[Space] NASA STS-114 (ISS)

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Benvenuti alla missione STS-114

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NASA News release

LCD Timeline

Launch-3 Days (Sunday, July 10): Countdown begins at the T-43 hours (6 p.m.)

Launch-2 Days (Monday, July 11)
Remove mid-deck and flight-deck platforms (2 a.m.);

Complete preparation to load power reactant storage and distribution system (5 a.m.);

Activate and test navigational systems (7 a.m.);

Flight deck preliminary inspections complete (10 a.m.)

Enter first built-in hold at T-27 hours for four hours (10 a.m.)

Resume countdown (2 p.m.);

Begin loading of cryogenic reactants into Discovery's fuel cell storage tanks (3:30 p.m.)

Enter 4-hour built-in hold at T-19 hours (10 p.m.)

Launch-1 Day (Tuesday, July 12)
Resume countdown (2 a.m.);

Final preparations of Shuttle's three main engines for tanking and flight (2 a.m.);

Fill pad sound suppression system water tank (3 to 6 a.m.)

Enter planned hold at T-11 hours for 12 hours, 55 minutes (10 a.m.);

Begin star tracker functional checks (10:50 a.m.);

Move Rotating Service Structure to the park position (7 p.m.)

Resume countdown at T-11 hours (11 p.m.)

Launch Day (Wednesday, July 13)
Enter planned 2-hour built-in hold at T-6 hours (3:55 a.m.);

Verification of launch commit criteria prior to cryogenic loading of External Tank(ET)

Resume countdown (5:55 a.m.)

Begin load ET with 500,000 gallons of cryogenic propellants (approx. 6:05 to approx. 8:55 a.m.);

Final Inspection Team to launch pad
Enter planned 3-hour built-in hold at T-3 hours (8:55 a.m.);

Perform inertial measurement unit preflight calibration;

Align Merritt Island Launch Area tracking antennas
Resume countdown at T-3 hours (11:55 a.m.)

Crew departs Operations and Checkout Building for the pad (12 p.m.);

Crew entry into orbiter (approx. 12:30 p.m.);

Crew air-to-ground voice checks with Launch and Mission Control;

Close Discovery's crew hatch (about 1:35 p.m.)


Enter planned 10-minute hold at T-20 minutes (2:35 p.m.);

NASA Test Director conducts final launch team briefings; inertial measurement unit preflight alignments
Resume countdown at T-20 minutes (2:45 p.m.);

Transition the orbiter's onboard computers to launch configuration;

backup flight system to launch configuration

Enter estimated 40-minute hold at T-9 minutes (2:56 p.m.);

Launch director, Mission Management Team and NASA test director conduct final polls for go/no go to launch

Resume countdown at T-9 minutes (about 3:36 p.m.) (more likly resume at 3:42 to launch in plane)

Start automatic ground launch sequencer (T-9:00 minutes);

Retract orbiter crew access arm (T-7:30);

Ignition of three Shuttle main engines (T-6.6 seconds); ignition and liftoff (T-0)

STS-114 CREW & LAUNCH DAY ACTIVITIES (TV events (#)-times may vary)
Commander Eileen Collins; pilot James Kelly; payload commander Soichi Noguchi; mission specialists Stephen Robinson, Andrew Thomas, Wendy Lawrence, Charles Camarda

5:45 a.m. Crew wake up; 6:15 a.m.

Breakfast #10:15 a.m.

Crew snack #11:20 a.m.

Weather Briefing #11:20-11:50 a.m.

Don flight suits #12:00 p.m.

Depart for launch pad #12:30 p.m. Arrive at white room;

begin entering Shuttle #1:45 p.m.

Close crew hatch #3:51 p.m.

Launch

For NASA TV schedules, viewing and information on the Web, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

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Astronauts catch early flight to launch site

BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: July 9, 2005

Flying in one day early to dodge Hurricane Dennis, the shuttle Discovery's crew arrived at the Kennedy Space Center this evening to make final preparations for launch Wednesday on the first post-Columbia flight.

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Shuttle Discovery's astronauts arrived at Kennedy Space Center this evening. Credit: NASA-KSC

"This shuttle flight is the beginning of a new chapter in space exploration," commander Eileen Collins told a crowd of journalists at the Shuttle Landing Facility. "We are going to finish building the international space station, we're going to do the science up there that needs to be done in learning how to keep people going in space for long periods of time (and) leaving low earth orbit and going back to the moon.

"By exploring, we make this world a better place to live in and we continue to grow as a human species. That's important, not just for the United States but for all of us around the world."

Collins, pilot James Kelly, flight engineer Stephen Robinson, Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi, Andrew Thomas, Wendy Lawrence and Charles Camarda hope to strap in Wednesday for a launch attempt at 3:51 p.m., weather permitting. The countdown begins at 6 p.m. Sunday.

While Hurricane Dennis did not churn up any serious weather at the Kennedy Space Center Saturday, rain and thunderstorms are expected next week and with a short five-minute launch window, the weather could play a major role in when Discovery finally gets off on the long-awaited flight.

"To all the folks traveling out here to launch, especially with Hurricane Dennis bearing down on the Gulf Coast, hopefully they'll all make it here safely and later on this week, on Wednesday, we'll light the candle and head back up into space."

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The crew addressed a large crowd of reporters and photographers gathered at the runway. Credit: NASA-KSC

Collins and her crewmates appeared relaxed and in good spirits as they departed the SLF for crew quarters. All seven said they were eager to finally resume shuttle flights two-and-a-half years after the Columbia disaster grounded NASA's fleet.

"That's way too long," Thomas said of the hiatus. "It's definitely time we went back to flight and back to space. And having the responsibility of the return-to-flight mission certainly makes me feel that sense of privilege even more.

"To all the people down here in Florida who have prepared the vehicle and done so much work to make the flight possible, I say thank you. And to all the taxpayers and the members of the public who support the space program, I very much want to thank you for your support. I would like you to know that as we execute the mission, we will do our very best to live up to the great trust you have put in us."

Noguchi, after addressing Japanese journalists in his native tongue, summed up the crew's mood in English, exclaiming: "Let's go fly!"

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Weather outlook favorable for Discovery's launch

BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: July 10, 2005

NASA engineers made final preparations to start the shuttle Discovery's countdown later today, buoyed by forecasts calling for a 70 percent chance of acceptable weather during the ship's five-minute launch window Wednesday.

NASA test director Jeff Spaulding, who will oversee Discovery's countdown in the hours leading up to launch, told reporters today the launch team is not tracking any significant technical issues at pad 39B and that all systems are go for launch.

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Cloudy weather over launch pad 39B today should give way to good conditions on Wednesday. Credit: NASA TV/Spaceflight Now

"A lot's happened over the last two-and-a-half years," he said. "Our focus during that timeframe has shifted from one of recovery and investigation to one of redesign, improvement and mission processing and now, to launch. Our launch team (is) well prepared and I know they're up to the task of returning our shuttle fleet to flight, of returning to the international space station and for returning our crew safely back home."

The countdown is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. and if all goes well, Discovery will lift off on the 114th shuttle mission - the first since the Columbia disaster Feb. 1, 2003 - at 3:50:52 p.m. Wednesday. The ship's crew - commander Eileen Collins, pilot James Kelly, flight engineer Stephen Robinson, Andrew Thomas, Wendy Lawrence, Charles Camarda and Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi - arrived at the Kennedy Space Center Saturday night.

Forecaster Kathy Winters called for a 70 percent chance of acceptable weather Wednesday, although she said there was a chance inland thunderstorms could push into the launch area. The forecast is 60 percent "go" on Thursday and Friday should launch be delayed.

Winters said expected temperatures and humidity levels should help minimize the formation of ice on the shuttle's huge fuel tank, a major impact debris concern in recent weeks.

Spaulding said Discovery has enough on-board liquid hydrogen and oxygen, used by the ship's electrical generators, to make three launch attempts in four days. After that, the team would have to stand down for 72 hours to top off the tanks.

Asked about the mood at Kennedy as return to flight approaches, Spaulding said excitement is clearly building.

"Certainly for the last several months, it's been one where everybody has been pretty much having their head down, working very hard," he said. "We had a number of challenges over those months. And it's only recently, I think, that it's all come to fruition where we can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

"The excitement, I think has been building and growing," he added. "There's a great anticipation for launch ... and also maybe a quiet reserve as well just remembering where we've been. But we all do feel confident we've done it right."

Said Scott Higginbotham, payload manager for Discovery's mission: "It sure does feel good to be back in the saddle again."

"It's been too long, but here we are," he said. "I am very happy to report to you that all 28,000 pounds of international space station hardware that's in the payload bay of Discovery is ready to go."

The goal of Discovery's mission is to deliver critical supplies and equipment to the space station, along with a new stabilizing gyroscope that will be installed during the second of three spacewalks by Robinson and Noguchi. The spacewalkers also will test rudimentary heat shield repair techniques during their first excursion.

Assuming an on-time launch, Discovery is scheduled to land July 25 at 11:06 a.m.

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Part 1: NASA finally ready to put shuttle back in flight

BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: July 11, 2005

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL (CBS) - NASA hopes to resume shuttle flights Wednesday, weather permitting, with a three-spacewalk mission to repair the international space station's stabilization system, to deliver critical supplies and equipment and to prove the design defects that led to the Columbia disaster have been corrected.

Implementing an overlapping suite of approaches, NASA managers believe the chances of Columbia-like damage to Discovery during launch are minimal. But if damage does, in fact, occur, they are equally confident they will be able to detect it, determine if it is entry critical and, if it is, carry out at least rudimentary spacewalk repairs.

Those repair procedures are not fully tested and formally certified for use by Discovery's crew. But NASA managers say certified repair procedures are not required for flight because of the elimination of major debris, improved damage detection, a better understanding of the consequences of impacts and the crew's worst-case ability to use the space station as a "safe haven" until another shuttle, already prepped for flight, could be launched on a rescue mission.

"I believe in our flight rationale, which says we are fixing the vehicle," said LeRoy Cain, the ascent-entry flight director for Columbia's final mission and now, for return to flight. "We are eliminating critical debris from being liberated from the tank and the boosters, the launch pad, every source that we can think of, we think we're eliminating critical debris. That's number one for me.

"I really feel like the chances of us having something come off of the stack and create a problem for us in our flight are exceedingly low."

Low, but not zero. Even after two-and-a-half years of research, testing and analyses to minimize the amount of foam insulation or ice that can shake off the shuttle's external fuel tank during launch, NASA engineers say catastrophic impacts are still possible in worst-case scenarios.

Not to mention the ever-present possibility of a main engine or booster failure in a machine that weighs 4.5 million pounds at launch and accelerates from zero to more than 100 mph - straight up - in less than 10 seconds.

"People seem to have forgotten that when we fly the shuttle with the technology that we human beings own today - and there is none better - it's still not good enough," said new NASA Administrator Michael Griffin, a refreshingly candid rocket scientist with a doctorate and five master's degrees.

"This is a very risky venture," he said. "The people who are doing this are risking their lives in support of objectives the United States has in the pursuit of space exploration. Many people risk their lives on behalf of the United States and our flight crews, our astronauts, are in that group also. Everybody should understand that."

Shuttle commander Eileen Collins agreed.

"There are millions of things that have to go right on launch day and entry day, there are all kinds of sensors and transducers and wires and electrons and flow paths going all through the orbiter, any of which could break at any time," she said in an interview with CBS News. "People ask me, what worries you the most? It's really not what we know about but what we don't know about that worries me."

Even so, she said, "it's time for us to go fly."

"It's been over two years now and a huge effort has been put into getting the space shuttle back flying again," she said. "I think we're ready to do it. My only concern is that after my mission flies that we continue to make things better, we don't just drop it and say return to flight has happened and now we can go back to business as usual."

A "business as usual" attitude among senior NASA managers played a role in the decision to launch Columbia Jan. 16, 2003, despite a major foam debris strike two missions earlier.

During Columbia's launching, a piece of foam broke away from the same area of the ship's external tank and blasted a hole in the leading edge of the shuttle's left wing. During re-entry sixteen days later, on Feb. 1, 2003, super hot plasma entered the breach and melted the wing from the inside out, triggering the shuttle's destruction.

The Columbia Accident Investigation Board, or CAIB, made 29 recommendations to improve safety and management, including 15 that were to be implemented before the resumption of shuttle flights.

An independent panel charged with assessing that implementation concluded the agency had failed to fully address the three most critical recommendations to eliminate all debris sources; to make the shuttle's thermal protection system more resistant to impacts; and to develop repair techniques to fix any such damage that might occur.

The Return to Flight Task Group's conclusions rekindled a long-running debate among managers, engineers and even reporters about the intent of the CAIB given the deliberately vague wording used in some of the recommendations.

But the Task Group, led by former Apollo astronaut Thomas Stafford and former shuttle commander Richard Covey, adopted a literal interpretation of the recommendations. And by that standard, they concluded, NASA came up short on debris elimination, shuttle hardening and development of reliable repair techniques.

NASA managers did not argue with the panel's conclusions. But they pointed out that engineering reality had dramatically changed since the CAIB's initial report was released and that it had turned out to be impossible, given the shuttle's design and the time and funding available, to eliminate all debris.

While some tiles and seals around the landing gear doors were "hardened" to resist impacts, NASA managers called off efforts to toughen the shuttle's wing leading edges, concluding it did not make sense to mount such a major engineering effort given a recent presidential directive to retire the shuttle fleet by 2010. Only 18 to 20 shuttle flights are expected before the shuttle era ends.

As for repair techniques, NASA managers say they ended up in a "Catch-22:" To fully develop the required repair procedures, astronauts needed to test them in the space environment to make sure they could be trusted to bring a crippled ship home.

Instead, Discovery's crew will test two rudimentary leading edge repair techniques, one meant for cracks and one for small holes, and one procedure intended for use on tiles with minor impact damage. The results of the tests aboard Discovery, coupled with additional tests aboard the next shuttle flight in September, may provide the data needed to formally certify one or more repair techniques.

Then again, they may not.

"The fact is, several CAIB recommendations, taken word by word, are not implementable with the state of our knowledge today," Griffin said. "We do not know how to repair large holes in (reinforced) carbon carbon (leading edge panels) or even small holes, maybe.

"We are being as smart about this as we know how to be but we are up against the limits of our human knowledge. If someone wants more, they're going to have to find smarter humans. So the recommendations as they were written are not strictly speaking implementable, at least not all of them are, and the (Stafford-Covey Return to Flight Task Group) noted NASA was not able to implement them. That was not a surprise."

In the end, Griffin agreed with his engineers that NASA had done everything reasonably possible to improve shuttle safety and that only incremental improvements could be expected by keeping the fleet on the ground.

"If we ground the shuttle fleet, we're not going to be able to complete station assembly, we're not going to be able to do other things that we want to do," Griffin said. "If, of course, we believe that all debris sources have been reduced to a level low enough that the shuttle won't be damaged, then the tile repair issue becomes kind of moot.

"We're in that gray area where we believe we have greatly reduced the risk due to debris, foam and ice, but not so much we're completely comfortable with it. So the STS-114 crew ... will be lifting off in the face of a known risk."

For the record, Gehman said he believed NASA did, in fact, met the board's overall intent.

"It is our judgment that they've efforts have passed the criteria that we set up for them," Gehman said in an interview with CBS News. "But that doesn't mean they're allowed to give up on the repair. In our view, they have to keep working at it."

The critical recommendations, in his view, centered on four broad areas.

"First of all, you've got to understand foam creation and the creation of the hazard in the first place and you've got to do everything you can to prevent the creation of foam in the second place," Gehman said in the CBS interview. "The second thing you've got to do is, you've got to have much better pictures on launch and ascent to know whether or not there's been a foam event, or a debris event. You've got to know that. The third thing you've got to do is, you've got to essentially re-certify the orbiter to be ready to come back into the Earth's atmosphere. That translates into some kind of an inspection in orbit.

If serious damage is detected, "you have to have some minimal, practical kind of capability to do some kind or orbital repair, the best practicable kind of a repair. Knowing full well, depending on the size of the damage or what the nature of the damage was, there are some repairs that are beyond your capability to do in space.

"And it has been our unwritten policy ... and I told Stafford-Covey and asked Stafford and Covey to back me up on this and they have - and that is, you must attack all four of these things.

"Now you can do some better than others," Gehman said. "If you really think you've done a fabulous job of preventing the creation of debris in the first place, you've got some really good ways to take pictures to make sure your orbiter hasn't been struck or anything like that and you're really sure that it's in good condition, then you can do some of the other stuff to a lesser degree.

"But you do have to make an attempt at all four areas. Now, within those four areas, there are sometimes one, two, three or four things that you've got to do. But that was what our intent was."

In a recent teleconference with reporters, Gehman said "I know of no reason why they should not proceed with the launch. That's not to same thing as saying it's safe to go, that's a different story."

Asked to explain, he added: "I don't think the American people and the Congress of the United States realize how dangerous this is."

"We didn't realize how dangerous it was when we started this investigation," he said. "It was dangerous, it remains dangerous. We the country have got to replace this vehicle as soon as possible. ... I'm sure this next flight will be safer than the previous ones, but by any measure of 'safe,' this is not safe."

Discovery is targeted for launch on the 114th shuttle mission at 3:50:52 p.m. Wednesday, July 13. Joining shuttle veteran Collins on Discovery's flight deck will be pilot James Kelly, flight engineer Robinson, seated to Robinson's right, Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi.

Strapped in below on the shuttle's middeck will be Mir-veteran Andrew Thomas, Wendy Lawrence and Charles Camarda. All but Camarda and Noguchi are shuttle veterans.

The shuttle's primary cargo includes a refurbished control moment gyroscope to replace one that failed earlier aboard the space station; a tool kit and spare parts module that will be mounted on the station's airlock to enable future assembly work; and a pressurized logistics module loaded with space station equipment and supplies.

In an interview for the book "Comm Check: The Final Flight of Shuttle Columbia," by this author and Michael Cabbage, Collins was asked if she had any second thoughts about commanding mission STS-114.

"Absolutely not," she said. "In fact, I am more committed to flying this mission than I ever would have been. ... I am excited, I am going to be extremely confident because look at all this work that is being done, not just done because of (Columbia), but other things that we think are risky. I am so confident, I am so excited, I want to get our country back flying in space again, so I am not one blink of an eye worried about safety."

And her crewmates?

"It's time to go fly," Robinson told CBS News in a recent interview. "There will be debris, there will be some damage, I'm convinced of that. If there isn't, that'll be great but I'll sure be surprised. I would be very surprised if it's critical damage, damage that won't allow us to fly home on. But here's the thing. We'll know it. We won't have to wonder. We'll know it.

"We'll have the technology now for the first time on this mission to take a look at it with all the cameras and sensors. This is the way we verify all the engineering that's been done. So we'll get to look at our bird before we come home. Then, on top of that, if the worst on worst on worst happens and we do have critical damage, the space station will (be available for safe haven), we won't have to risk our lives coming back through the atmosphere. This is what gives me tremendous confidence and makes me feel very lucky I'm flying now."

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Part 2: Limited launch periods now in place

BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: July 11, 2005

Columbia was brought down by a suitcase-size piece of foam insulation that broke away from an aerodynamically shaped ramp used to keep ice from forming on a strut connecting the shuttle's nose to its external fuel tank. The 1.67-pound piece of foam came off 81.7 seconds after liftoff and struck the underside of Columbia's left wing 0.2 seconds later, smashing into the lower side of a reinforced carbon carbon panel, one of 22 making up the wing's leading edge.

Ground cameras were unable to see the point of impact. One long-range tracker that might have shown the impact site was out of focus. And given the resolution of the cameras in place at the time, it's not clear obvious signs of damage would have been detected.

In any case, without the benefit of high-resolution video of the impact, mission managers were forced to rely on computer modeling and other indirect techniques for determining whether the foam strike could have caused any entry-critical damage. In the end, they wrongly concluded Columbia could safely re-enter as is.

Commander Rick Husband, pilot William McCool, Kalpana Chawla, Laurel Clark, David Brown, Michael Anderson and Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon were killed Feb. 1, 2003, when hot gas burned its way into the interior of the left wing through a presumed breach on or near the underside of RCC panel No. 9. The wing melted and the shuttle broke up 37 miles above Texas.

In the wake of the disaster, the Columbia Accident Investigation Board ordered sweeping changes, including "an aggressive program to eliminate all external tank thermal protection system debris shedding at the source with particular emphasis on the region where the bipod struts attach to the external tank."

The bipod ramp was intended to keep ice from forming around the struts due to the ultra-low temperatures of the shuttle's liquid oxygen and hydrogen propellants. NASA's solution was to simply eliminate the ramps and to install 300-watt heaters on the strut attachment fittings to prevent ice buildups.

Tank engineers also implemented a variety of other changes to minimize foam shedding and the first upgraded tank was shipped to the Kennedy Space Center in the first week of January.

"Through all our testing, we believe the amount of foam that can come off the tank and not cause serious damage is .03 pounds," said Wayne Hale, deputy director of the shuttle program at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. "If you think about that, that is three one hundredths of a pound. That is something like six tenths of an ounce. So that's a pretty small piece of foam.

"All our investigations of the foam indicate we will not get a piece of foam coming off bigger than .008, eight one thousandths, or almost an order of magnitude smaller than the requirement."

It is not possible to eliminate all foam shedding, but "we're clearly moving toward an era where we expect to see much less damage in the tile and no critical damage that will require a repair," Hale said. "So that's our goal in this and it's beginning to look very positive that we'll be able to accomplish that level of control on the ET foam."

But to make absolutely sure, NASA must be able to inspect the tank and the space shuttle after launch with much greater precision than before. The CAIB recommended that NASA "upgrade the imaging system to be capable of providing a minimum of three useful views of the space shuttle from liftoff to at least solid rocket booster separation."

The panel also told NASA to look into putting cameras aboard ships and/or aircraft to provide additional coverage, to develop a capability to obtain high-resolution images of the tank after separation from the shuttle, to develop techniques for high-resolution imaging of the ship's underside and wing leading edges; and to make arrangements to obtain imagery from spy satellites if needed.

On its own, NASA managers decided to launch the first two post-Columbia shuttle flights in daylight to improve photo coverage and to time the launchings so the external tank, separating from the ship half a world away, also would be lighted by the sun.

To reach the space station, the shuttle must launch within a few minutes of when Earth's rotation carries the launch pad into the plane of the lab's orbit. And as a final complication, the shuttle can only visit the station when the "beta angle" - the angle between the plane of the station's orbit and the sun - ensures the shuttle-station stack will not get too hot.

Throwing all of those requirements together, NASA can only launch a shuttle to the station during relatively short windows.

NASA had hoped to launch Discovery in mid May, but the flight was delayed after a fueling test April 14 because of concern about ice buildups around a flexible liquid oxygen feedline bellows assembly. In addition, two of four hydrogen fuel sensors operated intermittently and a pressure relief valve in the hydrogen section of the tank cycled more often than expected.

At the same time, engineers were struggling to define the threat posed by ice during launch. While engineers had focused on foam impacts in the initial stages of the recovery program, it became clear earlier this year that ice posed a similar threat. Areas of concern centered on the feedline bellows and on so-called stand-off brackets that support the tank's externally mounted liquid oxygen line.

NASA managers ultimately ordered engineers to haul Discovery off the launch pad and back to the Vehicle Assembly Building for attachment to an external tank and boosters originally slated for the second post-Columbia mission. The new tank was equipped with a heater to minimize ice buildups around the feedline bellows.

Before the rollback, however, a second fueling test was conducted May 20, confirming the hydrogen vent valve's unusual behavior. Engineers believe the valve cycling was associated with a jet-like device called a diffuser that injects helium into the tank to help maintain the proper temperature and to pressurize the tank for flight. A new dual-screen diffuser was used in Discovery's original tank and managers decided to switch back to the original single-screen design for the new tank.

As for the hydrogen sensors, which operated normally the second time around, NASA managers decided June 6 to forego a third tanking test, saying they are confident the new tank will behave normally during Discovery's countdown.

And they ultimately concluded the threat posed by whatever ice does fall off the tank is an acceptable risk.

But unlike the threat posed by foam, agency managers refused to provide any numbers defining the smallest allowable ice or the odds of a catastrophic impact. They said the issue was too complex and that such numbers would be meaningless without a thorough understanding of the assumptions that went into the calculations.

"It's a really complex formulation, going from how much ice can you a have on the spacecraft and what velocities, at what vibration levels it shakes loose, how big are the pieces that shake loose and then how they transport through the aerodynamic environment," said John Muratore, the engineer in charge of the debris assessment.

"And then, what's the resistance of the tiles to ice impacts and finally, given an ice crater - which is different from a foam (insulation) crater - how well can we enter (the atmosphere) with regard to that?

"The uncertainties in each of those areas are significant," he said. "There are all sorts of numbers that are floating around. We have nine different estimates for ice on tile from one ice location. ... It is a very complex problem.

"So what we did was, we looked at the relative risks and we're convinced the ... the remaining risks due to ice is around an order of magnitude less than the ones that we fixed."

Muratore said ice represents more of a threat to the shuttle's tiles than it does to its reinforced carbon carbon leading edge panels and that even though engineers used "all the supercomputers at NASA to run it down ... it doesn't lend itself to a single number."

"Impact dynamics are a very complicated engineering discipline," he said.

While he would not discuss the underlying statistics, sources said some estimates of the likelihood of tile damage due to ice impacts - damage that would require repair or some other response - could be as high as 1-in-100 or so or as low as one in tens of thousands, depending on the assumptions that were made.

Engineers do not put much faith in either extreme because they do not have enough reliable test data to more precisely define the actual risk. And that won't change anytime soon. As one briefing chart put it, significant improvement in the understanding of the impact threat from ice and foam would require "another enormous undertaking."

The best way to improve that understanding in the near term, many engineers believe, is to collect actual flight data by launching Discovery as planned. They believe the studies carried out to date, plus NASA's experience in 113 previous shuttle missions, show the risk of a debris strike, what ever it might be, is acceptable.

"We believe it's an acceptable risk at this time," said shuttle program manager William Parsons.

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Part 3: Unprecedented video coverage will monitor launch

BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: July 11, 2005

From a mission control standpoint, ascent-entry flight director Cain said Discovery's flight will use the same rules and procedures in place for Columbia's launching with one major exception. NASA will use a new trans-Atlantic abort site in France that will replace Ben Guerir in Morocco.

While NASA will leave equipment at Ben Guerir for possible use in the future, security issues in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks could not be ignored. The new landing site, known as Istres-le-Tube, is located northwest of Marseilles and is one of the largest military air bases in Europe.

"We're real excited about it," Cain said. "It's a great opportunity for us and the French air force and the air traffic control folks in southeastern France have been very helpful."

Barring an engine failure or some other malfunction that might trigger a TAL abort, Collins and Kelly will carry out the same ascent procedures as Rick Husband's crew aboard Columbia. But major changes have been implemented on the ground to document foam shedding from Discovery's external tank and any possible damage to the orbiter.

Bob Page, the engineer at the Kennedy Space Center who leads NASA's launch photo team, said Discovery's launching will be documented in unprecedented detail using a mixture of high-speed film cameras, high-definition TV cameras and even airborne sensors using two NASA WB-57 jets. More than 112 cameras are in place for tracking and analysis, including more than 20 HDTV cameras.

The high-definition video cameras are a major improvement over the standard television cameras in place when Columbia took off. Those operated at just under 30 frames per second, limiting how precisely engineers could track the debris from the fuel tank. The new HDTV cameras will operate at 60 frames per second and provide four times the resolution, or clarity.

But because the shuttle rolls into a "heads down" orientation shortly after launch, putting the belly on the other side facing upward, ground cameras, no matter how good, still will not be able to see certain areas of the shuttle's underside. Even so, any major debris strikes should be readily apparent.

"For tracking debris, for determining debris size, for determining debris velocity, for location of impact, for source location, for a lot of those things, I have much better data," Page said in a recent interview. "But what so far has been determined as a damage size that would be a threat to the vehicle, it is smaller than the resolution that I can work with at the time frames from 70 seconds out to SRB separation. The damage size that's a threat to the vehicle is a whole lot smaller than anything I can see."

That's where cameras aboard the shuttle will come into play. But if anything large breaks away, and certainly anything the size of Columbia's bipod ramp, Page's cameras will spot it, track it and help managers determine what damage it may have caused.

More than 50 high-speed film cameras mounted on the launch pad, running at 400 frames per second, will capture the initial seconds of flight from extreme close range. Three short-range tracking platforms around the perimeter of the pad, each one equipped with two film cameras and an HDTV camera, will capture imagery through the first minute or so of flight.

Six medium-range tracking platforms, each with film and HDTV cameras, will capture the view through the first 100 seconds and 10 long-range trackers, five of them north and five south of the shuttle's ground track, will cover the flight through the first 165 seconds, well after booster separation.

Because of the high frame rate, imagery from the HDTV cameras will be stored on hard drives. The engineering team that will analyze the footage will be able to access it across the agency from internal NASA web sites. The public will see normal-resolution television views from those tracking cameras in realtime over NASA's satellite network. Within six to eight hours, Page hopes to deliver processed HDTV imagery to public affairs for broadcast.

Along with switching to HDTV, Page also bumped up the frame rate of the film cameras to provide better temporal resolution.

"You've got to look at both the spatial and the temporal. Let's start with the film," he said. "We ran 35-millimeter film before and we're running it now. So the pixel, or grain, count is the same. But we've increased the frame rate from 64 frames per second to 100. So we have 50 percent more data points to track a piece of debris. As you're tracking a piece of debris as it moves down the stack during ascent, we have 50 percent more number of points, number of frames, to pinpoint where it is in three dimensional space. So that's important.

"From the video side, we're going from 30 frames per second interlaced, where every other line is scanned, and we're now going to 60 frames per second progressive scan, and that means every single line is scanned. So we have a hundred percent more data points, plus we have four times the resolution. We can measure the size better, we can see it better."

The smallest piece of debris or damage detectable by the ground cameras at the moment of solid-fuel booster separation is 15 to 16 inches across. To improve those numbers, NASA has equipped its two WB-57 jets with nose-mounted HDTV cameras and infrared sensors. The planes will fly 15 miles to the north and south of the shuttle's ground track at an altitude of 60,000 feet some 40 miles off shore. At booster separation, they will be 15 miles below the shuttle.

Each HDTV camera in the nose of each jet will be hooked up to a 4.2-meter focal length telescope. The telescopes should be capable of detecting debris or damage sites as small as six inches across at booster separation.

Page said the planes have two additional benefits for NASA: They can provide full video coverage of a return-to-launch-site abort and they will be used during re-entry to image the shuttle at altitude on its way home. But footage cannot be downlinked from the aircraft. It must be delivered to analysts after landing.

