Shannon said. "Things that were a surprise to us on 114 or 121, it's now standard work. From a process standpoint, we're not surprised by any of these things and we know what to go do to analyze it. The other piece that's really critical, we have real flight data now. ... And we found out our models were fairly conservative."

The result is more confidence about flying the shuttle and maintaining flight safety.

"This is a really challenging mission from a space station assembly standpoint," Shannon said. "It was so beneficial to us to fly 114, to fly 121, to see these things, to be able to grapple with them and not have the complications of an assembly mission on top of that.

"We learned so much, we learned how to do it, we learned who needs to know what (and) when, how to hand off data from one group to the next and it's just a very fluid process right now. ... I am very confident in the team and our ability to support the rest of ISS assembly. It's been a good learning experience in the last two flights."

GioFX

12-09-2006, 10:23

Da SpaceFlightNow.com (http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/060912fd4pre):

Astronauts begin day of construction in space

BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: September 12, 2006

The Atlantis astronauts are gearing up to install a $372 million set of solar arrays on the international space station today, setting the stage for a complex spacewalk to make critical electrical connections.

"We are really looking forward to this," Canadian astronaut Steve MacLean radioed mission control early today. "Should be spectacular."

The first item on the agenda is the mechanical attachment of the 35,000-pound P3/P4 truss, launched aboard Atlantis and held overnight out over the shuttle's left wing on the end of the space station's Canadarm 2 space crane.

Working at a robotics control station inside the Destiny laboratory module, MacLean and station flight engineer Jeff Williams began maneuvering P3/P4 into position for attachment to the left end of the station's unfinished solar array truss around 2 a.m. Once properly lined up and positioned, four motorized bolts on the end of the P1 truss segment will engage to lock the new truss element in place.

"I'll maneuver the P3/P4 truss around up to the P1 truss, an operation that will take about 45 minutes, to the preinstall position nine centimeters away from the center of P1," MacLean said. "Then you have to wait for the rates to damp out, that takes about 30 minutes plus or minus five or 10 minutes probably, then we move in for the final install using the Canadian Space Vision System, which gives me the guidance data."

The Space Vision System uses television cameras and powerful software to measure the precise locations of large black dots attached to the truss elements. The SVS software computes the relative positions of the markings to give MacLean very precise distance and orientation information. Temperature effects can cause distortions of up to five inches, MacLean said, and misalignments of 1 to 2 degrees. The SVS will help compensate for any such effects.

"It'll take about an hour to get to the pre-install position there, and then we have to wait for an attitude change that we need in order to have the P3/P4 truss at a thermally viable position," MacLean said. "And then we install. Fergy (pilot Chris Ferguson) will come over and back me up with the Space Vision System and he will basically provide that data to me, and then using that data I will guide the P3/P4 truss in to the P1 Truss. And that'll be it. A good day."

The actual attachment is automatic. Once P1 and P3 are in close proximity, four motorized bolts on P1 will drive into attachment fittings on P3, firmly locking the two truss elements together. Three of four bolts must engage to call the operation a success.

At that point, astronauts Joe Tanner and Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-PiperPiper, now suited up in the station's Quest airlock module, will float out into space and begin the first of two back-to-back spacewalks to hook up and activate P3/P4.

The spacewalk, the 70th devoted to space station assembly and maintenance since construction began in December 1998, is scheduled to begin at 5:15 a.m.

The astronauts spent the night inside the Quest airlock at a reduced pressure of 10.2 pounds per square inch to help purge nitrogen from their bodies. The so-called camp out procedure was designed to shave about an hour off the time needed to prepare for today's spacewalk while helping ensure the astronauts don't get decompression sickness working in their 5-psi spacesuits.

The primary goal of the outing is to remove launch restraints, to unfold and lock in place the boxes holding the stowed solar array panels and to connect 13 electrical umbilicals to provide station power to internal heaters. The power is needed to keep internal electrical components warm until the now-stowed arrays are unfurled Thursday.

"Once three of four of those bolts are mated, we'll go ahead and send the crew EVA and perform the activities that we need to do to make the element survivable," said station flight director John McCullough. "All the power connections, the 13 umbilicals that need to be mated and all the activities to get ready for solar array deploy start on EVA-1. The power hookups all are completed by the end of EVA 1 and the element is completely survivable."

The station's solar array truss currently consistes of three segments. S0, the center section, is mounted atop the Destiny laboaratory module. Segments S1 and P1 are attached to the right and left ends of S0 respectively. The P3/P4 segments will be bolted to P1 on the port, or left, side of the truss. There are no P2 or S2 segments.

To get to the P1-P3/P4 worksite, Tanner and Piper will first exit the Quest airlock, using 55-foot-long safety tethers. Crossing over a spur to the S0 truss atop the Destiny module, the spacewalkers will move across the forward face of the truss to the port side and, reaching the end of their safety lines, hook up to a different 55-foot tether. Once at the P1/P3 interface, they will swap tethers again, switching to 85-foot safety lines.

A key aspect of the spacewalk is the tight choreography between flight controllers, Tanner and Piper as the ground powers down one channel of the station's electrical system at a time to permit the astronauts to safely plug in the big umbilical cables that will route power and data to and from P3/P4.

"The ground and the crew are very highly choreographed," McCullough said. "The ground has about 100 pages of ground procedures to execute in order to power down and safe connections for the EV crew to mate the 13 umbilicals. They're done on two different channels, so we have to power down one channel first, give them a go to hook up those umbilicals, then they give us a go and we power that channel back up again. We have to complete that before we can take down the next channel so we can maintain connectivity and power to the space station.

"It takes about an hour and a half between the two sets of umbilicals and when that's complete, the second set of umbilicals will be given a go and they'll do that. In between that time, there are other activities for the crew to do to get prepared for solar array deploy on flight day six."

For astronauts in the Destiny lab module, McCullough said in an interview, "a segment of the lights are going to go out that aren't on that channel. You want to be on the cooling loop system that's supplied by the other channel, so we switch over to that. You want to make sure your air circulation system is powered. ... We want to make sure we're switched over to the other side as much as possible."

In one case, he said, the astronauts in the lab will use a jumper cable to keep avionics rack 2 going, which houses critical command and control computers that otherwise would get shut down during the P3/P4 powerup/powerdown cycle.

Along with hooking up the umbilicals, Tanner and Piper will remove a variety of launch locks and restraints to prepare the solar arrays for deployment later in the mission and begin the process of preparing the massive solar alpha rotary joint, or SARJ, for operation. The rotary joint will permit the new arrays to rotate like a giant waterwheel to track the sun as the station circles the globe.

"The solar alpha rotary joint is locked in place for launch," McCullough said. "It has 16 launch locks and a lot of braces that need to be installed to support rotation and we can't deploy the arrays until all of those things are completed."

Tanner's call sign is EV-1 and he will wear a spacesuit with solid red stripes around the legs. Piper, wearing a suit with no markings, is EV-2. Here is an updated timeline of today's events (in EDT and mission elapsed time):

EDT DD HH MM EVENT
__________________________________________

12:15 AM 02 13 00 STS/ISS crew wakeup
12:45 AM 02 13 30 EVA-1: Hygiene break; prebreathe
01:00 AM 02 13 45 EVA-1: Airlock repress
01:30 AM 02 14 15 EVA-1: 10.2 depress
02:05 AM 02 14 50 EVA-1: Campout EVA preps
02:05 AM 02 14 50 SSRMS moves P3/4 to pre-install position
03:25 AM 02 16 10 SSRMS maneuver to "ready to latch" position
03:35 AM 02 16 20 EVA-1: Spacesuit purge
03:50 AM 02 16 35 EVA-1: Spacesuit prebreathe
03:55 AM 02 16 40 P1/P3 bolts engaged
04:40 AM 02 17 25 EVA-1: Crew lock depressurization
04:55 AM 02 17 40 SSRMS ungrapple
05:10 AM 02 17 55 SSRMS moves to viewing position
05:15 AM 02 18 00 EVA-1: Airlock egress; tool setup
05:50 AM 02 18 35 EVA-1: EV1: Connect P1/P3 lower cable tray
05:50 AM 02 18 35 EVA-1: EV2: Release aft solar array blanket box
restraint
06:50 AM 02 19 35 EVA-1: EV1: Release aft BGA restraint
06:50 AM 02 19 35 EVA-1: EV2: Release forward solar array blanket
box restraint
07:15 AM 02 20 00 ISS: EVA-2 tools configured
07:35 AM 02 20 20 EVA-1: EV1: Solar alpha rotary joint rotate
07:45 AM 02 20 30 EVA-1: EV1: Unstow aft solar array blanket box
restraint
07:50 AM 02 20 35 EVA-1: EV2: Release forward BGA restraint
08:15 AM 02 21 00 EVA-1: EV1: SARJ preps
08:15 AM 02 21 00 ISS: Expedition 13 departure preps
08:35 AM 02 21 20 EVA-1: EV2: unstow forward solar array blanket box
08:50 AM 02 21 35 EVA-1: EV1: Connect P1/P3 upper cable tray
09:05 AM 02 21 50 EVA-1: EV2: SARJ prep
10:05 AM 02 22 50 EVA-1: EV1: SARJ prep
10:55 AM 02 23 40 EVA-1: Cleanup
11:35 AM 03 00 20 EVA-1: Airlock ingress/repress
11:50 AM 03 00 35 12A post EVA-1
01:25 PM 03 02 10 EVA-2: Procedures review
02:40 PM 03 03 25 EVA-2: EV3/EV4 campout mask prebreathe
03:25 PM 03 04 10 EVA-2: Crew lock to 10.2 psi
03:45 PM 03 04 30 ISS crew sleep begins
04:15 PM 03 05 00 STS crew sleep begins (EV3/EV4 in airlock)

"On EVA 1 we start getting the P3/P4 element ready for solar array deploy," Piper said in a NASA interview. "That happens two days later. The first task [for] that is to hook up the umbilicals. Those are just the power cables and data cables so that the ground can start commanding all of the, the MDMs, the boxes that are on the elements and getting them ready for deploy. Actually one of Joe's tasks is to hook up the umbilicals.
"While he's doing that, I'm starting to remove the launch locks on the solar array blanket boxes. The solar arrays are folded up into what we call blanket boxes. The blanket boxes are attached to a mast canister, which is attached to the four-bar linkage, which is attached to the P4 structure. In order to get that all to fit inside the shuttle bay and also have it be safe for the vibrations of launch there are a number of launch locks and bolts that just hold it all together.

"On EVA 1, I go out and start removing these bolts. The blanket boxes, instead of being out like you see them in all the pictures with the solar arrays deployed, are folded up together. They have big bolts that hold them together so I go out and I start removing all the bolts, first on the aft side and then I go to the forward side. Meanwhile, Joe's done with the umbilicals. He comes out and gets one of the solar arrays ... swings the four-bar out and then he climbs out onto the very end of the mast canister and swings the two blanket boxes out.

"While he's doing that, I'm out on the forward one, and I do the same thing. Now the blanket boxes are pretty much ready for the ground to start commanding them as far as unlatching them and making sure that all the pins that hold them in are all deploy. That gets that ready for the solar array deploys. We're not quite ready to deploy the arrays yet because, in order to get the P3/P4 to fit inside the shuttle bay, we have to have the alpha joint rotated 180 degrees. In order to rotate it back to the zero position, there are two drive mechanisms that needed to be deployed, the DLAs (drive lock assemblies). We start working on those so that they can command the SARJ. That's pretty much what EVA 1 is.

Tanner, his feet anchored in a foot restraint, will mate the first six umbilical cables working at the lower of two cable trays on P3. Piper, meanwhile, will be preparing the solar array wings for deployment, working from a foot restraint on P4 to access two sets of launch restraints, one inboard and one outboard, holding the blanket boxes in place.

Tanner will assist once the first six umbilicals are connected, releasing two restraints securing one of two beta gimbal assemblies. The BGAs are used to control the pitch of the array wings once they are deployed. After the restraints are released, the blanket boxes and the canisters holding the telescoping masts that will extend the array blankets will be rolled into their deploy positions by manually pushing open the four-bar linkages.

After stowing a massive keel pin that helped hold P3/P4 in place in the shuttle's cargo bay, Tanner will move to the mast canisters and rotate the 4A blanket boxes into position, swinging them through an arc of 90 degrees and locking them in place with a strut to hold them in position. Piper will rotate the 2A blanket boxes into place and release the restraints on the other BGA.

Once both sets of blanket boxes are extended in the deploy position, Tanner and Piper will release latches allowing the mast canisters to open. Tanner then will move up to the top of P4 to mate seven umbilical cables while Piper removes thermal covers on the SARJ and repositions one of the two drive lock assembly motors so its gears engage. She also will engage four "stiffeners" needed to provide additional structural support.

With the final set of electrical cables in place, Tanner will make his way up the Z1 truss atop the Unity module to remove a circuit interrupt device, or CID, as a get-ahead task for the next assembly mission. The CIDs act as circuit breakers in the station's electrical system. With CID-6 ion hand, Tanner will float back down the S0 truss and remove CID-8.

After temporarily stowing the two CIDs, Tanner will rejoin Piper and reposition the other DLA to engage its gears. The two DLAs are redundant and either one can drive the rotary joint and the deployed solar arrays.

Before returning to the airlock, Tanner and Piper will remove thermal shrouds around electrical components on the SARJ that are no longer needed.

"The big challenge about that EVA is timing," Tanner told CBS News. "We have to go through our tasks fairly expeditiously, I've got to get that lower tray connected as quickly as I can because that starts a clock on the ground with that 100 pages John McCullough was talking about. They've got to execute many power ups and start talking to the boxes."

Tanner was a good choice for STS-115. He and Atlantis commander Brent Jett flew together on an earlier station assembly mission to attach the P6 solar arrays atop the Z1 truss.

