[Space] NASA - STS-135 - ISS-ULF7 (Atlantis) - ULTIMA MISSIONE PROGRAMMA STS

[GioFX]

NASA STS-135 - ISS Assembly Mission ULF7

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/shuttle/sts-135/lores/sts135-s-001.jpg

The Space Shuttle
Grand Finale

Benvenuti nella discussione ufficiale dell'STS-135, missione di costruzione ISS ULF7.

Ultima missione dell'orbiter Atlantis (OV-104) e ultima missione del programma STS.

STS-135 è la 33ma e ultima missione per l'orbiter Atlantis, ma soprattutto l'ultima del programma e quindi dello Space Shuttle, al termine della quale l'ultimo orbiter americano andrà ad unirsi a Discovery e Endeavour per il processo di safing e decommissioning che si concluderà con il trasferimento degli orbiter presso le loro sedi-museali post-carriera.

La missione conta l'equipaggio più ridotto della storia del programma STS, con solo 4 componenti: capitano, pilota e due Mission Specialists. L'obbiettivo principale è la fornitura e stoccaggio di un grande quantitativo di materiale hardware di riserva, pezzi di ricambio, acqua, alimenti, ecc. attraverso MPLM Raffaello (Multi-Purpose Logistics Module), che per l'occasione è stato caricato con 16 racks, il massimo previsto.
Fa parte del payload che LMC (Lightweight Multi-Purpose Carrier) per riportare a terra una pompa del sistema di raffreddamento (External Thermal Cooling System) che ha malfunzionato nel 2010 e sarà per questo analizzata. Infine parte con Atlantis anche RMM (Robotic Refuelling Mission), un sistema sviluppato dal Gooddard Space Flight Center con cui verrà testato il rifornimento automatico di satelliti in orbita.


Dati Missione

Lancio previsto: venerdì 8 luglio 2011, ore 15:26 UTC, 11:26 AM EDT (17:26 CEST)

Atterraggio previsto: mercoledì 20 luglio 2011, ore 11:06 UTC, 07:06 AM EDT (01:06 AM CEST del 21 luglio)

Durata missione prevista: 12 giorni

Missione Programma STS: STS-135 (135° volo Shuttle, 33° volo OV-104)

Missione Programma ISS: ULF7 (37° missione ISS)

Orbiter: Atlantis (OV-104)

Launch Pad: 39A

Inclinazione/Altitudine: 51.6°/122 miglia nautiche

Payload principale:

MPLM Raffaello


Equipaggio

Commander Christopher Ferguson
Pilot Douglas Hurley
Mission specialist 1 Sandra Magnus
Mission specialist 2 Rex Walheim


http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/513571main_sts135-s-002_425.jpg


Configurazione ISS finale:

http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/160533main_jsc2006e43519_low.jpg (http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/160554main_jsc2006e43519_high.jpg)


Altre informazioni

SpaceFlightNow.com Mission Coverage homepage:
http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts135

Master Flight Plan (SpaceFlightNow.com):
http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts135/fdf/135flightplan.html

Press Kit:
Non ancora disponibile

Previsioni Meteo - Lancio (KSC):
http://www.patrick.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-070517-025.pdf


Dirette TV (Webcast)

NASA TV - Programma:
PDF: http://www.nasa.gov/tvschedule/pdf/tvsked_rev0.pdf
URL: http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/MM_NTV_Schedule.html

NASA TV - Webcast:
NASA HD (USTREAM): http://www.ustream.tv/nasahdtv
Real Media: http://www.nasa.gov/ram/35037main_portal.ram
Windows Media: http://www.nasa.gov/55644main_NASATV_Windows.asx
Real Audio: http://www.nasa.gov/ram/55643main_NASATV_Audio_Only.ram

Austronauticast.com (in lingua italiana)
Astronauticast Live - LiveStream: http://www.astronauticast.com/live

[GioFX]

SFN:

NASA formally sets July 8 for final space shuttle launch
BY JUSTIN RAY
SPACEFLIGHT NOW
Posted: June 28, 2011

http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts135/110628frr/frr400267.jpg
A look inside today's flight readiness review. Credit: NASA

Senior NASA officials held the final space shuttle flight readiness review at the Kennedy Space Center today and affirms plans to launch Atlantis next week as scheduled.

"We set July 8 for the launch," said Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for Space Operations. "We had a very thorough review."

Atlantis will deliver a year's worth of provisions to proactively stock the shelves of the International Space Station while NASA awaits commercial firms SpaceX and Orbital Sciences to begin routinely servicing the outpost with resupply missions.

"This flight is incredibly important to space station. The cargo that is coming up on this flight is really mandatory for the space station," Gerstenmaier said.

Despite today's meeting representing yet another "last" on the road the final space shuttle mission, Gerstenmaier said there were no special commemorations to mark the event.

"The teams have done a great job, I think they did a tremendous job today of staying on point talking about what we needed to talk about, getting ready for the mission, getting ready for the launch and make sure we're really ready to go do this mission like we've done the missions before. So there wasn't much fanfare, no unique activities at all with the FRR."