The CAIB recommended that NASA include the operational status of its tracking cameras in the agency's launch commit criteria, the set of rules used to determine whether a countdown can proceed or not. Page said the status of long-range trackers will be included in a management poll during a 10-minute hold at the T-minus 20-minute mark. A final poll of short-range camera status will be conducted during a hold at T-minus nine minutes. But the cameras are not part of the formal launch commit criteria because they do not directly affect flight safety.

No additional polling will be conducted after the T-minus nine-minute hold and any subsequent failures in the camera system will not stop a countdown. The high-speed launch pad cameras fire up at T-minus 10 seconds and Page said it would be more dangerous to abort a countdown at that point than it would be to continue without complete camera coverage.

"The LCC comes into play when you look at these cameras on the pad," he said. "Now I have a computer system that is controlling every single one of these. If I lose that computer system, I lose all of these views. So what I do is, I have an LCC down to T-minus nine minutes for the control system for these cameras, to make sure it is operating and it is stable. And then I can continue on from T-minus nine."

NASA is spending $40 million to upgrade the imaging system at the Kennedy Space Center and $9 million to modify the WB-57s. Through the end of the shuttle program, the agency expects to spend another $40 million on operations, pushing the total cost of the new system to nearly $90 million.

[GioFX]

Part 4: On-board cameras promise dramatic views

BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: July 11, 2005

Ground- and air-based shuttle imagery mark a clear improvement over what was in place for Columbia's launch. But it still isn't good enough to spot small areas of potential entry critical damage or damage to areas of the underside of the shuttle that cannot be seen from the ground.

To close that gap, NASA is installing cameras on the external tank of the shuttle, on the two solid-fuel boosters and in the recessed cavity where 17-inch propellant feed lines enter the belly of the orbiter. In addition, as soon as the shuttle reaches space, the astronauts will use a hand-held video camera to "shoot" the tank from close range before it drifts away.

"We have added some cameras on the tank and on the solids that are primarily looking at tank and at the bottom of the vehicle for the higher impact concern areas," said Paul Hill, the lead flight director for STS-114. "From a crew perspective, they're all hands off, almost passive operations. Once we separate from the ET, we have modified the ET separation maneuver, which will pitch us around so the crew can take pictures at about half the range we used to take pictures at.

"What we're more excited about from an ET photography perspective is the umbilical well camera. Because that camera is going to give us such a good shot of the ET foam in particular that's on the orbiter side and we're going to see that at a really close range. That will give us a really good idea of how the ET insulation performed during ascent."

Within a minute or so of separation, the crew will get a full view of the tank from Columbia's flight deck.

"We would definitely be able to see if we had large pieces of foam come off," Hill said. "My expectation is, we will have really good resolution because it is a still camera instead of video, and because of the close range. Because it's a digital still camera, we'll also be able to downlink (the images) instead of waiting until post-flight like we would a film camera."

NASA managers had hoped to downlink the imagery before the astronauts went to bed at the end of their first day in space. But in an embarrassing oversight, engineers discovered a clearance issue very late in the processing flow between the shuttle's high-speed KU-band television antenna and a new instrumented boom that will be used to help spot damage. Clearances between the antenna and the boom are so tight, NASA amended the flight rules to delay deployment of the KU-band antenna until the second day of the mission, after the boom is deployed.

During robot arm checkout during the first day of the flight, the astronauts will photograph the actual clearance between the boom and the antenna, providing data engineers can use to determine if the antenna can remain deployed after the sensor boom is stowed prior to space station undocking.

While mission managers will have to wait for the crew's tank separation video, the shuttle's computer system can use a slower antenna system to downlink data from new wing leading edge sensors that were added to the shuttle's wings as a post-Columbia upgrade.

Located on each wing's forward spar behind every RCC panel, the 132 accelerometers will provide data telling flight controllers whether anything struck the leading edges during launch. In fact, they may show engineers aspects of the shuttle they've never seen before.

Flight Day 1 highlights (all times in Eastern; a detailed flight plan is available on the Current Mission page):



DAY.EDT.........DD...HH...MM...EVENT

07/13/05
Wed 03:51 PM...00...00...00...STS-114 Launch
Wed 04:00 PM...00...00...09...Main engine cutoff
Wed 04:29 PM...00...00...38...OMS-2 rocket firing
Wed 04:41 PM...00...00...50...Post-insertion timeline
Wed 06:21 PM...00...02...30...GIRA install; PGSC laptop setup (1)
Wed 06:41 PM...00...02...50...Shuttle remote manipulator system (SRMS)
powerup
Wed 07:01 PM...00...03...10...SRMS checkout
Wed 07:21 PM...00...03...30...Elevon park
Wed 07:46 PM...00...03...55...SSRMS photographs KU-OBSS clearance
Wed 07:51 PM...00...04...00...SEE setup
Wed 08:06 PM...00...04...15...SSRMS powerdown
Wed 08:53 PM...00...05...02...NC-1 rendezvous burn (166.1/122.8 nm)
Wed 09:16 PM...00...05...25...Group B computer powerdown
Wed 09:51 PM...00...06...00...STS crew sleep begins

The sensor system generates two types of data: Peak and detailed.
"Think about what a stereo equalizer looks like," Hill said. "You've seen these ones that, across the frequency band, as the signal bounces up and down, it leaves a hash mark. The system works kind of like that. It's recording very high rate frequency response data across the wing leading edge from all these accelerometers that are on the wing spar for every RCC panel. And it registers the peaks, the software pulls out where those little peaks are from T-0 all the way to after we've made it into orbit.

"The first thing we downlink is just the file that has all the peaks in it," Hill said. "That then tells us that we have a suspected impact somewhere and after we see that, then within an hour after the guys in the MER (mission evaluation room) see that and pick out the ones they think are potential impacts, then we put commands on board to downlink the detailed data around each one of those peaks."

Hill acknowledged that engineers worry "we're going to get data down that we don't understand, or because of the shake rattle and roll we'll get going up hill, we won't be able to interpret the data."

"What's in our favor on this is we've been flying accelerometers like this and the same data collection system in the aft compartment of the orbiter for years," he said. "Now we haven't had it on the wing leading edge and we weren't using it to detect impacts, but the hardware has been flying for some time and we have characterized a similar ascent vibe environment in the aft compartment."

In addition, the sensors have been used during impact tests at Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas, to collect actual data.

"So we have a certain amount of data on how the system will respond going up hill, we have other data to tell us what impact ought to look like," Hill said. "One thing's for sure, by the end of flight day one we'll have data on the ground and we'll know the answer to that question."

[GioFX]

Part 5: Taking a close-up view of wing leading edges

BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: July 11, 2005

Even if no obvious signs of foam shedding or damage show up in the initial imagery or wing leading edge data, CAIB recommendation 3.4-3 calls for NASA to "provide a capability to obtain and downlink high-resolution images of the underside of the orbiter wing leading edge and forward section of both wings' thermal protection system." The Discovery astronauts are going to spend their second day in space carefully inspecting the leading edges of both wings, along with the RCC nose cap of the shuttle, using a new 50-foot-long boom mounted on the starboard side of the payload bay known as the orbiter boom sensor system, or OBSS.

Thomas will unlimber the shuttle's 50-foot-long robot arm and lock it onto the OBSS. Thomas, Kelly and Camarda then will spend the entire day maneuvering the boom back and forth along the leading edges of both wings, using an OBSS television camera and a laser sensor to inspect every square inch of the RCC panels. The astronauts also will use the boom to inspect the nose cap.

Maximum speed of the boom survey: 2 inches per second.

"If you think about the laser, the way we're recording the data is similar to recording video," Hill said. "Imagine standing on the side of a soccer field watching one of your kids play soccer with a camcorder. And you're panning that camera real fast so you can watch him run down the field. But when you play it back at home, you can't make out hide nor hair because everything is blurred. That's the problem we've got. We've got a translation constraint. If we move too fast, we blur the image, which directly affects the resolution and we can't see the small stuff we're looking for."

A year ago, Hill said, engineers thought entry critical damage "required a penetration of the RCC, not just coating damage or even small damage to the substrate on the outside."

"More recent arc jet testing has us worried that coating damage alone, if it's large enough and if we had internal damage - delamination - between the layers, that the combination of those two could be entry critical."

In the early years of the shuttle program, Hill said, tests indicated the leading edge RCC panels could tolerate penetrations a quarter of an inch across. But that testing was with a clean hole punched in the panel, which is what one would expect with a hypervelocity impact in space. But during launch, impact velocities would be much lower and any resulting penetrations would be more ragged.

Engineers then began wondering if lower-velocity impacts might be entry critical.

"What we found out in more recent arc jet tests, in the last couple or three months - this is the thing that's key - if (RCC coating is intact), our conventional wisdom is good, we don't care, internal delamination's not an issue.

"But if the coating is gone and underneath that coating you're delaminated, then picture the RCC itself from a side view like a cross section. Now you've got this bubble or this void in between layers. What you've done is, you've significantly reduced the density of this RCC that's exposed to the heat load. So it burns faster.

"So now instead of being this more solid material that's hard to light, kind of like if you take a piece of hard wood like oak and you hold a match to that oak, it won't light typically. But if you shave off some splinters of that oak, you can get them to flash. Damned if that's not what we found in a handful of RCC runs for uncoated RCC."

For the tests, engineers deliberately damaged an RCC panel by pushing on it with a metal cylinder. After confirming the panel developed delamination as a result, "they put that bad boy under the arc jet and it burned like there was no tomorrow. The whole area that covered the delamination burned off like a fuse."

If it is credible that the shuttle could take an impact that has enough energy to cause delamination and loss of coating, "then that does not have to be very big to be catastrophic," Hill said. "From an RCC damage perspective, that looks like a penetration. So now the question is, do we believe that testing? Have we done enough of those tests to be sure that is an entry critical damage form? And then, is it credible for us to take an impact that could cause that kind of damage?"

One OBSS laser sensor, known as the laser dynamic range imager, or LDRI, dwill be used to inspect the wing leading edge panels and the shuttle's nose cap. A second sensor, known as the laser camera system, or LCS, may be used later to focus on a suspect area or to collect additional data.

"With our increased knowledge of the transport model, there's only very few parts of the leading edge where we're really at risk of taking an impact that can do that," Hill said.

Flight Day 2 highlights:



DAY..EDT........DD...HH...MM...EVENT

07/14/05
Thu 05:51 AM...00...14...00...STS crew wakeup
Thu 08:06 AM...00...16...15...SRMS powerup
Thu 08:08 AM...00...16...17...NC-2 rendezvous rocket firing
(165.7/155.3 nm)
Thu 08:21 AM...00...16...30...Centerline camera installation
Thu 08:21 AM...00...16...30...SRMS checkout
Thu 08:51 AM...00...17...00...Ergometer setup
Thu 09:06 AM...00...17...15...Orbiter boom survey system (OBSS) unberth
Thu 09:21 AM...00...17...30...PGSC setup (2)
Thu 09:21 AM...00...17...30...KU-band antenna deploy
Thu 10:31 AM...00...18...40...Rendezvous tools checkout (part 1)
Thu 10:36 AM...00...18...45...OBSS thermal protection system (TPS)
survey
Thu 10:51 AM...00...19...00...Contingency water container (CWC) setup
Thu 11:01 AM...00...19...10...SAFER jet backpack checkout
Thu 11:31 AM...00...19...40...Lawrence exercises
Thu 11:31 AM...00...19...40...Spacewalk power tool checkout
Thu 12:01 PM...00...20...10...Crew meals begin
Thu 01:01 PM...00...21...10...Airlock prep
Thu 01:51 PM...00...22...00...EMU (spacesuit) checkout prep
Thu 02:06 PM...00...22...15...Docking ring extension
Thu 02:36 PM...00...22...45...OBSS survey resumes
Thu 03:36 PM...00...23...45...EMU (spacesuit) checkout (MS1&2)
Thu 04:01 PM...01...00...10...OBSS berthing
Thu 04:46 PM...01...00...55...SRMS survey
Thu 05:21 PM...01...01...30...NPC rendezvous rocket firing
(165.8/155.1 nm)
Thu 06:16 PM...01...02...25...NC-3 rendezvous rocket firing
(165.8/155.1 nm)
Thu 08:51 PM...01...05...00...STS crew sleep begins

[GioFX]

Part 6: Going back to the international space station

BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: July 11, 2005

The OBSS will survey RCC panels and the shuttle's reinforced carbon carbon nose cap. To look for signs of tile damage on the underside of the shuttle, including possible damage to critical seals around landing gear doors, Discovery's crew will rely on help from the crew of the space station.

Docking is targeted for flight day three. Collins will guide Discovery through a standard rendezvous profile, approaching the lab complex from behind and below.

On final approach, at a distance of about 600 feet directly below the station, Collins will carry out a slow 360-degree rendezvous pitch maneuver, or RPM, that will point the belly of the shuttle at the station.

As the shuttle's underside rotates into view, Expedition 11 commander Sergei Krikalev and flight engineer John Phillips, shooting through windows at opposite ends of the station, will photograph Discovery's belly with handheld digital cameras equipped with 400- and 800-millimeter lenses. During an earlier expedition, science officer Donald Pettit took test photographs of approaching Russian spacecraft to determine what the station's cameras could actually see.

"The 800 millimeter gives them one-inch resolution, which is what we're looking for around (landing gear) door seals," Hill said. "400 millimeters gives three inches, which is what they're looking for everywhere else."

Again, imagery from the station will be downlinked that day for detailed analysis.

After completing the RPM maneuver, Collins will position Discovery directly ahead of the space station with the shuttle's nose facing deep space and its cargo bay facing the lab complex. She then will guide the spacecraft to a docking with a pressurized mating adaptor attached to the Destiny lab module, the first shuttle linkup with the outpost since Nov. 25, 2002.

After leak checks, Krikalev and Phillips will welcome the shuttle crew aboard and provide a brief safety briefing before all nine astronauts get down to work.

Because of clearance issues after the shuttle is docked, Discovery's robot arm cannot unberth the OBSS for additional tile inspections. Instead, the space station's arm - the SSRMS - will pluck the sensor boom from the shuttle's cargo bay and hand it off to Discovery's arm a few hours after docking.

Flight Day 3 highlights:



DAY..EDT........DD...HH...MM...EVENT

07/15/05
Fri 04:51 AM...01...13...00...STS crew wakeup
Fri 04:51 AM...01...13...00...ISS crew wakeup
Fri 06:21 AM...01...14...30...ISS daily planning conference
Fri 06:26 AM...01...14...35...Group B computer powerup
Fri 06:41 AM...01...14...50...Rendezvous timeline begins
Fri 07:06 AM...01...15...15...ISS: Phillips exercises
Fri 07:06 AM...01...15...15...Ku antenna clearance video downlinked
Fri 07:21 AM...01...15...30...Rendezvous tools setup
Fri 07:26 AM...01...15...35...ET video downlinked
Fri 07:23 AM...01...15...32...NH rendezvous rocket firing (192.8/155.8 nm)
Fri 07:51 AM...01...16...00...Noguchi exercises
Fri 07:56 AM...01...16...05...ISS: Krikalev exercises
Fri 08:15 AM...01...16...24...NC-4 rendezvous rocket firing
(194.2/181.0 nm)
Fri 08:51 AM...01...17...00...EMU removal from airlock
Fri 09:21 AM...01...17...30...Thomas exercises
Fri 09:41 AM...01...17...50...TI rendezvous rocket firing (194.6/185.2 nm)
Fri 10:06 AM...01...18...15...Robinson exercises
Fri 10:06 AM...01...18...15...ISS meal
Fri 11:06 AM...01...19...15...Begin final approach
Fri 11:10 AM...01...19...19...Discovery directly below ISS (+Rbar)
Fri 11:31 AM...01...19...40...ISS crew films rotational pitch maneuver
Fri 12:06 PM...01...20...15...ISS crew prepares PMA-2 for docking
Fri 12:28 PM...01...20...37...Discovery docks with ISS (194.8/186.6 nm)
Fri 12:56 PM...01...21...05...Leak checks
Fri 12:56 PM...01...21...05...Camarda exercises
Fri 01:26 PM...01...21...35...Shuttle airlock prepped
Fri 01:31 PM...01...21...40...Group B powerdown
Fri 01:31 PM...01...21...40...Post-rendezvous PGSC reconfig
Fri 01:46 PM...01...21...55...Hatch opening
Fri 02:31 PM...01...22...40...Handshake/Welcome
Fri 02:41 PM...01...22...50...Safety Briefing
Fri 03:06 PM...01...23...15...SSRMS OBSS grapple
Fri 03:21 PM...01...23...30...Krikalev exercises
Fri 03:21 PM...01...23...30...Collins exercises
Fri 03:21 PM...01...23...30...EVA prep for transfer
Fri 03:31 PM...01...23...40...OBSS unberth with SSRMS
Fri 04:01 PM...02...00...10...OBSS handoff to SRMS
Fri 05:11 PM...02...01...20...Lithium hydroxide exchange
Fri 05:41 PM...02...01...50...SSRMS moves to Unity for MPLM inspection
Fri 06:36 PM...02...02...45...ISS daily planning conference
Fri 08:51 PM...02...05...00...STS/ISS crew sleep begins

The astronauts also will begin moving more than 1,000 pounds of station equipment stowed in the shuttle's middeck area over to the space station, along with tools that will be used in the upcoming spacewalks. The bulk of the supplies carried aloft aboard Discovery will be housed in the Italian-built multi-purpose logistics module mounted in the cargo bay. The 21,000-pound MPLM will be unberthed on Flight Day 4, using the station's robot arm, and attached, or mated, to the downward-facing port on the U.S. Unity module.
Once the MPLM is in place, the SSRMS will lock onto a mobile base system on the front side of the station's unfinished solar array truss to assist with additional tile inspections. Later that day, the station's arm will be moved back to its normal perch atop the Destiny module. The astronauts, meanwhile, will perform leak checks to make sure the MPLM is firmly mated, they will pressurize the vestibule between Unity and the supply module, activate critical system and then float inside to begin the process of moving supplies into the space station.

At roughly the same time, yet another shuttle tile survey will begin using the RMS-OBSS boom, with additional TV views provided by the SSRMS.

In addition, the tools that will be used for the upcoming spacewalks will be configured for use, two emergency jet backpacks will be moved aboard the station and the crew will spend an hour reviewing the procedures that will be used in the first spacewalk.

Flight Day 4 highlights:



DAY..EDT........DD...HH...MM...EVENT

07/16/05
Sat 04:51 AM...02...13...00...STS crew wakeup
Sat 05:21 AM...02...13...30...ISS crew wakeup
Sat 06:51 AM...02...15...00...ISS daily planning conference
Sat 06:56 AM...02...15...05...SSRMS grapples multi-purpose logistics
module (MPLM)
Sat 07:26 AM...02...15...35...SSRMS pulls MPLM from payload bay
Sat 07:31 AM...02...15...40...Camarda exercises
Sat 07:36 AM...02...15...45...ISS: Phillips exercises
Sat 07:36 AM...02...15...45...ISS: Krikalev exercises
Sat 08:01 AM...02...16...10...EVA tool config
Sat 08:21 AM...02...16...30...MPLM installation begins
Sat 08:56 AM...02...17...05...MPLM equipment setup
Sat 09:26 AM...02...17...35...MPLM berthing mechanism (CBM) 1st torque
Sat 09:26 AM...02...17...35...Crew meals begin (staggered)
Sat 09:46 AM...02...17...55...MPLM CBS torquing (part 2)
Sat 09:51 AM...02...18...00...Middeck transfers
Sat 10:21 AM...02...18...30...Node 1 nadir CBCS removal
Sat 10:36 AM...02...18...45...SSRMS ungrapples MPLM
Sat 10:51 AM...02...19...00...SSRMS grapples mobile base system (MBS)
Sat 11:31 AM...02...19...40...PAO A/G
Sat 11:31 AM...02...19...40...MPLM vestibule pressurization
Sat 11:36 AM...02...19...45...SSRMS ungrapples lab module
Sat 11:51 AM...02...20...00...EVA tool config
Sat 12:06 PM...02...20...15...SRMS/OBSS moved to tile survey point
Sat 12:31 PM...02...20...40...MPLM vestibule preps and setup
Sat 12:31 PM...02...20...40...Collins exercises
Sat 12:36 PM...02...20...45...SRMS/OBSS docked survey
Sat 12:36 PM...02...20...45...Middeck transfers
Sat 01:31 PM...02...21...40...Thomas exercises
Sat 02:01 PM...02...22...10...Robinson exercises
Sat 02:31 PM...02...22...40...Noguchi exercises
Sat 02:51 PM...02...23...00...ISS: Phillips exercises
Sat 03:31 PM...02...23...40...EVA procedures review
Sat 04:01 PM...03...00...10...MPLM ingress
Sat 04:31 PM...03...00...40...SRMS/OBSS survey ends
Sat 04:31 PM...03...00...40...MPLM EVA transfer
Sat 05:31 PM...03...01...40...Transfer tagup
Sat 05:31 PM...03...01...40...SAFER checkout
Sat 05:31 PM...03...01...40...ISS daily planning conference
Sat 05:46 PM...03...01...55...ISS: Krikalev exercises
Sat 05:46 PM...03...01...55...STS crew leaves ISS
Sat 05:56 PM...03...02...05...10.2 psi cabin depressurization
Sat 08:51 PM...03...05...00...STS/ISS crew sleep begins

[GioFX]

Part 7: Spacewalk to test tile repair techniques

BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: July 11, 2005

After weeks of internal debate, testing and analyses, NASA managers met Feb. 10 selected three rudimentary tile and wing leading edge repair techniques to demonstrate during the first post-Columbia shuttle mission.

One of the repair techniques will be carried out inside the shuttle Discovery's crew cabin, a so-called "plug" procedure for repairing larger holes in wing leading edge panels. A less sophisticated tile repair technique, one intended for minor damage, will be demonstrated during the crew's first spacewalk, along with a technique for repairing small cracks in leading edge panels.

NASA originally planned for Robinson and Noguchi to use so-called cure in-place-ablator applicator - CIPAA - backpacks, loaded with a tile repair material known as STA-54, to fill in deliberately damaged tiles in Discovery's cargo bay.

But questions about the reliability of the procedure surfaced last year when engineers noticed the formation of air bubbles in the viscous STA-54 material as the two compounds that made it up were mixed together in the backpack. After extensive troubleshooting, engineers were able to reduce the bubbling but they could not eliminate it. The concern was that bubbles could migrate in weightlessness and form large voids as the material cured. Those voids could weaken the patch and its ability to shield against re-entry heating.

Chief astronaut Kent Rominger told CBS News his office opposed in-flight testing aboard Discovery's flight and sources said later that Discovery commander Eileen Collins agreed with that position.

A second option debated during the Feb. 10 meeting called for eliminating a repair demonstration spacewalk altogether. Instead, the crew would demonstrate a so-called overlay tile repair procedure in the shuttle's cabin, along with the plug technique for repairing small holes in leading edge panels. By eliminating the spacewalk, the crew would have more time for external tile inspections and logistics transfers to the international space station.

A third option, the one ultimately selected, was chosen because the techniques in question were the most technically mature and offered the best opportunity to collect useful in-flight data.

Robinson and Noguchi now plan to test a tile repair technique known as "emittance wash" in Discovery's cargo bay. Using a demonstration kit with deliberately damaged tiles, the spacewalkers will paint exposed surfaces with a material that will replace damaged or eroded coating and improve heat rejection.

Flight Day 5 highlights:



DAY..EDT........DD...HH...MM...EVENT

07/17/05
Sun 04:51 AM...03...13...00...STS crew wakeup
Sun 05:21 AM...03...13...30...ISS crew wakeup
Sun 06:51 AM...03...15...00...EVA-1: EVA prep
Sun 07:31 AM...03...15...40...ISS daily planning conference
Sun 07:41 AM...03...15...50...SSRMS grapples lab module for EVA
support
Sun 07:51 AM...03...16...00...Collins exercises
Sun 08:21 AM...03...16...30...Kelly exercises
Sun 08:21 AM...03...16...30...Transfer review
Sun 08:21 AM...03...16...30...EVA-1: EMU purge/prebreathe
Sun 08:41 AM...03...16...50...SSRMS ungrapples mobile base station
Sun 08:51 AM...03...17...00...Camarda exercises
Sun 09:11 AM...03...17...20...External stowage platform
attachment device (ESPAD) setup
Sun 09:21 AM...03...17...30...Lawrence exercises
Sun 09:46 AM...03...17...55...EVA-1: Airlock depress
Sun 09:56 AM...03...18...05...EVA-1: Egress and setup
Sun 09:56 AM...03...18...05...14.7 psi cabin repressurization
Sun 10:31 AM...03...18...40...ISS: Phillips exercises
Sun 10:31 AM...03...18...40...ISS: Krikalev exercises
Sun 10:31 AM...03...18...40...ISS ingress
Sun 10:46 AM...03...18...55...MPLM clothes transfer
Sun 10:46 AM...03...18...55...Lithium hydroxide changeout
Sun 11:01 AM...03...19...10...EVA-1: Tile/RCC repair demo
Sun 12:01 PM...03...20...10...ISS/STS meals
Sun 12:26 PM...03...20...35...SSRMS positioned for ESPAD installation
Sun 12:41 PM...03...20...50...EVA-1/MS1: ESPAD cable routing
Sun 12:41 PM...03...20...50...EVA-1/MS2, on SSRMS, removes ESPAD
Sun 01:16 PM...03...21...25...Transfer operations
Sun 01:26 PM...03...21...35...EVA-1/MS1/MS2: ESPAD installation on
Quest
Sun 01:56 PM...03...22...05...EVA-1/MS1: GPS antenna R&R
Sun 02:11 PM...03...22...20...EVA-1/MS2: CMG get aheads
Sun 02:21 PM...03...22...30...OBSS survey
Sun 02:56 PM...03...23...05...EVA-1: MS1/MS2 secondary ESPAD cable
routing
Sun 03:21 PM...03...23...30...EVA-1: MS1: payload bay cleanup
Sun 03:36 PM...03...23...45...STS crew departs ISS
Sun 04:01 PM...04...00...10...ISS: Phillips exercises
Sun 04:26 PM...04...00...35...EVA-1: Airlock repress
Sun 04:51 PM...04...01...00...ISS: Krikalev exercises
Sun 04:51 PM...04...01...00...CMG EVA setup
Sun 06:21 PM...04...02...30...ISS daily planning conference
Sun 07:06 PM...04...03...15...Daily transfer tagup
Sun 08:51 PM...04...05...00...STS/ISS crew sleep begins

NASA still has no way to repair the kind of leading edge damage that brought down Columbia, but Robinson and Noguchi will test a rudimentary technique in which a heat-resistant material known as NOAX will be smoothed over small cracks in RCC material.
NOAX, which stands for non-oxide adhesive experimental, will be squirted from a caulk gun-like device and then smoothed out with trowels. The RCC will be heated prior to NOAX application and the patch itself will be heated for a half hour after that to cure the material.

The final repair procedure, aimed at fixing small holes in RCC panels, requires a flexible carbon silicon-carbide patch called a "plug." After fit checks and application of a sealant, a plug would be inserted into a hole and held in place from behind by expansion bolts.

Between 20 and 30 different plugs, each with slightly different geometries, would be needed in a real repair kit to ensure a good fit virtually anywhere in the curving leading edge.

The crew of the shuttle Atlantis now plans to test the CIPA technique during the second post-Columbia flight in September. The crew also may test a promising tile overlay technique that calls for spacewalkers to cover a panel of damaged tiles with a thin, flexible sheet of heat-resistant carbon silicon-carbide. The sheet would be mounted atop a gasket and attached with fasteners similar to drywall bolts that would be screwed into surrounding tile.

"The way I interpret the CAIB, I think a practicable repair technique is a requirement," said James Adamson, a member of the Stafford-Covey Return to Flight Task Group. "I don't believe it needs to be certified. It's an emergency technique for an emergency situation. I don't think it necessarily has to have completed all its testing. It has to be reasonable, doable and practicable. And I think NASA's going to have that."

A former shuttle astronaut, Adamson said it's possible "we might disagree that they have met the full intent, or goal, of the CAIB recommendation and still be OK with them deciding that it's OK to fly because of this over-arching reduction of risk.

"But it's really not our call to say the shuttle's safe to fly," he said. "We're looking at a very tiny subset of all the things NASA has to consider to fly again so we really can't be in a position of declaring the shuttle safe to fly. That's their call."

NASA originally planned to stage all three Discovery spacewalks from the space station's Quest airlock module. but concern about contamination in a system used to recharge the crew's spacesuits between outings forced the astronauts to use the shuttle's airlock instead.

The change had a major impact on flight planning, preventing Robinson an Noguchi from using a Quest system to help remove nitrogen from their blood, a requirement to prevent the bends when working in the 5 psi spacesuits. Using the shuttle airlock, the astronauts must close hatches between Discovery and the station before each spacewalk so the orbiter's cabin pressure can be reduced to 10.2 psi as part of the bends prevention process. Once a spacewalk is underway, the hatches can be reopened.

[GioFX]

Part 8: Fixing the space station's gyro system

BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: July 11, 2005

The Discovery astronauts will spend the day after the first spacewalk transferring more supplies and equipment to the station from the logistics module. Robinson and Noguchi will service their spacesuits and prepare the tools that will be needed for the second spacewalk to install the replacement control moment gyroscope. Two televised crew interviews are planned as the astronauts gear up for the critical station repair work.

Flight Day 6 highlights:



DAY..EDT........DD...HH...MM...EVENT

07/18/05
Mon 04:51 AM...04...13...00...STS crew wakeup
Mon 05:21 AM...04...13...30...ISS crew wakeup
Mon 05:46 AM...04...13...55...Kelly exercises
Mon 06:16 AM...04...14...25...Robinson exercises
Mon 06:46 AM...04...14...55...Noguchi exercises
Mon 07:01 AM...04...15...10...ISS daily planning conference
Mon 07:21 AM...04...15...30...Transfer review
Mon 07:51 AM...04...16...00...EVA tool cleanup and stow
Mon 07:51 AM...04...16...00...Transfer operations
Mon 07:51 AM...04...16...00...Lithium hydroxide exchange
Mon 07:51 AM...04...16...00...Camarda exercises
Mon 08:51 AM...04...17...00...Middeck preps
Mon 09:06 AM...04...17...15...Lawrence exercises
Mon 09:21 AM...04...17...30...EVA tools config
Mon 10:21 AM...04...18...30...Collins exercises
Mon 10:51 AM...04...19...00...EVA pistol grip tool setup
Mon 10:51 AM...04...19...00...ISS: Krikalev exercises
Mon 10:51 AM...04...19...00...ISS: Phillips exercises
Mon 12:01 PM...04...20...10...PAO event (CDR, PLT, MS5)
Mon 12:21 PM...04...20...30...Joint ISS/STS meal
Mon 01:21 PM...04...21...30...Transfer operations
Mon 01:56 PM...04...22...05...PAO event (CDR, MS1, MS2, ISS: Krikalev)
Mon 02:36 PM...04...22...45...ISS: Krikalev exercises
Mon 03:21 PM...04...23...30...Crew choice television
Mon 03:51 PM...05...00...00...EVA-2: Procedures review
Mon 04:46 PM...05...00...55...Transfer review
Mon 04:46 PM...05...00...55...ISS: Phillips exercises
Mon 05:21 PM...05...01...30...ISS egress
Mon 05:46 PM...05...01...55...10.2 psi cabin depressurization
Mon 05:51 PM...05...02...00...Thomas exercises
Mon 06:06 PM...05...02...15...ISS daily planning conference
Mon 08:21 PM...05...04...30...STS/ISS crew sleep begins

The space station uses four massive control moment gyroscopes to maintain the lab's orientation in space without having to tap into limited supplies of on-board rocket fuel. They are housed in the Z1 truss, which was attached to the Unity module's upward-facing, or zenith hatch - hence the name - during shuttle mission STS-92 in October 2000.
Along with saving fuel, the 800-pound gyros, spinning at 6,600 rpm, allow station crews and flight controllers to reorient the outpost and keep it stable without using rocket firings that would jar sensitive microgravity experiments.