"Deploying the arrays, we've done it before, we know how that should go. I think there's going to be a little bit of a problem on the four bar deploy. On (assembly mission) 4A, we had a problem of them not wanting to go at all and Carlos (Noriega) and I had to push pretty hard just to get them to move and even brought out a special tool to pull them as far as we could. And even with that, two of the latches when we left were not engaged.

"I'm convinced we're not going to have that problem. It's not going to go too fast, it's going to go about two thirds of the way to full deployment but this time the finish will be as easy as pushing it the last little bit. So expect that to happen, I'm not worried about it."

With spacewalk No. 1 complete, astronauts Dan Burbank and MacLean will spend the night inside Quest to prepare their bodies for a second spacewalk Wednesday. The objectives of the second excursion are to release 16 launch locks and six launch restraints to free the SARJ ring mechanism for rotation. Burbank and MacLean also will complete the installation of stiffeners to provide the necessary structural rigidity.

If all goes well, the new solar arrays will be deployed Thursday, stretching 240 feet from tip to tip.

GioFX

12-09-2006, 10:44

0645 GMT (2:45 a.m. EDT)

The Atlantis astronauts are gearing up to install a $372 million set of solar arrays on the international space station today, setting the stage for a complex spacewalk to make critical electrical connections.

GioFX

12-09-2006, 10:44

0727 GMT (3:27 a.m. EDT)

The 35,000-pound solar array truss, being maneuvered by the station's robotic arm, just triggered the ready-to-latch indicators during this morning's installation. Four bolts will be driven to physically connect the truss to the station over the next 90 minutes.

GioFX

12-09-2006, 10:45

0835 GMT (4:35 a.m. EDT)

At 4:35 a.m. EDT, the third of four electrically driven bolts was tightened to connect the Port 3/Port 4 truss to the space station. That completes the minimum required mating of the truss and gives the OK for the crew to press forward with today's planned spacewalk.

The station has now grown from 432,000 pounds in mass to 467,000 pounds. This is the first large expansion of the complex since November 2002, just before the Columbia accident suspended station construction.

GioFX

12-09-2006, 10:52

0846 GMT (4:46 a.m. EDT)

Mission Control has given a "go" for airlock depressurization in advance of today's spacewalk. The EVA is anticipated to begin within an hour.

GioFX

12-09-2006, 10:54

0852 GMT (4:52 a.m. EDT)

The airlock depress is underway.

adsasdhaasddeasdd

12-09-2006, 11:01

NASA TV @ www.nasa.gov/ntv

Dentro dove?
la stazione grazie cmq.

GioFX

12-09-2006, 11:22

0905 GMT (5:05 a.m. EDT)

The fourth bolt has driven on the truss mating system. Meanwhile, the station's robot arm has ungrappled the truss and backed away.

GioFX

12-09-2006, 11:23

0915 GMT (5:15 a.m. EDT)

The airlock's hatchway to space has been opened.

GioFX

12-09-2006, 11:25

0918 GMT (5:18 a.m. EDT)

EVA BEGINS. Joe Tanner and Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper switched their spacesuits to internal battery power at 5:17 a.m. EDT, marking the official start time for today's spacewalk.

This is the 70th spacewalk devoted to space station assembly and maintenance since construction began in December 1998. Going into today's excursion, 43 NASA astronauts, 13 Russians and four astronauts representing Japan, Canada, France and Germany had logged 418 hours and 17 minutes of spacewalk time building and maintaining the international outpost.

Tanner, veteran of a Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission, logged 33 hours and 21 minutes of EVA time in five previous spacewalks. Piper, a former Navy diver, is flying for the first time.

GioFX

12-09-2006, 11:50

0940 GMT (5:40 a.m. EDT)

The spacewalkers are en route to their respective worksites for the first tasks of this spacewalk. Tanner will begin cable routing while Piper removes launch restraints on the solar array blanket containers.

GioFX

12-09-2006, 12:21

0955 GMT (5:55 a.m. EDT)

Astronauts Joe Tanner and Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper are outside the space station today to prepare the new solar array truss installed earlier this morning for activation.

GioFX

12-09-2006, 12:22

1005 GMT (6:05 a.m. EDT)

Tanner is busy making a series of umbilical cable connections between the station's existing Port 1 truss launched in November 2002 and the Port 3 truss section installed this morning. Meanwhile, Piper is out on the end of the new truss section releasing the solar array blanket box launch locks.

GioFX

12-09-2006, 12:23

1008 GMT (6:08 a.m. EDT)

Tanner reports his first task has been completed hooking up six power and data cables between the station and the new truss.

Octane

12-09-2006, 12:33

GioFX

12-09-2006, 14:13

1034 GMT (6:34 a.m. EDT)

The structure containing the aft solar array wing -- called the Beta Gimbal Assembly -- is being pushed out of its launch position by spacewalker Joe Tanner now. Meanwhile, Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper is finishing up releasing the restraints holding the forward wing in the stowed position.

GioFX

12-09-2006, 14:14

1112 GMT (7:12 a.m. EDT)

The spacewalkers are making swift progress in today's EVA timeline. The aft wing assembly is extended and the two boxes containing the solar arrays have been rotated into the deploy position. The arrays will be unfurled on Thursday.

The forward wing assembly is being pushed out of its launch position by Piper right now. Once that is completed, she will rotate out those array boxes too.

Meanwhile, Tanner has moved on to the Solar Alpha Rotary Joint to begin preparing it for activation.

GioFX

12-09-2006, 14:14

1123 GMT (7:23 a.m. EDT)

Piper is now unfolding the two solar array blanket boxes on the forward wing assembly.

GioFX

12-09-2006, 14:15

1140 GMT (7:40 a.m. EDT)

Tanner is working to deploy one of the two drive lock assemblies that control the alpha rotary joint on the interface between the P3 and P4 truss segments. And Piper will be engaging "stiffeners" needed to provide additional structural support.

GioFX

12-09-2006, 14:17

1158 GMT (7:58 a.m. EDT)

After completing his initial work with the Solar Alpha Rotary Joint, Tanner is moving to the interface between the Port 1 and Port 3 trusses to mate the second series of cables from the station to the new truss. He connected six cables on the lower side of the truss earlier in the EVA; this current job involves seven cables on the upper side.

GioFX

12-09-2006, 14:21

1215 GMT (8:15 a.m. EDT)

Floating at the far end of a newly attached truss, astronaut Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper rotated four solar array blanket boxes into position today, appearing in spectacular video against the backdrop of the Brazilian rain forest and the Amazon River 220 miles below.

GioFX

12-09-2006, 15:34

1240 GMT (8:40 a.m. EDT)

Piper is preparing to deploy the second of the two drive lock assemblies that control the alpha rotary joint. Tanner has traveled to the Z1 truss atop the Unity module to remove a circuit interrupt device -- circuit breakers in the station's electrical system -- as a get-ahead task for the next assembly mission. He'll also remove another circuit interrupt device on the S0 truss.

GioFX

12-09-2006, 15:34

1307 GMT (9:07 a.m. EDT)

Mission Control just radioed the spacewalkers that power has been configured to the Solar Alpha Rotary Joint, the device that allows the P4 solar array truss to rotate and track the Sun. Piper has completed engaging the second drive lock assembly.

The EVA is running about an hour ahead of the timeline. Controllers are looking at what get-ahead tasks Tanner and Piper could accomplish to take advantage of the extra time now available in the spacewalk.

GioFX

12-09-2006, 15:35

1317 GMT (9:17 a.m. EDT)

Noow passing the four hour mark in today's spacewalk -- the first of three EVA planned for Atlantis' mission. Piper and Tanner are working to place thermal covers on the Solar Alpha Rotary Joint's drive lock assemblies.

GioFX

12-09-2006, 15:38

un'ora in anticipo sulla tabella di marcia, incredibile per la più complessa EVA ad oggi... evidentemente avevano previsto un bel po di contingency-time per possibili problemi seri. Ma fin'ora è andato tutto bene!

:sperem:

:read:

GioFX

12-09-2006, 16:07

1349 GMT (9:49 a.m. EDT)

Since the spacewalkers are so far ahead of schedule, they've been asked to do some of the tasks originally planned for tomorrow's EVA.

GioFX

12-09-2006, 17:14

1457 GMT (10:57 a.m. EDT)

The get-ahead work is essentially complete now. The spacewalkers are starting the cleanup chores to bring this EVA to a close.

1440 GMT (10:40 a.m. EDT)

The spacewalkers have removed the launch locks and covers to get a jump start on tomorrow's EVA tasks. Tanner is now deploying brace beams on the P3 inboard side of the rotary joint. Piper has been removing some shroud covers on truss equipment.

1418 GMT (10:18 a.m. EDT)

Tanner has lost a bolt, washer and spring from part of the launch lock he was removing from the rotary joint.

1400 GMT (10:00 a.m. EDT)

Each spacewalker will be removing some covers and two launch locks on the Solar Alpha Rotary Joint to prepare the device for rotation. These was a task planned for tomorrow's EVA, but there is time to get started today.

GioFX

12-09-2006, 17:47

1544 GMT (11:44 a.m. EDT)

EVA ENDS. Repressurization of the Quest airlock module began at 11:43 a.m. EDT, marking the official conclusion of this first spacewalk during Atlantis' construction mission to the space station. Today's EVA lasted six hours and 26 minutes.

1537 GMT (11:37 a.m. EDT)

Tanner, having climbed into the airlock, is closing the hatch now.

1525 GMT (11:25 a.m. EDT)

Piper is first to enter the airlock.

Octane

12-09-2006, 17:57

Tanner has traveled to the Z1 truss atop the Unity module to remove a circuit interrupt device -- circuit breakers in the station's electrical system -- as a get-ahead task for the next assembly mission. si sono presi avanti per la prossima EVA o addirittura per la prossima missione?

GioFX

12-09-2006, 21:08

si sono presi avanti per la prossima EVA o addirittura per la prossima missione?

credo fosse prevista in una delle due prossime EVA, comunque è necessaria alla missione 12A.1. Hanno fatto davvero un lavoro straordinario oggi, complimenti anche alla Piper che era una novizia. Peccato per il bullone perduto:

Spacewalk completed; lost bolt prompts discussion

Astronauts Joe Tanner and Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper sucessfully wired in a new solar array truss segment today, removed launch restraints and deployed stowed appendages during a nearly flawless six-hour 26-minute spacewalk, the first of three complex excursions planned for the shuttle Atlantis' space station assembly mission. The only problem of any significance came late in the spacewalk when Tanner, removing one of 16 launch locks around a massive rotating joint, lost a bolt, spring and washer.

Engineers don't yet know where the bolt and spring ended up, although they're hopeful the hardware floated free and did not find its way inside the $372 million truss, which features a large, rotating gear assembly that will be used later to turn the new solar arrays.

Astronauts Dan Burbank and Steve MacLean are scheduled to remove the bulk of the launch locks during a spacewalk Wednesday. Tanner and Piper were running ahead of schedule when they were asked to remove two of the launch locks as a get-ahead task to get a feel for how the work will go.

"I suspect this might happen again, folks," Tanner said after searching unsuccessfully for the lost bolt. He added later, "I'm glad we did this, we learned something for tomorrow. We need to be real careful with the bolts."

The spacewalk, the 70th devoted to space station assembly and maintenance, began at 5:17 a.m. and officially ended at 11:43 a.m. when the astronauts repressurized the Quest airlock. With the completion of today's spacewalk, 61 astronauts representing the United States, Russia, Japan, Canada, Germany and France have logged 424 hours and 43 minutes building and maintaining the orbital lab complex.

"Joe and Heide, you did a phenomenal job and set the bar very high for the rest of assembly," astronaut Pam Melroy radioed from the space station control center.

"Well, we just did what we were told, Pam," Tanner joked. "We just did the best we could do, that's all we wanted to do, right Heide?"

"That's all I wanted to do," Piper said.

"Amen."

Tanner, Piper and their shuttle crewmates - commander Brent Jett, pilot Chris Ferguson, Burbank and MacLean - originally trained to carry out this mission in 2003, the next flight in the sequence after Columbia's ill-fated voyage.

Station assembly was put on hold in the wake of the disaster, but the Atlantis astronauts stayed together and the years of training paid off with a remarkably smooth spacewalk that belied the complexity of of the required tasks.

Along with accomplishing all of their primary objectives - wiring in the new P3/P4 truss, deploying solar array appendages, removing launch restraints and engaging stiffeners and rotary joint drive motors, the spacewalkers had enough time left over to accomplish a few tasks originally scheduled for a spacewalk Wednesday by Burbank and MacLean.

The primary items on the agenda Wednesday are to remove 16 launch locks from the massive rotary joint that ultimately will spin the new arrays to follow the sun, along with six other restraints that must be removed before the joint can rotate.

The launch-lock removal is a multi-step procedure that requires the astronauts to first release an inboard clamp; remove and temporarily stow a thermal cover; remove four bolts from the launch lock; and reinstall the thermal cover. Tanner and Piper were asked to remove two of those launch locks to give Burbank and MacLean a sense of how that work might go.

As it turned out, the only snag of the day came when Tanner lost the bolt, spring and washer while working on one of the launch locks.

"Well, this is unfortunate," he said, clearly disappointed. "The washer is gone, it went in a good direction, forward. The bolt and spring stayed together and I only got a glimpse of it, but it departed pretty much zenith (in an upward direction). I guess it could have ricochetted off anything in between me and the (upper) corner."

"The question would be, did it go into structure or away from structure?" mission control asked.

"Well, it was breezing across the surface of structure," Tanner replied. "It could have gone right over Heide's head, but she wouldn't have known to look up. And it was dark anyway."

After another inspection, he said "I don't see any way it could have gotten in" the truss. "I don't see it anywhere."