With just 10 days left until launch, preparations are going smoothly at pad 39A as technicians get the ship prepped for blastoff.

"Atlantis is in great shape out at the pad," said launch director Mike Leinbach. "The remaining pad flow is very, very standard for us. We got our ordnance connected up last night. We'll close the payload bay doors for flight tomorrow afternoon. Tomorrow evening and Thursday morning we'll pressurize the high-pressure gas bottles on the orbiter. We'll close out the aft by Friday and we'll be able to take all three days of the holiday weekend off, come back to pick up the launch countdown on Tuesday the 5th. It's going to be a very, very easy pad flow for us the remainder of the way."

Atlantis' four astronauts are scheduled to arrive at the Kennedy Space Center on Monday, July 4 at 2:45 p.m. EDT. Countdown clocks in the launch control center begin ticking Tuesday, July 5 at 1 p.m. EDT.

The official launch window for the Friday, July 8 shot at getting space shuttle Atlantis into orbit for docking with the International Space Station has two "panes" and extends for 13 minutes and 18 seconds.

The first pane for the preferred Day 3 rendezvous with the space station extends from 11:21:46 to 11:31:46 a.m. EDT. The targeted liftoff time occurs in the middle of the period at 11:26:46 a.m. EDT, which is the exact moment when Earth's rotation carries the launch pad into the plane of the station's orbit.

An additional few minutes in the form a second pane of the launch window exists until 11:35:04 a.m. EDT. However, launching within that pane would lead to a less desirable Day 4 rendezvous and docking.


http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts135/110628frr/

[danny2005]

Qualcuno si è segnato il canale e l'ora degli speciali sullo shuttle che fanno su sky?

Non mi ricordo più....so che sono in questi giorni...

[fgiova]

ehm..

Ultima missione dell'orbiter Atlantis (OV-104) e ultima missione del programma STS.

STS-135 è la 33ma e ultima missione per l'orbiter Endeavour (OV-105), ma soprattutto l'ultima del programma e quindi dello Space Shuttle americano, al termine della quale Atlantis andrà ad unirsi a Discovery e Endeavour

;)

[GioFX]

grazie fgiova. ;)

[GioFX]

Un bel articolo di SFN sui "Magnifici (utlimi) Quattro" che avranno l'onore di far parte dell'ultima, storica, missione Shuttle:

http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts135/110703crew/

[GioFX]

E' iniziato il countdown per il lancio.

SFN:

Countdown commences for shuttle Atlantis' blastoff
BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: July 5, 2011

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/images/ni1107/05countdown400267.jpg

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL--Countdown clocks began ticking Tuesday for the shuttle Atlantis' launch Friday on NASA's 135th and final shuttle mission, a flight to deliver more than 8,000 pounds of supplies and equipment to the International Space Station.

[...]

http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts135/110705count/

[Gabry93]

io sto già a piagne

[Raven1994]

lo guardero sicuramente..

[GioFX]

Il tempo per ora sembra non collaborare molto e attualmente ci sono solo il 30% di possibilità di lancio domani pomeriggio.

Nel frattempo...

SFN:

Engineers assess lightning strike at space shuttle pad
BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: July 7, 2011

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/images/ni1107/07rss400253.jpg

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL--As predicted, thunderstorms rumbled across the Kennedy Space Center Thursday and at least one lightning bolt struck launch pad 39A where the shuttle Atlantis is being prepared for takeoff Friday on NASA's 135th and final shuttle mission.

[...]

http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts135/110707lightning/

[Raven1994]

visto che sono niubbo in merito , ma se non usano piu gli space shuttle cosa useranno adesso?

[GioFX]

Il trasporto dei rifornimenti cargo continuerà con il sistema russo Progress, europeo ATV e giapponese HTV. Gli americani utilizzeranno dal 2013 i lanciatori si SpaceX e Orbital Sciences Corp. nell'ambito del programma COSTS.

Spostare il rifornimento cargo ai privati consentirà alla NASA di accelerare la progettazione e lo sviluppo di un nuovo sistema per il trasporto di astronauti su ISS, orbita bassa utilizzabile poi eventualmente per Luna e Marte. Il sistema si basa su un lanciatore espandibile e HLLV che utilizzerà il più possibile tecnologia Shuttle (booster, ET, motori SME). Nel frattempo, indicativamente fino al 2015-2016, la NASA utilizzerà le Soyuz russe per trasportare i suoi astronauti alla e dalla ISS.

[GioFX]

1354 GMT (9:54 a.m. EDT)
The latest weather briefing to the launch director continues to show a 70 percent of "no go" conditions at today's 11:26 a.m. EDT liftoff time. Weather remains "red" right now for thick clouds.

[Raven1994]

non c'era in progettazione il motore VASIMIR?

[GioFX]

1411 GMT (10:11 a.m. EDT)
T-minus 20 minutes and holding. The countdown has paused for a 10-minute built-in hold. Launch is scheduled for 11:26 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.

[GioFX]

VASIMIR è una tecnologia ancora in fase di studio e progettazione, e cmq non adatta al trasporto di persone o cose dalla terra, ma dallo spazio allo spazio.