But on June 8, 2002, CMG-1 suffered a malfunction and shut down. Station astronaut Carl Walz reported hearing an unusual noise inside the Unity module. He said the noise appeared to be coming from the module's zenith area. Mission control then told Walz engineers were working an issue with a spin bearing in CMG No. 1. Walz said the noise was quite noticeable inside the module.

"We're hearing a pretty loud, audible noise, kind of a growling noise, from inside the node," Walz reported.

"It looks like we have a mechanical failure of the spin bearings on CMG-1," an astronaut in mission control replied. "It's currently spinning down right now. The growling noise is undoubtedly due to vibration."

The station's orientation, or attitude, can be controlled by just two CMGs in a worst-case scenario. And indeed, a second gyro, CMG-2, was knocked off line last year because of trouble with a circuit breaker. The circuit breaker was replaced during a station-based spacewalk, but the new unit malfunctioned in March, taking CMG-2 off line once again. During the first spacewalk, Robinson and Noguchi plan to wire around the faulty breaker to restore CMG-2 to service.

While the overall system remains fully operational, NASA wants to replace CMG-1 as soon as possible to provide additional redundancy in case of subsequent failures down the road.

Flight Day 7 highlights:



DAY..EDT........DD...HH...MM...EVENT

07/19/05
Tue 04:21 AM...05...12...30...STS crew wakeup
Tue 04:51 AM...05...13...00...ISS crew wakeup
Tue 06:21 AM...05...14...30...EVA-2: Preps begin
Tue 06:51 AM...05...15...00...ISS daily planning conference
Tue 07:21 AM...05...15...30...Collins exercises
Tue 07:26 AM...05...15...35...ISS: Phillips exercises
Tue 07:51 AM...05...16...00...Transfer review
Tue 07:51 AM...05...16...00...Kelly exercises
Tue 07:51 AM...05...16...00...EVA-2: EMU pre-breathe
Tue 08:21 AM...05...16...30...Camarda exercises
Tue 08:21 AM...05...16...30...ISS: Krikalev exercises
Tue 08:26 AM...05...16...35...ISS: Phillips exercises
Tue 08:51 AM...05...17...00...Lawrence exercises
Tue 09:16 AM...05...17...25...EVA-2: Airlock depress
Tue 09:26 AM...05...17...35...EVA-2: Airlock egress and setup
Tue 09:26 AM...05...17...35...14.7 psi cabin repressurization
Tue 09:51 AM...05...18...00...ISS ingress
Tue 09:51 AM...05...18...00...Transfer operations
Tue 10:36 AM...05...18...45...EVA-2: CMG removal and replacement
Tue 11:31 AM...05...19...40...Crew meals begin
Tue 12:36 PM...05...20...45...Transfer operations resume
Tue 02:56 PM...05...23...05...EVA-2: Cleanup and ingress
Tue 03:06 PM...05...23...15...STS crew leaves ISS
Tue 03:56 PM...06...00...05...EVA-2: Airlock repress
Tue 04:21 PM...06...00...30...ISS: Krikalev exercises
Tue 06:06 PM...06...02...15...ISS daily planning conference
Tue 06:36 PM...06...02...45...Transfer tagup
Tue 08:21 PM...06...04...30...STS/ISS crew sleep begins

The replacement CMG will be mounted on a carrier truss at the back of Discovery's cargo bay. Robinson and Noguchi first will float up to the Z1 truss, unfasten thermal blankets, disconnect electrical cables and remove CMG-1. They will maneuver it to a temporary stowage location and lock it in place. Then, using the SSRMS, the replacement CMG will be removed from the cargo bay truss and moved up to the Z1 truss for installation.
After Robinson and Noguchi complete electrical connections and re-fasten the thermal blankets, engineers in mission control will begin preparations for spinning up the new gyro. The spacewalkers, meanwhile, will move the old gyro back to the cargo bay truss and lock it down for return to Earth. If all goes well, the new unit will be spun up while they are still in the cargo bay.

The gyroscopes are critical to station operation. Here's a description from a NASA press kit:


The motion control subsystem (MCS) hardware launched as part of the Z1 element includes the CMGs and the CMG assemblies.
The CMG assembly consists of four CMGs and a micrometeorite/orbital debris shield. The four CMGs, which will control the attitude of the ISS, have a spherical momentum storage capability of 14,000 ft-lb/sec, the scalar sum of the individual CMG wheel moments. The momentum stored in the CMG system at any given time equals the vector sum of the individual CMG momentum vectors.

To maintain the ISS in the desired attitude, the CMG system must cancel, or absorb, the momentum generated by the disturbance torques acting on the station. If the average disturbance torque is nonzero, the resulting CMG output torque is also nonzero, and momentum builds up in the CMG system. When the CMG system saturates, it is unable to generate the torque required to cancel the disturbance torque, which results in the loss of attitude control.

The CMG system saturates when momentum vectors have become parallel and only momentum vectors change. When this happens, control torques perpendicular to this parallel line are possible, and controllability about the parallel line is lost.

Russian segment thrusters are used to desaturate the CMGs.

An ISS CMG consists of a large flat wheel that rotates at a constant speed (6,600 rpm) and develops an angular momentum of 3,500 ft-lb/sec about its spin axis. This rotating wheel is mounted in a two-degree-of-freedom gimbal system that can point the spin axis (momentum vector) of the wheel in any direction.

At least two CMGs are needed to provide attitude control. The CMG generates an output reaction torque that is applied to the ISS by inertially changing the direction of its wheel momentum. The CMG's output torque has two components, one proportional to the rate of change of the CMG gimbals and a second proportional to the inertial body rate of the ISS as sensed at the CMG base. Because the momentum along the direction of the spin axis is fixed, the output torque is constrained to lie in the plane of the wheel. That is why one CMG cannot provide the three-axis torque needed to control the attitude of the ISS.

Each CMG has a thermostatically controlled survival heater to keep it within thermal limits before the CMGs are activated on Mission 5A. The heaters are rated at 120 watts and have an operating temperature range of -42 to -35 deg F.

[GioFX]

Part 9: Readying the station for continued assembly

BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: July 11, 2005

The day after installing the new gyroscope, the astronauts will enjoy a half-day off, share a joint crew meal and hold a traditional in-flight news conference. Krikalev and Noguchi also will participate in separate news conferences with reporters from their own countries. Supply and equipment transfers to and from the logistics module will continue and Robinson and Noguchi will configure their tools and service their spacesuits for their third and final excursion the following day.

Flight Day 8 highlights:



DAY..EDT........DD...HH...MM...EVENT

07/20/05
Wed 04:21 AM...06...12...30...STS crew wakeup
Wed 04:51 AM...06...13...00...ISS crew wakeup
Wed 05:16 AM...06...13...25...Robinson exercises
Wed 05:46 AM...06...13...55...Kelly exercises
Wed 06:16 AM...06...14...25...Noguchi exercises
Wed 06:21 AM...06...14...30...ISS daily planning conference
Wed 06:51 AM...06...15...00...Transfer review
Wed 07:21 AM...06...15...30...Lithium hydroxide exchange
Wed 07:21 AM...06...15...30...Camarda exercises
Wed 07:21 AM...06...15...30...Transfer operations
Wed 07:51 AM...06...16...00...Lawrence exercises
Wed 07:51 AM...06...16...00...EVA tools config
Wed 08:21 AM...06...16...30...Collins exercises
Wed 10:01 AM...06...18...10...Joint ISS/STS meal
Wed 11:01 AM...06...19...10...Crew photo
Wed 11:16 AM...06...19...25...Crew news conference
Wed 11:56 AM...06...20...05...Crew off duty time begins
Wed 12:06 PM...06...20...15...Russian PAO event
Wed 12:26 PM...06...20...35...ISS: booster fan DTO
Wed 01:26 PM...06...21...35...ISS: Phillips exercises
Wed 01:31 PM...06...21...40...ISS: Krikalev exercises
Wed 03:51 PM...07...00...00...EVA-3: Procedures review
Wed 04:46 PM...07...00...55...ISS: Phillips exercises
Wed 05:01 PM...07...01...10...Transfer review
Wed 05:21 PM...07...01...30...STS crew leaves ISS
Wed 05:46 PM...07...01...55...10.2 psi cabin depressurization
Wed 05:51 PM...07...02...00...Thomas exercises
Wed 06:06 PM...07...02...15...ISS daily planning conference
Wed 08:21 PM...07...04...30...STS/ISS crew sleep begins

The primary objective of the third spacewalk is installation of the external stowage platform, or ESP-2. Tipping the scales at 6,300 pounds, ESP-2 will be pre-packed with critical equipment needed for extensive station re-wiring during upcoming assembly missions when the lab's huge solar arrays will be attached to the currently unfinished boom. Robinson and Noguchi also will retrieve two materials science experiment packages used to expose various materials to the space environment and install a third.
The station's robot arm will be used to pull ESP-2 from its mounting in Discovery's cargo bay. The box then will be maneuvered up to the Quest airlock module on the starboard side of the Unity node for attachment by the spacewalkers. The SSRMS, meanwhile, will lock onto the logistics module attached to Unity's nadir port to set the stage for its detachment the next day.

Flight Day 9 highlights:



DAY..EDT........DD...HH...MM...EVENT

07/21/05
Thu 04:21 AM...07...12...30...STS crew wakeup
Thu 04:51 AM...07...13...00...ISS crew wakeup
Thu 06:21 AM...07...14...30...EVA-3: EVA preps begin
Thu 06:51 AM...07...15...00...ISS daily planning conference
Thu 06:51 AM...07...15...00...RCC plug repair demo
Thu 07:26 AM...07...15...35...ISS: Phillips exercises
Thu 07:51 AM...07...16...00...Transfer review
Thu 07:51 AM...07...16...00...Kelly exercises
Thu 07:51 AM...07...16...00...EVA-3: EMU purge
Thu 08:21 AM...07...16...30...Camarda exercises
Thu 08:21 AM...07...16...30...ISS: Krikalev, Phillips exercise
Thu 08:51 AM...07...17...00...Lawrence exercises
Thu 09:16 AM...07...17...25...EVA-3: Airlock depress
Thu 09:26 AM...07...17...35...EVA-3: Airlock egress and setup
Thu 09:26 AM...07...17...35...14.7 psi cabin repressurization
Thu 09:46 AM...07...17...55...Transfer operations
Thu 09:56 AM...07...18...05...ISS ingress
Thu 10:11 AM...07...18...20...EVA-3: Camera install CP9
Thu 10:51 AM...07...19...00...SSRMS grapples ESP-2
(equipment stowage platform)
Thu 11:21 AM...07...19...30...Crew meals begin
Thu 11:36 AM...07...19...45...SSRMS unberths ESP-2
Thu 12:21 PM...07...20...30...ISS: CPA installation
Thu 12:31 PM...07...20...40...EVA-3: ESP-2 installation
Thu 01:16 PM...07...21...25...EVA-3: MISSE 1 & 2 retrieval;
MISSE 5 installation
Thu 01:16 PM...07...21...25...SSRMS ESP-2 ungrapple
Thu 01:31 PM...07...21...40...SSRMS maneuver to MPLM
Thu 01:46 PM...07...21...55...EVA-3: MS2 FRGF removal
Thu 02:01 PM...07...22...10...SSRMS grapples MPLM
Thu 02:16 PM...07...22...25...EVA-3: Cleanup and airlock ingress
Thu 02:26 PM...07...22...35...STS crew leaves station
Thu 02:51 PM...07...23...00...ISS crew lock reconfigured
Thu 03:26 PM...07...23...35...EVA-3: Airlock repress
Thu 04:01 PM...08...00...10...Collins exercises
Thu 04:51 PM...08...01...00...MPLM racks configured for entry
Thu 05:51 PM...08...02...00...ISS daily planning conference
Thu 06:36 PM...08...02...45...Transfer review
Thu 08:21 PM...08...04...30...STS/ISS crew sleep begins

The next day, the astronauts will complete their final logistics module equipment transfers, deactivate the module's systems and remove it from Unity using the station's robot arm. After re-berthing the module in the shuttle's cargo bay, the SSRMS will lock onto the end of the OBSS boom, take it from the shuttle's arm and put it back in the payload bay for return to Earth. Engineers hope to eventually mount the OBSS boom permanently on the space station, after assembly reaches the point where clearance issues become a problem.
Flight Day 10 highlights:



DAY..EDT........DD...HH...MM...EVENT

07/22/05
Fri 04:21 AM...08...12...30...STS crew wakeup
Fri 04:51 AM...08...13...00...ISS crew wakeup
Fri 06:01 AM...08...14...10...MPLM cleanup
Fri 06:21 AM...08...14...30...Japanese PAO event (CDR, MS1)
Fri 06:51 AM...08...15...00...ISS daily planning conference
Fri 07:01 AM...08...15...10...Transfer review
Fri 07:11 AM...08...15...20...Collins exercises
Fri 07:16 AM...08...15...25...MPLM egress
Fri 07:26 AM...08...15...35...Post EVA transfer/reconfig
Fri 07:31 AM...08...15...40...MPLM deactivation
Fri 07:51 AM...08...16...00...Vestibule preps for unmating
Fri 07:51 AM...08...16...00...Kelly exercises
Fri 08:36 AM...08...16...45...Lawrence exercises
Fri 08:51 AM...08...17...00...Middeck transfers begin
Fri 09:21 AM...08...17...30...Vestibule depressurization
Fri 09:36 AM...08...17...45...Thomas exercises
Fri 09:36 AM...08...17...45...Protein crystal growth experiment transfer
Fri 10:21 AM...08...18...30...Noguchi exercises
Fri 10:36 AM...08...18...45...PAO event (CDR, PLT, ISS FE)
Fri 10:56 AM...08...19...05...ISS: Phillips exercises
Fri 11:06 AM...08...19...15...SRMS positioned for MPLM demate
Fri 11:36 AM...08...19...45...Crew meals begin
Fri 11:51 AM...08...20...00...Node 1 CBM demate
Fri 12:36 PM...08...20...45...MPLM uninstall
Fri 01:06 PM...08...21...15...MPLM berthing in payload bay
Fri 01:21 PM...08...21...30...3 water bags moved to station
Fri 01:41 PM...08...21...50...Rendezvous tools checkout pt 1
Fri 01:41 PM...08...21...50...MPLM ungrapple
Fri 01:56 PM...08...22...05...SRMS maneuver for OBSS handoff to SSRMS
Fri 02:56 PM...08...23...05...SSRMS grapples OBSS
Fri 03:21 PM...08...23...30...ISS: Krikalev exercises
Fri 03:21 PM...08...23...30...OBSS maneuver to clear UHF antenna
Fri 04:01 PM...09...00...10...SSRMS berths OBSS
Fri 04:01 PM...09...00...10...ISS: Phillips exercises
Fri 04:21 PM...09...00...30...Robinson exercises
Fri 04:41 PM...09...00...50...SSRMS ungrapples OBSS
Fri 04:56 PM...09...01...05...RMS powerdown
Fri 06:01 PM...09...02...10...ISS daily planning conference
Fri 06:41 PM...09...02...50...Transfer review
Fri 08:21 PM...09...04...30...STS/ISS crew sleep begins

[GioFX]

Part 10: Space shuttle Discovery's return to Earth

BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: July 11, 2005

In what promises to be an emotional day for the shuttle-station teams in orbit and on the ground, Collins and her crewmates will bid farewell to Krikalev and Phillips during a departure ceremony shortly before Discovery undocks from the lab complex on the 11th day of the mission.

Flight Day 11 highlights:



DAY..EDT........DD...HH...MM...EVENT

07/23/05
Sat 04:21 AM...09...12...30...STS crew wakeup
Sat 04:51 AM...09...13...00...ISS crew wakeup
Sat 06:21 AM...09...14...30...Farewell ceremony
Sat 06:36 AM...09...14...45...Egress and hatch closure
Sat 06:36 AM...09...14...45...Rendezvous tools checkout (part 2)
Sat 06:36 AM...09...14...45...Kelly exercises
Sat 07:06 AM...09...15...15...ISS daily planning conference
Sat 07:06 AM...09...15...15...Orbiter docking system leak checks
Sat 07:36 AM...09...15...45...Robinson exercises
Sat 07:51 AM...09...16...00...Group B computer powerup
Sat 07:51 AM...09...16...00...Centerline camera installation
Sat 08:36 AM...09...16...45...Undocking timeline begins
Sat 09:29 AM...09...17...38...Discovery undocks from ISS
Sat 09:51 AM...09...18...00...Flyaround begins
Sat 10:44 AM...09...18...53...Separation burn No. 1
Sat 11:12 AM...09...19...21...Separation burn No. 2 (194.4/184.8 nm)
Sat 11:21 AM...09...19...30...ISS crew meal
Sat 11:26 AM...09...19...35...Group B computer powerdown
Sat 11:41 AM...09...19...50...STS crew meal
Sat 12:16 PM...09...20...25...PMA-2 depressurization
Sat 12:41 PM...09...20...50...STS off-duty time begins
Sat 12:41 PM...09...20...50...Lawrence exercises
Sat 01:21 PM...09...21...30...ISS: Krikalev exercises
Sat 02:21 PM...09...22...30...Camarda exercises
Sat 02:41 PM...09...22...50...ISS: Phillips exercises
Sat 02:46 PM...09...22...55...Collins exercises
Sat 02:51 PM...09...23...00...Noguchi exercises
Sat 03:21 PM...09...23...30...Thomas exercises
Sat 06:51 PM...10...03...00...STS crew sleep begins

Collins and company will spend their final full day in space testing Discovery's re-entry systems and stowing loose gear for the return to Earth. Collins and Kelly also will practice landing procedures using a laptop-based shuttle flight simulator. Discovery's KU-band antenna will be stowed in the afternoon, ending normal television views from the orbiter.
Flight Day 12 highlights:



DAY..EDT........DD...HH...MM...EVENT

07/24/05
Sun 02:51 AM...10...11...00...STS crew wakeup
Sun 05:51 AM...10...14...00...Flight control system checkout
Sun 05:51 AM...10...14...00...Cabin stow begins
Sun 06:06 AM...10...14...15...Camarda exercises
Sun 06:51 AM...10...15...00...Thomas exercises
Sun 07:01 AM...10...15...10...Reaction control system hotfire test
Sun 07:26 AM...10...15...35...Noguchi exercises
Sun 07:46 AM...10...15...55...PILOT landing simulations
(CDR, PLT, MS2)
Sun 08:16 AM...10...16...25...Lawrence exercises
Sun 08:46 AM...10...16...55...EVA hardware stowage
Sun 09:46 AM...10...17...55...Collins exercises
Sun 09:46 AM...10...17...55...Post EVA entry preps
Sun 09:47 AM...10...17...56...Orbit adjust rocket firing
(191.8/160.3 nm)
Sun 10:46 AM...10...18...55...STS crew meal
Sun 11:46 AM...10...19...55...PAO event (all)
Sun 12:16 PM...10...20...25...Deorbit review
Sun 12:46 PM...10...20...55...Cabin stow resumes
Sun 01:16 PM...10...21...25...White Sands communications check
Sun 01:21 PM...10...21...30...Kelly exercises
Sun 02:01 PM...10...22...10...Robinson exercises
Sun 02:51 PM...10...23...00...L-1 comm checks
Sun 03:01 PM...10...23...10...Ergometer stow
Sun 03:01 PM...10...23...10...PGSC FD-13 setup
Sun 03:31 PM...10...23...40...KU-band antenna stow
(assumes clearance OK)
Sun 04:16 PM...11...00...25...L-1 comm checks
Sun 06:51 PM...11...03...00...STS crew sleep begins

And then the stage will be set for the first shuttle re-entry since Columbia's fatal fall to Earth two-and-a-half years earlier.
"We're not changing anything as far as our trajectory planning or designing," Cain said. "We know we're right down the middle where we want to be. Of course, we've looked at all of that again. (But) we're going to continue to fly the way we've flown and what we consider to be the most benign entry profile we can do."

The shuttle's re-entry trajectory will carry the ship over the south Pacific Ocean, Central America, the Gulf of Mexico and then across Florida. The WB-57 jets will be in place west and east of the region of peak heating to document the shuttle's return. Engineers are hopeful the infrared sensors carried by the jets will help characterize the super-hot plasma around the spacecraft and perhaps improve understanding of at least some of the phenomena seen in amateur video of Columbia's descent.

But video from the modified WB-57 bombers will not be available until the day after landing.

In the wake of the Columbia mishap, NASA conducted studies to determine what risk a returning shuttle posed to the public in the event of another Columbia-class breakup at high altitude. Columbia's debris "footprint" was enormous, stretching almost all the way across Texas and into Louisiana. No one was injured by falling debris, but there were numerous close calls.

Based on population centers and the shuttle's ground track when returning from the space station, agency planners concluded the safest landing site, from a public risk perspective, was the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

"We're going to plan to land at KSC, that's our prime landing site," Cain said. "Of course, our first line of defense and our prime rationale for flying to begin with is fixing the tank and the orbiter mods and the inspection and repair capability. We think that that rationale bolsters our ability to get back to KSC from a public risk standpoint.

If the weather or some other issue prevents a Florida landing, NASA will fall back on Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., and a backup site - Northrup Strip - at White Sands, N.M.

"The only difference is that if you look at the expectation of casualty information, there are some areas for Edwards and one specific area for Northrup where the public risk assessment is a little bit higher than the highest KSC entry approach. In other words, what was said fundamentally is any and all approaches into KSC are at a risk level that's equitable and acceptable from an agency policy standpoint. If you look at all the opportunities for all cross ranges to KSC and you look at all the areas that you're overflying during the entry ... it's all acceptable.

"When you go and plot that out for Edwards and Northrup, there are some areas that poke up above that line that defines the highest risk into KSC," Cain said. "You're going to have some cases where you're flying over the LA basin. And then even for Northrup, you've got a couple of cases where you fly over Mexico City or even the LA basin.

"So what we've said is, if I can't get into KSC for weather or whatever and I'm going to land at Edwards or Northrup, we're going to give consideration to not utilizing those approaches that have those higher public risk estimates that poke out above that line."

Flight Day 13 highlights:



DAY..EDT........DD...HH...MM...EVENT

07/25/05
Mon 02:51 AM...11...11...00...STS crew wakeup
Mon 05:06 AM...11...13...15...Group B powerup
Mon 05:21 AM...11...13...30...Inertial measurement unit alignment
Mon 05:21 AM...11...13...30...PGSC stow (part 2)
Mon 06:01 AM...11...14...10...Deorbit timeline begins
Mon 10:02 AM...11...18...11...Deorbit to KSC (rev. 186)
Mon 11:06 AM...11...19...15...Landing at KSC

BACKUP LANDING OPPORTUNITIES

Mon 11:39 AM...11...19...48...Deorbit to KSC (rev. 187)
Mon 12:41 PM...11...20...50...Landing at KSC
Mon 01:08 PM...11...21...17...Deorbit to Edwards (rev. 188)
Mon 02:10 PM...11...22...19...Landing at Edwards

"We've made a lot of progress in the last several months," Hale said. "We've been doing major work in a lot of different areas for return to flight. ... We are beginning, I think, to really converge on how to operate as a team and make effective decisions so that we can ensure we have a safe space flight."
Even so, Hale stressed that NASA would not catch "go fever" and launch Discovery before it's safe to fly.

"We are going to fly when we have determined that the vehicle is ready to fly, when it is safe to fly," he said. "We're not being driven by a calendar date, we're being driven by our readiness to go fly. So when we are convinced the external tank is in a good situation, when we are convinced we have the warning devices, the OBSS and all those other things, wing leading edge sensors all installed, checked out and ready to go, when we are convinced we have an adequate repair capability, then we'll go fly."

[GioFX]

TUESDAY, JULY 12, 2005
2129 GMT (5:29 p.m. EDT)

One of the space shuttle's protective window covers fell and struck the left Orbital Maneuvering System engine pod on Discovery at launch pad 39B today. Engineers are assessing if any damage was caused by the incident. What this means for tonight's schedule, including retraction of the rotating service structure about 90 minutes from now, remain unclear at the moment.


2146 GMT (5:46 p.m. EDT)

The window cover hit the so-called carrier panel around the OMS pod. NASA is taking a new panel to launch pad 39B to replace the one hit by the falling cover. A swap-out would still permit launch tomorrow.


2149 GMT (5:49 p.m. EDT)

NASA expected to know by 7 p.m. if the replacement panel will work and whether launch can proceed tomorrow as planned.


2154 GMT (5:54 p.m. EDT)

The window cover in question is from one of the overhead windows. It fell on its own, not when workers were handling it. The cover was found after it had fallen and hit the orbiter. In addition to the carrier panel that workers plan to replace tonight, engineers are looking for any other damage.

[Frank1962]

....speriamo che non si disintegrino n'altra volta ....oddio, cmq non sarebbe neanche tanto strano: li mandano su con una navetta che ha + di 30 anni alle spalle!!

....secondo me dovrebbero ritornare ai vecchi razzi stile titan o saturn v !!

[maxsona]

Curiosità, su Marte dato che un giorno ci andremo con quale tipologia di vettore lo faremo ... ? ... con qualcosa costruito in orbita ? ... sul motore di Rubbia si stanno facendo ricerche o tuttora resta solo un idea ? :mc:

[GioFX]

questo thread è dedicato esclusivamente alla missione STS-114, per le altre questioni vi rimando al thread generale sul programma STS.

[GioFX]

1732 GMT (1:32 p.m. EDT)

SCRUB! Today's launch has been scrubbed for today due to a problem with the ECO engine cut-off fuel sensors. A problem with these sensors was noted during the fueling tests on Discovery earlier this spring.

[GioFX]

1733 GMT (1:33 p.m. EDT)

Launch director Mike Leinbach just radioed the Discovery crew to say the problem with the fuel sensors means the shuttle cannot fly today. Engineers need to assess this problem before clearing the orbiter for flight.


1734 GMT (1:34 p.m. EDT)

There is no word how long the delay will last and when Discovery's launch could be rescheduled. NASA has through July 31 to launch Discovery or else wait until September 9 due to the need to lift off and separate the external tank in daylight.


1737 GMT (1:37 p.m. EDT)

The astronauts are beginning to climb out of Discovery following today's scrub. Again, the launch has been postponed due to a problem with fuel sensors aboard the shuttle.


1743 GMT (1:43 p.m. EDT)

"The vehicle, the ECO sensors, for some reason did not behave today, so we are going to have to scrub this launch attempt. So once we develop our scrub turnaround plan we'll get that back to you. I appreciate all we have been through together, but this one is not going to result in a launch attempt today," launch director Mike Leinbach radioed Discovery commander Eileen Collins in announcing the scrub.


1750 GMT (1:50 p.m. EDT)

The problem involves the engine cutoff sensors that serve as fuel guages in the external tank.

"We really don't want the engine to be running at high speed and suddenly run out of fuel. That can lead to a devastating breakdown of the engine, even uncontained failure of the engine if that should happen. Therefore, we have four sensors on the vehicle and it requires two of those to detect a low-level fuel in order to cut off the engines early before they would run out. This only comes into play in special conditions on the ascent, not a nominal ascent, so it's essentially a backup for a backup situation," astronaut Dave Wolf said.

"Even though the odds of needing this sensor are low, very low, in the proper spirit of safety to any really feasible or projectable failure we want a full system, certainly at the point of launch."


1759 GMT (1:59 p.m. EDT)

All seven astronauts are getting into the launch pad tower's elevator the ride down to the ground. They are headed back to crew quarters to await word on when the launch will be rescheduled.


1804 GMT (2:04 p.m. EDT)

The disappointed astronauts are posing for pictures at the base of the launch pad with Discovery as backdrop.

[GioFX]

Fuel sensor glitch forces launch scrub

BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: July 13, 2005

Launch director Mike Leinbach scrubbed today's planned launch of the shuttle Discovery two-and-a-half hours before takeoff time because of data indicating two of four hydrogen fuel flow sensors in the ship's external tank were not operating properly.

NASA's flight rules require all four to be operating properly for a countdown to proceed because the sensors control how the ship's main engines shut down when the shuttle reaches space. In certain failure scenarios, the engines could run the tank dry, leading to potential catastrophic failures.

It was not clear what caused today's problem, but the sensor system has encountered unusual trouble in recent weeks, possibly due to suspect transisters in an electronics "black box" in Discovery's aft compartment. The so-called "point sensor box" aboard Discovery included eight transisters from a suspect lot, sources said.

Discovery commander Eileen Collins and her six crewmates - pilot James Kelly, flight engineer Stephen Robinson, Andrew Thomas, Wendy Lawrence, Charles Camarda and Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi - were in the process of strapping in when Leinbach radioed the bad news at 1:32 p.m.

"The vehicle, the ECO sensors, for some reason did not behave today, so we are going to have to scrub this launch attempt," he said. "So once we develop our scrub-turnaround plan we'll get that back to you. I appreciate all we have been through together, but this one is not going to result in a launch attempt today."

A new launch target was not immediately announced.

It was a frustrating disappointment for Discovery's crew and for thousands of tourists, area residents and the shuttle launch team, which labored virtually around the clock for two-and-a-half years to ready the shuttle for NASA's first flight since the Columbia disaster. Throughout today's smooth running countdown, the primary concern had been the weather, with rain showers popping up across the Kennedy Space Center as launch time approached.

It was doubly frustrating to mission managers who thought they had resolved earlier problems with the engine cutoff - ECO - sensors that played a role in a decision to equip Discovery with a fresh fuel tank.

NASA originally hoped to launch Discovery in mid May, but the flight was put on hold in the wake of an April 14 fueling test. During that exercise, two of the four sensors in the shuttle's original tank failed to operate properly and the flight rules require four-of-four for launch.

The cutoff sensors are used to make sure the shuttle's three main engines do not run out of hydrogen while running, which would cause a potentially catastrophic oxygen-rich shut down.