But before coming in, he asked MacLean to "mark the videotape when that first came off, I want to look at it later."

"Yeah, we have it, Joe."

GioFX

13-09-2006, 09:50

Da SpaceFlightNow.com (http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/060912postmmt/):

Heat shield cleared; Shannon talks night launches, Hubble

BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: September 12, 2006

NASA's Mission Management Team today gave the shuttle Atlantis' heat shield a clean bill of health, formally clearing the ship and its crew for a normal re-entry Sept. 20 if no other problems develop.

MMT Chairman John Shannon said an exhaustive review of space- and ground-based imagery, wing leading edge sensor data and laser scans in orbit normally takes five days to complete. But this time around, the work was done in half the time, thanks to the performance of Atlantis' external tank and the team's increasing familiarity with post-Columbia inspection procedures.

"We were able to clear all of the thermal protection system in 60 hours," Shannon said. "My best estimate was always five days, so we did it in half the time. That just shows how much better the processes are getting and the people are getting at running through the processes."

it turns out, it wasn't a gap filler at all.

"It was kind of a curious thing, when they started looking at the installation records, they had no record there was a gap filler in that location," Shannon said. "That caused them to be a little bit curious and they went and looked at the baseline (pre-launch) imagery and there wasn't a gap filler installed in that area."

On closer inspection, engineers realized what appeared to be part of a gap filler sticking up from the surrounding tile was actually part of a plastic shim, used during tile installation to ensure proper spacing. Shims are removed after use but this one apparently was missed.

Protruding gap fillers, not uncommon, can cause the smooth flow of hypersonic air across the belly of the shuttle to become turbulent during re-entry, which can cause areas of more extreme heating downstream. They earlier turbulent flow begins, the greater the potential for damage.

The exposed shim, Shannon said, "is not an issue at all. It's sticking out just a little bit. Since it is plastic, it will melt very easily. They ran a test on it, it'll soften at about 250 degrees Fahrenheit and it melts at about 450 degrees Fahrenheit and it will see that melting environment seven minutes before we hit Mach 25. So before we really hit the sensible atmosphere, that piece of shim stock will be long gone. So we are not worried about it."

Just to be safe, engineers carried out an analysis that assumed the shim was, in fact, a gap filler. The results showed Atlantis could safely enter as is even in that case. Two other protruding gap fillers were spotted earlier but neither poses a threat.

As for the suspect insulation blanket on the shuttle's right-side orbital maneuvering system pod, Shannon said closer inspection using a camera on the space station showed it was not a problem and Atlantis was cleared for a normal re-entry.

One final heat shield inspection will be conducted after Atlantis undocks from the space station to make sure no orbital debris or micrometeoroids hit the spacecraft after it reached orbit.

On another front, Shannon said he is optimistic NASA will be able to resume night launchings in December when the next space station assembly mission is scheduled for liftoff.

"The team overall does feel extremely confident about launching at night," he said. "The radar that we have, we got another test of it this flight, and it worked extremely well for us. We also think we'll get some good imagery still just from the backlighting form the solid rocket boosters. So we're feeling good about the night launch.

"What you might lose for a night launch is further understanding of the external tank or the solid rocket boosters or the environment that we're flying in. Launching at night does not impact the safety of that crew, because we're going to do the full inspection just like we did on this flight. So, all you would lose launching at night is additional information about the environment that you might apply to ... future shuttle missions. It will not affect, though, the safety of the crew that actually launches at night. So we're feeling very comfortable that we could do that."

Shannon also said he was optimistic about eventual approval of flight to service the Hubble Space Telescope. NASA Administrator Mike Griffin is expected to make a decision one way or the other in October.

But a Hubble flight would not be able to take advantage of the space station as a safe haven in the event of non-repairable heat shield problems - the two spacecraft are in different orbits - and it may not be possible to launch a second shuttle on a rescue mission.

Shannon said he was heartened by the continued good performance of the external tank, by ongoing work to improve the tank's insulation and by development of heat shield repair techniques. But a second shuttle launch pad may not be available even if a second ship could be processed in parallel for a rescue mission and a Hubble repair crew might have to rely on their own ability to inspect the shuttle and carry out repairs, if necessary.

"A lot of things are lining up that says Hubble is going to be a doable kind of thing," Shannon said. "The real question on Hubble is going to be the launch on need, because that's going to be extremely difficult to do. You just don't have the orbital lifetime on a Hubble mission to be able to get another vehicle launched. It's going to be very tough.

"So we're going to have to go into the Hubble decision not counting on the launch-on-need vehicle. And that's the difficult question the agency's going to have to do. Do we have enough confidence in the design, do we have enough confidence in our inspection and repair to be able to do that? And I think that's where the discussion is mostly going to lie."

GioFX

13-09-2006, 12:46

1005 GMT (6:05 a.m. EDT)

One hour into the spacewalk. Burbank and MacLean remain busy releasing the launch locks holding the Solar Alpha Rotary Joint.

0945 GMT (5:45 a.m. EDT)

The spacewalkers have traveled down the length of the port-side trusses of the space station backbone to reach their worksites. The bulk of this EVA will be spent removing covers and launch locks on the solar array truss rotation joint.

0915 GMT (5:15 a.m. EDT)

Astronauts Dan Burbank and Canadian Steve MacLean, floating in the space station's Quest airlock module, switched their spacesuits to internal battery power at 5:05 a.m. today to kick off a planned six-and-a-half-hour spacewalk. The goal of the outing is to complete work on a massive rotary joint that will slowly turn a new set of solar arrays to keep them face on to the sun.

This is the 71st spacewalk devoted to space station assembly and maintenance since construction began in 1998 and the second of three planned by the Atlantis astronauts. Joe Tanner and Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper completed the initial setup of a new solar array truss Tuesday and will carry out a final spacewalk Friday, the day after the new arrays are unfurled.

G-DannY

13-09-2006, 12:54

Che spettacolo seguire tutte le operazioni su nasatv...

Ho il wmp aperto con nasatv sempre in ufficio...

Sembra quasi di stare la...

Marilson

13-09-2006, 14:22

Giofx una domanda, intanto volevo sapere il deployement degli arrays era già stato fatto.. poi una curiosità, il truss p3/p4 integrato è semplicemente un traliccio con i relativi pannelli e le interconnessioni con la stazione (lavori di connessione alla rete elettcia eccetera) oppure c'è anche un nuovo modulo abitativo/lavorativo dove gli astronauti della ISS possono entrarvi? in pratica con STS-115 nn dovrebbe essere stata aumentata la volumetria interna della stazione.. o sbaglio?

GioFX

13-09-2006, 16:27

Giofx una domanda, intanto volevo sapere il deployement degli arrays era già stato fatto

No, verrà fatto domani... ma non produrranno energia prima della prossima missione, la 12A.1 che richiuderà i pannelli del segmento P6/S6 (senza richiuderli non è possibile per il P3/P4 ruotare, ricordo infatti che questo segmento è dotato del Solar Array Rotation Joint, SARJ, che fa ruotare i pannelli solari di 360° per poter seguire il sole durante il suo spostamento in orbita). Semplicemente per ora si autoalimenterà per mantenere attivo il sistema di riscaldamento/raffreddamento.

il truss p3/p4 integrato è semplicemente un traliccio con i relativi pannelli e le interconnessioni con la stazione (lavori di connessione alla rete elettcia eccetera) oppure c'è anche un nuovo modulo abitativo/lavorativo dove gli astronauti della ISS possono entrarvi? in pratica con STS-115 nn dovrebbe essere stata aumentata la volumetria interna della stazione.. o sbaglio?

No, la missione attuale prevede l'installazione del segmento P3/P4 e il dispiegamento dei pannelli solari che raddoppieranno l'energia elettrica prodotta peer l'ISS. Non ci sono moduli pressurizzati nel truss (il telaio della ISS).

Per maggiori dettagli sulla sequenza di costruzione dell'ISS trovate foto e video con tutte le fasi di assemblaggio nella pagina del Launch Manifest della NASA:

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/iss_manifest.html

Sequenza di Costruzione:

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/ISS_Assembly_Artwork.html

e questa bella animazione della Tetronix per la NASA:

http://www.tietronix.com/anim/pao/s1A1.html

:read:

GioFX

13-09-2006, 17:37

Da SpaceFlightNow.com (http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/060913eva2/index3.html):

Astronauts struggle to release tight bolt

BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: September 13, 2006

Astronauts Dan Burbank and Steve MacLean, using their combined muscle power, a big wrench and lots of grunts and groans, finally freed an overly tight bolt today that threatened to prevent a massive rotating joint from operating properly.

The bolt secured one of six large launch restraints on the 2,500-pound solar alpha rotary joint at the heart of the new port 3 truss that was attached to the space station Tuesday. The SARJ was launched with 16 launch locks on the main gear assembly and larger launch restraints, all of which had to be removed to permit rotation of the new solar array making up the outboard P4 truss.

MacLean and Burbank successfully removed the smaller launch locks, although one of the bolts used to secure a thermal blanket broke free. Astronaut Joe Tanner ran into similar trouble during a spacewalk Tuesday, prompting concern about potential debris inside the SARJ mechanism. But flight controllers said they were not concerned.

Today, MacLean ran into problems freeing a bolt holding a large launch restraint in place. After breaking a socket trying to free the bolt, he and Burbank, with advice and guidance from Tanner, used a larger wrench and put their combined muscle power into the effort.

Despite concern they might snap the head off the bolt, they eventually succeeded, much to the relief of flight controllers in Houston.

"Yoo hoo!" one of the astronauts yelled.

"All right!" another said.

"OK, that one's free," MacLean confirmed, prompting another astronaut to observe "now there was much rejoicing."

"You guys didn't spend enough time at the gym," someone joked.

"Whoa," Burbank said. "Yeah, Steve broke one of your tools because he didn't spend enough time at the gym."

"I hope they don't take it out of my wages, you know," MacLean said.

A few moments later, astronaut Pam Melroy called from mission control in Houston, saying "we apperciate your answering that age-old question for MCC: how many astronauts does it take to unscrew a bolt? And apparently it takes three, two outside and one inside. We're very pleased, you guys did an awesome job and that was great teamwork."

"Yeah, this was an amazing effort you guys," commander Brent Jett added. "You wouldn't have imagined the drama inside here and I'm sure the drama on the ground right now, a few minutes ago."

"It would be a show stopper for rotation and (solar array) deploy," agreed Burbank.

"You betcha."

Flight controllers, meanwhile, are gearing up to begin test and checkout of the SARJ prior to ordering a full 360-degree rotation later today. The still-stowed P4 solar arrays must be rotated 180 degrees before they are deployed Thursday and after the SARJ completes its 360-degree turn, it will reverse and move back 180 degrees.

A second SARJ will be attached to the right side of the space station's solar array truss next February and engineers are anxious to check out the operation of the one in P3.

"This is a component we haven't flown yet, this is the first one we're doing," spacewalker Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-PiperPiper said in a pre-launch interview. "So that's probably one of the big unknowns, how is that joint going to react in space? If it doesn't work, then your arrays are going to be parked where they are, you're not going to be able to track the sun."

For readers interested in a bit more technical detail, here's a description of the joint from Boeing, the prime contractor:

"P3 consists of the Solar Alpha Rotary Joint (SARJ), which continuously rotates to keep the solar array wings on P4 and P6 oriented towards the sun as the station orbits the earth. Located between P3 and P4, the SARJ is a 10 foot diameter rotary joint that tracks the sun in the alpha axis that turns the entire P4 module (and eventually the P6 module when it is relocated). The SARJ weighs approximately 2,500 pounds.

"The SARJ can spin 360 degrees using bearing assemblies and a servo control system to turn. All of the power will flow through the Utility Transfer Assembly (UTA) in the SARJ. Roll ring assemblies allow transmission of data and power across the rotating interface so it never has to unwind. Under contract to Boeing, the SARJ was designed, built and tested by Lockheed Martin in Sunnyvale, Calif.

"The solar array wings are also oriented by the Beta Gimbal Assembly (BGA), which can change the pitch of the wings b spinning the solar array. The BGA measures 3 x 3 x 3 feet and provides a structural link between the Integrated Equipment Assembly (IEA). The BGA¹s most visual functions are to deploy and retract the SAW and rotate it about its longitudinal axis.

"Both the SARJ and BGA are pointing mechanisms and they can follow an angle target and rotate to that target. On-orbit controllers continuously update those targets so it keeps moving continuously as the station orbits the Earth every 90 minutes, maintaining contact with the sun at the same orbital rate. The SARJ mechanism will move much more than the BGA. The BGA will move about four or five degrees per day, whereas the SARJ will rotate 360 degrees every orbit or about 4 degrees per minute.

"The SARJ will be the first one to be installed on station and it is unique because it rotates the entire truss element, allowing it to rotate in the alpha axis rotation. The station has been using the P6 BGA to move as an alpha joint. Eventually, the SARJ will provide primary rotation with BGA doing minor movements and will be tested on this flight, but won¹t be activated until assembly mission 12A.1."

That mission, by the shuttle Discovery, is scheduled for launch Dec. 14. During the flight, the left wing of the P6 array, currently mounted on the Z1 truss atop the Unity module, will be retracted. That will clear the area needed for the new P4 arrays to rotate as designed.

The right wing of the P6 array will be retracted during the next shuttle flight in February. If all goes well, the arrays will be attached to a spacer next to P4 next August.

GioFX

13-09-2006, 23:50

Da SpaceFlightNow.com:

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/060913eva2/index4.html

Station's new truss rotation joint swings into action

BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: September 13, 2006

A 2,500-pound rotary joint seeing its first use aboard the international space station, successfully rotated a new set of still-stowed solar arrays today in a key test before array deployment early Thursday.

As installed on the left end of the station's main solar array truss Tuesday, the new panels were oriented so their cooling radiators would have extended straight up if deployed, contacting a set of operational arrays.