[GioFX]

1415 GMT (10:15 a.m. EDT)
The official launch window based on radar tracking of the space station's orbit begins at 11:21:46 and extends until 11:31:19 a.m. EDT for Atlantis to rendezvous with the station on Flight Day 3.

The preferred launch time is 11:26:46 a.m. EDT.

[GioFX]

1419 GMT (10:19 a.m. EDT)
Weather is "go" now!

[GioFX]

1432 GMT (10:32 a.m. EDT)
T-minus 9 minutes and holding. Countdown clocks have gone into the planned 45-minute, 46-second built-in hold. Launch is targeted for 11:26:46 a.m. EDT.

[GioFX]

1514 GMT (11:14 a.m. EDT)
NASA launch director Mike Leinbach has conducted his poll and given provisional approval to resume the countdown for liftoff at 11:26 a.m. EDT. But still waiting on final official "go" on the weather.

[GioFX]

1515 GMT (11:15 a.m. EDT)
Weather officially "go" for launch!

[GioFX]

1520:46 GMT (11:20:46 a.m. EDT)
T-minus 6 minutes. Pilot Doug Hurley has been asked by the orbiter test conductor 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.

[GioFX]

Go for GOX Vent Hood Retract.

[GioFX]

T-120 seconds.

[GioFX]

T-60 seconds.

[GioFX]

HOLD!!!

[GioFX]

LAUNCH!!!

Godspeed Discovery!

[GioFX]

SRB separation confirmed.

[killercode]

emozionante

[GioFX]

Press to MECO.

[GioFX]

MECO for the last time.

[GioFX]

Atlantis è in orbita. Per l'ultima volta.

[GioFX]

A differenza delle precedenti missioni, nell'ultima ET è stata apportata una modifica alla camera che riprende l'orbiter durante tutta la fase del lancio da T-0 a MECO, disabilitando il timer che disattiva le rirpese e con altre piccole modifiche elettriche nel box di controllo. Tramite le batterie interne sarà quindi possibile osservare (forse poco) per la prima volta la fase di rientro almeno fino a all'EI (Entry Interface).

L'articolo di NasaSpaceFlight.com:

http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2011/06/sts-135-atlantis-tcdt-external-tank-death-camera-ready/

[GioFX]

SFN:

America's space shuttle blasts off on one last mission

http://spaceflightnow.com/news/images/ni1107/08launchquick_400259.jpg

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL--After a cliff-hangar countdown, the space shuttle Atlantis thundered to life and majestically rocketed into history Friday, putting on one last sky show for spectators jamming area roads and beaches to witness NASA's 135th and final shuttle launch.

http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts135/110708launch

---

NasaSpaceFlight.com:

STS-135: Atlantis dodges weather and launches one final time

July 7th, 2011 by Chris Gebhardt and Chris Bergin

Following was Atlantis’ last – and rather eventful – final full day at Launch Pad 39A, STS-135 has launched into orbit. After beating the odds on the weather front, a hold at T-31 seconds – related to the GOX Vent Hood retraction – was soon resolved, allowing Atlantis to blast off into the heavens via what appears to be a flawless ascent.

http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2011/07/sts135-live-attempt-1/

[GioFX]

Video del lancio:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGntRdI6gEU

[Yaro86]

Figurati se quel 30% di possibilità non andavano a mio svantaggio... me lo sono perso :rolleyes:
Magari si dimenticano un bullone e tornano su ancora... no eh? :D

[Raven1994]

stupendo come sempre..

[lele980]

e adesso???

sono un po scettico sull avvenire

ho l impressione che avremo un medioevo tecnologico per molti anni

(gia la notizia dei tagli di budget e del rischio di cancellazione del telescopio james webb mi fa incazzare)

[Raven1994]

quindi il rientro sulla terra si può vedere..o sbaglio? se sì quando?

[GioFX]

Certo che si può vedere, come sempre. Il rientro attualmente è previsto per il 20 luglio alle 13:02 ora italiana, ma probabilmente verrà aggiunto un giorno alla missione. Basta tenere d'occhio l'indicazione in prima pagina.

Nel frattempo Atlantis sta per attraccare alla ISS.

SFN:

Atlantis headed for the International Space Station
BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: July 10, 2011

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts135/110710fd3/10atlantis400264.jpg

Bringing more than five tons of supplies and equipment, the shuttle Atlantis closed in on the International Space Station early Sunday, on course for the shuttle program's 37th and final docking since the lab's assembly began in 1998.

[...]

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts135/110710fd3/index.html

[GioFX]

1414 GMT (10:14 a.m. EDT)
The pitch maneuver has been completed. Atlantis is back in the orientation where it started, with the payload bay looking up at the station.

[GioFX]

1432 GMT (10:32 a.m. EDT)
For the final time, the flight control team has been polled and given its "go" for docking of Atlantis to the International Space Station. This is the 46th time in 135 mission that a shuttle has docked with an orbiting space station -- 9 times to Mir, 37 to the ISS.

[GioFX]

1507 GMT (11:07 a.m. EDT)
CONTACT AND CAPTURE! America's final space shuttle has arrived at the International Space Station, the science laboratory it trucked piece by piece to orbit for assembly, to deliver one last massive load of goods and provisions that only the winged spaceplanes can carry.