"We really don't want the engine to be running at high speed and suddenly run out of fuel," astronaut David Wolf explained from the launch control center. "That can lead to a devastating breakdown of the engine, even uncontained failure of the engine if that should happen.

"Therefore, we have four sensors on the vehicle and it requires two of those to detect a low-level fuel in order to cut off the engines early before they would run out. This only comes into play in special conditions on the ascent, not a nominal ascent, so it's essentially a backup for a backup situation."

While the odds of needing this sensor in flight are low, "in the proper spirit of safety to any really feasible or projectable failure we want a full system, certainly at the point of launch."

In the wake of the April 14 tanking test and a subsequent test in May, engineers decided to replace Discovery's external tank with one being prepared for use by the shuttle Atlantis in September. The decision was made because of the sensor issue, because of concerns about ice buildups on a liquid oxygen line and because of a suspect pressure relief valve.

Troubleshooting the ECO sensor problem, engineers replaced all of the electrical cabling in Discovery that routes data from the sensors to the shuttle's computers and tore down the point sensor box in the shuttle's engine compartment that routes the data to the computers.

The original box was taken out after the April tanking test and disassembled. A box from the shuttle Endeavour was installed for the second tanking test and while it worked normally, it experienced problems later. Engineers tested a sensor box removed from the shuttle Atlantis, which ultimately was installed aboard Discovery. One of the other units will be reassembled, tested and re-installed in Atlantis.

The original failure was categorized as an "unexplained anomaly," meaning engineers never fully resolved what triggered the failures. But they were confident the hardware aboard Discovery was ready to go.

During a news conference Tuesday, NASA Administrator Michael Griffin said "ECO sensor issues are not so much a matter of the box on Discovery, we think that's good because that box has been put through an entire (testing) cycle and it's good to go. We have had more failures on some other boxes than we are comfortable with, which does lead to questions involving aging orbiter avionics."

[Frank1962]

tutta sta pappardella per dire che la missione è stata rinviata a data da definirsi!? :D :D :D

[GioFX]

tutta sta pappardella per dire che la missione è stata rinviata a data da definirsi!? :D :D :D

beh, se ti limiti al titolo si...

[ally]

...gioFx non potresti aumentare la fruibilità del thread postando anche del testo in italiano...

...ciao...

[GioFX]

Discovery launch date remains up in the air

BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: July 14, 2005

The shuttle Discovery's delayed launch on the first post-Columbia mission is off until at least Sunday, officials said today, and unless engineers find an obvious, simple-to-fix problem in the next day or so, the flight will be put on hold indefinitely.

http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts114/050714update/050714waynehale.jpg
Wayne Hale briefs reporters today. Credit: Stephen Clark/Spaceflight Now

"If we were to get extremely lucky, it is theoretically possible that we could still launch on Sunday," said Wayne Hale, deputy shuttle program manager and chairman of NASA's mission management team. "But I've got to tell you that this represents a really optimistic, good-luck scenario, which I think is not very credible. I wish I had better news.

"What we're more likely into is several days of troubleshooting and we will know tomorrow, when we get the integrated troubleshooting plan back at the mission management team, we'll be able to give you a more definitive timeline. That's the best I've got right now."

What sort of fix might be possible in time to support a Sunday launch attempt?

"I think the repair that might get us to Sunday is if we go in (the shuttle's aft compartment) and wiggle some of the wires and find a loose connection," Hale told reporters. "I mean, that's the one that comes to mind. You laugh, but that probably is the first step in any troubleshooting plan.

"Some technician is going to put his hands on the wires and connectors ... and start wiggling them. If we found a loose connection, OK, we might be back in business. I've got to tell you, the folks who put those wires together and those connections do a really good job. So the chances of that, not high."

NASA is keeping Discovery in a countdown configuration just in case engineers come up with a quick fix. But shuttle processing manager Mike Wetmore said the team can't maintain that level of readiness indefinitely and that in all likelihood, they will back out of the countdown configuration Friday. At that point, launch would be on indefinite hold pending the outcome of much more extensive troubleshooting.

Hale said 12 engineering teams had been established to troubleshoot the issue, a "vast engineering team" focused on getting the problem fixed and Discovery off the ground as soon as possible.

But the shuttle's launch window closes July 31. The next window runs from Sept. 9 through Sept. 24. If Discovery can't be quickly fixed, the flight could slip into September, pushing the second post-Columbia mission into a relatively tight November window that opens Nov. 7 and closes Nov. 10. NASA managers are already looking into what might be done to extend the November window if worse comes to worse.

But Hale said, "I'm not ready to give up on the July window at this point. We still have more than two weeks ahead of us, so that's the way we're headed."

Discovery was grounded Wednesday two-and-a-half hours before blastoff when a routine computerized test revealed problems with one of four hydrogen fuel sensors in the shuttle's external fuel tank.

The sensors are part of a backup system intended to make sure the ship's engines don't shut down too early or run too long, draining the tank dry with potentially catastrophic results. All four sensors are required for a countdown to proceed.

http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts114/050714update/050714discovery.jpg
Discovery won't launch before Sunday, NASA says. Credit: NASA-KSC

NASA has encountered a string of problems in recent weeks with the engine cutoff - ECO - sensor system in Discovery, glitches that have proven to be surprisingly difficult to resolve. The problems began during a tanking test in April when two of the four sensors operated intermittently.

Engineers removed an electronic controller, called a point sensor box, from Discovery and replaced wiring and connectors. But the controller checked out OK and troubleshooters were unable to trace the cause of the problem A point sensor box from the shuttle Atlantis was installed and a second fueling test was conducted.

This time around, the sensors worked normally. But during additional post-test troubleshooting, the replacement sensor controller box malfunctioned. It was replaced by one taken from the shuttle Endeavour. NASA already had decided to replace Discovery's tank to address ice debris issues. With a fresh controller, replacement cabling, a new tank and solid test results, NASA managers decided to treat the sensor issue as an "unexplained anomaly" that presumably had been fixed.

But during Wednesday's countdown, the No. 2 low-level hydrogen sensor failed to switch from "wet" to "dry" during a test in which computers send signals to simulate a dry tank. When the tank was drained, the other three sensors changed from wet to dry as expected. The No. 2 sensor remained "wet" for another three hours before switching back to "dry."

"It is properly indicating that it's dry right now," Hale said. "Could we talk ourselves into going, after all of this, without doing anything? No."

Asked if shuttle engineers had to definitively resolve the problem before Discovery could be cleared for flight, Hale said "it's an unfortunate part of the business, but sometimes you live with unexplained anomalies."

"What we've got to do, I think, is to do all the troubleshooting we can to try to find the solution to the problem," he said. "In other words, you don't jump to the UA rationale first. You do all the troubleshooting you can to try to solve the problem first. If at the end of the day you've done everything that you know to do and you've got an unexplained anomaly, then you have to ask yourself, why am I safe to proceed? Where do we go to define logic that says we're safe to proceed?

"You can imagine different scenarios where you'd talk about those kinds of things. But you really have to have clear and convincing rationale that says we're safe to proceed. And that only comes after you've done all the troubleshooting you possibly can."

Hale said historically, the sensors have been reliable and until Discovery's recent problems, "we've not had any low level sensors fail."

"Now we're beginning to think there may be something else going on," he said. "The cluster here is kind of interesting because it's all been hydrogen sensors. And even though they're the same sensor going to the same electronics box as the oxygen sensors, people are beginning to ask is there something peculiar that we've done in the wiring, perhaps, that go to the hydrogen sensors. So that's one of the threads the troubleshooting team is looking into."

Finally, Hale was asked what he would tell the public about NASA's efforts to resolve the problems with Discovery.

"I would tell you that going into space is right at the limits of human technology," he said. "We're doing something that's extremely difficult. This is not like going to the airport and getting in a commercial airliner. This is much more complicated and much more difficult. There are only a few nations and the history of the world that have this capability and they've all had to expend quite a bit of national treasure and quite a bit of effort.

"In the future, one hopes it will become more commonplace and perhaps it will become more like commercial airline travel, but we are not there today. ... If you think this is routine, you surely don't understand what it is we're trying to do here."

[GioFX]

...gioFx non potresti aumentare la fruibilità del thread postando anche del testo in italiano...

...ciao...

spiacente ma non si trova alcun documento un minimo tecnico che possa essere attendibile...

[GioFX]

Discovery launch pushed back more

BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: July 15, 2005

Launch of the shuttle Discovery is on hold until late next week at the earliest, NASA officials said today, to give engineers time to fully troubleshoot the fuel level sensor problem that grounded the spaceplane Wednesday.

The launch team at the Kennedy Space Center had been maintaining Discovery in an extended countdown "hold" while NASA managers debated their options. But earlier today, deputy shuttle program manager Wayne Hale said the work needed to find and fix the problem that grounded Discovery will take several days at least and that launch is out of the question until late in the week at the earliest.

And that assumes the problem can, in fact, be resolved by then.

Discovery's crew, meanwhile - commander Eileen Collins, pilot James Kelly, flight engineer Stephen Robinson, Andrew Thomas, Wendy Lawrence, Charles Camarda and Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi - was cleared to fly back to the Johnson Space Center to continue training and to await further developments.

The shuttle must get off the ground by July 31 or the flight most likely will slip into September. The launch window is defined by a complex combination of factors, including the shuttle's abiilty to reach the international space station; the nature of the station's orbit; and a NASA-imposed requirement to launch in daylight and to jettison the external tank half a world away with enough light to see potential foam insulation loss.

NASA managers are studying the possibility of extending the current launch to Aug. 4, but that would require giving up the lighting required to photograph the tank with a camera mounted in an umbilical cavity in the belly of the shuttle where propellant lines enter the engine compartment. That imagery considered a high-priority item and it's not clear that senior managers would be willing to give those pictures up.

Assuming the launch window is not extended, NASA would have find the problem, fix it, verify the fix and close up Discovery's aft compartment by around July 25 to preserve the final three days of the launch period. If the problem is resolved faster, of course, the countdown could be restarted earlier.

Early today, engineers unloaded hydrogen and oxygen used by the shuttle's electrical generators before opening the ship's aft compartment to gain access to the fuel sensor electronics that route sensor data to Discovery's flight computers.

Discovery was grounded Wednesday two-and-a-half hours before blastoff when a routine computerized test revealed problems with one of the four hydrogen fuel engine cutoff - ECO - sensors in the shuttle's external fuel tank.

The sensors are part of a backup system intended to make sure the ship's engines don't shut down too early or run too long, draining the tank dry with potentially catastrophic results. All four sensors are required for a countdown to proceed. Here's a recap of the problem to date:

ECO SENSOR BACKGROUND
NASA has encountered a string of problems in recent weeks with the ECO sensor system in Discovery, glitches that have proven to be surprisingly difficult to resolve. The problems began during a tanking test in April when ECO sensors 3 and 4 operated intermittently.

Engineers removed an electronic controller, called a point sensor box, from Discovery and replaced wiring to the two sensors in question (wiring to sensors 1 and 2 wasn't touched). But the controller checked out OK and troubleshooters were unable to trace the cause of the problem A point sensor box from the shuttle Atlantis was installed and a second fueling test was conducted.

This time around, the sensors worked normally. But during additional post-test troubleshooting, the replacement sensor controller box malfunctioned. It was replaced by one taken from the shuttle Endeavour. NASA already had decided to replace Discovery's tank to address ice debris issues. With a fresh controller, replacement cabling, a new tank and solid test results, NASA managers decided to treat the sensor issue as an "unexplained anomaly" that presumably had been fixed.

But during Wednesday's countdown, the No. 2 low-level hydrogen sensor failed to switch from "wet" to "dry" during a test in which computers send signals to simulate a dry tank. When the tank was drained, the other three sensors changed from wet to dry as expected. The No. 2 sensor remained "wet" for another three hours before switching back to "dry."

The engineering teams assessing the problem are reviewing the history of the sensors, cabling and control electronics, changes made in the fuel tank since Columbia's ill-fated flight in 2003, changes made to Discovery since it last flew in 2002 and any procedural changes that might possibly have an impact.

At launch pad 39B, meanwhile, engineers plan to verify the cabling leading from the point sensor box to various connectors and ultimately, into the tank through a complex umbilical connection.

If a problem is found in the point sensor box, NASA would still be faced with explaining the sensor problems encountered during the tanking test in April, the original "unexplained anomaly" that NASA managers accepted going into Wednesday's countdown.

Many engineers believe the problem may be related to one or more changes made in the wake of the Columbia disaster, but at this point, that remains speculation.

[GioFX]

Hale 'hopeful' about July launch for shuttle Discovery

BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: July 15, 2005

Engineers are working around the clock and through the weekend, putting on a "full-court press" to recreate, isolate and eliminate the fuel sensor problem that grounded the shuttle Discovery Wednesday," NASA officials said late today.

http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts114/050715postmmt/050715pressconf.jpg
Reporters and photographers clamor around NASA officials following today's news conference. Credit: Stephen Clark/Spaceflight Now

If troubleshooters get lucky and find an obvious problem with a quick fix, Discovery could be ready for another launch attempt by late next week, according to deputy shuttle program manager Wayne Hale. If not, mission managers are studying the possibility of extending Discovery's launch window from July 31 to Aug. 4. Either way, the next launch window opens Sept. 9.

"We are not in any sense of the word becoming pessimistic about making the July launch window," Hale said. "We are here for the duration, we're committed to giving this the good old college try until we get the problem resolved."

Discovery was grounded Wednesday when one of four hydrogen fuel sensors at the bottom of the shuttle's external tank failed a pre-flight test. The sensors serve as a critical safeguard in the event of other problems that could cause a main engine to shut down early or burn too long. All four must be operational for a countdown to proceed.

NASA ran into problems with the engine cutoff - ECO - sensors and associated electronics earlier this year, trigging extensive tests and troubleshooting (see below for details about sensor operation and logic). Engineers never succeeded in duplicating the problem or identifying what caused it. Instead, they replaced virtually all of the cables, connectors and the so-called point sensor box in the shuttle's engine compartment that relays sensor data to the ship's computers.

Still, NASA went into Discovery's countdown with the sensor problem characterized as an "unexplained anomaly." As the countdown cutoff demonstrated, the problem was aptly named (see below for a chronology of the ECO sensor issue with Discovery).

John Muratore, a senior manager and troubleshooter based at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, said 12 teams of experts are studying the problem "very diligently to try to understand what are the set of conditions that are causing this problem so we can recreate it, isolate it and eliminate it from the system."

"To do that, we have 12 teams of people working across the country, they're going to work all weekend," he said. "We have engineering tag-ups scheduled Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and we're planning to go basically every day until we have got the problem identified and isolated and a solution in work."

Asked if he was optimistic about a quick fix in light of the team's failure to solve the original sensor problem, Hale said he remains "very hopeful because we're taking this troubleshooting to a significantly higher level than we took it the first time."

http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts114/050715postmmt/discovery.jpg
Discovery's next launch opportunity is not known.

"The first time through, we didn't involve nearly as many folks, we didn't have the data as well coordinated as we have it now," he said. "I feel very confident that we will get a solution to our problems. Now it's not out of the woods yet, I don't want to mislead you. But I'm very hopeful."

Over the weekend, engineers plan to re-enter the shuttle's aft engine compartment to gain access to avionics bay No. 5 where Discovery's point sensor box is located. Wiring will be inspected and various connectors will be checked to make sure the system's electrical continuity is intact and there are no obvious shorts. They also plan to use a test device to simulate sensor data to gain additional insights into the behavior of the point sensor box electronics.

"We are putting a full-court press on this to resolve this anomaly," Hale said.

The ECO sensor system is ingenious, complex and until this point, very reliable. Here's a brief overview:


ECO sensor background

Twenty four propellant sensors are used in the shuttle's external tank, 12 each in the oxygen and hydrogen sections. Eight are used in each tank to measure the amount of propellant present before launch. Four in each tank, known as engine cutoff - ECO - sensors, are part of a backup system intended to make sure the ship's engines don't shut down too early, resulting in an abort, or run too long, draining the tank dry with potentially catastrophic results. All four ECO sensors in each tank are required to be operational for a countdown to proceed.

The hydrogen ECO sensors are located at the very bottom of the tank near the entrance to the pipe that carries hydrogen into the shuttle's engine compartment.

The cutoff sensors are armed late in the ascent when a relatively small amount of rocket fuel remains in the tank. Once armed, the shuttle's computer system checks the status of each sensor, which is still immersed in cryogenic propellant, to make sure it is "wet." To protect against a faulty sensor, the first "dry" indication from any one of them is discarded.

During normal operations, the shuttle's flight computers continuously calculate the orbiter's position and velocity, using that data to figure out when the engines should be shut down to achieve the desired target. As a backup, the computers also monitor the ECO sensors as the tank empties to protect against unexpected problems that might affect the performance of the propulsion system.

The shuttle is launched with more fuel than it needs and in normal operation, the ECO sensors would never be "dry" before the normal guidance-based engine shutdown sequence begins. But if a problem does occur, and the computers detect two "dry" sensors, they will shut the engines down to keep from running the tank dry. As long as at least three sensors indicate "wet," however, fuel is assumed to be in the tank and the engines will keep running.

Once the system is armed, two sensors must fail "dry" to trigger an inadvertent engine shutdown. Before arming, three sensors must fail "dry." If three sensors fail "wet," the engines could run the tank empty.

The odds of such multiple failures are "extremely remote," according to internal NASA documents describing earli er problems. In fact, no cutoff sensors have failed in flight since the sixth shuttle mission in 1983 when the design was changed.

But the consequences of an early or late engine shutdown are extreme. A premature shutdown could prevent a crew from reaching orbit while a late shutdown could result in an engine fire or explosion. Even though the cutoff sensor system is considered a backup to the shuttle's flight computers, NASA's launch commit criteria require four operational cutoff sensors in each tank to provide multiple layers of redundancy.

The engine cutoff sensor system has been put to the test only two times in the history of the shuttle program.

During the shuttle Challenger's launching July 29, 1985, on mission STS-51F, a main engine shut down five minutes and 43 seconds after blastoff because of an internal temperature sensor failure. The fuel consumption of the two engines that kept running was affected and the end result was an ECO sensor engine cutoff.

The only other such shutdown in shuttle history occurred during Discovery commander Eileen Collins' last flight, mission STS-93, when a hydrogen leak in the coolant tubes making up main engine No. 3's nozzle caused more oxygen to be consumed than expected. In that case, oxygen ECO sensors went "dry," triggering engine shutdown.

In both cases, the shutdowns happened late in the ascents and both shuttle crews were able to complete their missions (Challenger's crew ended up in a lower-than-planned orbit due to the.

At today's briefing, Hale was asked why NASA required four operational sensors at launch given the seemingly small chance that multiple failures could occur on any given flight.

"Going down the logic path, one of our safety requirements on this vehicle is that we are two-fault tolerant in our electronics," he said. "We can take two failures and can continue to keep on flying safely. And anytime you step away from that standard, you incur risk and you'd better make sure you have an air-tight story to step away from that posture. If we get to the end of all this troubleshooting and everything's working fine, we may come around to the discussion of what if. But we're not ready to go there yet."

Here is a brief chronology of the problems encountered during tests of Discovery's ECO sensor system:


Discovery ECO sensor chronology

NASA has encountered a string of problems in recent weeks with the ECO sensor system in Discovery, glitches that have proven to be surprisingly difficult to resolve. The problems began during a tanking test in April when ECO sensors 3 and 4 operated intermittently.

Engineers removed an electronic controller, called a point sensor box, from Discovery and replaced wiring to the two sensors in question (wiring to sensors 1 and 2 wasn't touched). But the controller checked out OK and troubleshooters were unable to trace the cause of the problem A point sensor box from the shuttle Atlantis was installed and a second fueling test was conducted.

This time around, the sensors worked normally. But during additional post-test troubleshooting, the replacement sensor controller box malfunctioned. It was replaced by one taken from the shuttle Endeavour. NASA already had decided to replace Discovery's tank to address ice debris issues. With a fresh controller, replacement cabling, a new tank and solid test results, NASA managers decided to treat the sensor issue as an "unexplained anomaly" that presumably had been fixed.

But during Wednesday's countdown, the No. 2 low-level hydrogen sensor failed to switch from "wet" to "dry" during a test in which computers send signals to simulate a dry tank. When the tank was drained, the other three sensors changed from wet to dry as expected. The No. 2 sensor remained "wet" for another three hours before switching back to "dry."

A major concern for NASA is whether the problem affecting Discovery is generic or an isolated issue. The shuttle Atlantis is being prepared for launch in September and it also will serve as a rescue craft in case of problems with Discovery once it reaches orbit. The status of its cutoff sensor system is equally critical.

"Until you understand what the problem is, the potential exists for a generic or fleet-wide problem," Hale said. "That's one of the reasons why we want to resolve this, not just fix the particular problem that happened with the tank and orbiter combination we've got."

Said Muratore: "The bottom line is, we don't know if we're having a problem in the tank, we're having a problem in the wiring, we're having a problem in the electronics box."

"We don't know if the equipment is fine and it's just the environment that we're operating in is somehow subtly different, or we don't know if there's a problem in the equipment," he said. "And until we know that, everything is suspect. When we clear items by test and analysis, then we'll move on and decide whether we've got to deal with problems on other vehicles or if it's just limited to this one vehicle."

[GioFX]

Engine Cut-Off Sensor Background

BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
Written for CBS NEWS & used with permission
Posted: July 16, 2005

Twenty four propellant sensors are used in the shuttle's external tank, 12 each in the oxygen and hydrogen sections. Eight are used in each tank to measure the amount of propellant present before launch. Four in each tank, known as engine cutoff - ECO - sensors, are part of a backup system intended to make sure the ship's engines don't shut down too early, resulting in an abort, or run too long, draining the tank dry with potentially catastrophic results. All four ECO sensors in each tank are required to be operational for a countdown to proceed.

The hydrogen ECO sensors are located at the very bottom of the tank near the entrance to the pipe that carries hydrogen into the shuttle's engine compartment.

http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts114/050716ecographic/ecographic.jpg
The Engine Cut-Off (ECO) sensors are located at the base of the shuttle's liquid hydrogen fuel tank. Graphic: NASA.

The cutoff sensors are armed late in the ascent when a relatively small amount of rocket fuel remains in the tank. Once armed, the shuttle's computer system checks the status of each sensor, which is still immersed in cryogenic propellant, to make sure it is "wet." To protect against a faulty sensor, the first "dry" indication from any one of them is discarded.

During normal operations, the shuttle's flight computers continuously calculate the orbiter's position and velocity, using that data to figure out when the engines should be shut down to achieve the desired target. As a backup, the computers also monitor the ECO sensors as the tank empties to protect against unexpected problems that might affect the performance of the propulsion system.

http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts114/050716ecographic/pointsensorbox.gif
The ECO sensors are wired to a shoebox sized electronics box housed in the shuttle's aft engine compartment. Graphic: NASA.

The shuttle is launched with more fuel than it needs and in normal operation, the ECO sensors would never be "dry" before the normal guidance-based engine shutdown sequence begins. But if a problem does occur, and the computers detect two "dry" sensors, they will shut the engines down to keep from running the tank dry. As long as at least three sensors indicate "wet," however, fuel is assumed to be in the tank and the engines will keep running.

Once the system is armed, two sensors must fail "dry" to trigger an inadvertent engine shutdown. Before arming, three sensors must fail "dry." If three sensors fail "wet," the engines could run the tank empty.

The odds of such multiple failures are "extremely remote," according to internal NASA documents describing earli er problems. In fact, no cutoff sensors have failed in flight since the sixth shuttle mission in 1983 when the design was changed.

http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts114/050716ecographic/pointsensorbox.jpg
A spare orbiter point sensor chassis and motherboard. Photo: NASA/KSC.

But the consequences of an early or late engine shutdown are extreme. A premature shutdown could prevent a crew from reaching orbit while a late shutdown could result in an engine fire or explosion. Even though the cutoff sensor system is considered a backup to the shuttle's flight computers, NASA's launch commit criteria require four operational cutoff sensors in each tank to provide multiple layers of redundancy.

The engine cutoff sensor system has been put to the test only two times in the history of the shuttle program.

During the shuttle Challenger's launching July 29, 1985, on mission STS-51F, a main engine shut down five minutes and 43 seconds after blastoff because of an internal temperature sensor failure. The fuel consumption of the two engines that kept running was affected and the end result was an ECO sensor engine cutoff.

The only other such shutdown in shuttle history occurred during Discovery commander Eileen Collins' last flight, mission STS-93, when a hydrogen leak in the coolant tubes making up main engine No. 3's nozzle caused more oxygen to be consumed than expected. In that case, oxygen ECO sensors went "dry," triggering engine shutdown.

In both cases, the shutdowns happened late in the ascents and both shuttle crews were able to complete their missions (Challenger's crew ended up in a lower-than-planned orbit due to the earlier engine shutdown).


Discovery ECO sensor chronology

NASA has encountered a string of problems in recent weeks with the ECO sensor system in Discovery, glitches that have proven to be surprisingly difficult to resolve. The problems began during a tanking test in April when ECO sensors 3 and 4 operated intermittently.

Engineers removed an electronic controller, called a point sensor box, from Discovery and replaced wiring to the two sensors in question (wiring to sensors 1 and 2 wasn't touched). But the controller checked out OK and troubleshooters were unable to trace the cause of the problem A point sensor box from the shuttle Atlantis was installed and a second fueling test was conducted.

This time around, the sensors worked normally. But during additional post-test troubleshooting, the replacement sensor controller box malfunctioned. It was replaced by one taken from the shuttle Endeavour. NASA already had decided to replace Discovery's tank to address ice debris issues. With a fresh controller, replacement cabling, a new tank and solid test results, NASA managers decided to treat the sensor issue as an "unexplained anomaly" that presumably had been fixed.

But during Wednesday's countdown, the No. 2 low-level hydrogen sensor failed to switch from "wet" to "dry" during a test in which computers send signals to simulate a dry tank. When the tank was drained, the other three sensors changed from wet to dry as expected. The No. 2 sensor remained "wet" for another three hours before switching back to "dry."

[GioFX]

Shuttle's fuel sensor problem remains elusive

BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: July 16, 2005

Engineers working inside the shuttle Discovery's cramped engine compartment this weekend have not yet found any obvious signs of trouble that might explain what caused one of four fuel sensors to operate improperly during last Wednesday's aborted countdown.

http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts114/050716update/discovery.jpg
Discovery remains on the pad. In the foreground is the liquid hydrogen storage tank. At right is the 290-foot-tall water tower that holds 300,000 gallons of water, part of the sound suppression system during a launch. Credit: NASA-KSC

NASA managers are holding open the possibility of launching Discovery late next week, but that assumes the problem is found in the next few days, that a quick fix is possible and that engineers can demonstrate the problem won't crop up again.

Initial inspections carried out late Friday and today show the wiring in Discovery's engine compartment that routes data from the external tank fuel sensors to an electronic "black box" in avionics bay No. 5 appears to be in good shape with no obvious defects. But additional tests are planned and troubleshooters remain hopeful they will eventually find the culprit.

The engine cutoff - ECO - sensors serve as a critical safeguard in the event of other problems that could cause a main engine to shut down early or run too long. All four must be operational for a countdown to proceed (ECO sensor background, graphics and a chronology of Discovery's sensor problems are available from CBS News and Spaceflight Now: http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts114/050716ecographic/.

Earlier today, NASA released a statement from Discovery commander Eileen Collins, who said the astronauts are "keeping in close touch with the troubleshooting plan."

"We have confidence that the best people are working it," she said. "While the launch delay is disappointing, we have strong confidence that the mission will launch safely and successfully."

[maxsona]

Ormai lo Shuttle è proprio un cesso :stordita: :stordita:

[GioFX]

Ormai lo Shuttle è proprio un cesso :stordita: :stordita:

Sai, considerando che è la macchina più complessa che l'uomo abbia mai creato e che ha 30 anni è alquanto ingiusto, oltrechè sbagliato, ciò che asserisci.

Detto questo il problema con il sensore ECO dell'idrogeno liquido non sarebbe bloccate per il funzionamento dello Shuttle, ma è il launch committment che prevede che tutti e 4 i sensori ECO di ciascuna cisterna siano funzionino bene per consentire di lanciare.

[maxsona]

Alla fine secondo me visto che lo Shuttle si usa per andare sulla ISS, per fare manutenzione al Hubble e per posizionare qualche satellite ... mi sa che convengono di più e sono più economiche soluzioni come la Soyuz e i vettori robotizzati ... penso che su Marte se mai ci andremo lo faremo con un vettore che secondo me verrà essemblato in orbita ...

[Duncan]

Mah... la NASA comunque non ci sta facendo una bella figura... si stanno giocando diversi finanziamenti IMHO

[GioFX]

Alla fine secondo me visto che lo Shuttle si usa per andare sulla ISS, per fare manutenzione al Hubble e per posizionare qualche satellite ... mi sa che convengono di più e sono più economiche soluzioni come la Soyuz e i vettori robotizzati ... penso che su Marte se mai ci andremo lo faremo con un vettore che secondo me verrà essemblato in orbita ...

Lo Shuttle sarà decommissionato e il programma STS chiuso nel 2010, e tutte le missioni rimanenti (circa 28) saranno destinate esclusivamente a completare l'ISS, con l'unica probabile eccezione di una terza Servicing Mission per l'Hubble.

Lo Shuttle è progettato ed utilizzabile solo in LEO, non è tecnicamente possibile utilizzare questa soluzione per altri scopi, come i viaggi verso la Luna o Marte. Il sistema che permetterà il trasporto di mezzi e uomini su marte sarà chiaramente diverso e come dici tu una soluzione simile alla Soyuz, non per niente il CEV (Crew Exploration Veichle) che prenderà il posto dello Shuttle sarà simile come concezione, porterà fino a 9 astronauti e verrà lanciato su un HLLV espandibile (che probabilmente userà booster derivati dagli attuale SRB) e quindi con una soluzione in-line che permette di evitare i problemi legati allle masse fuori asse come nel sistema STS.

Ma è assolutamente inprobabile che un sistema del genere possa venire assemblato in orbita.

[GioFX]

Mah... la NASA comunque non ci sta facendo una bella figura... si stanno giocando diversi finanziamenti IMHO

Non credo proprio... a parte che i finanziamenti fino al 2011 ci sono, tuttavia si giocherebbero i finanziamenti se, al contrario, facessero partire lo shuttle senza rispettare i LCC (launch comitment criteria) e in particolare quello che, dopo il Challenger, chiede che siano funzionanti 4 sensori ECO su 4, sia nel LOX tank che nel LH2 tank, che sarebbe peggio che non rispettare una delle raccomandazioni del CAIB.

[GioFX]

Cmq Dave sostiene che se non viene risolto prima il problema e quindi se rimanesse un UA ('unexplained anomaly') si valuterà l'ipotesi di amendare il commitment dei 4 sensori ECO permettendo di lanciare anche con 3/4 sensori funzionanti correttamente.