After checking out the new solar alpha rotary joint - SARJ - flight controllers sent commands to turn the joint, first 5 degrees and then a full 180 degrees, using one of two redundant motors. Space station flight director John McCullough said the initial checks went well and controllers will move the joint a full 360 degrees later today to test the other drive system.

"The really great news is the SARJ, the solar alpha rotary joint that we worked so hard on and talked about so much, it moved right before this briefing," McCullough told reporters. "I was pretty excited to see that. It was a great day and very visually enticing."

If all goes well, flight controllers will begin the solar array extension process late today, deploying each packed-up wing a bit more than a yard, the length of one bay of their motorized self-assembling masts. On Thursday, the Atlantis astronauts will send commands to extend the masts the rest of the way.

Once deployed, each 38-foot-wide solar array wing will stretch more than 115 feet in opposite directions. A detailed overview of solar array deployment will be posted here later today.

GioFX

14-09-2006, 11:43

Ora stanno dispiegando i pannelli solari del segmento P4.

________________

0910 GMT (5:10 a.m. EDT)

Running behind schedule because of software problems, flight controllers early today began a slow, careful process to unfurl a new set of solar arrays aboard the international space station. The plan called for first deploying the huge panels just a few feet to let them warm up and decompress after years in storage. Later today, the Atlantis astronauts will send commands to fully extend the new arrays.

GioFX

14-09-2006, 11:53

0946 GMT (5:46 a.m. EDT)

The other solar wing has just deployed out its first section.

The shuttle/station complex will be maneuvering into a new orientation before the deploy sequence continues.

GioFX

14-09-2006, 12:30

il deploy del lato dx è ripreso!

GioFX

14-09-2006, 12:37

1027 GMT (6:27 a.m. EDT)

Extension of the first wing is resuming. The array will be deployed to the 49 percent.

GioFX

14-09-2006, 12:39

1033 GMT (6:33 a.m. EDT)

The array has reached the 49 percent mark. The crew will wait a half-hour to let the panels warm up before proceeding. to a full 100 percent.

GioFX

14-09-2006, 14:17

1209 GMT (8:09 a.m. EDT)

Commander Brent Jett reports a good deploy to 49 percent. The crew will pause for 30 minutes to let the wing warm up before extending the rest of the array.

1203 GMT (8:03 a.m. EDT)

Now the starboard solar wing of the space station's new power truss is beginning to extend outward to the 49 percent mark. The station is flying over the Pacific, west of Peru.

1135 GMT (7:35 a.m. EDT)

With the international space station in free drift, the Atlantis astronauts unfurled the first of two new solar array wings today, beaming back spectacular video showing the gold-colored blankets extending like venetian blinds against the black backdrop of space.

1127 GMT (7:27 a.m. EDT)

Flight controllers are projecting a deploy start time of no sooner than 7:57 a.m. -- the point of orbital sunrise -- for the second array.

1111 GMT (7:11 a.m. EDT)

The crew reports a successful extension of the first array.

1109 GMT (7:09 a.m. EDT)

Mission Control says the port-side array achieved full deploy at 7:08 a.m.

1103 GMT (7:03 a.m. EDT)

Unfurling of the port array is underway again, headed for full extension.

GioFX

14-09-2006, 14:42

1238 GMT (8:38 a.m. EDT)

The starboard array is crunching toward full extension. Deploy restarted at 8:38 a.m.

GioFX

14-09-2006, 14:48

1244 GMT (8:44 a.m. EDT)

Deployment of the International Space Station's new set of power-generating solar wings has been successfully completed! Extension of the starboard array completed at 8:44 a.m.

Frank1962

14-09-2006, 15:35

bene! .....adesso vogliamo la foto di come si presenta adesso la iss! :D

Octane

14-09-2006, 16:03

e questa bella animazione della Tetronix per la NASA:

http://www.tietronix.com/anim/pao/s1A1.html

:read:

Bella! almeno qui e' piu' facile capire perche' debbano fare tutti questi spostamenti di strutture/moduli :)

peccato solo non abbiano realizzato anche un'animazione per far vedere come i pannelli solari ruotino per restare sempre perpendicolari alla luce solare incidente. :eek:

GioFX

14-09-2006, 22:50

peccato solo non abbiano realizzato anche un'animazione per far vedere come i pannelli solari ruotino per restare sempre perpendicolari alla luce solare incidente. :eek:

si ne esiste una, l'hanno mandata in onda su NASA TV.

GioFX

15-09-2006, 00:26

Da SpaceFlightNow.com (http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/060914arraydeploy/index3.html):

Space station spreads its new power wings

BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: September 14, 2006;
Updated after status briefing

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/060914arraydeploy/array1b.jpg
The first solar wing nears full extension. Credit: NASA TV/Spaceflight Now

The Atlantis astronauts successfully unfurled a second solar array today, giving the international space station a new set of wings stretching some 240 feet from tip to tip and completing the primary goal of the 116th shuttle mission.

While the mission is far from over - a third spacewalk is on tap Friday - getting the new solar arrays attached and deployed marks a critical first step in the resumption of space station assembly after a three-and-a-half-year hiatus.

"We're happy to be here to tell you the truss, the P3/P4 truss is installed, the SARJ joint's checked out, the solar arrays are deployed, we're in outstanding shape," space station Program Manager Mike Suffredini told reporters. "The bottom line is, this flight has gone better than my wildest dreams."

This afternoon, NASA released spectacular video of Atlantis' launch Sept. 9 that was shot by cameras mounted on the ship's twin solid-fuel boosters and in a WB-57 jet aircraft flying at 60,000 feet near the launch pad.

The booster cams showed no obvious problems with the shuttle's external tank insulation and no signs of any heat shield damage. While the WB-57 footage was not as sharp, it provided dramatic views of the shuttle well after booster separation, including ignition of Atlantis' orbital maneuvering system engines for additional boost.

But deployment of the space station's huge new solar arrays was the clear highlight of today's activity in space.

The P3/P4 arrays are needed for the next planned assembly mission in December as NASA works through a complex sequence of flights that must be accomplished in series to build out the lab's main solar array truss and prepare the station for arrival of European and Japanese research modules.

The only real hitch in an otherwise by-the-book mission was a software commanding problem Wednesday that held up test and check out of a drive system needed to rotate the new arrays to keep them face on to the sun as the station circles the globe.

As it turned out, the glitch was actually a safety feature built into higher level supervisory software that controllers had not taken into account. Once they did, checkout of the solar alpha rotary joint, or SARJ, went smoothly and the Atlantis astronauts were cleared to press ahead with array deployment early today.

During extension of an identical set of arrays in 2000, many of the compressed slats in the solar blanket initially stuck together due to the effects of low temperatures and atomic oxygen.

When the stuck panels broke free during deployment, the arrays oscillated more than expected and caused a tension cable to jump from its guide. The system was repaired during a spacewalk and procedures were changed for today's deploy.

Flight controllers first extended each wing a few feet to improve warming and release compression. Then the astronauts deployed the panels, one at a time, first to 49 percent and then, after waiting for more solar warming, out to a full 100 percent. The extension was done in a high-tension mode to help prevent the panels from pulling up at the bottom as the self-assembling masts extended.

The procedure worked as planned and no problems were encountered.

"Good deploy of the 2A array, very similar to the deploy of the 4A array," Atlantis commander Brent Jett called around 8:45 a.m. after the second wing was fully extended.

"Good day for space station," replied astronaut Pam Melroy from mission control in Houston. "We confirm the solar array is also fully deployed on telemetry. Congratulations!"

"We're very happy to get the array out today," Brent said. "There was never any motion on the tension mechanism until it was supposed to move at the very end. There was, however, quite a bit of spring tension and when the (stuck) panels would release, the boxes would move quite a bit, but that was the same on both arrays."

Suffredini was elated with how the deployment played out.

"A lot of folks have spent time talking about a couple of bolts (and) the software feature we rediscovered last night," he said. "But if you told me before this flight these were the only issues we were going to deal with as a program, I would have taken that and run. The only real problem I have is getting everybody to understand when we say these things are hard, really believing us, because the next flight is going to be even more difficult.

"But we're ecstatic today," he said. "The vehicle has performed in an outstanding way, the systems that make up the P3/P4 truss have all performed as advertised and we're well on our way to returning to assembly."

The new arrays, known as P4 because they're part of left-side truss segment No. 4, were wired into the station's electrical system earlier this week during a spacewalk by Joe Tanner and Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper. But the panels will not begin providing power to the station until December, when the next shuttle assembly crew arrives to carry out a major electrical system rewiring.

During that flight, the left wing of the P6 solar array, currently positioned at right angles to P4 at the top of the station, will be retracted, permitting the new panels to rotate as required to track the sun.

The P6 array will be moved next August to a position just outboard of P4, completing the left side of the station's main power beam. Two other arrays will be attached to the right side of the truss in February 2007 and June 2008.

For the Atlantis astronauts, a third spacewalk is on tap Friday, starting at 5:15 a.m., to complete final closeouts of the new hardware and to repair S-band and KU-band antenna systems on the station.

While Tanner and Joe Tanner Stefanyshyn-Piper are outside, Jett and shuttle pilot Chris Ferguson plan to deploy a set of folded radiator panels on the P4 truss to provide cooling for internal electrical components.

The 1,600-pound radiator, made up of seven hinged panels housing two ammonia coolant circuits, will extend 44 feet when fully deployed at right angles to the axis formed by the array wings.

"You just can't imagine a flight being better than this one has been," Suffredini said. "Now, as we go further along, we won't have had as many years training and some of the jobs will be less difficult than what we did with the installation of this truss, some will be the same, some will be more difficult.

"And so I love the first step that we've taken and I think that's great for the team and I think that speaks volumes of the work we have to do. ... If you believe what this flight tells you, we've got a pretty good fix on what it takes. But we know we've got a lot of challenges in front of us. ... We'll be cautious with you and with ourselves to not get too overly optimistic. We're going to keep asking ourselves questions."

adsasdhaasddeasdd

15-09-2006, 01:11

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/tracking/ perchè è sparito lo space shuttle??

GioFX

15-09-2006, 09:55

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/tracking/ perchè è sparito lo space shuttle??

non è sparito, è attaccato alla ISS.

Octane

15-09-2006, 10:26

si ne esiste una, l'hanno mandata in onda su NASA TV.
azz.. me la sono persa :(

patientia la ri-trasmetteranno di sicuro! ;)

GioFX

15-09-2006, 23:36

Da Spaceflightnow.com (http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/060915eva3/index2.html):

Atlantis crew completes third and final spacewalk

BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: September 15, 2006

Astronauts Joe Tanner and Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper began repressurizing space station's Quest airlock today at 12:42 p.m. to officially close out a third and final space station assembly spacewalk.

The spacewalk began at 6 a.m. for a duration of six hours and 42 minutes. Tanner and Piper logged six hours and 26 minutes during a spacewalk Tuesday, giving them a total of 13 hours and eight minutes, while Dan Burbank and Steve MacLean put in seven hours and 11 minutes during an excursion Wednesday.

Total spacewalk time for Atlantis' mission was 20 hours and 19 minutes and Tanner, now a veteran of seven spacewalks, moved up to No. 4 on the world EVA list with a total of nearly 46-and-a-half hours.

"OK, well I guess that's it for me," Tanner said just before re-entering the airlock to close out his final spacewalk.

"Yep, the sun goes down on an era," Piper said. "I should say 'on a legend.'"

"Ah, I don't think so," replied Tanner, veteran of a 1997 Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission and three other station spacewalks in 2000.

A few minutes later, he thanked the spacewalk trainers at the Johnson Space Center for preparing the Atlantis crew for all three EVAs. Astronaut Pam Melroy in mission control credited him with "another legendary performance."

Today's spacealk was the 72nd devoted to space station assembly and maintenance since construction began in December 1998. Forty-five Americans, 13 Russians, two Canadians, one Japanese astronaut and one French flier have now logged 438 hours and 36 minutes of station spacewalk time.

With launch restraints removed during today's spacewalk, flight controllers sent commands to unfold a 44-foot-long radiator panel on the international space station today that will help keep the electronics inside a new solar array module cool once it comes on line.

Television shots from space showed the big radiator, made up of seven hinged panels, unfolding and stretching away from the P4 solar array as the station sailed 218 miles above Saudi Arabia. Dual coolant loops will help control temperatures in the array's integrated electronics assembly, which houses the gear needed to regulate power from the solar panels.

The 1,600-pound radiator is 44 feet long, 12 feet wide and can dissipate up to 14 kilowatts of heat.

Tanner and Piper, meanwhile, enjoyed the view from a safe distance away where they were working to upgrade the station's S-band communications gear.

"That's a pretty above-average view I've got right now," Tanner said, looking across the station's main solar array truss and the nose of Atlantis at the blue-and-white Earth below.

"That's the Suez Canal, the Holy Land... wow," Tanner marveled a few moments later. "Wow."

GioFX

16-09-2006, 20:31

Da SpaceFlightNow.com (http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/060916offduty):

Astronauts enjoy off-duty time; Soyuz moved to pad

BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: September 16, 2006

The Atlantis astronauts, the major tasks of their space station assembly mission behind them, took a half-day off Saturday to relax and enjoy the view from 220 miles up.

The combined space station and shuttle crews will enjoy a joint meal later this morning before participating in a news conference and network television interviews.