[GioFX]

E' in corso l'unica EVA prevista durante questa missione shuttle, ma condotta esclusivamente da membri dell'equipaggio ISS: Michael Fossum e Ronald Garan.

SFN:

Spacewalkers to stow broken pump into Atlantis' payload bay
BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: July 12, 2011

http://spaceflightnow.com/news/images/ni1107/12eva400266.jpg

Space station astronauts Michael Fossum and Ronald Garan are gearing up for a planned six-and-a-half-hour spacewalk to move a failed ammonia coolant pump from the lab complex to the shuttle Atlantis for return to Earth. They also plan to install a robotic refueling demonstration kit and a materials science space exposure experiment on the station and carry out a few get-ahead tasks.

[...]

http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts135/110712fd5/index.html


Diretta: http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts135/status.html

[GioFX]

SFN:

Final spacewalk in the space shuttle era is complete
BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: July 12, 2011

After accomplishing their two primary objectives -- moving a failed cooling pump from the station to the shuttle Atlantis and a robotic refueling apparatus from the shuttle to the lab complex -- astronauts Michael Fossum and Ronald Garan installed a materials science experiment on the station's power truss, serviced a robot arm attachment fitting and installed a thermal cover over an unused docking port.

[...]

http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts135/110712fd5/index2.html

[GioFX]

E anche l'ultima attività principale della missione è stata completata: il trasferimento dei rifornimenti dal Raffaello alla ISS e viceversa con rifiuti e hardware da riportare a terra.

SFN:

Station restocking completed by shuttle Atlantis crew
BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: July 17, 2011

http://spaceflightnow.com/news/images/ni1107/17crew400266.jpg

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL--The Atlantis astronauts put in a final day of logistics transfer work Sunday, working through off-duty time to finish moving a last few items into the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module for return to Earth. If all goes well, the cargo module will be detached from the station's forward Harmony module and mounted back in the shuttle's payload bay early Monday, setting the stage for the ship's final departure from the lab complex Tuesday morning.

[...]

http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts135/110717fd10/index2.html

[strangedays]

we we ma si vedra' l'atlantis dall'italia???

[gibi87]

No, non si vedrà dall'Italia.
Per vedere la ISS dopo il tramonto bisogna aspettare agosto.

[GioFX]

E anche il momento dell'ultimo undocking è alla fine arrivato...

SFN:

International Space Station bids goodbye to the shuttle
BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: July 19, 2011

http://spaceflightnow.com/news/images/ni1107/19atlantis400246.jpg

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL--After 37 space station assembly flights over the past 12-and-a-half years, the crew of the shuttle Atlantis undocked from the lab complex for the final time Tuesday in a long-awaited milestone that marks the beginning of the end for NASA's last shuttle mission.

[...]

http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts135/110719fd12/index2.html

[Teox82]

E' una tristezza :cry:

[GioFX]

GO per il rientro domani!

SFN:

Astronauts ready Atlantis for Thursday's predawn landing
BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: July 20, 2011

http://spaceflightnow.com/news/images/ni1107/sts135track400276.jpg

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL--The crew of the shuttle Atlantis, working through one of the busiest days of their mission, tested the orbiter's re-entry systems Wednesday and packed up for landing Thursday to close out NASA's 135th and final shuttle mission.

Along with deploying a small solar cell research satellite, commander Christopher Ferguson and pilot Douglas Hurley practiced landing procedures with a video game-like simulator and all four astronauts -- Ferguson, Hurley, Sandra Magnus and Rex Walheim -- fielded a final round of questions from the media.

"What I've kind of told everybody all along was that we were not going to fully appreciate the significance of the event until after the wheels have stopped," Ferguson told CBS News. "Just yesterday in the middeck I was talking to Sandy about the fact that you know what, I really do feel like it's coming near the end. And I can almost sense that final 'wheels stopped' call.

"It's going to be tough, it's going to be an emotional moment for a lot of people who have dedicated their lives to the shuttle program for 30 years. But we're going to try to keep it upbeat, we're going to try to keep it light and we're going to try to make it a celebration of the tremendous, crowning achievements that have occurred over the last 30 years with the tremendous satellites that have been deployed from the shuttle and of course, construction of the International Space Station."

Floating in the shuttle cockpit with Hurley, Magnus and Walheim, Ferguson said the 135th shuttle mission successfully delivered enough supplies, equipment and spare parts to the International Space Station to keep the lab complex going through 2012. That will give NASA a bit of a cushion in case commercial rocket companies run into problems developing new unmanned cargo ships to take over from the shuttle.

"No mission is successful until you're finally on the ground," Ferguson said. "I would have to say that up to this point, it's been highly successful. Sandy, Rex, Doug, we all put forth 110 percent, we got about (five-and-a-half tons) of cargo transferred into and out of space station. We have them all set, they're in a good posture to wait for about a year until commercial partners come on board and begin the resupply missions the shuttle formerly had."