Dato che è altamente improbabile che il problema possa rigurardare un collegamento errato tra il point sensor box dell'avionica e il sensore 1, e anche poco probabile che possa essere il sensore stesso... il problema è facile che sia dovuto al circuito di test.

Considerando poi che un'anomalia che richiedesse l'intervento dei sensori ECO è altamente remota anche perchè lo shuttle è fornito di più del carburante necessario a raggiungere l'orbita prevista e che anche se l'ECO entrasse in funzione la prima lettura verrebbe scartata... si può intuire che, qualora la cosa restasse classificata come UA si giungerebbe a valutare di far partire cmq lo shuttle.

[GioFX]

NASA plans Tuesday launch pending final test results

BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: July 20, 2005

Troubleshooters may have found the cause of the fuel sensor malfunction that grounded the shuttle Discovery last week. Additional tests are planned, but the analysis to date, along with a proposed wiring modification, prompted NASA managers today to forego another fueling test and to press ahead instead for a launch attempt Tuesday at 10:39 a.m. EDT (1439 GMT).

"The decisions we made today were to continue with our troubleshooting tonight, and that will go on through the evening and into the first part of tomorrow," said shuttle program manager Bill Parsons. "We have some very specific things we're going to go perform and it will help us completely close this issue out."

An attempt to launch Discovery on the first post-Columbia flight was called off July 13 when one of four engine cutoff - ECO - sensors in the shuttle's external hydrogen tank failed a routine test. NASA launch rules require all four sensors to be operational for a countdown to proceed (see the CBS News/Spaceflight Now ECO sensor page (http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts114/050716ecographic) for complete details).

http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts114/050720newdate/testpreps.jpg
To prepare for an evaluation of wiring runs and connections in Discovery for any reactions under semi-cryogenic conditions, Aaron Sherman (left), Jack Colella (center) and Jeff Huet (lower right), all with United Space Alliance, and John Kennedy, NASA, review data. Credit: NASA-KSC

Since then, engineers have been working through an exhaustive series of tests to isolate and correct the problem. At the same time, mission managers have been debating the possibility of amending the launch rule to permit a flight with three of four operational sensors if troubleshooting failed to pin the problem down but could at least show it was not a generic issue.

Testing to date has been carried out under ambient conditions at the launch pad, using laboratory analysis and software to mimic the launch-day environment. Some engineers favored another tanking test prior to any additional launch attempts to collect data in the actual operating environment. But the mission management team today ruled out that option and agreed to press on into a countdown.

The decision came after a lengthy meeting in which engineers reviewed the progress of troubleshooting to date, including the rationale for amending the four-of-four launch commit criterion.

In the end, the rule was not amended, in part because engineers believe they will be able to prove the problem is not generic; and because they may have found a possible "smoking gun" that might explain why engine cutoff sensor No. 2 acted erratically during Discovery's countdown last Wednesday.

"We have the most probable causes that we've listed in a fault tree analysis," Parsons said. "We have work to do to close that fault tree analysis out, that's all part of this troubleshooting plan. We will go and close out all the common causes we think this could be.

"When we get to that point, then we've done everything we can. That's kind of where we're going to get to, we've done everything we can and we've eliminated the most probable cause. ... We believe the best way to go through this is to do a countdown.

"If the sensors work exactly like we think they will, then we'll launch on that day," Parsons said. "If anything goes not per the plan that we've laid out in front of us, then we'll have a scrub and we'll have to talk about it and either we can fix that and do a quick turnaround or we'll have other issues on our plate. But right now, we believe we've eliminated all the common causes that we think could do this and we've done everything we possibly could on the vehicle."

Extensive testing turned up subtle grounding problems in the orbiter that could permit electrical interference that, in turn, could cause a sensor to "fail wet," which is what happened to sensor No. 2 during a pre-launch test last week.

The ECO sensors are part of a backup system that would be used to shut down the main engines in the event of some other major malfunction that might cause the powerplants to run too long, draining the external tank. Engineers believe a main engine would tear itself apart if it suddenly ran out of fuel while operating. But in some remote scenarios, that could happen if three of the four ECO sensors failed wet, meaning they continued showing fuel in the tank when, in fact, it was dry.

Engineers plan extensive troubleshooting to identify possible sources of interference and its effects in an electronics unit called a point sensor box, which routes sensor data to the shuttle's computers. Candidates include the circuitry for new post-Columbia heaters added to the shuttle's external tank to prevent ice formation.

The grounding problems will be fixed regardless. If the heaters are, in fact, the source of the interference, Discovery would be good to go because the heaters are turned off before launch. But additional testing is required to prove this hypothesis and it may or may not pan out.

"This has been a very, very thorough effort that we've been through," said John Muratore, the engineer leading the troubleshooting. "We've used every kind of analysis technique and test technique that we can find.

"In the end, analysis of the circuitry suggested that grounding might be a problem. Testing of the (point sensor) box ... in the lab in Houston suggested electromagnetic interference could interfere with the box. We went looking in the vehicle and we found a discrepancy in the grounding of the vehicle.

"We're going to go in tonight and try to replicate as best we can the electromagnetic environment of launch to see if we can trap the signature of it," Muratore said. "Even if we can't trap the signature, we're going to go make the system good. And then the best way to go and further understand the problem is ... to load the tank up and observe its operation and that's best accomplished in the environment of a launch countdown."

http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts114/050720newdate/ecotesting.jpg
Jack Colella, with United Space Alliance, performs testing on wiring in the aft engine compartment of Discovery as part of the ECO sensor troubleshooting. Credit: NASA-KSC

He said the grounding problem was extremely subtle, adding "we are talking in fractions of a milli-ohm (of resistance).

"That doesn't seem like very much," he said. "But it matters from the point of view of the box. If the box has these different channels of electronics running through it and it's got power and grounding for each of those separately and if they start to get off a little differently from each other, that's when the circuits can get tripped up. So a very small amount of resistance can cause those grounds to flip up and down and that can happen when you get a large electrical transient" in another system.

Like an electrical heater turning on or off, or the operation of some other system.

"This isn't a case of running around seeing what's not plugged in," Muratore said. "It isn't that kind of thing. It's where you go look at it and you say that looks like a good bond. If you didn't use a very, very careful precision meter, it would read as a perfect structural ground. But in these very complex electrical systems, you can get into that kind of problem."

Regardless of how the grounding/interference issue is resolved, engineers plan to swap the electrical cables leading from the point sensor box to sensors 2 and 4. The system will be tested Tuesday before the crew climbs aboard.

If another problem shows up with sensor No. 2, engineers will be back to square one and the launch will be scrubbed. But if sensor No. 4 acts erratically, they will have solid evidence the fault is in the electrical circuit and not a generic issue that could affect the other three sensors.

In that case, NASA's mission management team likely would sign an "exception" to the current launch commit criterion requiring four operational sensors for launch and allow Discovery to take off three of four.

"We're going to hook sensor 4 up to the electronics for sensor 2 and vice versa," Muratore said. "That way, if the problem is with the sensor or the associated wiring it's going to show up now as a sensor 4 problem. If the problem is in the point sensor box, it's going to show up as a sensor 2 problem. That will enable us to determine which side of the system it is. That assumes the problem recurs exactly the way it happened before. But we think that will give us an important insight if the problem does reoccur as to what the potential cause is."

Parsons explained it this way: "The scenarios would be, all four sensors work and you're good to go; sensor 4 shows a failure ... that would say there's a strong possibility we understand this completely and we're good to go because it's a wiring problem, an open in a wire, and we still have three sensors that are good.

"But if it came back as a sensor 2 problem, I think everybody would have to say wait a minute, whatever we've done hasn't really solved our issues and we need to step back and take another hard look at this. So what we've done is given ourselves another safety net, another way to take a look at this and make sure we really do understand this system and it is operating exactly like we think it should operate."

But he said engineers "expect to have four of four sensors" operating Tuesday.

"We have talked in great detail about a rationale for flying with three of four sensors," he said. "We are not complete with that. But in fact, if we had a failure of the sensor and we could understand the failure and it was a known failure that we expected based on the pin swap, then we might very well be willing to go fly with three of four sensors. There's good flight rationale behind that."

But that remains an open question because not everyone believes NASA should change an LCC in the heat of a countdown. James Voss, a former astronaut and a CBS News consultant, reflected those views, saying "even though my personal feeling is it's probably safe, they can find ways to launch and it would still be a safe launch, with an anomaly that's unexplained like this, I don't think it's the right thing to do from a philosophical standpoint."

Mike Wetmore, director of shuttle processing at the Kennedy Space Center, said the current plan calls for launch attempts July 26 and 27, after which the team would stand down for 48 hours to service the shuttle's electrical generators. Two more attempts could be made on July 29 and 31 if necessary, with fuel cell servicing in between.

Discovery's launch window closes July 31. But mission managers are studying the possibility of extending it a few more days if necessary by giving up optimum lighting in orbit to photograph the external tank after it separates from the shuttle.

[GioFX]

Fuel sensor glitch a mystery as countdown begins

BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: July 23, 2005

NASA restarted the shuttle Discovery's countdown today, pressing for a Tuesday launch after extensive troubleshooting and a wiring change that engineers hope will resolve, if not fix, a fuel sensor problem that scrapped a July 13 launch try.

"We believe our flight systems and ground support hardware are ready, we know our flight crew and support teams are ready and we're all eagerly anticipating and looking forward to a successful launch and mission," said NASA test director Pete Nickolenko.

With forecasters predicting a 60 percent chance of good weather, NASA's shuttle team started a fresh countdown at noon, setting up a launch attempt at 10:39 a.m. EDT (1439 GMT) Tuesday, the same time shuttle Columbia blasted off on its final mission two-and-a-half years ago.

A detailed countdown timeline is posted here.

Shuttle forecaster Kathy Winters said the primary concern will be the development of a sea breeze Tuesday and showers that might move into the launch area from offshore. The outlook for Wednesday is 60 percent "go," improving to 70 percent should the flight slip to Thursday.

"In general, we've been keeping a close eye on tropical storm Franklin, but we're starting to get more confident in this northeasterly turn," Winters told reporters today . "For launch, basically what we're concerned about is the placement of that sea breeze and the timing of the development of those showers."

Discovery 's launch window, based on the international space station's orbit and a requirement to launch in daylight to verify post-Columbia fuel tank modifications, extends through July 31. If the weather or some other problem delays launch Tuesday, NASA can make attempts July 27, 29 and 31 or July 27, 30 and 31, depending on the weather and work to service the shuttle's electrical generators.

Engineers were hopeful earlier this week that electrical interference caused by subtle grounding problems might explain why one of four hydrogen fuel sensors in Discovery's external tank failed to respond properly to a pre-launch test July 13.

At it turned out, the three grounding problems were very minor - 0.2 milli-ohms of resistance or less - and engineers were never able to duplicate the unexpected behavior of ECO sensor No. 2. As such, the problem remains an "unexplained anomaly."

But NASA managers believe they have developed a strong rationale for proceeding with the 114th shuttle mission after an exhaustive battery of tests and work to swap the electrical cables routing commands and data from sensors 2 and 4 to an electronic component called a point sensor box.

If a problem shows up during fueling with sensor No. 4, engineers will have high confidence the problem is somewhere in the wiring between the point sensor box and the sensor itself, and not a generic problem that could affect the other three sensors. In that case, NASA's mission management team could consider making an exception to a launch commit criterion that calls for four operational sensors before a countdown can proceed.

The ECO sensor system is a backup that protects against other failures that might result in running the shuttle's main engines long enough to drain the external tank. Complete details on sensor operation and logic are available on the CBS News/Spaceflight Now ECO sensor page.

NASA's original flight rule, in place for the first 25 shuttle missions, only required three of four sensors because the system is redundant - three of the four sensors would have to "fail wet" to drain the tank after some other problem required their use in the first place - and to protect against the possibility of a faulty sensor, which cannot be easily replaced.

But after Challenger, engineers discovered a single-point failure mode in an electronics black box upstream of the point sensor box that could take out two fuel sensors at once. That failure mode was corrected several years ago, but the four-of-four LCC was never changed back to three of four.

If sensor No. 4 - the one now connected to the wiring that originally went to sensor No. 2 - acts up Tuesday, NASA may be forced to sign an exception to the LCC to permit Discovery to take off with three of four operational ECO sensors. If any other sensors misbehave, the launch will be called off and troubleshooters will go back to the drawing board.

"Certainly, if we get anything else new, that would certainly be a cause for a scrub condition," said NASA test director Pete Nickolenko. "If we were to see (problems with sensor No. 4), we can reasonably conclude it was related to that circuitry that was downstream of the point sensor box and then we could entertain that 3-of-4 flight rationale, which we have been working on developing. But anything other than that might implicate the point sensor box ... or something else in the wiring."

NASA's mission management team will meet Sunday afternoon to assess Discovery's readiness to launch, the status of the ECO sensor troubleshooting and whether or not to adopt a three-of-four strategy if sensor No. 4 does, in fact, act up. It's not yet clear whether the MMT has consensus to make an exception to the LCC or whether new NASA Administrator Mike Griffin will go along.

In any case, the sensors will be tested around 7:15 a.m. Tuesday as the astronauts are heading to the launch pad to strap in. The sensors will be tested again during a final hold at the T-minus nine-minute mark.

Engineers believe they have done everything possible to ensure all four sensors will work properly.

"The battery of testing and analysis that we've done so far leads us to believe we are confident that we've got good sensors," Nickolenko said. "The true proof will be when we perform the tanking operation for the launch attempt Tuesday morning. But so far, based on what I understand, we've got good sensor paths, we've got a good point sensor box, we've tested it as exhaustively as we possibly can."

The grounding problems discovered earlier this week were minor, but they were fixed anyway. The resistance across one ground was .2 milli-ohms, Nickolenko said, when the specification called for .1 milli-ohms. Two other grounds measured around .11 and .14 milli-ohms. All three were disconnected, the mating surfaces were sanded and the wires reconnected and bonded in place. Measurements showed all three were back within specifications.

Engineers said earlier this week that even subtle grounding problems could result in electromagnetic interference that might affect the signals to and from the ECO sensors. But again, engineers were not able to duplicate the failure signature and the problem remains an unexplained anomaly.

"We performed the EMI checks and we saw no anomalous indications and after reviewing that data, the troubleshooting team gave us the concurrence to proceed with the electrical ground repairs," Nickolenko said. "We're optimistic we're going to see all good sensors."

[GioFX]

MONDAY JULY 25, 2005
1943 GMT (3:43 p.m. EDT)

The rotating service structure has started rolling away from space shuttle Discovery, exposing the orbiter for the remainder of the countdown to tomorrow's launch.

The mobile structure provides the primary access and weather protection for Discovery during its stay on the launch pad. The RSS was used for installing the payloads into the shuttle and feeding the reactants into the ship's three electricity-generating fuel cells, too.

Measuring 102 feet long, 50 feet wide and 130 feet high, the structure swings 120 degrees via hinges from the fixed launch pad tower.

Once the RSS arrives in its parked position for launch, teams at pad 39B will spend the next several hours performing final work to secure the complex for liftoff. The pad will be cleared of all personnel before operations begin to load Discovery's external fuel tank with a half-million gallons of cryogenic propellants shortly after midnight.


1955 GMT (3:55 p.m. EDT)

The rotating service structure rollback is accelerating now that it work platforms are a safe distance from Discovery.


2015 GMT (4:15 p.m. EDT)

The rotating service structure appears to have completed its move. The operation took place nearly three hours later than planned after work at the launch pad fell behind schedule. Such delays are not uncommon and will not affect tomorrow's planned launch at 10:39 a.m. EDT (1439 GMT). The countdown has been in a planned built-in hold at T-11 hours since 4 a.m. this morning. The clocks will resume ticking at 6:44 p.m.

[GioFX]

0450 GMT (12:50 a.m. EDT)

Fueling operations have begun! The chilldown thermal conditioning of the propellant lines and Discovery's internal plumbing commenced at 12:48 a.m. EDT. The chilldown preps the systems for the shock from the super-cold cryogenic liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen fuels that will be pumped into the external tank this morning.


0504 GMT (1:04 a.m. EDT)

The slow-fill mode started for loading the liquid hydrogen into the external tank at 1:00 a.m. EDT. Liquid oxygen slow-fill should start in about 25 minutes. The slow-fill continues until the tank is five percent full, then the fast-fill starts.

There are actually two tanks inside the shuttle's orange bullet-shaped tank. The liquid oxygen tank fills the top third of the external tank. It will be filled with 143,000 gallons of liquid oxygen chilled to minus 298 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 183 degrees Celsius). 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 (minus 253 degrees Celsius).

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

The fueling process is being orchestrated by engineers in the safe confines of the Kennedy Space Center's Launch Control Center located about three-and-a-half miles from Discovery at launch pad 39B.


0530 GMT (1:30 a.m. EDT)

The launch team has begun its monitoring of the engine cutoff sensors in the bottom of the liquid hydrogen tank. Throughout the countdown the sensors will be carefully watched to ensure all four are operating properly. One gave faulty readings during the first launch attempt, forcing a scrub.

Meanwhile, the liquid oxygen at 1:26 a.m. EDT.


0544 GMT (1:44 a.m. EDT)

T-minus 5 hours and counting. Fueling operations continue without any problems being reported by NASA this morning.


0547 GMT (1:47 a.m. EDT)

All of the engine cutoff sensors are performing normally so far, including a successful simulation test in which the sensors were commanded to a "dry" state. During a similar test on the first launch attempt, sensor No. 2 remained stuck in a "wet" reading.

The liquid oxygen system transitioned to fast-fill at 1:40 a.m. EDT, followed four minutes later on the liquid hydrogen side. The fast-fill continues until each tank is 98 percent full. Topping then begins.

[GioFX]

0700 GMT (3:00 a.m. EDT)

The shuttle weather officer has just revised the forecast for launch time. There is now an 80 percent chance of acceptable weather at 10:39 a.m. EDT, an improvement from the 60 percent odds given earlier.


0744 GMT (3:44 a.m. EDT)

T-minus 3 hours and holding. Countdown clocks have entered a planned three-hour built-in hold in advance of today's launch of space shuttle Discovery. This is a standard hold in every shuttle countdown. However, NASA has extended it from the usual two hours to three hours to give the final inspection team more time to complete their ice and debris checks of the shuttle after fueling. The team will be sent to pad 39B to begin their inspections once fueling of Discovery is completed.


0746 GMT (3:46 a.m. EDT)

Filling of Discovery's external fuel tank with 528,000 gallons of super-cold liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen was officially completed 3:39 a.m. EDT.

But given the cryogenic nature of the oxidizer and propellant, the supplies naturally boil away. So the tanks are continuously topped off until the final minutes of the countdown in a procedure called "stable replenishment."

With the hazardous tanking operation completed, the Orbiter Closeout Crew and Final Inspection Team will be dispatched to the pad to perform their jobs. The closeout crew will ready Discovery's crew module for the astronauts' boarding in a couple of hours; and the inspection team will give the entire vehicle a check for any ice formation following fueling.


0803 GMT (4:03 a.m. EDT)

The Orbiter Closeout Crew has arrived in the White Room on the end of the Orbiter Access Arm catwalk that runs from the launch pad tower to Discovery's crew module. They will make final preparations to ready Discovery for the astronaut's arrival about two hours from now.

Also, the Final Inspection Team has begun its two-hour observations of the shuttle vehicle. They are standing atop the mobile launch platform, starting their work.


0815 GMT (4:15 a.m. EDT)

All continues to go smoothly in today's countdown for launch of space shuttle Discovery at 10:39 a.m. EDT. The ship's external fuel tank has been loaded with liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen. Shortly after the fueling process began, all four hydrogen and all four oxygen main engine cutoff - ECO sensors - registered "wet" when expected. Soon thereafter, engineers sent commands to simulate a dry tank and again, all eight sensors responded properly. The simulation commands are part of NASA's strategy to detect any sensors that might fail in the wet state like hydrogen ECO sensor No. 2 did during Discovery's first launch attempt July 13. So far, all of the sensors are responding normally.


0845 GMT (4:45 a.m. EDT)

Discovery's seven astronauts will be gathering for a pre-launch snack and photo opportunity in the dining room of crew quarters at 5 a.m. That will be followed by a weather briefing and then suitup. The crew will head for launch pad 39B at 6:49 a.m., arriving about 20 minutes later to begin boarding Discovery. The ship's crew compartment hatch should be closed for flight around 8:30 a.m.


0855 GMT (4:55 a.m. EDT)

The MILA tracking station here at Merritt Island has aligned its communications antennas with the launch pad and initial communications checks with the Air Force-controlled Eastern Range have been performed. Also, the pre-flight calibration of Discovery's three inertial measurement unit guidance computers began, NASA reports.


0900 GMT (5:00 a.m. EDT)

Discovery's seven astronauts are seated around the dining room table in crew quarters for a pre-launch snack. They were awakened at 12:30 a.m. EDT to begin the launch day activities at Kennedy Space Center. Just like the first launch attempt two weeks ago, flight engineer Steve Robinson was playing a guitar at the table.

After a bite to eat, commander Eileen Collins, pilot Jim Kelly and Robinson will receive a briefing on the weather forecast for KSC and abort landing sites in California, New Mexico, Spain and France. Then they will join their crewmates in the suit-up to don the launch and entry spacesuits in preparation for heading to pad 39B.


0900 GMT (5:00 a.m. EDT)

The inspection team is responsible for checking Discovery 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]

0915 GMT (5:15 a.m. EDT)

The inspection team is responsible for checking Discovery 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.


0923 GMT (5:23 a.m. EDT)

No significant problems or concerns have been reported by the inspection team so far.

[GioFX]

1030 GMT (6:30 a.m. EDT)

All seven astronauts have donned their day-glow orange launch and entry partial pressure spacesuits. After final adjustments and pressure checks, the crew plans to 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. We expect to see the crew walk out of the O&C Building around 6:49 a.m. EDT.


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

The countdown is entering the final four hours to launch of Discovery this morning. The Final Inspection Team has completed its observations at pad 39B. The team is headed to the Launch Control Center where a briefing will be giving to management on what was seen on the vehicle and pad structures.


1044 GMT (6:44 a.m. EDT)

T-minus 3 hours and counting. The countdown has resumed on scheduled 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 10:39 a.m. EDT launch time.


1049 GMT (6:49 a.m. EDT)

On their way! Commander Eileen Collins and her six fellow crewmates have emerged from the Kennedy Space Center crew quarters to board the AstroVan for the 7-mile ride from the Industrial Area to launch pad 39B on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean.

[GioFX]

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

The AstroVan is passing the 52-story Vehicle Assembly Building where Discovery was mated to its external tank and solid rocket boosters. Some reporters across the street at the press site are braving the weather and going outside to wave at the convoy as it passes by, which is a launch day tradition to say farewell and good luck to the astronaut crews.


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

Discovery's crew arrived at launch pad 39B at 7:07 a.m. The AstroVan just came to a stop on the pad surface near the Fixed Service Structure tower elevator that will take the seven-person crew to the 195-foot level to begin boarding the shuttle this morning.


1108 GMT (7:08 a.m. EDT)

The next round of tests on the engine cutoff sensors is beginning.


1111 GMT (7:11 a.m. EDT)

The Discovery astronauts have reached the 195-foot level of the tower.

[IcEMaN666]

dove si può seguire in diretta il lancio in tv?

[Pajuco]

dove si può seguire in diretta il lancio in tv?


piacerebbe vederlo anche a me in diretta, lo fanno vedere in italia ?

[matlore]

se volete si può seguire dal web...
io sono andato qui e ho trovato il link: http://www.publiweb.com/service/shuttle_lancio.html

[Octane]

Partito...

[Booyaka]

Ho visto il lancio in diretta su Fox News, ammazza che riprese! :eek:

C'era una telecamera montata sulla punta del serbatoione centrala e puntata verso il basso. A un certo punto si vedeva la Florida di sotto che diventava piccola ad una velocità spaventosa. :eek:

[Pajuco]

anch'io sono rimasto di stucco dalla velocità con cui è entrato in orbita, ha fatto cosi presto, ma a che velocità viaggia stò shuttle nel decollo ? :eek:

[duchetto]

dove trovo un video del lancio?

[maxsona]

La velocità di fuga dalla terra è di 11,2 Km/s :sofico:

[GioFX]

dove si può seguire in diretta il lancio in tv?

NASA TV (http://www.nasa.gov/ram/35037main_portal.ram)

[GioFX]

Per le informazioni sul sistema STS vi prego di leggervi il thread:

http://www.hwupgrade.it/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=749015

[GioFX]

Vi chiedo scusa ma per il lavoro non ho più potuto aggiornare il thread dopo le 13:15.

Vi posto il resto degli update fino all'ultimo disponibile, come sempre presi direttamente da Spaceflight Now (http://spaceflightnow.com):

1630 GMT (12:30 p.m. EDT)

The shuttle Discovery, carrying seven astronauts, critical space station supplies and the hopes of a nation, rocketed smoothly into orbit today in a nerve-wracking bid to revive America's space program two-and-a-half years after the Columbia disaster. Read our full story.

1605 GMT (12:05 p.m. EDT)

Mission management team chairmain Wayne Hale says he doesn't know any details about the debris coming off the tank noted just after booster separation. He said the film experts will be studying all launch footage frame by frame, as was planned going into this first post-Columbia launch.

1559 GMT (11:59 a.m. EDT)

The post-launch press conference is beginning here at Kennedy Space Center.

1522 GMT (11:22 a.m. EDT)

An image from the external tank video shows the chunk of debris breaking away from the tank just after the solid boosters separated. See the image here.

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

T+plus 39 minutes, 30 seconds. The twin Orbital Maneuvering System engines on the tail of Discovery have been fired successfully to propel the shuttle the rest of the way to orbit. The new orbit is 142 by 98 statute miles. The next maneuvering burn is coming up around 4 p.m. EDT to raise the orbit to 191 by 141 miles as the rendezvous continues to reach the station.

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

T+plus 38 minutes, 20 seconds. The maneuvering engines have ignited for the orbit raising burn.

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

T+plus 33 minutes. A few seconds after solid rocket booster separation, a large chunk of something broke free from the external fuel tank. The onboard video camera mounted on the tank showed the object flying away from the vehicle without striking Discovery.

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

T+plus 32 minutes. Discovery will be reorienting itself into the upcoming OMS engine firing, which will boost the shuttle into an orbit of 140 by 98 statute miles.

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

T+plus 30 minutes. The two flapper doors on the belly of Discovery are being swung closed to shield the umbilicals that had connected to the external fuel tank.

1454 GMT (10:54 a.m. EDT)

T+plus 15 minutes. This morning's launch appeared to go smoothly with no system problems reported in Mission Control.

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

T+plus 14 minutes. Discovery has reached a preliminary sub-orbital trajectory of 137 by 36 statute miles. In about 23 minutes, the Orbital Maneuvering System engines will be fired to raise the low point to a safe altitude.

1450 GMT (10:50 a.m. EDT)

T+plus 11 minutes, 45 seconds. Andy Thomas is taking still images while Soichi Noguchi shoots camcorder video.

1448 GMT (10:48 a.m. EDT)

T+plus 9 minutes, 50 seconds. Commander Collins will be pitching Discovery so the crew can use cameras to image the just-discard external fuel tank.

1448 GMT (10:48 a.m. EDT)

T+plus 9 minutes, 25 seconds. A normal engine cutoff occurred and an additional boost from the Orbital Maneuvering System engines is not required.

1447 GMT (10:47 a.m. EDT)

T+plus 8 minutes, 48 seconds. The emptied external tank has been jettisoned from the belly of space shuttle Discovery. The tank will fall back into the atmosphere where it will burn up harmlessly.

1447 GMT (10:47 a.m. EDT)

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

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

T+plus 7 minutes, 35 seconds. The main engines beginning to throttle back to ease the force of gravity on the shuttle and astronauts.

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

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

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

T+plus 6 minutes, 30 seconds. The shuttle can now reach orbit on two engines.

1444 GMT (10:44 a.m. EDT)

T+plus 5 minutes, 55 seconds. Discovery is rolling to a heads-up position.

1444 GMT (10:44 a.m. EDT)

T+plus 5 minutes, 25 seconds. Discovery can now reach a orbit on the power of two main engines should one fail. But all three continue to fire properly.

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

T+plus 4 minutes, 50 seconds. Discovery is 200 miles northeast of the launch pad at an altitude of 65 miles, traveling over 6,000 mph.

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

T+plus 4 minutes, 10 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.

1442 GMT (10:42 a.m. EDT)

T+plus 3 minutes, 15 seconds. Discovery is 85 miles northeast of the launch pad at an altitude of 48 miles and traveling 4,500 mph.

1442 GMT (10:42 a.m. EDT)

T+plus 3 minutes. Discovery's main engines continue to fire, guzzling a half-ton of propellant per second.

1441 GMT (10:41 a.m. EDT)

T+plus 2 minutes, 10 seconds. The twin solid rocket boosters have done their job and separated from the space shuttle Discovery. The shuttle continues its climb to orbit on the power of the three liquid-fueled main engines.

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

T+plus 90 seconds. All systems of Discovery are performing well as the shuttle accelerates to orbit. Burning propellant at remarkable rates, the shuttle weighs half of what it did at liftoff.

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

T+plus 75 seconds. Discovery's engines have revved back to full throttle. Mission Control has given the "go" at throttle call and commander Eileen Collins has acknowledged that. No problems have been reported in this morning's ascent.

1439 GMT (10:39 a.m. EDT)

T+plus 35 seconds. Discovery's three main engines are being throttled down to lessen the aerodynamic stresses on the vehicle as it powers through the dense lower atmosphere.

1439 GMT (10:39 a.m. EDT)

T+plus 20 seconds. The shuttle has rolled to the proper heading for its northeasterly trajectory up the Eastern Seaboard on the two-day chase to catch the orbiting International Space Station. The outpost is currently flying half-a-world away above the southern Indian Ocean.

1439 GMT (10:39 a.m. EDT)

LIFTOFF! America's space shuttle program returns to flight as Discovery clears the tower!

1438 GMT (10:38 a.m. EDT)

T-minus 31 seconds. Auto sequence start. Discovery's onboard computers have taken control of the final half-minute of the countdown.

In the next few seconds the solid rocket booster hydraulic power units will be started, a steering check of the booster nozzles will be performed and the orbiter's body flap and speed brake will be moved to their launch positions. The main engine ignition will begin at T-minus 6.6 seconds.

1438 GMT (10:38 a.m. EDT)

T-minus 1 minute. Computers verifying that the main engines are ready for ignition. Sound suppression water system is armed. System will activate at T-minus 16 seconds to suppress the sound produced at launch. Residual hydrogen burn ignitors have been armed. They will be fired at T-minus 10 seconds to burn off any hydrogen gas from beneath the main engine nozzles. And the solid rocket booster joint heaters have been deactivated.

Shortly the external tank strut heaters will be turned off; Discovery 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.