Here is an updated timeline of the crew's activities (in EDT and mission elasped time):

TIME/EDT DD HH MM EVENT

12:15 AM 06 13 00 STS/ISS crew wakeup
03:15 AM 06 16 00 STS crew off duty time begins
07:15 AM 06 20 00 Joint crew meal
08:15 AM 06 21 00 Joint crew photo
08:35 AM 06 21 20 Joint crew news conference
09:10 AM 06 21 55 Speed brake
09:15 AM 06 22 00 REBA removal
09:35 AM 06 22 20 CBS/NBC/ABC network interviews
09:50 AM 06 22 35 Transfers continue
09:50 AM 06 22 35 EVA prep for shuttle transfer
10:00 AM 06 22 15 Mission status briefing on NASA TV
10:30 AM 06 23 15 News conference replay on NASA TV
12:00 PM 06 00 45 ISS-14 video file on NASA TV
01:25 PM 07 02 10 Transfer tagup
03:45 PM 07 04 30 ISS crew sleep begins
04:15 PM 07 05 00 STS crew sleep begins
05:00 PM 07 05 45 Daily video highlights reel on NASA TV

The next few days will be extremely busy for the space station, its crew and their U.S. and Russian managers, with the departure of Atlantis early Sunday, launch of the station's next crew aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket early Monday, undocking of a Progress supply ship Monday night and arrival of the Soyuz on Wednesday.

At the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan late Friday night (U.S. time), the Soyuz TMA-9 spacecraft was rolled to the launch pad and erected for blastoff to ferry Expedition 14 commander Mike Lopez-Alegria, cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin and space tourist Anousheh Ansari to the space station.

Ansari, a businesswoman and space enthusiast who helped fund the Ansari X-Prize competition for sub-orbital spaceflight, is the fourth "space tourist" to buy a seat on a Soyuz and a trip to the space station.

"Everything looks perfect, everything's prepared just right and everyone's excited and ready," she told CBS News Friday.

Ansari was added to the Soyuz crew when a Japanese space tourist was disqualified for medical reasons. Asked about the risk of riding a rocket into space, she said it was the means to realize a life-long dream.

"To me, there are certain things worth taking the risk for," she said by telephone from Baikonur. "I am not a big adventurous person who would take risks just to have an adrenalin rush. So I'm not particularly fond of riding rockets, necessarily, but to me, that's the means for me to get to space, which is my destination.

"The risks involved are what I felt comfortable (with) and the price to pay to be able to realize my dream. It's something that's hard to describe for me. I think space travel is important enough that you can see astronauts and cosmonauts taking risks every day because they believe in it, they believe it's necessary for the future of our species. ... There are people who are the pioneers, people who are moving to take this type of early risk to pave the way for the rest of us. I'm hoping to be one of those people."

Launch is targeted for 12:09 a.m. EDT Monday. The Progress supply ship currently docked at the Zvezda command module's aft port will depart Monday night at 8:28 p.m. EDT, clearing the way for the Soyuz docking at 1:24 a.m. Wednesday.

The station's current crew - Expedition 13 commander Pavel Vinogradov, Jeff Williams and European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Reiter - spent the day today loading the Progress with no-longer-needed equipment and trash.

Vinogradov, Williams and Ansari will strap into the Soyuz TMA-8 spacecraft and undock at 5:54 p.m. EDT Sept. 28 for a landing that night at 9:10 p.m. EDT. Reiter will remain aboard the station as part of the Expedition 14 crew until December, when he will be replaced by astronaut Sunita Williams during the next space shuttle assembly mission.

Here is a timeline of upcoming events (in EDT):

09/17/06
08:50:00 AM Atlantis undocks from ISS
10:33:00 AM Shuttle departs area after ISS flyaround
12:00:00 PM ISS-14 pre-launch news conference replay on NASA TV
10:30:00 PM Soyuz TMA-9/ISS-14 b-roll footage on NASA TV
11:30:00 PM NASA TV Soyuz TMA-9 launch coverage begins

09/18/06
12:08:40 AM Launch of Soyuz TMA-9/ISS-14 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome
02:30:00 AM Post-launch activities on NASA TV
03:25:00 AM Atlantis crew carries out final heat shield inspection
08:28:00 PM Progress M-56 undocking from ISS Zvezda aft port
11:27:00 PM Progress M-56 deorbit ignition (dT: 2:40; dV: 190 mph)

09/19/06
12:03:00 AM Progress M-56 falls into the atmosphere and burns up
(entry interface)
02:35:00 AM Atlantis crew tests flight control system; cabin stow

09/20/06
01:24:00 AM Soyuz TMA-9 docking with ISS at Zvezda aft port
04:20:00 AM Soyuz TMA-9 hatch open
04:55:00 AM Atlantis deorbit ignition
05:57:00 AM Atlantis lands at the Kennedy Space Center

09/28/06
05:51:00 PM Soyuz TMA-8 undocking command
05:54:00 PM Hooks open, separation
05:57:00 PM Separation burn (dT: 8s; dV: 1.2 mph)
08:20:23 PM Deorbit burn (dT: 4:20; dV: 258 mph)
08:24:43 PM Deorbit burn complete
08:43:57 PM Soyuz module separation
08:46:52 PM Soyuz crew module hits discernible atmosphere
08:53:06 PM Maximum deceleration
08:55:09 PM Parachute open command
09:10:09 PM Landing (17 minutes before sunrise)

GioFX

17-09-2006, 13:40

Atlantis astronauts prepare for today's undocking

The Atlantis astronauts are rigging the shuttle for undocking from the international space station this morning. With shuttle pilot Chris Ferguson at the controls, Atlantis is scheduled to depart at 8:50 a.m. and then perform a 360-degree lap around the complex for photo documentation.

GioFX

17-09-2006, 15:05

1250 GMT (8:50 a.m. EDT)

UNDOCKING! After six days of combined operations high above Earth, shuttle Atlantis is departing the International Space Station for return to Earth. The shuttle restarted construction of the orbiting complex by delivering the Port 3/Port 4 truss structure and activating two power-generating solar arrays.

The shuttle crew will be getting a great look at the fruits of their work over the next hour-and-a-half. Atlantis is set to make a full lap around the outpost so that the astronauts to thoroughly photograph the new configuration of the station.

1245 GMT (8:45 a.m. EDT)

Five minutes from undocking. The steering jets on Atlantis are inhibited for the period of physical undocking from the station. The separation occurs when large springs push the two craft apart. Once the shuttle is a couple feet away from the station and the docking devices are clear of one another, pilot Chris Ferguson will fire Atlantis' thrusters to continue the movement away.

1230 GMT (8:30 a.m. EDT)

All remains "go" for undocking of Atlantis from the space station at 8:50 a.m. EDT. Pressure and leak checks were successfully performed after hatch closure. And the Orbiter Docking System has been configured to release its grip on the station.

GioFX

17-09-2006, 15:07

1303 GMT (9:03 a.m. EDT)

Distance between the two spacecraft is now 200 feet.

1257 GMT (8:57 a.m. EDT)

Atlantis is now 100 feet from the station, backing away at about 0.3 feet per second. The shuttle is headed to a point about 400 feet away where it will fire thrusters to begin an arc above the station.

1252 GMT (8:52 a.m. EDT)

The on-time undocking occurred in orbital darkness as the station and shuttle flew 220 miles southeast of Australia.

GioFX

17-09-2006, 15:16

1314 GMT (9:14 a.m. EDT)

Atlantis' lap around the station is underway.

1311 GMT (9:11 a.m. EDT)

As the spacecraft move into an orbital sunrise, Atlantis' flyaround of the station is about to begin.

1309 GMT (9:09 a.m. EDT)

The shuttle is now 400 feet away.

1306 GMT (9:06 a.m. EDT)

Atlantis is 350 feet from the station, separating at 0.35 feet per second.

GioFX

17-09-2006, 15:41

1324 GMT (9:24 a.m. EDT)

Atlantis has reaching a point directly above the space station.

The flyaround started with the shuttle in front of the station. It takes Atlantis to a point directly above the complex, then behind it, looping below and back out in front. After climbing above the station for a second time, the final separation engine firing will be performed. This burn will send Atlantis away from the vicinity of the station.

GioFX

17-09-2006, 15:42

1337 GMT (9:37 a.m. EDT)

Atlantis has reached a point directly behind the station in terms of the direction of travel of the two spacecraft around the Earth, which is known as the -V bar.

GioFX

17-09-2006, 15:52

1347 GMT (9:47 a.m. EDT)

The shuttle is beneath the station now, as its cameras look up the complex with a backdrop of black space.

GioFX

17-09-2006, 16:04

1400 GMT (10:00 a.m. EDT)

Atlantis is back out in front of the station to complete a full loop around the complex. Once at a point above the complex, the separation engine firing will be performed.

GioFX

17-09-2006, 16:37

1420 GMT (10:20 a.m. EDT)

The shuttle is quickly departing the vicinity of the space station. The ship will stationkeep about 70 miles behind the outpost in case a re-rendezvous is needed.

The shuttle crew will be performing another series of heat shield inspections tomorrow, then packing up the cabin and testing flight controls Tuesday. The deorbit burn to begin reentry is scheduled for 4:56 a.m. EDT Wednesday, with a predawn touchdown on Kennedy Space Center's three-mile concrete runway at 5:58 a.m. EDT to conclude STS-115.

GioFX

17-09-2006, 17:59

Da SpaceFlightNow.com (http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/060917undocking/index3.html):

Atlantis departs the space station

BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: September 17, 2006

The shuttle Atlantis undocked from the international space station today, closing out a successful visit to attach a new set of solar arrays and clearing the way for launch of a Russian Soyuz spacecraft early Monday carrying the lab's next commander, a fresh flight engineer and a space tourist.

Atlantis' docking system was disengaged on time at 8:50 a.m. and powerful springs pushed the shuttle, tail toward Earth and cargo bay facing the station, straight away as the two spacecraft sailed 220 miles above the Pacific Ocean southeast of Australia.

Shuttle pilot Chris Ferguson piloted Atlantis through a slow, looping fly around of the international space station after undocking, beaming back spectacular video of the orbital lab complex with its new solar arrays gleaming against the blue-and-white backdrop of planet Earth.

It was the first 360-degree shuttle-station fly around of the post-Columbia era and the first since 2002 to show the station with a significant new addition: the P3/P4 solar array truss carried aloft and installed by Atlantis' crew.

Streaking through space at 5 miles per second 220 miles above the heartland of America, the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence Seaway, the new array gave the outpost a distinctly asymmetrical look, positioned at right angles to its other major set of solar panels, the P6 array.

P6 provided power for the early stages of station assembly in a temporary position atop a truss on the Unity module. Next year, if all goes well, it will be moved to its permanent position adjacent to the P4 arrays on the left end of the station's main power truss.

"Hey Jeff, we completed the fly-around," shuttle commander Brent Jett called as the shuttle began moving away. "I just wanted to let you know we got a lot of great pictures, it was really a spectacular sight to see your vehicle from above, looking down on the Earth. So hopefully, we'll get to send some of those to you over the next couple of days and we'll see you back on Earth in a little while."

"Yeah, we'll look forward to seeing those," station flight engineer Jeff Williams replied from the lab complex. "I think we got some pretty good pictures and video of you guys in the fly around as well, especially underneath with the Earth in the background. So those pictures will be on the ground when you get there, waiting for you. It was a great mission, thanks for all the good work, enjoyed the time together and look forward to seeing you back in Houston."

"Yeah, we really appreciate it," Jett replied, "it was fun working with you guys. Be safe the rest of your mission."

"You bet. So long now."

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/060917undocking/flyaround1.jpg

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/060917undocking/flyaround2.jpg

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/060917undocking/flyaround3.jpg

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/060917undocking/flyaround5.jpg

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/060917undocking/flyaround4.jpg

Marilson

18-09-2006, 15:43

GioFX

18-09-2006, 20:16

gli astronauti della ISS hanno dovuto indossare le loro tute pressurizzate oggi a causa di un allarme per uno strano odore percepito a bordo, si pensa ad un liquido non ben definito evaporato.. boh :rolleyes:

Thread sulla ISS:

http://www.hwupgrade.it/forum/showthread.php?p=13876776&posted=1#post13876776

GioFX

18-09-2006, 20:41

Da SpaceFlightNow.com (http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/060918lateinspect):

Final shuttle heat shield inspections performed

BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: September 18, 2006

The Atlantis astronauts carried out a final inspection of the shuttle's heat shield today, using a laser on the end of a long boom to look for signs of damage on the ship's nose cap and wing leading edge panels.

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/060918lateinspect/obss.jpg
The shuttle's robotm arm lifts inspection boom out of the payload bay early today. Credit: NASA TV/Spaceflight Now

An identical inspection was carried out Sept. 10, the day after launch, to make sure the most critical parts of the heat shield came through the climb to space in good condition. Today's inspection was designed to make sure no space debris or micrometeoroids hit the shuttle unnoticed while docked with the international space station.

"The first one is obviously geared towards any debris which came off during ascent and may have hit the orbiter," commander Brent Jett said in a NASA interview. "There's a second threat to your thermal protection system, and that is from micrometeorite damage. It's a threat we deal with on every mission."

Heat shield inspections are carried out using a 50-foot-long boom attached to the end of the shuttle's 50-foot-long robot arm. A laser scanner and a high-resolution camera are mounted on the end of the orbiter boom sensor system to look for signs of damage to the reinforced carbon carbon material making up the shuttle's nose cap and wing leading edge panels. Those areas experience the most extreme heating during re-entry, some 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

"There's an analysis done that gives you the probability of being struck by a micrometeorite," Jett said. "It all depends on what attitude you're flying and what orbit you're flying in. The thought is that if you inspect early in the mission for ascent debris, you might want to inspect late in the mission to see if you've sustained any damage from a micrometeorite hit on the RCC, a critical area of the orbiter."

Along with carrying out the heat shield inspection, Jett and his crewmates - pilot Chris Ferguson, flight engineer Dan Burbank, Joe Tanner, Canadian Steve MacLean and Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper - also plan to begin initial packing for re-entry and landing Wednesday. Cabin stow will begin in earnest Tuesday, when the astronauts also will test the shuttle's re-entry systems.