Commercial cargo ships will be joined by private sector manned spacecraft later in the decade, part of a push by the Obama administration to turn over "routine" transportation to and from low-Earth orbit to commercial rocket providers while NASA focuses on deep space exploration. Critics have charged that tight budgets and uncertain political support put manned spaceflight at risk in the United States, but Walheim told CBS News he sees a bright future.

"We're in a kind of a transition period, which is a little bit uncomfortable as usual," he said. "But what we're going to be doing is handing over the access to low-Earth orbit, getting to the space station, to commercial providers. That'll free up NASA to do the heavy lifting of the beyond-low-Earth orbit flights, to go to places we haven't been for a long time, or ever, like the moon or an asteroid or maybe Mars.

"So it's a kind of a two-pronged effort," he said. "We'll get through this transition part. It'll be hard, but we'll get there and we'll be going farther and farther and going new places real soon."

Magnus said the program would succeed because of "a huge number of people worldwide who passionately believe in space flight and who dedicate their lives to it."

"And it's because of these people that the shuttle program was so successful for the last 30 years, and we were able to do the amazing things we were able to do," she said. "It's because of these people the International Space Station has been so successful and will continue to be successful."

In a lighter moment, Magnus was asked whether her crewmates ever gave her a hard time because of her "space hair."

"Usually for events like this, I like to leave it out because it demonstrates we are indeed in zero gravity," she laughed. "I mean, these guys have kind of boring hair, so it's not so fun. But they do give me trouble occasionally about the Medusa-like effect of it."

Shuttle crews normally include six or seven astronauts to get all the day-before-landing chores done. But Atlantis was launched with a reduced crew of four to accommodate possible rescue scenarios, complicating the pre-entry timeline. Even though he knew the workload would be challenging, Hurley said he was surprised at the fast pace of the crew's work in orbit.

"We've had to just work so closely together and be so well coordinated because you know, your typical shuttle mission, there's six or seven folks, so you tend to be working more with another person," he told CBS. "And there've been a lot of times where we've just had to depend on the other person to cover a separate task. I don't think I fully appreciated how much more work we'd have to do with only four. So it's been a little bit of an eye opener, because we really have been just stretching it, working very hard every day."

But that's not to say they haven't had a bit of fun occasionally. After launching the small solar cell research satellite -- Picosat -- Walheim read a "deployment poem" to mission control:

One more satellite takes its place in the sky,
The last of many that the shuttle let fly.
Magellan, Galileo, Hubble, and more
Have sailed beyond her payload bay doors.
There's still science books, and still more to come,
The shuttle's legacy will live on when her flying is done.
We wish Picosat success, in space where it roams,
They can stay up here, but we're goin' home.
Yes soon for the last time we'll gently touch down,
Then celebrate the shuttle with our friends on the ground.
With good weather expected, Ferguson and Hurley plan to fire Atlantis' braking rockets at 4:49:04 a.m. Thursday to drop out of orbit. Landing at the Kennedy Space Center is targeted for 5:56:58 a.m. A second opportunity is available one orbit later at 7:32:55 a.m.
NASA is not staffing its backup landing site at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., on Thursday. If the weather or some other problem prevents a Florida landing, the crew will remain in orbit an additional 24 hours and head for one coast or the other on Friday.

Assuming an on-time landing, Atlantis will have logged 5,284,862 miles during its 33rd mission, pushing the orbiter's total mileage to 125,935,769 miles. Over the course of its career, Atlantis will have spent 307 days in space, logging 4,848 orbits.

Earlier this week, Ferguson told the lead flight control team, ending its final shift at the Johnson Space Center, "to look up and make a memory."

"And I'll say that to everybody who has an opportunity to perhaps see the landing realtime or see the shuttle on the runway," he told an interviewer Wednesday. "Take a good look at it and make a memory, because you're never going to see anything like this again. It's been an incredible ride."

Here is an updated timeline of the remainder of the crew's planned activities for flight day 13 (in EDT and mission elapsed time; includes revision M of the NASA television schedule; best viewed with fixed-width font):


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

07/20
06:34 AM...11...19...05...00...L-1 comm check (Merritt Island)
06:54 AM...11...19...25...00...Deorbit review
07:24 AM...11...19...55...00...Cabin stow resumes
07:59 AM...11...20...30...00...Playback of undocking video
08:00 AM...11...20...31...00...Mission status briefing on NASA TV
09:49 AM...11...22...20...00...L-1 comm check (Dryden)
09:49 AM...11...22...20...00...Ergometer stow
10:00 AM...11...22...31...00...STS-135 ascent highlights replay
10:14 AM...11...22...45...00...Wing leading edge sensor deactivation
10:34 AM...11...23...05...00...PGSC laptop computer stow (part 1)
11:00 AM...11...23...31...00...STS-135 ascent highlights replay
11:39 AM...12...00...10...00...Ku-band antenna stow
01:29 PM...12...02...00...00...Crew sleep begins
03:00 PM...12...03...31...00..."Launching our Dreams" video on NASA TV
04:00 PM...12...04...31...00...Flight day 13 highlights on NASA TV
09:59 PM...12...10...30...00...Crew wakeup

http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts135/110720fd13/index.html

[fgiova]

-20min .... :cry:

[razziadacqua]

-20min .... :cry:

:°(


Immane tristezza...di una parte della mia vita che se ne và,ritornando!