1437 GMT (10:37 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 of the flight load of liquid hydrogen in the external tank will be terminated and tank pressurization will begin.

1436 GMT (10:36 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.

Discovery's 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 Jim Kelly has been asked to clear the caution and warning memory system aboard Discovery.

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

1436 GMT (10:36 a.m. EDT)

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

1435 GMT (10:35 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.

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

T-minus 4 minutes. Activation of the APUs complete. The three units are up and running. The final helium purge sequence is under way in the main propulsion system. This procedure readies fuel system valves for engine start. In the next few seconds the aerosurfaces of Discovery 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.

1434 GMT (10:34 a.m. EDT)

T-minus 5 minutes. The "go" has been given for for Auxiliary Power Unit start. Pilot Jim Kelly is now flipping three switches in Discovery's cockpit to start each of the three APU's. The units, located in the aft compartment of Discovery, 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 are 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 Eileen Collins, 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.

1433 GMT (10:33 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 now in the record mode to collect measurements of shuttle systems performance during flight.

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

T-minus 6 minutes. Pilot Jim Kelly has been asked by Orbiter Test Conductor Mark Taffet 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.

1431 GMT (10:31 a.m. EDT)

T-minus 7 minutes, 30 seconds. The ground launch sequencer is now 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 Discovery a few hours ago. The arm can be re-extended in about a quarter of a minute should the need arise later in the countdown.

1431 GMT (10:31 a.m. EDT)

T-minus 8 minutes and counting. Pilot Jim Kelly has flipped the switches in the cockpit of Discovery 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.

1430 GMT (10:30 a.m. EDT)

T-minus 9 minutes and counting. The ground launch sequencer is now controlling the final phase of today's countdown to launch of space shuttle Discovery at 10:39 a.m. EDT. The GLS will monitor as many as a thousand different measurements to ensure they do not fall out of predetermine red-line limits.

1428 GMT (10:28 a.m. EDT)

The countdown 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 Discovery to complete their own automatic sequence of events through the final half minute of the countdown.

1426 GMT (10:26 a.m. EDT)

NASA Launch Director Mike Leinbach has finished his final poll. He has wished commander Collins and crew "good luck and God speed!" Launch is set for 10:39 a.m.

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

The final readiness poll by NASA Test Director Jeff Spaulding has been completed with all launch team members reporting "go", including the orbiter, external tank, solid rocket boosters, safety personnel, Eastern Range and the astronaut crew.

1422 GMT (10:22 a.m. EDT)

Standing by for the status polls to give approval to continue with the countdown.

1419 GMT (10:19 a.m. EDT)

The Eastern Range has confirmed its clearance for launch this morning.

1418 GMT (10:18 a.m. EDT)

The Orbiter Closeout Crew has arrived back at the fallback area a safe distance from the launch pad.

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

The final test of the engine cutoff sensors has been completed. All of the sensors continue to operate normally in today's countdown.

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

Now 30 minutes away from launch time.

Two solid rocket booster recovery ships -- the Freedom Star and Liberty Star -- are on station in the Atlantic Ocean about 140 miles northeast of Kennedy Space Center, off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida. They were deployed from Port Canaveral on Sunday to support the launch.

The ships will retrieve and return the spent boosters to the Cape for disassembly and shipment back to Utah for refurbishment and reuse on a future shuttle launch.

Following the boosters' parachuted descent and splashdown in the Atlantic, the recovery teams will configure the SRBs for tow back to Port Canaveral this week.

1351 GMT (9:51 a.m. EDT)

All of the optical tracking sites are reporting to be ready for observing Discovery's launch. A pair of WB-57 high-altitude aircraft are flying off the coast in a holding pattern to intercept the shuttle to provide a never-before-seen view of Discovery during ascent.

1345 GMT (9:45 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 10:39:00 a.m. EDT. There are no significant technical problems being reported and the weather is just fine.

1342 GMT (9:42 a.m. EDT)

The Main Propulsion System helium system is being reconfigured by pilot Kelly. Soon the gaseous nitrogen purge to the aft skirts of the solid rocket boosters will be started.

1339 GMT (9:39 a.m. EDT)

T-minus 15 minutes. Now one hour away from launch time. Pilot Jim Kelly is configuring the displays inside Discovery's cockpit for launch while commander Eileen Collins enables the abort steering instrumentation. And Mission Control in Houston is loading Discovery's onboard computers with the proper guidance parameters based on the projected launch time.

1334 GMT (9:34 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 adjust to synch up with today's preferred launch time of 10:39 a.m.

Discovery's 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.

1331 GMT (9:31 a.m. EDT)

The launch team has received a briefing on today's countdown from the NASA test director. Clocks will resume in three minutes.

1324 GMT (9:24 a.m. EDT)

T-minus 20 minutes and holding. The countdown has paused for a 10-minute built-in hold. Launch remains scheduled for 10:39 a.m. EDT.

During this built-in hold, all computer programs in Firing Room 3 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.

1316 GMT (9:16 a.m. EDT)

The shuttle's backup flight control system (BFS) computer has been configured. It would be used today in the event of emergency landing.

Also, the primary avionics software system (PASS) has transferred to Discovery's BFS computer so both systems can be synched with the same data. In case of a PASS computer system failure, the BFS computer will take over control of the shuttle vehicle during flight.

1314 GMT (9:14 a.m. EDT)

Commander Eileen Collins has pressurized the gaseous nitrogen system for Discovery's Orbital Maneuvering System engines, and pilot Jim Kelly has activated the gaseous nitrogen supply for the orbiter's Auxiliary Power Units' water boilers.

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

The weather forecast has improved once again. The prediction now calls for a 90 percent chance of acceptable conditions at the 10:39 a.m. EDT launch time. Weather at the abort landing sites across the Atlantic shouldn't be a stopper in the countdown either, meteorologists say.

1306 GMT (9:06 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.

1305 GMT (9:05 a.m. EDT)

The crew module hatch is closed and latched for flight.

1300 GMT (9:00 a.m. EDT)

Discovery's crew module hatch has swung shut and the Orbiter Closeout Crew is working to latch it. Pressure and leak checks will be performed shortly to ensure a good seal on the hatch for today's launch.

Meanwhile, the Ground Launch Sequencer mainline activation is starting. The GLS is the master computer program that controls the final 9 minutes of the countdown, monitoring as many as a 1,000 different systems and measurements to ensure they do not fall out of pre-determined limits.

1257 GMT (8:57 a.m. EDT)

The "go" has been given to close the shuttle's crew compartment hatch.

1251 GMT (8:51 a.m. EDT)

The official launch window today extends from 10:34:33 to 10:43:52 a.m. EDT. The preferred liftoff time that NASA is targeting is 10:39:00 a.m. for better launch performance.

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

The pre-flight alignment of Discovery's Inertial Measurement Units is underway and will be completed by the T-minus 20 minute mark. The IMUs were calibrated over the past few hours of the countdown. The three units are used by the onboard navigation systems to determine the position of the orbiter in flight.

Meanwhile, the S-band antennas at the MILA tracking station here at the Cape will soon shift from low power to high power. The site will provide voice, data and telemetry relay between Discovery and Mission Control during the first few minutes of flight. Coverage then is handed to a NASA Tracking and Data Relay Satellite in space.

1245 GMT (8:45 a.m. EDT)

The Orbiter Closeout Crew is removing all non-flight items from Discovery in advance of closing the hatch for flight.

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

The official target launch time has been revised to 10:39:00 a.m. EDT, based on the orbit of the international space station.

1242 GMT (8:42 a.m. EDT)

All of the weather rules are "go" for launch right now.

1232 GMT (8:32 a.m. EDT)

A series routine communications checks between the Discovery crew and various audio channels is underway.

1214 GMT (8:14 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 10:39 a.m.

With all seven astronauts inside Discovery's crew module, preparations will soon begin to close the hatch by the Orbiter Closeout Crew.

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.

1208 GMT (8:08 a.m. EDT)

The seventh and final member of Discovery's crew is now inside the shuttle. Mission specialist No. 2, Steve Robinson, is heading to the flight deck's center seat.

Robinson has flown on two earlier shuttle missions in the late 1990s. Read his biography here.

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

The countdown is still ticking along without any problems. The weather conditions are favorable and the engine cutoff sensors that caused the scrub two weeks ago are operating normally today.

1154 GMT (7:54 a.m. EDT)

Japanese astronaut and Discovery's mission specialist No. 1, Soichi Noguchi, is climbing to the flight deck aft-right seat.

Noguchi will be making his first flight into space on STS-114. Read his biography here.

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

Astronaut Wendy Lawrence, mission specialist No. 4, has crawled through the hatch. She will take the middeck's center seat.

Lawrence is a three-time shuttle flier. Read her biography here.

1139 GMT (7:39 a.m. EDT)

Now three hours from launch.

1137 GMT (7:37 a.m. EDT)

Mission specialist No. 3 Andy Thomas is aboard Discovery now. He is positioned closest to the hatch in the left seat on the middeck.

Thomas is the most experienced space traveler of Discovery's crew. He spent four months living aboard the Russian space station Mir in 1998, plus flew shuttle missions in 1996 and 2001. Read his biography here.

1131 GMT (7:31 a.m. EDT)

Pilot Jim Kelly is the next crewmember to enter the shuttle. He is making his way to the flight deck's front-right seat.

Kelly has one previous shuttle flight to his credit. Read his biography here.

1123 GMT (7:23 a.m. EDT)

Now climbing through the hatch is mission specialist No. 5, Charlie Camarda. He is assigned the right seat on the middeck.

Camarda is a spaceflight rookie, Read his biography here.

1118 GMT (7:18 a.m. EDT)

As shuttle commander, Collins is the first astronaut to board the shuttle. She is taking her forward-left seat on the flight deck.

Collins has flown in space on three earlier missions, becoming the first woman shuttle pilot and commander. Read her biography here.

1112 GMT (7:12 a.m. EDT)

Commander Eileen Collins has made her way across the catwalk-like Orbiter Access Arm to the White Room positioned against the side of Discovery. The closeout crew is helping her don other survival gear.

[GioFX]

1745 GMT (1:45 p.m. EDT)

The astronauts are settling into life in space aboard Discovery. The payload bay doors were opened a little more than an hour ago and the crew is progressing through their post-launch activities.

The ascent flight control team in Houston has completed its job today, turning duties over to the Orbit 2 team of controllers for the rest of the astronauts' day. Many of the ascent team members will handle entry and landing for Discovery's return to Earth on August 7.

"We know the folks back on the planet Earth are just feeling great right now and our thanks to everybody for all of the super work that's been down over the past two-and-a-half years to get us flying again," commander Eileen Collins radioed CAPCOM astronaut Ken Ham in Mission Control.

"And I do want to pass on from those of us who have flown before, that was by far the smoothest ascent through first stage and up to MECO (main engine cutoff) that we've ever experienced. And the great weather and everything put together, nice ascent with no malfunctions, (you) couldn't ask for a better flight. So thanks to everybody down there on the ascent team and we're looking forward to seeing ya in 12 or 13 days for entry and landing."

"You got it Eileen," Ham replied. "We'll bring you home safe then."

Crew sleep time will be coming up at 4:39 p.m. EDT. A mission status briefing follows at 5 p.m. EDT.

[GioFX]

Discovery launches!

BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: July 26, 2005

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. - The shuttle Discovery, carrying seven astronauts, critical space station supplies and the hopes of a nation, rocketed smoothly into orbit today in a nerve-wracking bid to revive America's space program two-and-a-half years after the Columbia disaster.

"We know the folks back on the planet Earth are just feeling great right now and our thanks to everybody for all of the super work that's been down over the past two-and-a-half years to get us flying again," commander Eileen Collins radioed after reaching orbit. "That was by far the smoothest ascent ... that we've ever experienced. (You) couldn't ask for a better flight."

With commander Eileen Collins and pilot James "Vegas" Kelly at the controls, Discovery's three hydrogen-fueled main engines shuddered to life at 10:39 a.m. EDT (1439 GMT), throttling up to full power with a rush of flame and thunder.

Six-point-six seconds later, with the spacecraft straining against massive hold-down posts, the shuttle's two solid-fuel boosters ignited with a crackling roar, eight explosive bolts detonated and the spaceplane majestically vaulted skyward from launch pad 39B.

Climbing straight up atop twin jets of bright-orange 5,000-degree flame, Discovery rolled about its vertical axis and lined up on a trajectory paralleling the East Coast, the crew in a heads-down position beneath the ship's huge external tank.

It was a thrilling moment for thousands of area residents, tourists and countless engineers and technicians who worked virtually around the clock through weekends and holidays to recover from the Feb. 1, 2003, Columbia disaster and, more recently, problems with a fuel tank sensor that blocked a July 13 launch attempt.

Despite extensive troubleshooting, engineers were never able to pin down exactly what went wrong. But based on the results of the testing and additional checks built into today's countdown, NASA managers were prepared to waive a launch commit criterion to permit a launch with three operational sensors.

Debate about changing the rule in the heat of a flight campaign reminded many observers of schedule-driven management failures cited by the Columbia Accident Investigation Board. But top shuttle managers said safety was never at risk in today's campaign and that the decision to proceed was based on a solid understanding of the problem.

As it turned out, all four sensors worked flawlessly today, the launch rule was not changed and Discovery was cleared for flight as is.

Even so, memories of Columbia's Feb. 1, 2003, destruction - triggered by the impact of foam debris 81.7 seconds after launch 16 days earlier - were never far from mind as Discovery roared away through a partly cloudy sky. The shuttle's powerful booster rockets were jettisoned as planned two minutes and five seconds after liftoff, falling back to Earth as the shuttle smoothly accelerated toward space.

A new camera mounted on the shuttle's external fuel tank showed what looked like a relatively large piece of debris falling away a few seconds after the right-side booster separated. At least one other, much smaller piece of apparent debris also was visible a few seconds later.

The objects did not strike the space shuttle and it's not yet known how large the debris might have been or where it originated. They might have been related to the booster separation sequence, but NASA managers would not speculate until the image analysis team completed its work.

"It's a little early to make comments on what's going on," said Wayne Hale, chairman of NASA's mission management team. "You have to have some experience and some knowledge to be able to interpret the photography."

He said radar tracking showed no signs of anything significant flying away from the shuttle, "but we'll have to see. The guys are going over (the imagery) frame by frame and tomorrow we'll have a better story for you."

Minimizing debris shedding was a major goal of NASA's post-Columbia recovery and more than 112 television cameras, high-speed film and movie cameras and powerful radars were focused on Discovery as it climbed away, looking for any signs of ice or foam shaking off the shuttle's external fuel tank.

Two WB-57 jet aircraft, flying to either side of the shuttle's ground track at an altitude of 60,000 feet, used nose-cone mounted telescopes and high-definition TV cameras to monitor the shuttle through booster separation. The WB-57 video was not expected back on the ground for several hours and hard drives from the high definition TV cameras had to be collected before image analysts could begin their work.

NASA Administrator Michael Griffin urged reporters to give the image analysis team time to do its work.

"Our guys are going to take a really serious look at the end-to-end footage and in fact, a danger would be possibly seeing something that's very large and visible that we haven't had a chance to look at and ignore something that would be smaller and more significant.

"The guys are going to take a professional look at every frame of footage that we have from every camera that we have. Because as I've said, these are test flights right now. The primary object under test is the external tank and all of the design changes we made to that tank so we'd never have a repeat of (Columbia)."


It will take engineers several days to review all the launch imagery, data from new impact sensors in Discovery's wings and to conduct extensive inspections in orbit using a new TV/laser scanning device and cameras aboard the international space station.

Engineers fully expect to see signs of impact damage even though the shuttle's external tank has been redesigned to minimize ice formation and foam shedding. But if any major damage is, in fact, detected, flight controllers are spring loaded to carry out additional inspections to precisely characterize the damage before considering what, if anything, might need to be done.

Unlike Columbia's ill-fated crew, the Discovery astronauts are equipped with rudimentary repair equipment that will be tested during the first of three planned spacewalks after docking with the international space station Friday. But it is doubtful NASA would ask a crew to rely on untried repair procedures if serious damage is, in fact, detected.

In a worst-case scenario, Collins and company more likely would be asked to move into the space station to await rescue by another shuttle crew. In that scenario, Discovery would be undocked by remote control from the Johnson Space Center in Houston and guided to an unmanned re-entry and breakup over the Pacific Ocean.

But NASA managers - and the astronauts - were confident the tank redesigns would be up to the task, allowing them to focus on the goals of the long-awaited mission.

"There will be debris, there will be some damage, I'm convinced of that," Discovery's flight engineer, Stephen Robinson, told CBS News before launch. "If there isn't, that'll be great but I'll sure be surprised. I would be very surprised if it's critical damage, damage that won't allow us to fly home on. But here's the thing. We'll know it. We won't have to wonder. We'll know it.

"We'll have the technology now for the first time on this mission to take a look at it with all the cameras and sensors. This is the way we verify all the engineering that's been done. So we'll get to look at our bird before we come home.

"Then, on top of that, if the worst on worst on worst happens and we do have critical damage, the space station will (be available for safe haven), we won't have to risk our lives coming back through the atmosphere. This is what gives me tremendous confidence and makes me feel very lucky I'm flying now."

Joining Collins, Kelly and Robinson aboard Discovery were Andrew Thomas, Wendy Lawrence, Charles Camarda and Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi. The goal of the 114th shuttle mission is to deliver critical supplies and equipment to the space station; to bring no-longer-needed hardware and trash back to Earth; to test rudimentary tile and wing leading edge repair techniques; and to install a new gyroscope in the space station's orientation control system.

The gyro installation, heat shield repair tests and work to attach tools needed for upcoming station assembly flights will be carried out during three spacewalks later in the mission.

But the first item on the agenda after reaching orbit was for Noguchi to photograph Discovery's empty external fuel tank as it drifted away to find out if any foam insulation came off during the climb to space.

Data collected from scores of impact sensors mounted behind the shuttle's reinforced carbon carbon wing leading edge panels will be downlinked to flight controllers overnight for detailed analysis.

The astronauts plan to spend all day Wednesday inspecting the exterior of the leading edge panels, the RCC nose cap and heat-shield tiles around the crew cabin for any signs of impact damage, either due to ice or foam.

Columbia was destroyed during re-entry because of a hole in an RCC panel on its left wing, which allow super-heated air to burn its way inside as the ship plunged back into Earth's atmosphere. The wing melted from the inside out, triggering Columbia's breakup.

Lost in the disaster were commander Rick Husband, pilot William "Willie" McCool, flight engineer Kalpana Chawla, David Brown, Michael Anderson, Laurel Clark and Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon.

The Columbia Accident Investigation Board blamed the disaster on the separation of a suitcase-sized chunk of foam from an aerodynamically shaped ramp intended to prevent ice from building up around the struts holding the shuttle's nose to the external tank. A large piece of insulation from the same area broke away from a shuttle two missions earlier. But NASA managers concluded it did not represent a safety-of-flight issue and cleared the next two missions for launch while a fix was designed.

The accident board faulted that decision, saying NASA managers never recognized the threat posed by foam debris and instead had come to accept debris shedding as normal. Minor foam impact damage was seen on every flight even though NASA's original design criteria called for a debris-free fuel tank.

The accident board also found fault with how NASA responded to the launch-day strike on Columbia, saying poor communications and the agency's institutional "culture" prevented concerns from lower-level engineers from reaching senior managers. Those managers concluded Columbia could safely re-enter "as is" and never ordered spy satellite photographs that might have revealed the full extent of the damage.

Most engineers believe Columbia's crew could not have been saved even if those steps had been taken, but many fault agency management for not giving the team a chance to come up with a solution.

The Columbia Accident Investigation Board made 29 recommendations for improving management and flight safety, including 15 that had to be implemented before the shuttle program could resume missions. An independent panel of experts ultimately concluded NASA had fully implemented 12 of the recommendations but had fallen short on the three most critical requirements: eliminating all debris shedding from the external tank; initiating a program to strengthen the tiles and RCC panels to make them more resistent to impacts; and developing reliable tile and RCC repair techniques to cope with any damage that might occur.

But over the past two-and-a-half years, NASA has learned that it is impossible to eliminate all debris from the tank given its current design. A program to strengthen the leading edge panels was canceled after President Bush ordered the agency to retire the shuttle fleet by 2010. And in a sort of "Catch-22," NASA was unable to develop reliable repair procedures without first testing them in space.

But the review panel did not suggest NASA should not launch Discovery, merely that the recommendations, as written, were not fully implemented. Retired Adm. Harold Gehman, chairman of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board, agreed NASA had met the intent of the recommendations and "I know of no reason why they should not proceed with the launch."

For his part, Griffin said NASA had done everything humanly possible to fix the shuttle program's shortcomings and that any additional delay would only produce incremental improvements in safety.

"If we ground the shuttle fleet, we're not going to be able to complete station assembly, we're not going to be able to do other things that we want to do," he said before launch. "If, of course, we believe that all debris sources have been reduced to a level low enough that the shuttle outer mold lines won't be damaged, then the tile repair issue becomes kind of moot.

"We're in that gray area where we believe we have greatly reduced the risk due to debris, foam and ice, but not so much we're completely comfortable with it. So the STS-114 crew ... will be lifting off in the face of a known risk. In that vein I want to point out this is a test flight. In a sense, they're all test flights."

Here is the flight plan for the rest of this evening and Thursday (acronyms: OBSS - orbiter boom sensor system; RMS - remote manipulator system, or robot arm; OMS POD - orbital maneuvering system rocket pod; SAFER - simplified aid for EVA resuce; a jet backpack):


NOTE: VIEW WITH FIXED-WIDTH FONT

REV...EVENT..........................MET in DD/HH:MM...EDT........GMT

July 26

....LAUNCH............................KSC...00/00:00...10:39 AM...14:39
....MECO....................................00/00:08...10:47 AM...14:47
1...LAUNCH REPLAYS....................KSC...00/00:17...10:56 AM...14:56
1...POST LAUNCH NEWS CONFERENCE.......KSC...00/01:06...11:45 AM...15:45
2...PAYLOAD BAY DOOR OPENING................00/01:27...12:06 PM...16:06
3...RMS CHECKOUT............................00/03:05...01:44 PM...17:44
3...FLIGHT CONTROL TEAM VIDEO REPLAY..JSC...00/03:21...02:00 PM...18:00
3...RMS IMAGING OF KU ANTENNA CLEARANCE.....00/03:55...02:34 PM...18:34
4...LAUNCH ENGINEERING REPLAYS........KSC...00/05:21...04:00 PM...20:00
5...DISCOVERY CREW SLEEP BEGINS.............00/06:00...04:39 PM...20:39
5...MISSION STATUS BRIEFING...........JSC...00/06:21...05:00 PM...21:00
5...FLIGHT DAY 1 HIGHLIGHTS...........JSC...00/07:21...06:00 PM...22:00
6...VIDEO FILE.........................HQ...00/08:21...07:00 PM...23:00

July 27

10...DISCOVERY CREW WAKE UP.................00/14:00...12:39 AM...04:39
12...WB-57 VIDEO REPLAY...............KSC...00/16:21...03:00 AM...07:00
12...RMS CHECKOUT...........................00/16:30...03:09 AM...07:09
12...FLIGHT DIRECTOR UPDATE...........JSC...00/16:51...03:30 AM...07:30
12...RMS GRAPPLE & UNBERTH OF OBSS..........00/17:15...03:54 AM...07:54
12...Ku BAND ANTENNA DEPLOYMENT.............00/17:30...04:09 AM...08:09
13...OMS POD PHOTOGRAPHY....................00/18:00...04:39 AM...08:39
13...RENDEZVOUS TOOLS CHECKOUT BEGINS.......00/18:40...05:19 AM...09:19
13...RMS/OBSS SURVEY........................00/18:45...05:24 AM...09:24
13...SAFER CHECKOUT.........................00/19:10...05:49 AM...09:49
15...AIRLOCK PREPARATION....................00/21:10...07:49 AM...11:49
15...EMU CHECKOUT...........................00/22:00...08:39 AM...12:39
15...ODS RING EXTENSION.....................00/22:15...08:54 AM...12:54
17...OBSS BERTH.............................01/00:10...10:49 AM...14:49
17...MISSION STATUS BRIEFING..........JSC...01/00:21...11:00 AM...15:00
17...RMS SURVEY OF DISCOVERY................01/00:55...11:34 AM...15:34
18...VTR PLAYBACK OF OBSS VIDEO.............01/02:30...01:09 PM...17:09
20...VIDEO FILE........................HQ...00/04:21...03:00 PM...19:00
20...DISCOVERY CREW SLEEP BEGINS............01/05:00...03:39 PM...19:39
20...FLIGHT DAY 2 HIGHLIGHTS..........JSC...01/05:21...04:00 PM...20:00
22...POST-MMT BRIEFING................JSC...01/07:21...06:00 PM...22:00
24...POST-MMT BRIEFING REPLAY.........JSC...01/11:21...10:00 PM...02:00

[Booyaka]

Per le informazioni sul sistema STS vi prego di leggervi il thread:

http://www.hwupgrade.it/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=74901
Mi da questo errore:
Nessuna Discussione specificata. Se sei arrivato qui tramite un collegamento valido ti preghiamo di segnalare la cosa al webmaster

[GioFX]

Mi da questo errore:
Nessuna Discussione specificata. Se sei arrivato qui tramite un collegamento valido ti preghiamo di segnalare la cosa al webmaster

scusa, ho dimenticato un 5... ;)

http://www.hwupgrade.it/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=749015

Per informazioni tecniche, segnalo la Shuttle Reference:

Sito ufficiale: http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/reference/index.html

Shuttle Reference manual: http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/reference/shutref/index.html

[*sasha ITALIA*]

27/7/2005
Discovery, Nasa indaga su frammenti

on si vuole ripetere tragedia Columbia
Anche se, dopo il decollo, a bordo della navetta spaziale Discovery sta andando tutto bene, i tecnici della NASA non possono nascondere la preoccupazione che suscitano i due frammenti precipitati a terra, separatamente, dopo il lancio dello shuttle. I tecnici stanno indagando per poter escludere qualsiasi rischio che possa ripetersi la tragedia del Columbia, esplosa al rientro nell'atmosfera terrestre.


La caduta dei frammenti della navetta si è vista distintamente sugli schermi ove passavano le immagini delle numerose telecamere disposte per riprendere il lancio da ogni angolazione possibile. Il più inquietante dei due frammenti è il più piccolo, perché proviene dal rivestimento della navetta. I tecnici vorrebbero poter escludere qualsiasi rischio che possa ripetersi la tragedia del Columbia, l'ultima navetta spaziale prima di quella partita ieri, conclusasi tragicamente il 1 febbraio 2003 quando, al rientro nell'atmosfera terrestre, il rivestimento anti-termico dello scafo cedette perché era stato lesionato al momento del decollo, colpito da un altro frammento di un rivestimento a perdere: l'intera navetta andò in pezzi e si disintegrò negli strati più alti dell'atmosfera. L'altro pezzo caduto al decollo ha dimensioni maggiori, ma a quanto pare la sua natura appare meno preoccupante.

Il frammento di rivestimento è lungo quasi quattro centimetri, e sembra essersi staccato dal carrello di atterraggio destro anteriore della navetta. E' ancora da individuare il punto di provenienza dell'altro frammento, che sembra essersi staccato al momento in cui il grande razzo vettore si è staccato dalla navetta, dopo avere esaurito la sua spinta, senza toccarne lo scafo.

Un gruppo di specialisti è stato allertato perché esamini le immagini disponibili della fase del decollo e distacco della navetta, e nei prossimi due giorni sono state programmate ispezioni esterne da effettuare nello spazio, con le video-camere in dotazione a bordo del Discovery. Il tecnico della NASA John Channon, che coordina l'esame dei due frammenti e delle immagini del decollo per localizzare il punto del loro distacco, afferma che per ora "è troppo presto" per valutare il pericolo per la missione.

[Athlon]

ma dal discovery gli astronauti possono uscire per un eventuale ispezione manuale dello scafo???

[icestorm82]

ma dal discovery gli astronauti possono uscire per un eventuale ispezione manuale dello scafo???

E' una cosa non pianificata, cmq credo di si. L'importante è sapere che il problema c'è ed è reale. Non come sul Columbia che nessuno sapeva. Speriamo bene. Ah, permettetemi un commento. Nessuna televisione nazionale ha trasmesso il lancio ( :rolleyes: ); probabilmente ritenevano che gli stupidi telefilm che passano a quell'ora fanno più odience di un lancio dello shuttle così importante. Mah :rolleyes: . Personalmente l'ho visto su Fox Tv, riprese eccezionali, tranne per il fatto che, a causa del mio inglese un po' arrugginito non capivo alcuni concetti tecnici su cui si discuteva. Cmq per chi volesse seguire lo svolgimento della missione vada qui

http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html

[drakend]

S'è ancora danneggiato lo shuttle? Dopo tutto il tempo e i soldi che hanno speso per migliorare la sicurezza? Che si sparassero... :rolleyes:

[thotgor]

progettare qualcosa di nuovo no??

[icestorm82]

S'è ancora danneggiato lo shuttle? Dopo tutto il tempo e i soldi che hanno speso per migliorare la sicurezza? Che si sparassero... :rolleyes:

Nessuna macchina è perfetta, nemmeno la più costosa e collaudata del mondo. E cmq a bordo dello shuttle ci sono tutti i mezzi per ovviare al problema. E in caso di danno irreparabile gli astronauti potranno stare nella stazione spaziale il tempo necessario per organizzare un viaggio di soccorso.

[icestorm82]

progettare qualcosa di nuovo no??

Ci sono già dei progetti per mandare in pensione lo shuttle, ma fino ad ora esso è la macchina più efficiente. Credi che la nasa abbia bisogno dei nostri consigli?? :)

[drakend]

Nessuna macchina è perfetta, nemmeno la più costosa e collaudata del mondo. E cmq a bordo dello shuttle ci sono tutti i mezzi per ovviare al problema. E in caso di danno irreparabile gli astronauti potranno stare nella stazione spaziale il tempo necessario per organizzare un viaggio di soccorso.
Sì ho capito, ma si è verificato un incidente del tutto simile a quello di tre anni fa, mi pare di aver letto. Ora dopo tre anni di attesa e qualcosa come 2 miliardi di dollari spesi per rendere più sicuro lo shuttle che si verifichino ancora incidenti così stupidi come il distacco di oggetti dalla rampa di lancio è a dir poco scandaloso. Quelli non sono soldi loro sai, ma dei contribuenti americani: quindi le solite frasi fatte come "Nessuna macchina è perfetta" lasciano il tempo che trovano.

[thotgor]

Ci sono già dei progetti per mandare in pensione lo shuttle, ma fino ad ora esso è la macchina più efficiente. Credi che la nasa abbia bisogno dei nostri consigli?? :)


si, scusa, mi sono espresso male...

dico che sarebbe veramente ora che si lasciassero un attimino da parte i problemi di budget e si costruissero le cose progettate, piuttosto che giocare ancora sulla vita della gente (che ha anche il coraggio di farsi mandare lassù!)