Here is an updated timeline of today's activity (in EDT and mission elapsed time):

TIME/EDT DD HH MM EVENT

02:20 AM 08 15 05 Orbiter boom sensor system (OBSS) unberth
03:25 AM 08 16 10 OBSS starboard wing leading edge survey
04:15 AM 08 17 00 Cabin stow begins
04:55 AM 08 17 40 OBSS nose cap survey
06:25 AM 08 19 10 Crew meal
07:25 AM 08 20 10 OBSS port wing leading edge survey
08:00 AM 08 20 45 Mission status briefing on NASA TV
08:55 AM 08 21 40 OBSS berthing
09:30 AM 08 22 15 Robot arm berthing and powerdown
10:15 AM 08 23 00 Laser dynamic range imager downlink
01:20 PM 09 02 05 NC-7 rocket firing
02:15 PM 09 03 00 Crew sleep begins
03:00 PM 09 03 45 Daily video highlights reel on NASA TV
08:28 PM 09 09 13 Progress cargo ship undocks from ISS
10:15 PM 09 11 00 Crew wakeup

Atlantis undocked from the space station early Sunday to make way for arrival of the lab's next commander and flight engineer, Mike Lopez-Alegria and cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin. The Expedition 14 crew members, along with space tourist Anousheh Ansari, blasted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 12:09 a.m. EDT today aboard the Soyuz TMA-9 spacecraft.

If all goes well, they will dock with the station at 1:24 a.m. Wednesday, just a few hours before Atlantis is scheduled to land at the Kennedy Space Center.

Ansari will return to Earth on Sept. 28 with the station's outgoing crew, Expedition 13 commander Pavel Vinogradov and flight engineer Jeff Williams. European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Reiter, ferried to the station aboard the shuttle Discovery in July, will remain aboard the outpost as part of the Expedition 14 crew until December, when he will return to Earth with the crew of the next shuttle assembly mission.

GioFX

19-09-2006, 14:06

Da SpaceFlightNow.com (http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/060919threecraft):

Shuttle, station, Soyuz crews enjoy orbital chat

BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: September 19, 2006

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/060919threecraft/station.jpg
Credit: NASA

The 12 men and women currently off the planet got a chance to chat this morning, thanks to a long-distance conference call connecting the space shuttle Atlantis, the international space station and a Russian Soyuz capsule carrying a space tourist and the station's next crew.

The call took place just after 3 a.m., as the Soyuz TMA-9 spacecraft, carrying Expedition 14 commander Mike Lopez-Alegria, Mikhail "Misha" Tyurin and space tourist Anousheh Ansari sailed across Russia while the shuttle and space station, separated by about 98 miles, were passing 220 miles above Australia.

"Good to hear your voice, Misha," station flight engineer Jeff Williams called. "And good morning Mike and Anousheh. It's a little crowded in the sky this morning with not only Atlantis and you all and us, but also the Progress free flier."

Late Monday, Russian flight controllers sent commands to the space station to undock a Progress supply ship, loaded with trash and no-longer-needed equipment. It burned up in the atmosphere as planned a few hours later, clearing the way for arrival of the Soyuz Wednesday.

"We were wondering if we had to hire some more air traffic controllers for the increased traffic up here," joked Lopez-Alegria.

"We'll just have to keep eyeballs out a little more than usual," Williams replied. "How's your flight been going, Mike?"

"Everything has been (Russian phrase)," Lopez-Alegria said. The Soyuz blasted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan early Sunday and if all goes well, Tyurin will guide it to a docking with the space station at 1:24 a.m. Wednesday.

"Hello Misha, Mike and Anousheh," called station flight engineer Thomas Reiter. "Good to hear your voices!"

"Hello everyone," said Ansari, who is believed to have paid in the neighborhood of $20 million for the trip. "I look forward to seeing you on the station."

"In just a few hours, you will be here," Reiter said.

"Yes," she said.

"Yeah, we look forward to welcoming you all on board," Williams said. "Atlantis, do you want to step in here and say hello?"

"Yeah, 14, how do you hear Atlantis?" shuttle commander Brent Jett called.

"Brent, we have you loud and clear. How us?" asked Lopez-Alegria.

"Loud and clear also, LA," Jett said. "Joe (Tanner) just mentioned three hogs in space and I think you have a tactical advantage right now in terms of fighter position."

Jett was referring to an astronaut class mascot and the fact that the Soyuz was trailing the space station and Atlantis by about 6,550 miles, catching up to the lab complex in a lower, faster orbit.

"Well, you guys are probably sorry to be heading home," Lopez-Alegria said, "but it'll be nice to have a cold beer and a shower."

"It's been real short for us, you know," Jett said. "It's kind of funny, you guys are just starting a really long journey in space and our very short one is quickly coming to an end, sooner than we would like."

After a short communications drop out, Lopez-Alegria asked Jett about landing preparations.

"Yeah, entry day, our first opportunity's tomorrow, the weather's not looking all that good for tomorrow at KSC (Kennedy Space Center) but it's supposed to be real good the next day. So we may end up getting an extra day on orbit, which would not be all bad."

"Just make sure you save some good food," Lopez-Alegria joked.

"Actually, they gave all the food to us to save for you," Williams chimed in.

"They cleaned us out pretty good, looking out for you guys," Jett confirmed.

"Misha says as long as there's (unintelligible) he'll be happy."

"I think you guys will be happy with the supplies on board, we're well supplied with two shuttle visits and a Progress," Williams said.

"Hey Mike, before you go, Jeff and Pavel and Thomas, they've taken great care of station, it's really in great shape," Jett said. "We were really impressed, they've done a fantastic job. This mission would not have been a success without them. They were an integral part of it. So you're going to be impressed when you get there and I know you guys are going to have a good time."

"We know we have a lot to learn from all of them and we look forward to our time together, especially having Anousheh on board," said Lopez-Alegria. "It's too bad that the Atlantis crew won't get to meet her, maybe at some opportunity on the ground in the future. But I think she should have a great short stay aboard and we look forward (to seeing the rest of you)."

"And we look forward to getting you guys on board," Williams replied. "We're going to get up bright and early, or dark and early, however you want to say it, tomorrow morning and bring out the welcome mat."

By docking time, the Soyuz crew should have its space legs. Tyurin told Russian flight controllers late Monday that Lopez-Alegria and Ansari were experiencing at least some of the symptoms of space adaptation syndrome, which affects about half the men and women who fly in weightlessness.

As the conference call was breaking up, a Russian controller called the Soyuz to say a flight surgeon was standing by to chat with Ansari. But she sounded in good spirits when she hailed the space station.

GioFX

19-09-2006, 19:58

Da SpaceFlightNow.com (http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/060919waveoff):

Mystery object delays landing a day

BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: September 19, 2006

NASA managers today ordered the Atlantis astronauts to stop their landing preparations and to delay re-entry 24 hours to Thursday to give flight controllers additional time to assess the implications of an unusual object spotted earlier today flying below the shuttle.

The origin of the object is unknown, but NASA managers want to make sure whatever it is did not come from any critical systems on Atlantis, including its heat shield tiles and wing leading edge panels.

"The MMT just met and they decided, based on this weather they've been having down in Florida in combination with this object we saw, we're going to wave off tomorrow," Terry Virts radioed from mission control just before noon. "Our FAO, our timeliners aer working very hard right now to come up with a plan for tomorrow and we'll certainly get you any words we have on that as soon as we can."

"Of course, our big interest is whether or note we're going to be doing any robotics tomorrow," commander Brent Jett replied.

"That is a possibility. We've got the flight controllers on console now and ... that's our question, too."

The astronauts may be asked to unlimber Atlantis' robot arm Wednesday, pick up the ship's heat shield inspection boom and carry out an unplanned inspection of the shuttle and its heat shield. Earlier inspections showed no signs of any problems.

Given a fairly bleak weather forecast for landing time Wednesday, NASA's Mission Management Team made the decision to delay a day with little debate, a source said. The forecast for Thursday and Friday calls for good weather at the Kennedy Space Center.

A news conference with shuttle Program Manager Wayne Hale is scheduled for 12 p.m.

GioFX

19-09-2006, 19:59

GioFX

20-09-2006, 01:06

1745 GMT (1:45 p.m. EDT)

NASA managers today ordered the Atlantis astronauts to stop their landing preparations and to delay re-entry 24 hours to Thursday to give flight controllers additional time to assess the implications of an unusual object spotted earlier today flying below the shuttle.

The object may have shaken off the shuttle earlier today, possibly due to vibrations associated with routine pre-landing tests of the shuttle's hydraulic system and maneuvering jets. The concern is the possibility of damage to the shuttle's heat shield or some other critical component that could cause problems during re-entry.

In what could be a coincidence, engineers monitoring data from sensors mounted behind the ship's carbon composite wing leading edge panels recorded eight "events" over a two-minute period earlier today. It's not yet clear whether the data indicates an actual impact event, vibrations associated with the entry tests or some other phenomenon. While the timing was coincidental, an impact event would not be expected to trigger multiple signatures. But engineers do not yet have an explanation.

GioFX

20-09-2006, 01:07

2300 GMT (7:00 p.m. EDT)

The management team meeting is over. The briefing to announce what officials have decided will begin in a few minutes.

2227 GMT (6:27 p.m. EDT)

Briefing time now no earlier than 7 p.m. EDT.

2200 GMT (6:00 p.m. EDT)

Mission managers continue to meet. A news conference will follow the meeting, now expected no sooner than 6:30 p.m. EDT.

1835 GMT (2:35 p.m. EDT)

The Atlantis astronauts have gone to bed. They are scheduled to be awakened at 9:45 p.m. EDT for the start of flight day 12. Before going to sleep, the crew reactivated the shuttle's robot arm and positioned it above the payload bay to examine the upper surfaces of Atlantis and allow flight controllers to remotely operate the crane's cameras this afternoon and evening.

GioFX

20-09-2006, 01:30

2322 GMT (7:22 p.m. EDT)

The crew of space shuttle Atlantis will inspect their spaceship overnight to determine whether the mystery object seen early Tuesday is a piece of the heat shield.

Engineers do not have enough information from the video of the object downlinked from the shuttle to identify it or characterize its size.

A leading theory is the plastic shim used in the hangar to install tiles on the shuttle's belly but accidently not removed before flight. The item was seen dangling off the vehicle during inspections earlier in the mission.

Shuttle program manager Wayne Hale says thermal sensors throughout the vehicle have not registered any differences in temperatures before and after the object was seen.

The second object seen Tuesday, which the crew spotted out the window, has been identifed likely as a simple plastic bag that floated out of the payload bay.

The game plan calls for the astronauts to be awakened at 9:45 p.m. EDT. They will begin a five-hour survey of the shuttle using cameras on the robot arm beginning at 11:45 p.m. EDT. If those observations are insufficient, the Orbiter Boom Sensor System would be pulled out of the payload bay at 5:45 a.m. for the start of additional inspections. The crew would go to bed at 1:45 p.m.

Landing remains targeted for Thursday, pending the outcome of the inspections.

bojack

20-09-2006, 13:42

Sentito poco fà al tg che hanno rinviato il rientro ancora per colpa di quel rivestimento. Si prevede un'uscita dalla navetta per appurare la situazione ma sul sito nasa.gov non viene menzionato nulla.

Octane

20-09-2006, 14:29

Initial survey ends; more inspections ordered
BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: September 20, 2006

An impromptu robot arm inspection of the shuttle Atlantis early today revealed no obvious problems with the ship's critical heat shield, but mission managers ordered additional inspections with a long sensor boom to make absolutely sure.

The initial inspection, using a camera on the end of the shuttle's robot arm to look for signs of damage that might be associated with an unusual object that apparently floated away from the shuttle Tuesday, took four-and-a-half hours to complete.

While the astronauts took a lunch break, NASA managers assessed downlinked video and ultimately decided to press ahead with a second round of inspections, this one using a 50-foot-long sensor boom attached to the end of the arm. The boom is a post-Columbia upgrade designed to provide close-up laser scans and high-resolution photography of the shuttle's nose cap and wing leading edge panels to look for signs of post-launch impact damage.

For today's survey, the boom will be used to inspect areas that can't be seen well with the robot arm, which is mounted on the left side of the shuttle's cargo bay, starting with the right wing's leading edge panels, the right side of the shuttle's nose cap, the left side of the nose, then the underside of large steering elevons at the back of both wings. New hardware was installed in the elevon areas before launch and engineers want to make sure those systems are sound. The boom also will be used to inspect both sides of the rudder/speedbrake on the shuttle's tail fin.

Time needed to unberth the orbiter boom sensor system, or OBSS, carry out the additional inspections and re-berth the boom will add about three hours to the overall inspection procedure. NASA managers said Tuesday an OBSS inspection could extend the crew's day and push landing to Friday. But as of this writing, no final decisions have been made on when Atlantis will be cleared for entry.

Engineers still don't know what might have floated away from Atlantis Tuesday, prompting an initial 24-hour landing delay from Wednesday to Thursday. The first object in question was seen flying below the shuttle shortly after pre-landing tests of the shuttle's re-entry systems.

Engineers speculated that whatever it was, the object got shaken off during the tests, which generated a fair amount of vibration. One possible candidate was a plastic shim spotted earlier in the flight extending up from between two tiles on the shuttle's belly. But during today's inspection, the shim apparently was still in place, engineers said.

A second piece of debris spotted by the astronauts shortly after noon Tuesday remains a mystery as well.

Assuming the OBSS inspection goes smoothly, no problems are found and the crew gets done in time, NASA managers could opt to press ahead with plans to bring Atlantis back to Earth on Thursday. In that case, commander Brent Jett and pilot Chris Ferguson would fire Atlantis' twin braking rockets around 5:19 a.m. Thursday for a day-late touchdown around 6:21 a.m. at the Kennedy Space Center.