[razziadacqua]

E tra 8min GioFX è disoccupato... :(

[+Benito+]

atterrata. L'era shuttle è finita, sigh

[robertogl]

ed è finita :(

[razziadacqua]

Ma cosa sono quegli sbuffi dalla coda?

[gibi87]

Lo sfiato della APU, è normale.

[danny2005]

Che tristezza! :cry: :cry:

Le parole del commentatore e dei piloti fanno commuovere....


Addio macchina meravigliosa: quando ti staccavi dal suolo con quella potenza da cavallo di razza e quella montagna di vapore mi procuravi emozioni sincere.

Grazie a internet ho potuto seguire molto più di quello che i tg trasmettevano...

e per questo mi sento un privilegiato...

Spero che un'altra macchina riesca ad emozionarmi così...

[oedem]

Finisce un'era spaziale che tanto mi ha fatto sognare :cry:

Però è anomalo che non sia stato trovato ancora nulla di alternativo ma si sia puntati unicamente a modifiche (compartecipazione russo-americana) della soyuz che resta pur sempre un progetto nativo di fine anni '60

[razziadacqua]

Lo sfiato della APU, è normale.

Chiedevo cosa sono,no se è normale ;D

[GioFX]

Purtroppo non ho potuto commentare con voi questo storico evento, l'ultimo rientro dello shuttle... ma ho potuto vedere la fase finale.

Grazie Atlantis, Grazie Space Shuttle!

SFN:

FINALITY OF THE MOMENT
The shuttle program is over
BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: July 21, 2011

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/images/ni1107/21land400254.jpg

The iconic soul of America's space program for the past 30 years slipped gracefully into history on a dark runway this morning as the winged spaceship Atlantis made a poignant touchdown to conclude the shuttle program. The five remarkable flying machines launched on 135 missions, traveled 542,398,878 miles that spanned 21,152 orbits of the planet, and carried 355 humans and 3.5 million pounds of payloads as the Space Transportation System.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL--By the light of a waning moon, the shuttle Atlantis fell back to Earth Thursday, dropping out of predawn darkness to close out NASA's 135th and final shuttle voyage, a long-awaited -- and long-dreaded -- milestone marking the end of an era for American manned space flight.

Coming home to a future clouded by tight budgets and uncertain political support, commander Christopher Ferguson guided Atlantis through a sweeping left overhead turn and lined up on runway 15, quickly descending into the glare of powerful xenon spotlights.

Approaching the 3-mile-long runway, Ferguson pulled the shuttle's nose up in a graceful flare, pilot Douglas Hurley lowered the ship's landing gear and Atlantis settled to a tire-smoking touchdown at 5:57:00 a.m. EDT (GMT-4). A few seconds later, as Atlantis barreled down the runway at more than 200 mph, Hurley deployed a red-and-white braking parachute and the shuttle's nose gear settled to the runway.

"Having fired the imagination of a generation, a ship like no other, its place in history secured, the space shuttle pulls into port for the last time, its voyage at an end," said mission control commentator Rob Navias.

A few moments later, Atlantis coasted to a halt on the runway centerline, bringing three decades of shuttle operations to a close.

"Mission complete, Houston," Ferguson radioed. "After serving the world for over 30 years, the space shuttle has earned its place in history. It's come to a final stop."

"We copy your wheels stopped, and we'll take this opportunity to congratulate you, Atlantis, as well as the thousands of passionate individuals across this great, space-faring nation who truly empower this incredible spacecraft, which for three decades has inspired millions around the globe," replied astronaut Barry "Butch" Wilmore from mission control in Houston. "Job well done, America."

"Hey thanks, Butch, great words, great words," Ferguson said. "You know, the space shuttle has changed the way we view the world and it's changed the way we view our universe. There are a lot of emotions today, but one thing is indisputable -- America's not going to stop exploring.

"Thank you Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Endeavour and our ship, Atlantis," he said. "Thank you for protecting us and bringing this program to such a fitting end. God bless all of you, God bless the United States of America."

Ferguson, Hurley, Sandra Magnus and flight engineer Rex Walheim doffed their 70-pound pressure suits and joined dozens of NASA managers, engineers and contractors, many awaiting layoffs, for a traditional runway inspection, smiling and sharing hugs and handshakes as they celebrated a safe homecoming.

"They have come to be known as the 'final four,' and they did an absolutely incredible job," said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden. "We've been exploring since early in our country's history. What Fergie and his crew did this time was kind of close out this era of our exploration. I want everybody who was involved in this to feel incredibly proud. ... We owe an incredible debt of gratitude to the tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of folk around the country who made all this possible."

Ferguson spoke briefly for the crew, saying "There was a lot of attention paid to this mission, because it does bring to a final close 30 years of space shuttle history."

"Although we got to take the ride, we sure hope that everybody who's ever worked or touched or looked at or envied or admired a space shuttle was able to take just a little part of the journey with us," he said. "We're going to put Atlantis in a museum now, along with the other orbiters, for generations that will come after us, to admire and appreciate.