[GioFX]

ma dal discovery gli astronauti possono uscire per un eventuale ispezione manuale dello scafo???

Teoricamente è stata valutata questa possibilità, ma non sarà fatto in questa missione, le procedure devono essere ancora definite anche perchè si tratta di un'operazione estremamente difficile e non sarebbe dedicata solo all'ispezione, ma alla riparazione o con una particolare schiuma di un numero limitato di piastrelle danneggiate.

E' stato costruito un bracico dotato di sensore al laser che viene posizionato sull'estremità del braccio robotizzato dello shuttle (il cosidetto Canadarm, dato che è costruito in Canada, Canada-arm), che permette di scannerizzare tutto la parte inferiore della navetta e il leading edge delle ali.

Tutte le zone più importanti verranno scannerizzate anche dalla ISS una volta che lo Shuttle si sarà agganciato, questa sera.

[GioFX]

S'è ancora danneggiato lo shuttle? Dopo tutto il tempo e i soldi che hanno speso per migliorare la sicurezza? Che si sparassero... :rolleyes:

Ma hai idea di che si tratta?

Le modifiche adottate per ridurre al minimo la possibilità di incidenti fatali causati dalla caduta di matriale isolante o di ghiaccio dall'external tank sono costate circa 2 miliardi di dollari e 30 mesi di lavoro a centinaia di persone...

Se questo ti sembra poco... e poi lo Shuttle è un sistema estremamente complesso, il solo orbiter è il mezzo di trasporto più complesso della storia, ogni eventualità o quasi è presa in considerazione e sono altamente sofisticate le misure di sicurezza per tutto ciò che riguarda la gestione di una missione con lo Shuttle, è per questo che il programma STS costa 6,4 miliardi l'anno, pari cioè al 40% dell'intero budget in un anno dell'agenzia.

[GioFX]

progettare qualcosa di nuovo no??

Lo stanno progettando, si tratta del CEV (Crew Exploration Vehicle). Ma non è destinato, come il programma STS, a missioni in orbita bassa ma al ritorno sulla dell'uomo Luna.

Il sistema è di tipo in-line, si tratta di una navetta a capsula simile alla concorrente russa (Kliper), montata in linea su un razzo vettore S-HLLV (Super-Heavy Lift Launch Veichle) che molto probabilmente userà motori derivati dai razzi SRB, Solid Rocket Booster, utilizzati dallo Shuttle (che sono attualmente i più potenti razzi a carburante solido del mondo, mentre quelli a carburante liquido rimane il mega-lanciatore russo Energia (http://www.energia.ru), costruito dall'Energia Space System Bureau, ed utilizzato per lanciare in orbita lo shuttle sovietico, il Buran).

[GioFX]

Sì ho capito, ma si è verificato un incidente del tutto simile a quello di tre anni fa, mi pare di aver letto. Ora dopo tre anni di attesa e qualcosa come 2 miliardi di dollari spesi per rendere più sicuro lo shuttle che si verifichino ancora incidenti così stupidi come il distacco di oggetti dalla rampa di lancio è a dir poco scandaloso. Quelli non sono soldi loro sai, ma dei contribuenti americani: quindi le solite frasi fatte come "Nessuna macchina è perfetta" lasciano il tempo che trovano.

Primo: non è successo nulla di simile al 16 gennaio di due anni fa. In quel caso, in un'evento assai difficile da prevedere e mai verificatosi in precedenza, un pezzo di schiuma isolante si è staccato dal bipod di collegamento frontale dell'ET e ha colpito a velocita super-sonica (lo shuttle aveva già superato la velocità del suono) il leading edge dell'ala sinistra, perforando la struttura di carbonio e facendo si che al ritorno in atmosfera i gas incandescenti entrassero all'interno dell'ala creando un effetto distruttivo per tutta la navetta.

In questo caso, grazie anche alle 114 telecamere fisse e mobili digitali ad altissima risoluzione (prima ne venivano usate massimo 50-60), nonchè alla migliore illuminazione possibile, è stato possibile osservare eventi che cmq accadevano anche prima, in particolare tre: lo scontro tra la punta dell'ET e un uccello pochi secondi dopo il lancio a bassa velocità, il distacco di un pezzo NON ANCORA IDENTIFICATO ma probabilmente un foglio protettivo del rivestimento dell'ET che cmq NON HA COLPITO L'ORBITER e, la cosa più importante, il lieve danneggiamento di almeno due piastrelle del rivestimento termico esterno in carbionio della navetta all'altezza dell'estremità inferiore del vano del carrello anteriore.

Occorre cmq ricordare che il danneggiamento per i più vari motivi è un evento assolutamente comune delle missioni shuttle, basti pensare che in media durante ogni missione diverse decine di piastrelle (che lo ricordo sono una diversa dall'altra) vengono danneggiate in modo più o meno serio, spesso a causa dei frammenti di meteoriti o di "spazzatura spaziale" che colpisce l'orbiter... quindi è un evento del tutto previsto e generalmente non rilevante ai fini della sicurezza della navetta.

Nel caso in oggetto, ancora in fase di investigazione (con una serie di operazioni comunque previste per i primi 3 giorni della missione), è assai probabile che si stato scalfito il rivestimento in vetro delle piastrelle in oggetto.

[GioFX]

dico che sarebbe veramente ora che si lasciassero un attimino da parte i problemi di budget e si costruissero le cose progettate, piuttosto che giocare ancora sulla vita della gente (che ha anche il coraggio di farsi mandare lassù!)

Nessuna missione spaziale umana sarà routine prima di molti anni si crede. I voli spaziali sono tutt'ora da considerarsi SPERIMENTALI, pure dopo 50 anni di attività umane nello spazio, e specie con sistemi così complessi e delicati come lo shuttle.

[GioFX]

Sensor boom to scan shuttle during inspections today

BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: July 27, 2005

The Discovery astronauts geared up for a detailed inspection of the shuttle's reinforced carbon carbon nose cap and wing leading edge panels today. The post-Columbia safety survey is designed to spot any entry-critical damage to the areas of the shuttle that experience the most extreme heating during the return to Earth.

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts114/050727fd2/obss.jpg
An computer-generated illustration shows the wing edge inspections by the new shuttle sensor boom. Credit: NASA

The astronauts also plan to inspect tiles around the upper part of the shuttle's crew cabin and aft orbital maneuvering system rocket pods, along with checking out the spacesuits that will be used later in the mission during three planned spacewalks at the international space station.

Image analysts on the ground, meanwhile, continued assessing the potential significance of at least three debris events spotted during Discovery's launch Tuesday.

The shuttle's external tank suffered a bird hit seconds after liftoff and the apparent loss of a relatively large piece of foam or some other type of debris just after the ship's solid-fuel boosters were jettisoned two minutes and five seconds into flight.

A minute or so earlier, imagery from a new camera mounted on the external tank showed a piece of a black heat shield tile on the edge of a nose landing gear door cracking off and flying away. Mission operations manager John Shannon said Tuesday it would take engineers several days to complete their assessments of the shuttle's condition and that it was premature to speculate about whether any one of the events might, or might not, turn out to be significant.

Lead flight director Paul Hill, speaking well before launch, said he fully expected to see tile damage during Discovery's mission.

"We will likely have coating loss or chips on the bottom of the vehicle that are well within the capability of the (thermal protection system) to bring us to the ground," he said. "It is the nature of having a glass-covered thermal protection system on the bottom of the orbiter. But a we've demonstrated on more than 100 flights, chipped coating on tile, it still performs like a champ. That material will bring us down to the ground, it's very robust. We understand what types of damage change that equation."

With post-Columbia imagery upgrades, Hill said, "we are now going to have all these fabulous pictures of the bottom of the vehicle. We're going to see a lot of white dings, many or all of which I expect we will have in our flight history as cases we have landed with and were absolutely no impact. But we have talked about this a lot, now we're going to be presented with all of this and there is this concern that folks will over react, that we see little things that clearly are within the capability of the vehicle to bring us to the ground but now that we can see it, we may over react.

"There's been a lot of concern about whether or not we'll over react and that would paralyze us for making all of the right decisions during the flight or maybe jumping the gun and repairing a vehicle when we didn't need to repair the vehicle."

But Hill said based on the team's performance during multiple simulations, "we're not going to over react, we are capable of seeing a lot of damage and crossing out the ones that are clearly within our capability and then focusing on the ones that are either right on the edge and we need more data or we're just not happy with it.

"I think we've demonstrated that the community is capable of hearing that story, assessing the data and making good, technical decisions and not making emotion-driven decisions."

Today's inspection activities are unrelated to the debris events seen during launch. Rather, it is the direct result of a recommendation made by the Columbia Accident Investigation Board to "provide a capability to obtain and downlink high-resolution images of the underside of the orbiter wing leading edge and forward section of both wings' thermal protection system."

Columbia was brought down during re-entry two-and-a-half years ago by a hole in the leading edge of its left wing. The Discovery astronauts plan to spend a large part of their second day in space carefully inspecting the leading edges of both their wings, along with the reinforced carbon carbon nose cap of the shuttle, using a new 50-foot-long boom mounted on the starboard side of the payload bay known as the orbiter boom sensor system, or OBSS.

Engineers on the ground, meanwhile, will assess data from new sensors mounted directly behind the leading edge panels that are capable of registering the force of an impact. The wing leading edge sensor data was downlinked overnight.

Astronaut Andrew Thomas will use the shuttle's 50-foot-long robot arm to pick up the equally long OBSS. Starting around 5:30 a.m., Thomas, assisted by pilot James Kelly and Charles Camarda, will maneuver the boom back and forth, using an OBSS television camera and a laser sensor to inspect the wing leading edges and the nose cap.

"Getting the boom, lifting it up out of the payload bay and positioning it to start the survey is all done essentially manually," Thomas told CBS News in a pre-launch interview. "I'll be doing that. Berthing it will be done manually. But once you've got it in the initial position to start the survey, then we invoke computer control sequences which will drive it automatically. And we kind of need to. This thing is 50 feet long, so a small deflection at the end of the arm would be a huge deflection at the end of the boom and you have the risk of hitting structure. So that parts all automated."

Asked what the survey might show, Thomas said "I don't think we'll see too much."

"You know, we have to do this," he said. "They've done all this work on the tank and you have to confirm that what they've done on the tank is as expected. Any debris that's released from the tank is understood and controlled. And the only way you can do that is by these detailed surveys. This flight and the next flight are the ones that are largely going to do that. So we have to do it.

"You point out a risk, though, that there will be sites that will be false alarms, false positives which will exercise the management structure that's on the ground to look at damage sites, compare them to pre flight and make judgments about their importance or otherwise. That's actually not a bad thing to do, though. Because this is the first time it's being done and we need to exercise those procedures.

"I can see, for example, that we will get a call for some targeted inspections of certain sites. ... And I think that's a good thing to do, too, because it exercises the whole organization chain."

Given the launch day debris events, that seems like a safe bet. Here is an updated timeline of today's events (in mission elapsed time and EDT)


07/27/05
Wed 03:09 AM...00...16...30...Centerline camera installation
Wed 03:39 AM...00...17...00...Ergometer setup
Wed 03:54 AM...00...17...15...Orbiter boom survey system (OBSS) unberth
Wed 04:09 AM...00...17...30...Laptop computer setup completed
Wed 04:09 AM...00...17...30...KU-band antenna deploy
Wed 04;39 AM...00...18...00...OMS pod photo survey
Wed 05:19 AM...00...18...40...Rendezvous tools checkout
Wed 05:24 AM...00...18...45...OBSS: Starboard wing LDRI survey begins
Wed 05:49 AM...00...19...10...SAFER jet backpack checkout
Wed 06:19 AM...00...19...40...Lawrence exercises
Wed 06:19 AM...00...19...40...Spacewalk power tool checkout
Wed 06:49 AM...00...20...10...Crew meals begin
Wed 06:49 AM...00...20...10...OBSS: Nosecap survey begins
Wed 07:49 AM...00...21...10...Airlock prep
Wed 08:29 AM...00...21...50...OBSS: Nosecap survey complete
Wed 08:39 AM...00...22...00...EMU (spacesuit) checkout
Wed 08:54 AM...00...22...15...Docking ring extension
Wed 09:24 AM...00...22...45...OBSS: Port wing LDRI survey begins
Wed 10:24 AM...00...23...45...EMU checkout continues
Wed 10:49 AM...01...00...10...OBSS: Port wing survey complete
Wed 10:49 AM...01...00...10...OBSS berthing
Wed 11:44 AM...01...01...05...SRMS survey
Wed 12:59 PM...01...02...20...LDRI downlink
Wed 01:04 PM...01...02...25...NC-3 rendezvous burn
Wed 03:39 PM...01...05...00...STS crew sleep begins
Wed 11:39 PM...01...13...00...STS crew wakeup
Wed 11:39 PM...01...13...00...ISS crew wakeup

A year ago, Hill said in an earlier interview with CBS News, engineers thought entry critical damage to the leading edge panels "required a penetration of the RCC, not just coating damage or even small damage to the substrate on the outside."

"More recent arc jet testing has us worried that coating damage alone, if it's large enough and if we had internal damage - delamination - between the layers, that the combination of those two could be entry critical."

In the early years of the shuttle program, Hill said, tests indicated the leading edge RCC panels could tolerate penetrations a quarter of an inch across. But that testing was with a clean hole punched in the panel, which is what one would expect with a hypervelocity impact in space. But during launch, impact velocities would be much lower and any resulting penetrations would be more ragged.

Engineers then began wondering if lower-velocity impacts might be entry critical. Subjecting RCC panels to re-entry heating in an arc jet furnace, engineers discovered that as long as a protective coating remained intact, internal delamination would not cause any major problems.

"But if the coating is gone and underneath that coating you're delaminated, then picture the RCC itself from a side view like a cross section. Now you've got this bubble or this void in between layers," Hill explained. "What you've done is, you've significantly reduced the density of this RCC that's exposed to the heat load. So it burns faster.

"So now instead of being this more solid material that's hard to light, kind of like if you take a piece of hard wood like oak and you hold a match to that oak, it won't light typically. But if you shave off some splinters of that oak, you can get them to flash. Damned if that's not what we found in a handful of RCC runs for uncoated RCC."

For the tests, engineers deliberately damaged an RCC panel by pushing on it with a metal cylinder. After confirming the panel developed delamination as a result, "they put that bad boy under the arc jet and it burned like there was no tomorrow. The whole area that covered the delamination burned off like a fuse."

If it is credible that the shuttle could take an impact that has enough energy to cause delamination and loss of coating, "then that does not have to be very big to be catastrophic," Hill said. "From an RCC damage perspective, that looks like a penetration. So now the question is, do we believe that testing? Have we done enough of those tests to be sure that is an entry critical damage form? And then, is it credible for us to take an impact that could cause that kind of damage?"

One OBSS laser sensor, known as the laser dynamic range imager, or LDRI, dwill be used to inspect the wing leading edge panels and the shuttle's nose cap. A second sensor, known as the laser camera system, or LCS, may be used later to focus on a suspect area or to collect additional data.

"If you think about the laser, the way we're recording the data is similar to recording video," Hill said. "Imagine standing on the side of a soccer field watching one of your kids play soccer with a camcorder. And you're panning that camera real fast so you can watch him run down the field. But when you play it back at home, you can't make out hide nor hair because everything is blurred. That's the problem we've got. We've got a translation constraint. If we move too fast, we blur the image, which directly affects the resolution and we can't see the small stuff we're looking for."

[GioFX]

1810 GMT (2:10 p.m. EDT)

NASA believes the bird struck by Discovery's fuel tank was a buzzard. These large birds can have a wing span of more than six feet and the average weight of a full-grown bird is 6.5 lbs.

"It was in the wrong place at the wrong time," a Kennedy Space Center spokesperson said.

NASA has long assumed that the noisy launch pad environment at the time of main engine ignition would cause bird to fly away from the launching shuttle.

Workers had not located the carcass of the bird but not all areas of the launch complex had been searched.

Images of the strike are available here (http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts114/050726images/).

The incident is one of several NASA is studying from yesterday's launch, along with the chipped nose gear door tile and external tank debris-shedding event.


1851 GMT (2:51 p.m. EDT)

Flight controllers have e-mailed the crew a PowerPoint presentation containing details of the early analysis of imagery captured during Discovery's climb to orbit yesterday. Mission managers are expected to reveal the initial findings to the news media in a press conference scheduled for 5 p.m. EDT today.

[icestorm82]

Sensor boom to scan shuttle during inspections today

BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: July 27, 2005
....CUT....


Perciò hanno trovato danni???

[GioFX]

Perciò hanno trovato danni???

NO, ma identificato l'oggetto che è volato via al momento del distacco degli SRB. Si tratta di un prezzo della copertura del condotto PAL:

2055 GMT (4:55 p.m. EDT)

Images and video taken from shuttle Discovery of the discarded external fuel tank following launch yesterday has revealed a section of foam from the Protuberance Air Load (PAL) ramp came off the tank. The debris appeared to just miss striking the orbiter's right wing.

Images of the damaged Protuberance Air Load (PAL) ramp captured by cameras aboard Discovery after the orbiter separated from the tank about eight and half minutes after launch.

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts114/050727palrampimages/palramp1.jpg

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts114/050727palrampimages/palramp2.jpg

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts114/050727palrampimages/palramp3.jpg

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts114/050727palrampimages/palramp4.jpg

2143 GMT (5:43 p.m. EDT)

Debris seen falling away from the shuttle Discovery's external fuel tank during launch Tuesday was a large piece of foam insulation from a so-called "ramp" used to prevent turbulent airflow around cable trays and pressurization lines, NASA officials said today. Other areas of foam loss could be seen in images of the tank shot by Discovery's crew and released by NASA Wednesday.

[GioFX]

External tank lost large chunk of foam

BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: July 27, 2005

Debris seen falling away from the shuttle Discovery's external fuel tank during launch Tuesday was a large piece of foam insulation from a so-called "ramp" used to prevent turbulent airflow around cable trays and pressurization lines, NASA officials said today. Other areas of foam loss could be seen in images of the tank shot by Discovery's crew and released by NASA Wednesday.

The loss of foam debris led to the shuttle Columbia's destruction and while the debris that fell from Discovery's tank did not strike the orbiter, the incident is a potentially serious setback for the shuttle program.

Seconds after Discovery's solid-fuel boosters separated two minutes and five seconds after launch Tuesday, a relatively large piece of debris could be seen peeling away from the tank and quickly tumbling away in the supersonic airflow. Earlier, part of a heat shield tile near the nose landing gear door cracked off and fell away, but that incident appears relatively minor.

The large piece of tank debris passed under the shuttle's right wing and did not appear to come close to actually striking the orbiter. But sources told CBS News earlier today the size of the debris was a shock. NASA's return to flight in the wake of the Columbia disaster has been driven by an accident board recommendation to minimize, if not eliminate, foam debris shedding. The loss of relatively large pieces of foam from Discovery's tank indicates the agency failed to meet its No. 1 post-disaster objective.

NASA hopes to launch the shuttle Atlantis in September, but the timing of that flight and subsequent missions is in doubt pending the outcome of troubleshooting to figure out what caused the foam to fall away from Discovery's tank. And what might be needed to fix the problem. NASA engineers discussed eliminating the so-called PAL ramp in question, but ultimately left it in place.

NASA plans a news conference within the hour.

[GioFX]

2225 GMT (6:25 p.m. EDT)

Mission Management Team chairman Wayne Hale says engineers are treating chipped tile on the nose landing gear door seriously but "not losing sleep" over it. Further observations will be needed to determine the exact size and depth of the divot.

There's also a tile hit a bit lower on the underside. The station crew will be imaging Discovery's belly during approach before docking in the morning.


2230 GMT (6:30 p.m. EDT)

Hale says NASA wanted to remove the PAL ramp foam. But aerodynamically it was determined they were needed to cover the cable trays and pressurization lines running along the tank's exterior. Whether the foam could be replaced with a metal cover is one possibility.


2232 GMT (6:32 p.m. EDT)

Images from the umbilical well on Discovery looking at the jettisoned tank as it moved away shows foam divots in the foam near the struts that connect the orbiter's nose to the tank. These are "areas not satisfactory to us" for foam loss, Hale says.


2233 GMT (6:33 p.m. EDT)

Hale says Discovery appears to be good shape, but the final rationale for returning to Earth as-is or whether any repairs are necessary will be made later this week.

[icestorm82]

Fiuuu, allora possiamo tirare un sospiro di sollievo. :cincin:

[Athlon]

Se non ho capito male ci sono stati 3 episodi distinti e non collegati ...

L'uccello colpito in decollo
Il pezzettone di gommapiuma staccatosi dal serbatoio
e le mattonelle in zona carrello anteriore

Fortunatamente sembra pero' tutto a posto

[GioFX]

nota x ulk

Sei pregato la prox volta di rivolgerti direttamente al sottoscritto, grazie.

Io non ho nè il tempo nè la voglia di tradurre i testi che prendo ESPLICITAMENTE dai siti space.com (http://www.space.com) (e relativo forum al quale sono registrato) e in particolare Spaceflight Now (http://www.spaceflightnow.com), e se dico che non si trovano facilmente documenti in italiano ATTENDIBILI dal punto di vista tecnico, non so che dirti... io non riporterò mai e poi mai articoli della minchia scritti sui quotidiani da qualche giornalista che non sa nemmeno di essere al mondo, figuriamoci se sa di che sta scrivendo o se ne capisce qualcosa dell'argomento.

Se poi hai la pazienda di leggerti TUTTI i 3d che ho aperto sulle missioni e la tecnologia aero-spaziale potrai notare che ho SEMPRE risposto in ITALIANO alle domande o alle opinioni che mi sono state presentate, ANCHE IN QUESTO!

Tu chiedevi un thread riassuntivo con le diverse discussioni aperte suddivise per argomento, ebbene ti faccio notare che è in rilievo sulla sezione da mesi.

Se hai altre domande, io sono qua.

[GioFX]

Se non ho capito male ci sono stati 3 episodi distinti e non collegati ...

L'uccello colpito in decollo
Il pezzettone di gommapiuma staccatosi dal serbatoio
e le mattonelle in zona carrello anteriore

Fortunatamente sembra pero' tutto a posto

Esattamente.

Il primo non è considerato un evento rilevante, il secondo è dovuto al distacco di una parte della rivestimento schiuma sintetica speciale ma sul condotto antiperturbazione d'aria che prima del lancio dell'Atlantis in settembre verrà probabilmente ricoperto di un metallo particolare...

Comunque la scannerizzazione dello scafo e delle ali in RCC dell'orbiter è ormai stata eseguita, oggi ci sarà il docking con la ISS e quindi l'ultima ispezione esterna direttamente con i sensori al laser montati sul braccio meccanico.

[GioFX]

e infatti l'attracco dello shuttle alla ISS è avvenuto un'ora fa...

1117 GMT (7:17 a.m. EDT)

CONTACT AND CAPTURE! Discovery has docked to the International Space Station, the first space shuttle to reach the outpost in almost 1,000 days.

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 Discovery's 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.


1118 GMT (7:18 a.m. EDT)

Docking occurred over the South Pacific west of Chile. NASA called the docking time as 7:18 a.m. EDT, rounding up the seconds to the nearest minute.

[GioFX]

Discovery does pirouette, then docks to space station

BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: July 28, 2005

Commander Eileen Collins guided the space shuttle Discovery to a picture-perfect docking with the international space station today, a major milestone in a mission now overshadowed by a crisis of confidence in NASA after the grounding of the shuttle fleet Wednesday.

http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts114/050728docking/rpm.jpg
High-resolution imagery of Discovery was taken by the space station crew as the shuttle approached the outpost. Credit: NASA
Download larger image version here (http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/123677main_8M2C2673_hires.jpg)

Docking occurred at 7:18 a.m. EDT (1118 GMT) as the two spacecraft sailed 220 miles above the south Pacific Ocean. Working from Discovery's aft flight deck, Collins pulled off a textbook docking to cap a flawless two-day orbital chase.

"We have contact and capture," pilot James Kelly radioed as the shuttle's docking port gently contacted its counterpart on the front of the U.S. laboratory module, Destiny. After damping out post-docking oscillations, powerful latches locked the two spacecraft together.

One orbit later, at 8:50 a.m., a final hatch between Discovery and the station was cranked open and the shuttle crew floated into the Destiny module, welcomed aboard by station commander Sergei Krikalev and flight engineer John Phillips. Following naval tradition, Phillips rang a ship's bell to signal the shuttle crew's arrival.

The normally roomy laboratory module appeared cramped and crowded as Collins, Kelly, flight engineer Stephen Robinson, Andrew Thomas, Wendy Lawrence, Charles Camarda and Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi floated about, sharing smiles, handshakes and bear hugs with Krikalev and Phillips.

Krikalev passed out bread and salt, a traditional Russian gift for visitors, before giving his guests a safety briefing to familiarize them with evacuation routes and emergency procedures. Later today, Kelly and Lawrence, assisted by Phillips, will use the station's robot arm to pluck Discovery's orbiter boom sensor system - OBSS - out of the shuttle's cargo bay so it can be handed off to the shuttle's robot arm.

The OBSS was used Wednesday to inspect Discovery's nose cap and wing leading edge panels for signs of impact damage. The astronauts may use it for additional inspections later in the mission. But because of clearance issues with the shuttle now docked to the station, the lab's Canadian-built robot arm was required to remove it from the shuttle's cargo bay.

"We're on the space station right now, it looks absolutely fantastic," Collins radioed. "We're looking forward to several days of a lot of hard work getting the station in the best shape we can get it in."

Today's docking was the first since a linkup by the shuttle Endeavour in November 2002, the flight before Columbia blasted off on its final voyage Jan. 16, 2003.

Columbia was destroyed during re-entry 16 days later, victim of a launch-day external tank foam strike that blasted a hole in its left wing. NASA spent two-and-a-half years recovering from the disaster, focusing on fixing the external tank to make sure large pieces of foam insulation would not break off during launch.

But during Discovery's launching Tuesday, large pieces of potentially catastrophic foam broke away, graphically proving NASA and its contractor, Lockheed Martin, had failed to meet the No. 1 recommendation of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board.

It was a devastating blow to NASA, a major setback in the agency's plans to resume space station assembly. With the shuttle fleet now grounded indefinitely, some agency insiders worry the program is in danger of termination.

But NASA Administrator Michael Griffin, in an interview with CBS News earlier today, said shuttle flights will resume when the agency fixes the foam problem, however long that might take.

"Obviously, we didn't do as well as we needed to and we're not going to fly again until we're even more certain we have this problem fixed," he said. "We intend at this point to fix the foam problem and fly again as soon as we can when we are certain we've got it this time."

But he left little doubt NASA still plans to retire the shuttle fleet by 2010 as the agency transitions to a replacement rocket system intended to ferry astronauts to and from low-Earth orbit and eventually on to the moon.

"Our planning horizon at this point, per the president's direction, is to retire in 2010 at which time we believe the international space station will be complete and it will be time for the us to move on to a new human-rated system and new voyages of discovery to the moon."

Despite the concern about the shuttle program's immediate future, Discovery's crew has pressed ahead with a near flawless mission, executing a trouble-free rendezvous and docking early today.

During final approach, with the shuttle flying nose forward a few hundred feet directly below the space station, Collins manually pitched the nose up in a spectacular 360-degree maneuver that allowed Krikalev and Phillips to photograph Discovery's underbelly.

http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts114/050728docking/nose.jpg
High-resolution imagery of Discovery was taken by the space station crew as the shuttle approached the outpost. Credit: NASA
Download larger image version here (http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/123680main_8M2C2683_hires.jpg)

About a minute after launch, part of a heat-shield tile at the edge of a nose landing gear door cracked and ripped away, exposing the white interior of the insulator. Krikalev and Phillips, using 400- and 800-millimeter lenses, photographed the underside of the shuttle to give flight controllers a chance to evaluate the chipped tile and whatever other damage might be present.

While it will take photo analysts time to fully evaluate the pictures, "neither of us saw anything alarming," Phillips radioed mission control.

"They showed us some of the shots of the orbiter and from what we could tell, it looks like it's in great shape," Collins radioed later from the station.

Asked if he was confident Discovery's thermal protection system is healthy enough for a normal re-entry Aug. 7, Griffin told CBS News "we're not 100 percent sure at this point, no, but we have looked at the data from the wing leading edge impact sensors and we have not seen any evidence of an actual strike."

"Our video footage, it's very clear that that large piece of foam missed Discovery," he said. "We continue to examine the data but at this point, we think Discovery is a clean bird."

[GioFX]

Foto del giorno del lancio:

http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/123442main_1686-m.jpg

http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/123510main_1726-m.jpg

http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/123466main_1723-m.jpg

http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/123470main_1724-m.jpg

http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/123514main_1728-m.jpg

http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/123521main_1735-m.jpg

http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/123521main_1736-m.jpg

http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/123705main_1771-m.jpg

http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/123709main_1772-m.jpg

http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/123697main_1753-m.jpg

[Athlon]

:fagiano: :confused: :confused: :confused:

ma il danno alle mattonelle e' la scheggiatura in alto in centro sul bordo dello sportello di destra???

http://t2www.nasa.r3h.net:80/images/content/123680main_8M2C2683_hires.jpg

ho vagato nella foto per 20 minuti prima di trovare qualcosa di anomalo :muro:

[GioFX]

:fagiano: :confused: :confused: :confused:

ma il danno alle mattonelle e' la scheggiatura in alto in centro sul bordo dello sportello di destra???

http://t2www.nasa.r3h.net:80/images/content/123680main_8M2C2683_hires.jpg

ho vagato nella foto per 20 minuti prima di trovare qualcosa di anomalo :muro:

SI, ma come si può capire è un danno minore che accade ad ogni missione e che è assolutamente innocuo se è confermata la profondità... il bianco è il colore dell'interno della schiuma di carbonio subito sotto lo strato protettivo esterno.

Il problema vero ora è il distaccamento di pezzi di protezione termica dalla rampa PAL dell'ET, che ha portato al termporaneo grounding della flotta, anche se è possibile che si trovi una soluzione (già ricercata in passato per questa particolare area non eliminabile dell'ET, dato che serve a proteggere i cavi elettrici esterni e il canale di pressurizzazione dell'LOX) in tempo per il lancio di settembre della missione STS-121 (orbiter, Atlantis).

Tuttavia se non ti trova una soluzione semplice è probabile che lo stop possa essere di almeno 4 mesi e quind la partenza della prossima missione non avverrà prima di novembre, nell'ultima launch window possibile.