But if today's OBSS inspection keeps the crew up late, NASA managers may opt to "give them another day on orbit to rest up before the critical entry phase" to make sure "we have a well rested and prepare crew to fly the critical phases of entry," said shuttle Program Manager Wayne Hale. "We don't want to do that with folks who are tired or overly concerned about anything."

Atlantis has enough on-board supplies to remain in orbit until Saturday if absolutely necessary. Good weather is expected Thursday and Friday at the Kennedy Space Center.

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/060920inspections/index2.html

GioFX

20-09-2006, 19:47

Ok per l'atterraggio domani:

Da SpaceFlightNow.com (http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/060920inspections/index4.html):

Space shuttle Atlantis cleared for Thursday landing

BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: September 20, 2006

The Atlantis astronauts were cleared today for a day-late landing Thursday at the Kennedy Space Center after a tedious robot-arm inspection showed the ship's heat shield was in good shape.

"We are cleared for entry," shuttle Program Manager Wayne Hale told reporters during a noon news conference. "Nothing was found to be missing or damaged from the thermal protection system, the heat shield of the space shuttle Atlantis, or, in fact, any other part of the shuttle Atlantis.

"So we feel very confident that we're heading for a good landing opportunity tomorrow morning. The weather forecast is excellent, whereas today is not, in Florida, a good day to land so we spent our day profitably making sure everything is ready to come home."

The unusual inspection was ordered and the flight extended one day after an unknown object, presumably from Atlantis, was spotted early Tuesday flying just below the shuttle. A second bit of debris was seen later, along with several smaller objects.

More of the same was spotted today, but the inspection using cameras on the shuttle's robot arm and a 50-foot-long sensor boom showed the heat shield was in good shape. Whatever the debris might have been, Hale said, it did not come from any place critical for a safe re-entry.

"All those items came from the space shuttle, they didn't come from some other place," Hale said. "We're too far from the station now, we're not orbiting in the same orbit exactly with it or the Soyuz or the Progress (supply ship), so the things we have seen that are drifting away at a very low speed, or co-orbital, with the shuttle came from the shuttle.

"As for exactly where they came from, we'll continue to look at that. I expect that we will probably wind up still scratching our heads after we get on the ground where some of this came from. We have been looking at it for quite a long time and all the obvious things, we fixed. So it just appears to be an artifact of human occupancy that we leave detritus around. We're going to continue work on that."

The inspection showed a protruding tile spacer called a "gap filler" and a plastic shim, both seen earlier in the mission sticking up from between adjacent tiles on two external tank propellant feedline doors in the belly of the shuttle, had worked their way free and were no longer visible.

Engineers speculated Tuesday that the plastic shim might have shaken loose during hydraulic system tests early Tuesday and floated away, becoming the first of the two mystery objects spotted by the crew and flight controllers. Hale said that remains a possibility.

"This is most likely the culprit," he said, holding up a plastic shim similar to those used on the shuttle. "It's not a guarantee and I don't know that we'll ever be able to positively prove it. It was there before, it's not there now, it was most likely shaken loose during the flight control system checkout. We probably will never know for sure."

As for the smaller bits of debris spotted near Atlantis, lead flight director Paul Dye said it was not unusual for small items inadvertently left in the shuttle's cargo bay during maintenance to work free and float away during a mission. While such "foreign object debris," or FOD, is typically seen early in flight, it was not surprising that Atlantis, making its first flight since 2002, might be carrying a bit more debris than usual, engineers said.

Here is an updated entry timeline for the crew's two opportunities to land in Florida Thursday (in EDT):

DATE/EDT REV 186 DEORBIT TO KSC

01:14:23 AM Begin deorbit timeline
01:29:23 AM Radiator stow(MS) seat installation
01:45:23 AM Computers set for deorbit prep
01:49:23 AM Hydraulic system configuration
02:14:23 AM Flash evaporator cooling system checkout
02:20:23 AM Final payload deactivation
02:34:23 AM Payload bay doors closed
02:44:23 AM Mission control 'go' for OPS-3 entry software load
02:54:23 AM OPS-3 transition
03:19:23 AM Entry switchlist verification
03:29:23 AM Deorbit data update
03:34:23 AM Crew entry review
03:49:23 AM CDR/PLT don entry suits
04:06:23 AM Navigation system alignment
04:14:23 AM CDR/PLT strap in; MS suit don
04:31:23 AM Shuttle steering check
04:34:23 AM Hydraulic power unit (APU) prestart
04:41:23 AM Toilet deactivation
04:49:23 AM Vent doors closed for entry
04:54:23 AM Mission control 'go' for deorbit burn
05:00:23 AM MS seat ingress
05:09:23 AM Single APU start

05:14:23 AM Deorbit ignition (dT: 2:44; dV: 207 mph)
05:17:06 AM Deorbit burn complete

05:49:47 AM Shuttle falls into discernible atmosphere (400k feet)
05:54:17 AM STS-107: EI+4:30 - 1st unusual data
05:54:41 AM 1st roll command to left
06:00:02 AM STS-107: EI+10:15 - 1st MCC mention
06:04:34 AM STS-107: EI+14:47 - Tire alarm
06:05:43 AM STS-107: EI+15:56 - Last valid data
06:03:58 AM 1st left-to-right roll reversal
06:14:53 AM Velocity less than mach 2.5
06:17:04 AM Velocity less than mach 1
06:17:32 AM Shuttle on the HAC
06:21:28 PM Landing

DATE/EDT REV 187 DEORBIT TO KSC

06:30:51 AM MCC 'go' for deorbit burn
06:36:51 AM MS seat ingress
06:45:51 AM Single APU start

06:50:51 AM Deorbit ignition (dT: 2:44; dV: 208 mph)
06:53:35 AM Deorbit burn complete

07:25:21 AM Entry interface
07:29:51 AM STS-107: EI+4:30 - 1st unusual data
07:30:12 AM 1st roll command to left
07:35:36 AM STS-107: EI+10:15 - 1st MCC mention
07:43:46 AM 1st left-to-right roll reversal
07:40:08 AM STS-107: EI+14:47 - Tire alarm
07:41:17 AM STS-107: EI+15:56 - Last valid data
07:50:24 AM Velocity less than mach 2.5
07:52:35 AM Velocity less than mach 1
07:53:23 AM Shuttle on the HAC
07:56:57 AM Landing

Here are the remaining landing opportunities at Kennedy, Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., and Northrup Strip at White Sands, NM (all in EDT):

DATE ORBIT BURN LANDING SITE

09/22 201 04:02 AM 05:10 AM KSC
09/22 202 05:37 AM 06:45 AM KSC
09/22 203 07:07 AM 08:15 AM EDW
09/22 203 07:09 AM 08:16 AM NOR
09/22 204 08:43 AM 09:50 AM EDW
09/22 204 08:45 AM 09:52 AM NOR
09/22 205 10:19 AM 11:26 AM EDW

09/23 217 04:24 AM 05:32 AM KSC
09/23 218 05:56 AM 07:03 AM NOR
09/23 218 06:00 AM 07:08 AM KSC
09/23 219 07:30 AM 08:37 AM EDW
09/23 219 07:32 AM 08:39 AM NOR
09/23 220 09:06 AM 10:13 AM EDW

"At the end of this exciting mission, I just have to remind everybody that we are back in the (space station) assembly business," Hale said. "I couldn't be prouder of the team. This is one of the most complex missions that's ever been flown in space. ... It has been an outstanding effort."

"We're set up in a very good way for the next set of assembly flights. There are about six in a row here that we really need to pull off in fairly rapid order without major problems in order to keep the assembly going."

Next up is launch of the shuttle Discovery in December on a mission to rewire the space station's electrical system, to ferry a fresh flight engineer to the outpost - Sunita Williams - and to bring European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Reiter back to Earth.

The current launch target is Dec. 14, but Hale said launch managers at the Kennedy Space Center are looking into the possibility of moving the flight up one week to avoid having a mission in progress over Christmas.

"We have asked the team to evaluate the potential of working a little bit extra hard, getting perhaps a week ahead, looking at a Dec. 7 potential launch date and thereby letting our folks have the Christmas holidays off," Hale said. "If that's not an incentive, I don't know what is."

Looking ahead to a series of critical flights in 2007 to build out the station's solar array truss, Hale said "if we are able to pull them off with even half the success that we saw on this flight, we will have a great year in 2007 and I think we will be well down the road to getting the space station assembled on time."

GioFX

21-09-2006, 13:42

1022 GMT (6:22 a.m. EDT)

WHEEL STOP. Atlantis is home!

1021 GMT (6:21 a.m. EDT)

Atlantis is rolling down Runway 33 to complete its 12-day mission that restarted orbital construction of the International Space Station by delivering a power-generating module and deploying two solar wings.

1021 GMT (6:21 a.m. EDT)

TOUCHDOWN! Main gear touchdown. Drag chute deployed. Nose gear touchdown.

1021 GMT (6:21 a.m. EDT)

Landing gear down and locked. Standing by for touchdown on Runway 33.

1020 GMT (6:20 a.m. EDT)

Wings are level. Altitude 2,000 feet.

1020 GMT (6:20 a.m. EDT)

The shuttle descending at a rate seven times steeper than that of a commercial airliner.

1020 GMT (6:20 a.m. EDT)

Field in sight. Commander Brent Jett can see the runway as he guides Atlantis to landing.

1019 GMT (6:19 a.m. EDT)

Commander Brent Jett is in control after pilot Chris Ferguson got a few moments of stick time.

1019 GMT (6:19 a.m. EDT)

Altitude 22,000 feet as Atlantis makes the sweeping turn.

1018 GMT (6:18 a.m. EDT)

Long-range infrared tracking cameras have sighted Atlantis.

1018 GMT (6:18 a.m. EDT)

Runway 33 is a southeast to northwest approach.

1017 GMT (6:17 a.m. EDT)

The shuttle is in the Heading Alignment Cylinder, an imaginary circle to align with Runway 33. The crew is piloting Atlantis through a 300-degree right-overhead turn.

1017 GMT (6:17 a.m. EDT)

The sonic booms have thundered across the Cape area, announcing the shuttle's arrival.

1016 GMT (6:16 a.m. EDT)

Atlantis remains on course. Speed 760 mph.

1015 GMT (6:15 a.m. EDT)

Six minutes to landing. Atlantis is flying 14 miles over Central Florida at a speed just under Mach 2.

1013 GMT (6:13 a.m. EDT)

The shuttle's speed has decreased to 2,500 mph now.

1013 GMT (6:13 a.m. EDT)

Eight minutes to touchdown. Air data probes are being deployed from the shuttle's nose to feed air speed, altitude and angle of attack information to the computers for navigation.

1012 GMT (6:12 a.m. EDT)

Atlantis is traveling at 4,300 mph, 25 miles in altitude, 225 miles from the runway.

1011 GMT (6:11 a.m. EDT)

Atlantis is now making landfall over Florida's southwest coastline near Naples.

1011 GMT (6:11 a.m. EDT)

The TACAN navigation units aboard Atlantis are now receiving data from beacons located at the landing site.

1010 GMT (6:10 a.m. EDT)

320 miles to the runway.

1010 GMT (6:10 a.m. EDT)

Atlantis remains on the proper track for landing in 11 minutes. Mission Control computes Atlantis will land 2,600 feet down the runway at 195 knots.

1008 GMT (6:08 a.m. EDT)

Atlantis is flying northwest of Cuba, 500 miles from the runway.

1007 GMT (6:07 a.m. EDT)

The shuttle is crossing the Gulf now at 10,000 mph and an altitude 35 miles.

1004 GMT (6:04 a.m. EDT)

Atlantis is crossing the Yucatan Peninsula. Soon it will cross the Gulf of Mexico and make landfall nar Naples, Florida for the final minutes to landing.

1003 GMT (6:03 a.m. EDT)

Atlantis is 41 miles up, 1,400 miles from the runway, traveling at 13,500 mph.

1002 GMT (6:02 a.m. EDT)

The shuttle is experiencing maximum heating as it descends through an altitude of 43 miles at a speed of Mach 21.

1000 GMT (6:00 a.m. EDT)

Atlantis has crossed the equator over the central Pacific.

0959 GMT (5:59 a.m. EDT)

Atlantis descending through an altitude of 45 miles.

0957 GMT (5:57 a.m. EDT)

International Space Station flight engineer Jeff Williams reports seeing the fiery contrail of Atlantis' entry into the atmosphere. The shuttle has been orbiting 200 miles from the station.

0956 GMT (5:56 a.m. EDT)

Time to touchdown now 25 minutes. Altitude is 250,000 feet. Speed is 16,500 mph.

0955 GMT (5:55 a.m. EDT)

Atlantis is beginning the first of four banks to scrub off speed as it plunges into the atmosphere. These turns basically remove the energy Atlantis built up during launch. This first bank is to the left.

0954 GMT (5:54 a.m. EDT)

Atlantis is 50 miles above the Pacific, 3,700 miles from the runway, traveling at 16,900 mph.

0953 GMT (5:53 a.m. EDT)

Altitude now 58 miles.

0950 GMT (5:50 a.m. EDT)

ENTRY INTERFACE. Atlantis' thermal protection system is feeling heat beginning to build as the orbiter enters the top fringes of the atmosphere -- a period known as entry interface.

The shuttle is flying at Mach 25 with its nose elevated 40 degrees, wings level, at an altitude of 400,000 feet over the southern Pacific Ocean and descending at a rate of over 600 feet per second.

Touchdown is set for 6:21 a.m. EDT in Florida.

0943 GMT (5:43 a.m. EDT)

Atlantis is 122 statute miles in altitude.