"On behalf of the crew, thanks so much for the time and attention," he said. "For the folks at KSC, thank you for this fantastic vehicle. It performed absolutely wonderfully, not a glitch, and it's just as pristine as it was, I hope, on the day that we took it."

Landing closed out a voyage spanning 5.3 million miles and 200 complete orbits since blastoff July 8 from nearby launch pad 39A, a mission duration of 12 days 18 hours 27 minutes and 56 seconds. Over the course of 33 missions, Atlantis logged an estimated 125,935,769 miles, 4,848 orbits and 307 days in space.

Launch Director Mike Leinbach captured the mood of many at the Florida spaceport when he described Atlantis' homecoming as a family affair tinged with sadness and hope for the future.

"I heard nothing but pride out on the runway today," he said. "When I talked to people between the hugs and the pats on the back, the pride that they have of having been part of this amazing program, this amazing bit of history. No one can ever take that away from us."

During a virtually trouble-free mission, Ferguson and his crewmates delivered five-and-a-half tons of supplies and equipment to the International Space Station and helped with a spacewalk to retrieve a failed coolant pump.

The supplies are critical to the space station program. Two companies, Space Exploration Technologies -- SpaceX -- and Orbital Sciences, are building unmanned cargo ships to take over from the shuttle after the fleet is retired with initial test flights expected later this year or early next.

Atlantis' mission was added to the shuttle manifest to deliver enough supplies to keep the station provisioned through 2012 as a hedge against development problems that might delay the commercial cargo ships.

Now, with Atlantis and its crew safely home, the emotional process of remembrance and celebration finally began in earnest as engineers and technicians marveled anew at the technological grandeur of the winged spaceplane and struggled to cope with the reality that it will never fly again.

"Out on the runway, I found myself, as I did with Discovery and Endeavour, taking in the beauty of the vehicle, standing back and taking pictures, taking pictures of the workers, them asking for a picture with me, it was just a family event out there today," Leinbach said. "Hard to describe the emotions. There were good emotions that we brought the crew home safely, and the mission's complete, certainly sadness that it's over and people will be moving on.

"Hate to see them leave," he said, "but that's a reality. I saw grown men and grown women crying today. Tears of joy, to be sure, just human emotions came out on the runway today. You couldn't suppress them."

Ferguson and his crewmates no doubt felt those same emotions.

"After the wheels have stopped and the displays go blank and the orbiter is unpowered for the final time ... there will be a rush of emotion when we all finally realize that's it, that it's all over, the crowning jewel of our space program, the way we got back and forth from low-Earth orbit for 30 years ... we'll realize that's all over," Ferguson said before launch. "That's going to take a little while to deal with."

The landing also brought into sharp focus the post-Columbia decision by the Bush administration to complete the space station and retire the shuttle to make way for new rockets and the establishment of moon bases by the early 2020s, a program deemed unaffordable by the Obama administration.

Instead of returning to the moon, NASA was told to oversee development of new commercial spacecraft to ferry astronauts to and from the space station. The administration believes that will allow NASA to focus on eventual missions to explore deep space targets ranging from the moon to Mars.

In the meantime, until new commercial spacecraft can be tested and certified for flight -- a process expected to take three to five years at best -- NASA astronauts will be forced to hitch rides to and from the International Space Station aboard Russian Soyuz rockets.

That reliance, along with tight budgets, the lack of a firm timetable and targets for deep space missions lead many to question whether the United States can maintain its leadership on the high frontier.

"The challenge of space is not in building the space systems, it is in building the space team," legendary Apollo 11 Flight Director Gene Kranz said in an email before Atlantis' launch. "With the termination of shuttle operations the NASA and contractor work force that took a decade to build and mature is being destroyed.

"Now, with inept national and space leadership, we stand with both feet firmly planted on the ground. Our nation has surrendered the high ground that the NASA space team captured July 20, 1969."

Not surprisingly, Bolden disagrees, saying the Obama administration's push to develop commercial spacecraft represents a more realistic, sustainable course for the nation's space program in an era of competing priorities.

"This final shuttle flight marks the end of an era, but today, we recommit ourselves to continuing human spaceflight and taking the necessary and difficult steps to ensure America's leadership in human spaceflight for years to come," Bolden said in a statement.

"Children who dream of being astronauts today may not fly on the space shuttle but, one day, they may walk on Mars. The future belongs to us. And just like those who came before us, we have an obligation to set an ambitious course and take an inspired nation along for the journey."

Regardless of where one stands on the value of the space shuttle and the wisdom of retiring the fleet before a replacement spacecraft is available, everyone seems to agree on one point: the sheer spectacle of space shuttles taking off and landing will be missed.

"That is the most graceful, beautiful vehicle we've had to fly in space, ever, and it's going to be a long time until you see a vehicle ... as beautiful as that," Walheim said before launch. "How can you beat that? An airplane on the side of a rocket. It's absolutely stunning.

"So I think we lose a little bit of grace, of beauty, and also a little bit of majesty. You can't watch that vehicle roll by without thinking what an amazing achievement America has, that America can build something like that, put people inside and sling them off this Earth into space. It's absolutely amazing."

Over the course of the shuttle program's 30-year space odyssey, Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour carried more than 3.5 million pounds of cargo to orbit, brought another 230,000 pounds of equipment back to Earth and deployed 180 satellites and space station components.

It was the only reusable manned spacecraft ever built, the only launch vehicle equipped with an airlock and the first to feature a robot arm, a technological marvel that gave the shuttle its unique ability to precisely position spacewalking astronauts, to deploy and retrieve satellites like the Hubble Space Telescope and to assemble the International Space Station.

Over the past three decades, experiencing virtually no technical problems, the Canadian-built robot arm deployed or retrieved seven satellites, assisted in 115 spacewalks, delivered 30 space station components and grappled 72 payloads. In its final performance, the arm was used Tuesday to carry out a final inspection of Atlantis' heat shield.

Leinbach said the shuttle workforce, bracing for major layoffs in the days and weeks ahead, was ready to move on. Hundreds gathered near Atlantis' hangar to welcome the shuttle home, cheering, waving American flags and enjoying hot dogs in the broiling Florida sun.

"There are four phases of change, right? And it doesn't matter what the change is, any major change in one's life you go through these four stages -- it's denial, anger, exploration and acceptance," he said. "We've all been through that now in the shuttle program and we've accepted the fact that it's over. This is the end of the program, and people will move on and do well. ... It's important, but it's not the end of the world. The sun will rise again tomorrow."

Earlier this week, Ferguson told flight controllers finishing their final shifts to pause for a moment before leaving the building, "turn around and make a memory."

He made his own memory Thursday with a textbook descent from orbit and a ghostly, picture-perfect landing.

Flying upside down and backward over the Indian Ocean, Ferguson and Hurley fired the shuttle's twin braking rockets for three minutes and 16 seconds starting at 4:49:04 a.m., slowing the ship by about 225 miles per hour to drop out of orbit.

A half hour later, the shuttle plunged into the discernible atmosphere at an altitude of about 75 miles above the southern Pacific Ocean, enduring the hellish heat of re-entry as it descended along a northeasterly trajectory back toward the Kennedy Space Center.

"Hey Houston, how you doing?" Ferguson called out. "We're doing fantastic. Wish we could share with everybody this really cool glow, it's just amazing outside."

The flight path carried Atlantis high above Central America, across the Gulf of Mexico just west of Cuba and on to Florida, approaching the Kennedy Space Center from the southwest.

Heralded by the shuttle's signature dual sonic booms as Atlantis dropped below the speed of sound, Ferguson took over manual control at an altitude of about 50,000 feet, guiding the shuttle through a sweeping 240-degree left turn to line up on runway 15 for the shuttle program's last landing.

"It's come to a final stop," he called.

And it was so.

http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts135/110721fd14/index.html

[gibi87]

Chiedevo cosa sono,no se è normale ;D

Scusa :)
L'APU (Auxiliary Power Unit) garantisce l'energia necessaria ai sistemi dello shuttle quando i motori principali sono spenti.

[Raven1994]

stupendo come sempre..addio shuttle :cry:

[GioFX]

Scusa :)
L'APU (Auxiliary Power Unit) garantisce l'energia necessaria ai sistemi dello shuttle quando i motori principali sono spenti.

Corretto in parte: in realtà l'APU fornisce energia ai sistemi da prima della partenza a dopo l'atterraggio... i motori vengono utilizzati esclusivamente per la propulsione. :)

[gibi87]

Grazie per la correzione, questo non lo sapevo!
Nei normali aerei i motori vengono utilizzati anche per dare energia ai sistemi o solo per la propulsione?

[strangedays]

ce la si fara a fare una minkia di navetta a decollo orrizzontale o sempre razzetti?? o comunque da ora in poi a parte le soyuz cosa si utilizzera'?

[buddace]

ce la si fara a fare una minkia di navetta a decollo orrizzontale o sempre razzetti?? o comunque da ora in poi a parte le soyuz cosa si utilizzera'?
Avevo sentito dire da qualche parte che si voleva resuscitare l'ex sovietico Buran

[+Benito+]

Non credo, considerando che l'ultimo esemplare montato (ma senza motori) è andato distrutto.
Serve roba nuova, costruita con tecnologie moderne e con l'esperienza dei fallimenti del programma STS

[Octane]

Buon riposo Space Shuttles, grazie per questi 30 anni di missioni ed immagini mozzafiato

[GioFX]

Grazie per la correzione, questo non lo sapevo!
Nei normali aerei i motori vengono utilizzati anche per dare energia ai sistemi o solo per la propulsione?

Si, in aviazione le APU vengono utilizzate per l'accensione dei motori e per fornire energia ai sistemi appunto fino all'avviamento degli stessi. Dopodiché tutta l'energia, tranne in casi di emergenza, viene fornita dai motori principali.

[robiltorvaster]

è un piccolo, ultimo, passo per la gloriosa navetta ma una generale andata nel mondo dei ricordi singhiozzanti per il resto dell'umanità unanimente appassionata.