0941 GMT (5:41 a.m. EDT)

Now 40 minutes to touchdown. Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility was built in 1975. The concrete strip is 300 feet wide and 15,000 feet long with 1,000-foot overruns at each end. The runway runs northwest to southeast and is located about three miles northwest of the 525-foot tall Vehicle Assembly Building.

0935 GMT (5:35 a.m. EDT)

Onboard guidance has maneuvered Atlantis from its heads-down, tail-forward position needed for the deorbit burn to the reentry configuration of heads-up and nose-forward. The nose will be pitched upward 40 degrees. In this new position, the black tiles on the shuttle's belly and the reinforced carbon-carbon panels on the wing leading edges and nose cap will shield the spacecraft during the fiery plunge through the Earth's atmosphere with temperatures reaching well over 2,000 degrees F. Atlantis will begin interacting with the upper fringes of the atmosphere above the South Pacific at 5:50 a.m. EDT.

0933 GMT (5:33 a.m. EDT)

The convoy of landing support vehicles has been positioned at runway staging point for receiving Atlantis. The team checked out their equipment on Tuesday. A sweep of the runway to clear any debris was performed Wednesday and again this morning.

0926 GMT (5:26 a.m. EDT)

The forward reaction control system fuel dump is complete.

0924 GMT (5:24 a.m. EDT)

Excess propellant reserves in the maneuvering thrusters on the shuttle's nose will be dumped overboard. The dump time will be 84 seconds.

0921 GMT (5:21 a.m. EDT)

Touchdown is 60 minutes away. This will be the 63rd shuttle landing at Kennedy Space Center and the 15th to occur in darkness.

0919 GMT (5:19 a.m. EDT)

Atlantis now maneuvering to the orientation for entry.

0917 GMT (5:17 a.m. EDT)

DEORBIT BURN COMPLETE. Atlantis has successfully completed the deorbit burn, committing the shuttle for its journey back to Earth. Landing is scheduled for 6:21 a.m. EDT at the Cape.

0914 GMT (5:14 a.m. EDT)

DEORBIT BURN IGNITION. Flying upside down and backwards 217 miles above the Indian Ocean, Atlantis has begun the deorbit burn. The firing of the twin orbital maneuvering system engines on the tail of the shuttle will last two minutes and 40 seconds, slowing the craft to slip from orbit. The retro-burn will send Atlantis to Kennedy Space Center in Florida for a touchdown at 6:21 a.m. EDT.

0910 GMT (5:10 a.m. EDT)

Pilot Chris Ferguson is activating one of three Auxiliary Power Units in advance of the deorbit burn, now four minutes away. The other two APUs will be started later in the descent to provide pressure needed to power shuttle's hydraulic systems that move the wing flaps, rudder/speed brake, drop the landing gear and steer the nose wheel. NASA ensures that at least one APU is working before committing to the deorbit burn since the shuttle needs only a single unit to make a safe landing.

0900 GMT (5:00 a.m. EDT)

Atlantis has maneuvered for the deorbit burn.

0853 GMT (4:53 a.m. EDT)

GO FOR THE DEORBIT BURN! Space shuttle Atlantis is heading home this morning as scheduled. Entry flight director Steve Stich in Mission Control just gave the "go" to perform the deorbit burn at 5:14:23 a.m. EDT to commit the shuttle for the trip back to Earth.

The upcoming 2-minute, 40-second retrograde burn using the twin orbital maneuvering system engines on the tail of Atlantis will slow the shuttle's velocity by about 300 feet per second, just enough to slip the craft out of orbit and begin the plunge into the atmosphere.

Atlantis is headed to a landing at 6:21 a.m. EDT on Runway 33 at Kennedy Space Center to close out the 11-day, 19-hour, 6-minute mission. Touchdown will occur about 45 minutes before sunrise.

0844 GMT (4:44 a.m. EDT)

Atlantis' vent doors are being closed for entry. And pilot Chris Ferguson has put the Auxiliary Power Units cockpit switches in the ready-to-start configuration.

0838 GMT (4:38 a.m. EDT)

A steering check of the Atlantis' twin orbital maneuvering system engines on the tail of the shuttle is being performed. The engines will perform the deorbit burn to slow the ship for entry into the atmosphere this morning.

0821 GMT (4:21 a.m. EDT)

Now two hours from landing.

0811 GMT (4:11 a.m. EDT)

Commander Brent Jett reports the crew has completed the deorbit preparations timeline this morning. Mission Control says weather continues to look good at the landing site. The only slight concern is the formation of fog.

0745 GMT (3:45 a.m. EDT)

After donning the bright orange launch and entry suits for their homecoming, the crew will follow their fluid loading protocol of drinking large amounts of liquids and salt tablets to assist in the readaptation to Earth's gravity.

0714 GMT (3:14 a.m. EDT)

Now two hours away from the scheduled firing of Atlantis' twin orbital maneuvering system engines to drop from orbit. The burn begins at 5:14:28 a.m. EDT and will two minutes and 40 seconds. Landing is still set for Kennedy Space Center's Runway 33 at 6:21 a.m. EDT.

The weather outlook calls for clear skies, good visibility and light northwesterly winds for the predawn homecoming.

A final "go" or "no go" call from Mission Control whether to proceed with the deorbit burn is expected by 5 a.m. EDT.

0712 GMT (3:12 a.m. EDT)

Commander Brent Jett says the crew is ready to begin suiting up. Mission Control says it is time to start.

0651 GMT (2:51 a.m. EDT)

The shuttle's main flight computers have completed the switch to the entry software package.

0635 GMT (2:35 a.m. EDT)

Atlantis' clam-shell-like payload bay doors have been closed and locked in preparation for today's fiery descent into Earth's atmosphere and landing at Kennedy Space Center.

The weather forecast continues to look good and there are no technical problems to report. Touchdown is scheduled for 6:21 a.m. EDT.

Meanwhile, Mission Control has given the crew a "go" to transition the onboard computers from the OPS-2 software used during the shuttle's stay in space to OPS-3, which is the software package that governs entry and landing. And Atlantis will soon maneuver to a new orientation in space to improve the communications link with NASA's orbiting data relay satellites.

GioFX

21-09-2006, 13:42

1125 GMT (7:25 a.m. EDT)

The ground convoy team on the runway is busy with the standard post-landing activities. The tow of Atlantis toward Orbiter Processing Facility bay 1 is expected to begin around 11 a.m. The shuttle should be back inside its hangar by 12:30 p.m.

The ship's next mission is STS-117 to deliver the next set of solar wings to the space station. That launch is currently targeted for February 22.

1112 GMT (7:12 a.m. EDT)

The shuttle Atlantis dropped out of a clear, dark sky and glided to an eerie predawn landing today at the Kennedy Space Center, wrapping up a successful space station assembly mission that kicks off a complex sequence of construction flights.

With commander Brent Jett at the controls, Atlantis settled to a tire-smoking touchdown on runway 33 at 6:21:30 a.m., just 15 minutes after the space station, now sporting a huge new set of solar arrays, sailed through the predawn sky over Florida, a brilliant "star" rivaling Venus or Jupiter in brightness.

As Jett guided the 100-ton spaceplane down the 3-mile-long runway at more than 200 mph, pilot Chris Ferguson fired the ship's braking parachute, the nose dropped to the landing strip and a few moments later, Atlantis rolled to a stop.

Read our full story.

1104 GMT (7:04 a.m. EDT)

Commander Brent Jett is signing off to egress his ship.

1100 GMT (7:00 a.m. EDT)

Atlantis' crew hatch has been opened and the astronauts are climbing out.

1057 GMT (6:57 a.m. EDT)

Here are the landing times in Eastern Daylight Time and Mission Elapsed Time:

Main Gear Touchdown
6:21:30 a.m. EDT
MET: 11 days, 19 hours, 6 minutes, 35 seconds

Nose Gear Touchdown
6:21:36 a.m. EDT
MET: 11 days, 19 hours, 6 minutes, 41 seconds

Wheels Stop
6:22:16 a.m. EDT
MET: 11 days, 19 hours, 7 minutes, 21 seconds

The shuttle traveled 4.9 million miles.

1049 GMT (6:49 a.m. EDT)

The Crew Transport Vehicle -- a modified airport "People Mover" -- has pulled up to the side hatch for the astronauts to enter. The CTV features beds and comfortable seats for the astronauts to receive medical checks after returning to Earth's gravity from the weightless environment of space.

1045 GMT (6:45 a.m. EDT)

Atlantis' vent doors are being repositioned.

1043 GMT (6:43 a.m. EDT)

The crew is beginning to power down the onboard computers.

1039 GMT (6:39 a.m. EDT)

Atlantis' three Auxiliary Power Units have been shut down.

1035 GMT (6:35 a.m. EDT)

The main engine nozzles are being repositioned, or gimbaled, to the "rain drain" orientation. And the crew has been given a "go" to climb out of their entry spacesuits.

1031 GMT (6:31 a.m. EDT)

The ship's flight computers are transitioning to the OPS-9 software package.

1030 GMT (6:30 a.m. EDT)

Atlantis' body flap is being set.

1029 GMT (6:29 a.m. EDT)

The side hatch, drag chute and landing gear pyrotechnics have been safed.

1027 GMT (6:27 a.m. EDT)

On the runway, technicians have arrived with instruments to "sniff" the shuttle's exterior to check for any hazardous vapors.

1025 GMT (6:25 a.m. EDT)

The crew is beginning the post-landing procedures on Atlantis. The external tank umbilical doors on the shuttle's belly are being opened and the ship's thruster systems are being safed.

GioFX

21-09-2006, 13:48

Da SpaceFlightNow.com (http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/060921landing):

Atlantis returns from space with predawn landing

BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: September 21, 2006

The shuttle Atlantis dropped out of a clear, dark sky and glided to an eerie predawn landing today at the Kennedy Space Center, wrapping up a successful space station assembly mission that kicks off a complex sequence of construction flights.

With commander Brent Jett at the controls, Atlantis settled to a tire-smoking touchdown on runway 33 at 6:21:30 a.m., just 15 minutes after the space station, now sporting a huge new set of solar arrays, sailed through the predawn sky over Florida, a brilliant "star" rivaling Venus or Jupiter in brightness.

As Jett guided the 100-ton spaceplane down the 3-mile-long runway at more than 200 mph, pilot Chris Ferguson fired the ship's braking parachute, the nose dropped to the landing strip and a few moments later, Atlantis rolled to a stop.

"Wheels stopped, Houston," Jett radioed as Atlantis braked to a halt.

"We copy, wheels stopped," replied astronaut Tony Antonelli from mission control at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. "Welcome back, congratulations on return to assembly."

"Thanks, Houston. It's nice to be back, it was a great team effort," Jett replied. "So I think assembly's off to a good start."

The 116th shuttle mission spanned 11 days 19 hours 06 minutes and 35 seconds since blastoff Sept. 9, covering 4.9 million miles and 186 complete orbits. Today's landing was the 21st nighttime descent in shuttle history and the 15th to the Kennedy Space Center.

Landing came one day later than originally planned to allow time for a final heat shield inspection after presumed debris from the shuttle was spotted floating near the orbiter on Tuesday. No problems were found and Atlantis was cleared for entry today.

Jett, Ferguson, flight engineer Dan Burbank, Joe Tanner, Canadian astronaut Steve MacLean and Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper planned to spend the day in Florida, after medical checks and reunions with family members, before flying back to Houston early Friday.

During the shuttle's descent today, Expedition 13 flight engineer Jeff Williams was able to see the ship's fiery contrail as it plunged to Earth below the station.

"I've got a visual again, steady, steady glow with a very visible contrail behind it," Williams radioed. "the contrail's steadily getting brighter. ... Still very bright, steady, got the orbiter with the very bright glow of the contrail behind it. It's like watching the contrail behind an airplane, you don't see it immediately behind the orbiter."

Even with sunrise approaching, "the brightest thing through the window is the orbiter."

"I'm watching from up front in the lab," Expedition 14 commander Mike Lopez-Alegria reported. "I've got a great view out the lab window."

A few minutes later, with Atlantis still several hundred miles away, the space station passed just east of the Kennedy Space Center, appearing as a brilliant star as it moved through the predawn sky and into sunlight.

Atlantis' flight marked the resumption of space station assembly after a three-and-a-half-year hiatus in the wake of the 2003 Columbia disaster. Over the course of a busy week in space, the astronauts attached a 35,000-pound solar array truss segment, unfurled a new set of solar blankets spanning 240 feet from tip to tip and wired it into the station's electrical system.

Despite problems getting Atlantis off the ground - a lightning strike, tropical storm Ernesto, a fuel cell problem and trouble with a fuel tank sensor - NASA chalked up a solid success in orbit, setting the stage for a flurry of station assembly flights.

"At the end of this exciting mission, I just have to remind everybody that we are back in the (space station) assembly business," shuttle Program Manager Wayne Hale said Wednesday. "I couldn't be prouder of the team. This is one of the most complex missions that's ever been flown in space. ... It has been an outstanding effort."

"We're set up in a very good way for the next set of assembly flights. There are about six in a row here that we really need to pull off in fairly rapid order without major problems in order to keep the assembly going."

Next up is launch of the shuttle Discovery in December on a mission to rewire the space station's electrical system, to ferry a fresh flight engineer to the outpost - Sunita Williams - and to bring European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Reiter back to Earth.

The current launch target is Dec. 14, but Hale said managers at the Kennedy Space Center are looking into the possibility of moving the flight up one week to avoid having a mission in progress over Christmas.

"We have asked the team to evaluate the potential of working a little bit extra hard, getting perhaps a week ahead, looking at a Dec. 7 potential launch date and thereby letting our folks have the Christmas holidays off," Hale said. "If that's not an incentive, I don't know what is."

Looking ahead to the upcoming station assembly flights, Hale said "if we are able to pull them off with even half the success that we saw on this flight, we will have a great year in 2007 and I think we will be well down the road to getting the space station assembled on time."