[Duncan]

MA quindi il servizio allarmistico che ha dato ieri sera il TG5 e gli articoli sui giornali sono fondati o sono le solite notizi inventate? :confused:

[Duncan]

http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts114/050728docking/rpm.jpg


Dove la trovo la foto ad alta risolzione? E' Bellissima questa

[Quincy_it]

Dove la trovo la foto ad alta risolzione? E' Bellissima questa
Basta che clicchi sulla parola "here" scritta in piccolo sotto l'immagine. ;)

[ally]

...proprio sotto la foto in questione su questo stesso thread...

...ciao...

[Duncan]

ops... non l'avevo propio visto :O

[duchetto]

sono stati sospesi tutti i prossimi voli :(

[Quincy_it]

sono stati sospesi tutti i prossimi voli :(
L'ho sentito ieri al tg,
aspettavo qualche notizia dai più informati tra di voi infatti.

[gpc]

L'ho sentito ieri al tg,
aspettavo qualche notizia dai più informati tra di voi infatti.

Beh è semplice, pensavano di aver risolto il problema dei pezzi di copertura che si staccano e invece continuano a farlo.
Faccio notare una cosa, comunque: in più di 100 voli i pezzi si sono sempre staccati e non è mai successo niente. Ora pare una cosa così enormemente grave perchè tutti ci guardano...

[icestorm82]

Beh è semplice, pensavano di aver risolto il problema dei pezzi di copertura che si staccano e invece continuano a farlo.
Faccio notare una cosa, comunque: in più di 100 voli i pezzi si sono sempre staccati e non è mai successo niente. Ora pare una cosa così enormemente grave perchè tutti ci guardano...

Pare una cosa così grave perchè ci sono morte delle persone per questa causa

[gpc]

Pare una cosa così grave perchè ci sono morte delle persone per questa causa

Non hai capito.
Se in più di 100 voli dove sono successe le stesse cose non è successo niente, non è evidentemente un pericolo così grave. E chiaro che se succede qualcosa muoiono delle persone, non stiamo parlando di una bicicletta che può forare.
Quello che voglio dire è che per decenni i pezzi si sono staccati e nessuno c'ha fatto caso, ora per qualunque scheggina vedano c'è tutto un marasma incredibile.

[icestorm82]

Non hai capito.
Se in più di 100 voli dove sono successe le stesse cose non è successo niente, non è evidentemente un pericolo così grave. E chiaro che se succede qualcosa muoiono delle persone, non stiamo parlando di una bicicletta che può forare.
Quello che voglio dire è che per decenni i pezzi si sono staccati e nessuno c'ha fatto caso, ora per qualunque scheggina vedano c'è tutto un marasma incredibile.

Xkè fin quando non ci hanno rimesso la vita delle persone, evidentemente non capivano i rischi che si correvano quando mancavano delle mattonelline dal rivestimento. Si sa, è così, quando qualcuno rimane scottato, solo allora si prendono dei provvedimenti

[gpc]

Xkè fin quando non ci hanno rimesso la vita delle persone, evidentemente non capivano i rischi che si correvano quando mancavano delle mattonelline dal rivestimento. Si sa, è così, quando qualcuno rimane scottato, solo allora si prendono dei provvedimenti

No, proprio non ci siamo... è che fino all'ultimo volo non avevano mai rappresentato un problema, non è questione di vite o non vite.
Non è che non si capissero i rischi della mancanza di mattonelle, è che i pezzi che si staccavano non avevano *mai* provocato danni seri ad alcuna delle mattonelle. Il fatto che, se mancavano, si andasse in pezzi credo che fosse lampante dallo primo schizzo del progetto... sai, gli scudi termini li usano da un pochino eh...

[icestorm82]

è che i pezzi che si staccavano non avevano *mai* provocato danni seri ad alcuna delle mattonelle.

guarda che i pezzi di scudo che si sono staccati hanno danneggiato un ala nel columbia, e da li ne ha risentito strutturalmente tutto lo shuttle, andando in fumo nell'impatto con l'atmosfera. Praticamente in un'ala una mattonellina aveva provocato un buco, con le conseguenze che tutti noi conosciamo.

[gpc]

guarda che i pezzi di scudo che si sono staccati hanno danneggiato un ala nel columbia, e da li ne ha risentito strutturalmente tutto lo shuttle, andando in fumo nell'impatto con l'atmosfera. Praticamente in un'ala una mattonellina aveva provocato un buco, con le conseguenze che tutti noi conosciamo.

E quante volte era successo?
Mai, per caso?
Perfetto, quindi in decenni di voli non avevano mai rappresentato un problema.
Non capisco cosa ci sia di difficile da capire...
Comunque non era questione di struttura, le mattonelle non hanno nessuna funzione strutturale. La rottura delle mattonelle ha consentito all'aria incandescente di entrare all'interno dello shuttle e di disturbarne l'assetto, mandandolo in pezzi, ma non è questione di averne risentito "strutturalmente".
Inoltre le mattonelle sono lo scudo termico, quello che si è staccato è la schiuma che copre il serbatoio di carburante.

[icestorm82]

E quante volte era successo?
Mai, per caso?
Perfetto, quindi in decenni di voli non avevano mai rappresentato un problema.
Non capisco cosa ci sia di difficile da capire...
Comunque non era questione di struttura, le mattonelle non hanno nessuna funzione strutturale. La rottura delle mattonelle ha consentito all'aria incandescente di entrare all'interno dello shuttle e di disturbarne l'assetto, mandandolo in pezzi, ma non è questione di averne risentito "strutturalmente".
Inoltre le mattonelle sono lo scudo termico, quello che si è staccato è la schiuma che copre il serbatoio di carburante.

Guarda che i frammenti avevano provocato un buco sull'ala. Che è diverso.

[gpc]

Guarda che i frammenti avevano provocato un buco sull'ala. Che è diverso.

Nein.
I frammenti *del rivestimento del serbatoio* avevano provocato la rottura delle piastrelle che compongono lo scudo termico sul bordo d'attacco dell'ala. L'aria incandescende durante il ritorno ha quindi penetrato lo scudo termico in corrispondenza della frattura e ha danneggiato l'ala, impedendo allo shuttle di mantenere e correggere l'assetto e mandandolo in frantumi a causa dell'attrito.

[razziadacqua]

E quante volte era successo?
Inoltre le mattonelle sono lo scudo termico, quello che si è staccato è la schiuma che copre il serbatoio di carburante.
si vero.

però è buffo guarda...


sono 2giorni che guardo NASA TV http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv :sofico:

e in pratica han detto che quel ridicolo pezzo di schiuma...2pezzi....abbia danneggiato in modo sensibile il carrello anteriore....

tanto è vero,che prima dell attracco, lo Shuttle ha eseguito una manovra di rotazione attorno a se stesso(vista in diretta,BELLISSIMA) in modo tale che dalla ISSA han potuto fotografare e laserare lo scafo ad altissima definizione...per vedere eventuali danni.

Adesso in pratica l equipaggio resterà per 6-7gg lassù poi si deciderà:

-o lanciano l atlantis per recuperare tutti...brutta storia in caso..
-o li fan ritornare con la discovery...

Certo che cmq trovo impossibile pretendere che in ogni lancio non stacchi nulla...la miseria!ripensate e riguardate i filmati del SaturnV!si staccavano le case!...boh!

Eh non solo.Avete visto super quark?Adesso lo shuttle nello scafo ha una cosa come 65000sensori,per rilevare cambiamenti strutturali e delle piastrelle,quest ultime,incollate una ad una a mano con colle speciali.Agli astronauti gli hanno addestrati a riparazioni nello spazio aperto:avete mai visto nei film di fantascienza quelle famose pistole che sparano super colle e tappano tutto?Beh,le hanno realizzate :D ci incolli l anima con quelle :°D

Cmq io intanto continuo a rifarmi gli okki con nasa tv...poi tra 7-10gg vedremo...sperando in bene.Anche se cmq il successo della missione è terminato nemmeno a 200km di quota...quando si è staccato il pezzo.... :(

[gpc]

si vero.

però è buffo guarda...


sono 2giorni che guardo NASA TV http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv :sofico:

e in pratica han detto che quel ridicolo pezzo di schiuma...2pezzi....abbia danneggiato in modo sensibile il carrello anteriore....

tanto è vero,che prima dell attracco, lo Shuttle ha eseguito una manovra di rotazione attorno a se stesso(vista in diretta,BELLISSIMA) in modo tale che dalla ISSA han potuto fotografare e laserare lo scafo ad altissima definizione...per vedere eventuali danni.

Adesso in pratica l equipaggio resterà per 6-7gg lassù poi si deciderà:

-o lanciano l atlantis per recuperare tutti...brutta storia in caso..
-o li fan ritornare con la discovery...

Certo che cmq trovo impossibile pretendere che in ogni lancio non stacchi nulla...la miseria!ripensate e riguardate i filmati del SaturnV!si staccavano le case!...boh!

Eh non solo.Avete visto super quark?Adesso lo shuttle nello scafo ha una cosa come 65000sensori,per rilevare cambiamenti strutturali e delle piastrelle,quest ultime,incollate una ad una a mano con colle speciali.Agli astronauti gli hanno addestrati a riparazioni nello spazio aperto:avete mai visto nei film di fantascienza quelle famose pistole che sparano super colle e tappano tutto?Beh,le hanno realizzate :D ci incolli l anima con quelle :°D

Cmq io intanto continuo a rifarmi gli okki con nasa tv...poi tra 7-10gg vedremo...sperando in bene.Anche se cmq il successo della missione è terminato nemmeno a 200km di quota...quando si è staccato il pezzo.... :(

Col Saturn V se non erro era il ghiaccio secco che si formava... però lì non c'erano problemi, non c'era nulla attaccato a fianco del missile e la navicella era sulla punta, per cui potevano anche cadere dei sassi che non era un problema.
Da quello che ho capito io, ora, non è che ci siano grandi danni al di là di quelli che ci sono sempre stati: in effetti, che io sappia in nessun caso sono mai state controllate le piastrelle mentre lo shuttle era in orbita, e dato che non è stato individuato nessun danno eccezionale credo che quello che si vede sia quello che c'è sempre stato. Comunque valuteranno loro, adesso hanno strumenti a sufficienza per verificare la situazione e in più le prossime passeggiate serviranno per fare chiarezza.
Certo è che sicuramente è stato un mezzo fallimento se non della missione quantomeno delle misure che hanno messo in atto. C'è da dire però che, leggendo su space.com, avevo visto che la parte da cui si è staccato il pezzo di copertura non era stata modificata.
Una cosa che mi ha sorpreso delle foto invece è stata vedere come sia tutta ruvida la superficie sia dello shuttle che del vettore: date le velocità, credevo che avessero fatto una cosa molto più liscia...

[Manp]

-o lanciano l atlantis per recuperare tutti...brutta storia in caso..
con nessuna garanzia che lo stesso incidente non possa ripetersi...

intendiamoci, ci sono tutte le probabilità che il Discovery sia in perfetta forma e possa tornare a casa senza incidenti... ma se decidessero di non correre rischi ed inviassero l'Atlantis?
negli ultimi due lanci dello shuttle si sono verificati distacchi di materiale vario che in un caso hanno comportato l'incidente del Columbia e nell'altro una specie di psicosi (motivata o no, non lo so, ma a questo punto sembra sempre meno una questione tecnica) nei confronti del "destino" del Discovery

se anche durante il lancio dell'Atlantis si verificasse un distacco di materiale da un serbatoio (come a quanto pare è sempre successo ma senza esiti tragici fino all'incidente del Columbia)?
se trovassero crepe e piastrelle danneggiate anche sullo scudo termico dell'Atlantis una volta in orbita? esattamente come successo per il Discovery e come, mi pare di capire, successo anche in tutte le precedenti missioni degli shuttle (nonostante prima della ben nota tragedia non avessero praticamente alcun peso)?
cosa sarebbe cambiato? ma non solo, immaginiamoci che casotto monterebbe la stampa e come reagirebbe l'opinione pubblica

staimo dicendo che alla NASA vanno a tentativi?
continuano a mandare shuttle ed equipaggi nello spazio a recuperare i resti delle missioni precedenti, e quando finiscono gli shuttle che fanno? :D

siccome non credo che funzioni così, bisogna distinguere tra quelle che sono le reazioni dell'opinione pubblica e quelle che sono le questioni tecniche di cui sicuramente alla NASA ne sanno di più
non che l'opinione pubblica nn conti nulla o non venga tenuta in considerazione, ma gli shuttle non volano con le opinioni della gente e i titoli dei tg


-o li fan ritornare con la discovery...

o, come han detto sempre al TG (non so quanto di sia di vero), li fan ritornare con la Soyuz...

si accettano scommesse :D

io dico che il Discovery tornerà a casa come ha sempre fatto fin ora

:)

[GioFX]

MA quindi il servizio allarmistico che ha dato ieri sera il TG5 e gli articoli sui giornali sono fondati o sono le solite notizi inventate? :confused:

non inventate, ma parzialmente errate e come sempre piene di errori.

[gpc]

Ma la Soyuz non era troppo piccola per tutti? Mi pareva di ricordare che non fosse una soluzione accettabile...

[gpc]

non inventate, ma parzialmente errate e come sempre piene di errori.

Io ho letto un po' di news su siti italiani e ho sentito i servizi al tg, quindi mi son preso la briga di andarmi a leggere i siti americani ed effettivamente l'informazione nostrata riesce a dire bugie senza raccontare cose false... praticamente raccontano solo un pezzo della storia. Tutto l'allarmismo che hanno messo in piedi (chi ha detto sensazionalismo?) non l'ho trovato su nessun articolo estero...

[razziadacqua]

Allora

Soyouz:max 3 posti :)...più lanci...rischi?elevatissimi :°°°D

Discovery...pare che il danno al carrello non sia da poco cmq...per me torna a casa dai...poi magari si skianta il carrello durante il contatto a terra :°°D

Atlantis....ineffetti come pensavo...lascia pure che non si stacca pure qlcs anche da li :)

Dettaglio:hanno 2-3tonnellate di pezzi di ricambio....lascia pure che li manca proprio quel pezzo? :D ah scusate...esiste Murphy.... :cry:

[GioFX]

sono stati sospesi tutti i prossimi voli :(

Le cose non stanno proprio in questo modo: ad oggi non è stato sospeso nulla e al KSC l'U.S.A. (United Space Alliance, la joint tra Boeing e Loockheed che si occupa del management del sistema STS) sta lavorando a pieno ritmo alla prossima missione dell'Atlantis (STS 121) a tutt'oggi prevista per settembre. Giusto il 25 luglio è stato fatto il mating tra l'orbiter e il resto dello stack nel bay 2 del VAB (Vehicle Assembly Building).

La NASA per bocca di Griffin ha dovuto ovviamente dire che lo shuttle non volerà finchè non sarà risolto QUESTO problema della caduta di frammenti, quasi sempre di sezioni rifatte a mano (patches sistemate per piccoli buchi che ogni tanto compaiono sul rivestimento protettivo, per le più diverse motivazioni), ma è probabile che si trovi una soluzione al condotto di antiperturbazione in tempi brevi, tra 2 e 3 mesi al max.

E' probabile a questo punto che l'Atlantis venga spostato a novembre, ultima finestra utile dell'anno in corso.

[GioFX]

Beh è semplice, pensavano di aver risolto il problema dei pezzi di copertura che si staccano e invece continuano a farlo.
Faccio notare una cosa, comunque: in più di 100 voli i pezzi si sono sempre staccati e non è mai successo niente. Ora pare una cosa così enormemente grave perchè tutti ci guardano...

Questo purtroppo è molto vero... bastano 114 telecamere e tutti i media pronti a dare al pubblico il contentino dello show drammatico...

[GioFX]

guarda che i pezzi di scudo che si sono staccati hanno danneggiato un ala nel columbia, e da li ne ha risentito strutturalmente tutto lo shuttle, andando in fumo nell'impatto con l'atmosfera. Praticamente in un'ala una mattonellina aveva provocato un buco, con le conseguenze che tutti noi conosciamo.

Come ho già scritto prima (ma qualcuno li legge i miei post di risposta?!? :muro: ) eventi di caduta di materiale isolante (insulation foam) dall'external tank così come il danneggiamento di MOLTE piastrelle del sistema protettivo TPS (Tiles Protection System) sono un evento assolutamente normale.

Non normale è l'evento che si è verificato nel caso del Columbia durante il lancio della missione STS-107 del 16 gennaio 2003 per i seguenti motivi:

1. Dimensione del pezzo che si è staccato
2. Velocità alla quale ha colpito l'ala (circa 500 km/h, a causa della differenza di veolcità tra il pezzo e lo shuttle... basti pensare che al momento del distacco la differenza era ovviamente nulla ma solo 0.016 secondi era di ben oltre i 500 km/h a causa della densità dell'atmosfera e della dimenzione del pezzo che ha fatto si che venisse rallentato parecchio in un tempo molto breve)
3. Il punto in cui il detrito ha colpito l'ala, o meglio il profilo in RCC (Reinforced Carbon Carbon) che è un pezzo unico, come dice il nome composto di carbonio rinforzato a doppio strato.

L'impatto di questo pezzo di oltre un Kg ha creato un foro di diversi cm di diametro che ha fatto si che al rientro l'aria caldissima a oltre 3.000 °C entrasse nell'ala creando un effetto di rotture a catena fatale per la navicella e l'equipaggio.

[GioFX]

o lanciano l atlantis per recuperare tutti...brutta storia in caso..


L'Atlantis infatti è in preparazione non solo per la normale missione STS-121 di settembre, ma anche per un'eventuale (remota) possibile missione di soccorso, denominata sempre STS-300, come prescritto da una specifica norma del CAIB (Columbia Accident Investigation Board), la quale prevede che un secondo shuttle sia prondo a partire entro 34 giorni dalla partenza di quello che abbia subito un incidente che richieda il salvataggio del relativo equipaggio.

[GioFX]

Ma la Soyuz non era troppo piccola per tutti? Mi pareva di ricordare che non fosse una soluzione accettabile...

i russi hanno proposto (non ufficilamente) di riportare a casa i sette astronauti in caso la NASA ritenga troppo rischioso far ritentrare il discovery, con tra voli della Soyuz, ma precisando che oltre a dirsi convinti che la cosa non avverà, se dovesse capitare gli americani dovrebbero accollarsi il costo della missione di soccorso, a dire "mettiamo le mani avanti che non si sa mai"! :D

[GioFX]

Cmq per la precisione era già stato notato un distacco del materiale isolante dall'external tank prima della missione STS-107 del Columbia, la più seria delle quali proprio nella missione precente, la STS-113 del Endeavour del novembre 2002, l'ultima prima dell'attuale, diretta alla ISS.

[GioFX]

Shuttle commander says foam problem must be fixed

BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: July 29, 2005

The shuttle Discovery's crew was surprised and disappointed to learn about foam insulation falling off their ship's external tank during launch. Commander Eileen Collins said today the shuttle program should remain grounded until the problem is fixed, but she said talk of retiring the winged spaceplanes is premature.

"This is something that has to be fixed," Collins told CBS Radio. "I don't think we should fly again unless we do something to prevent it from happening again. But I'd also like to point out, we're in the space shuttle Discovery right now, which is operating fantastically.

"I was expecting a lot more malfunctions or incidents with the equipment on Discovery because it's been so long since we've last flown. But it has done well. So I'm very confident. The shuttle should be retired eventually, but we've got more years in them and I think we need to get this problem licked with the external tank and keep working on it. I'm not ready to give up yet."

During launch Tuesday, a large 0.9-pound piece of foam debris flew off an aerodynamic "ramp" designed to smooth the airflow over a cable tray and two pressurization lines. While the foam did not hit the shuttle, it showed NASA had failed to solve the problem that doomed Columbia two and a half years ago.

As it turns out, the so-called PAL ramp was not part of NASA's post-Columbia redesign effort. Andrew Thomas, joining Collins on Discovery's flight deck, said engineers need to re-examine that aspect of the tank's construction and come up with a fix.

"I don't think it's time to retire the shuttle based on this alone," he said. "But I think if you look at where the agency wants to take the human spaceflight program, I think we need to continue the development of the space station, which requires the shuttle, and then after that I think then you should address the question of what to do with the shuttle. I think retirement is a viable option at that point. But I don't think it would be yet. I think the important thing now is to do the engineering that's necessary to fix this problem and make sure that it doesn't happen again."

Collins said the crew was "very surprised" when flight controllers informed them about the foam loss. "I did not expect any large pieces of foam to fall off the external tank. We thought we had that problem licked."

"Having thought about it for a while, in the end I'm disappointed this has happened, but it's something I believe we can fix," she said. "We didn't do a while lot of engineering work to that particular area of the tank so there is potential there to fix that and keep the shuttle flying."

Said Thomas: "To all of us on the crew, it was a great sense of disappointment when we heard about that. It wasn't a concern to us because we felt somehow that entry might be under threat, it was a disappointment because we know so many good people who worked so hard on that problem to make sure the tank wouldn't liberate foam and here it happened on the first return-to-flight mission. That's a huge engineering disappointment. It's also a disappointment because we know it will now be necessary to keep the shuttles on the ground for a while longer while this problem gets the appropriate attention that it will deserve."

Asked if he viewed the foam incident as a close call personally, Thomas said "it's probably a bit dramatic to say that we dodged a bullet, although there's clearly some power in that metaphor."

"I do think it's important that we as an agency go back and look at this technically and try to understand what happened and understand why this particular area was not examined originally when the whole question of foam debris came up, as part of the post-flight analysis process, to make sure that this problem can be properly fixed."

The astronauts earlier today used the international space station's robot arm to pull a large Italian-built cargo module out of Discovery's cargo bay and then to attach it to a port on the station's Unity module. The cargo module will be unloaded over the next few days and repacked with no-longer-needed equipment and trash for return to Earth aboard Discovery.

In the meantime, shuttle pilot James Kelly and Charles Camarda positioned the shuttle's robot arm and a 50-foot-long sensor boom for so-called "focused inspections" of areas that suffered apparent damage during launch.

Nine target sites were identified by image analysts as areas of interest requiring additional examination, including a chipped heat-shield tile on the edge of a nose landing gear door, minor dings around an aft fuel tank attachment fitting and scuffs seen on a few wing leading edge panels.

"We do know that we have imagery that shows that that large piece of foam did not impact the orbiter," Collins said. "But we do have some other damage that is not significant. Remember, every shuttle flight does have a little bit of damage, there's no way to stop everything, the smallest pieces of foam from falling off the tank. So we do have areas we are going to go look at.

"The ground, Houston mission control, knows the areas from pictures taken from the space station yesterday, we know where to go look. So we're going to take the lasers and the camera, we'll be able to see ... the areas of potential damage and the depth of them. Again, we don't think any of them are significant but it's going to be good to go look at it. And it's also a good test of the system we put together."

Thomas said images of the shuttle taken from the station show Discovery "looks remarkably clean in terms of any damage to tiles. ... We were really quite impressed with the integrity of the orbiter."

With future shuttle flights on hold, NASA managers are considering the possibility of extending Discovery's mission by one day to let the astronauts do as much as possible to help out the space station's two-man crew.

"We're working on a major resupply here, we're bringing them water, logistics, we're taking home many of the things they don't need any more to give them more space to work," Collins said. "I think we'll be able to continue the space station in the configuration they're in, although it's not desired. We do need to get back to three or more crew members so we can do what we need to do on the space station for exploration."

But that will require additional shuttle flights and for now, future station visits are on hold.

[GioFX]

Griffin doesn't rule out quick resumption of flights

BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: July 29, 2005

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts114/050729griffin/griffin.jpg
Administrator Mike Griffin. Credit: NASA

NASA Administrator Michael Griffin mounted a spirited defense of the shuttle program and the beleaguered external tank project today, saying virtually all of NASA's post-Columbia improvements to the huge tank worked as expected during Discovery's launching Tuesday. While at least three relatively large pieces of foam debris fell away from the tank during ascent, Griffin said he's confident engineers will develop a fix and that flights will resume sooner rather than later. "Discovery is the cleanest bird we've seen," Griffin said, referring to the overall number of dents, dings and chips seen in the shuttle's heat-shield tiles. "Six times cleaner than the average across 113 (previous) missions. So the fact that we have three or four things that we still need to clean up from our first test flight in two-and-a-half years - I'm not a spin kind of a guy, you all know that - but in the world of engineering, we did pretty well."
Griffin fielded questions from a small group of reporters, starting off by joking about "late-breaking" news that had not made it into news reports.

"This is the cleanest flight practically that we've ever seen," he said. "The flight control team is executing above flawlessly, they haven't flown a shuttle for two-and-a-half years and the control team is doing better than perfect. The astronauts on orbit are executing better than perfect. (Commander) Eileen Collins performed a minimum-propellant rendezvous yesterday, did a perfect docking, all the equipment is in great shape. The orbiter has had, I think, one minor flaw, maybe a tape recorder (problem).

"Almost everything we did on the external tank to get it ready for flight has worked," Griffin said. "We expected and we have seen a dramatic reduction in the amount of debris that was generated. Looking at the photography we've seen so far on Discovery, we've had about 25 dings as opposed to a mission average of about 145 (in earlier flights). So the engineering work we did on the external tank has reduced scarring on the orbiter by a factor of about six. I thought all that was really kind of nice and you should know it."

During Discovery's launching, a large piece of foam peeled away from one of two so-called protuberance air load - PAL - ramps on the side of the tank. The ramps are in place to smooth the flow of air over pressurization lines and a cable tray when the spacecraft goes supersonic.

Two other larger-than-allowable chunks of foam separated from the area of the tank near the struts that support the nose of the shuttle. One of those divots came in an area where post-Columbia improvements had been implemented. The other came from an area that, like the PAL ramps, was unchanged.

The PAL ramp foam is sprayed in place by hand and engineers have long recognized it represents a potential source of debris. In the wake of Columbia's demise, managers considered ordering changes but in the end, decided it was safe to fly them as is. That rationale was based in part on flight history - only two early missions experienced known instances of PAL ramp foam loss - and because of non-destructive testing capable of finding the internal voids thought to contribut to shedding.

But given orbital lighting constraints, NASA only has post-launch photographic documentation of less than half the tanks launched to date and additional PAL ramp foam shedding might have gone undetected.

Richard Covey, co-chairman of a panel that assessed NASA's implementation of an accident board's return-to-flight recommendations, said early on, NASA identified the PAL ramps as "a potential source of large debris."

"They early on identified that and we, during the course of our subsequent fact finding, followed the agency through the extensive process they went through of analyzing the causes of foam loss, studying the flight histories that they had and looking at the non-destructive inspection techniques they could use to eventually develop rationale that said that changes to the PAL ramps were not required in order to eliminate critical debris.

"Now, we accepted that rationale and so when we talked in our report about the fact that critical debris itself had not been eliminated and we would expect debris to be liberated from the external tank, that led to me not being surprised that foam would come off the external tank. We fully expected that foam would. ... That being said, I am surprised as are other members of the task group that foam from the PAL ramp separated during this launch. We were surprised at both the fact that it was PAL ramp foam and the size of it."

He said NASA now will have to re-examine the physics behind foam loss and perhaps re-think the theory that voids in the foam are primarily responsible for separation in flight.

"The idea that voids were primarily the cause of separation, that you can see these voids in non-destructive inspection, has all been challenged by what happened on the launch," Covey said.

Griffin agreed NASA "missed" the threat posed by the PAL ramp foam, "but to extrapolate from that fact and say that we can't fix it, I think is just a bridge too far. I think we're going to fix it, I think we're going to fix it in short order, we're going to get back flying. All we ever said the other day was that we are not going to fly again until we fix it. And I think that's the right thing to do. But we don't expect this to be a long, drawn-out affair, to be honest with you. If that changes, we'll tell you, but that's what we're looking at now."

The PAL ramp issue is only part of NASA's problem. Foam also broke away from two other areas and "we clearly need to fix those," Griffin said.

"Now if we compare that performance to prior performances of the external tank, I don't need to tell you that the difference is huge," he said, coming back to his central point. "And that's what I was alluding to earlier. Almost everything we did to improve the external tank worked. We said at the start this was a test flight, we said that ... without putting this machine into flight, we said we would not be able to evaluate how well we'd done. Now we have some real flight data and we can go figure out what we need to do next."

NASA had hoped to launch the shuttle Atlantis by around Sept. 9 on another mission to resupply the international space station. Because of delays getting Discovery off that ground, Atlantis's launch target was expected to slip several days. Asked about the impact of a much longer delay, Griffin said "you've gone into speculation by saying we won't be able to fly the shuttle until early next year. At this point, we don't know that, we're not conceding that.

"We're putting together a NASA tiger team to look at foam remedies with emphasis on those that have not previously been considered or what we need to do to address the PAL ramp and the couple of other areas where we need to do better."

Asked how NASA could get another launch off this year with all the testing that now must be done, Griffin said "by being smart and working hard. If we can do those and are successful, then we'll capture one of those flight opportunities and if not, it will move. But we don't start out by assuming that we can't succeed."

Finally, Griffin was asked if the media had over-reacted to the foam problems experienced during Discovery's launch.

"I started out with what I thought was at least a little bit of humor, pointing out all the things that are going well on this mission precisely because I believe folks really have over reacted just a bit," he said. "There's no question that NASA's goal was to eliminate all significant foam shedding, debris shedding of any kind, from the tank. There is no question that we always said that while that was a goal, that perfection would be unattainable. So we had a size limit that we wanted to be below.

"There's no question that in maybe four places on the tank, pieces of foam bigger than what we wanted to see came off. So we weren't perfect. We said this was a test flight, we said that we because of the physics involved, the nature of the problem, we could not test this tank on the ground in a wind tunnel or in any other kind of facility, we had to put it back into flight to see how well we have done. So we did that.

"But this was a test flight," Griffin said. "It now has provided data that we can use going forward. The bad news is there were three or four things we didn't get. The good news is we hugely reduced, by a factor of six or more, we hugely reduced any damage to the orbiter through the engineering measures we took to improve the tank. We specifically said the return to flight test sequence was two test flights. I love it when stuff goes well and I know you guys do, too. We plan for the worst and we hope for the best and that's how we conduct business."

[icestorm82]

Come ho già scritto prima (ma qualcuno li legge i miei post di risposta?!? :muro: ) eventi di caduta di materiale isolante (insulation foam) dall'external tank così come il danneggiamento di MOLTE piastrelle del sistema protettivo TPS (Tiles Protection System) sono un evento assolutamente normale.

Non normale è l'evento che si è verificato nel caso del Columbia durante il lancio della missione STS-107 del 16 gennaio 2003 per i seguenti motivi:

1. Dimensione del pezzo che si è staccato
2. Velocità alla quale ha colpito l'ala (circa 500 km/h, a causa della differenza di veolcità tra il pezzo e lo shuttle... basti pensare che al momento del distacco la differenza era ovviamente nulla ma solo 0.016 secondi era di ben oltre i 500 km/h a causa della densità dell'atmosfera e della dimenzione del pezzo che ha fatto si che venisse rallentato parecchio in un tempo molto breve)
3. Il punto in cui il detrito ha colpito l'ala, o meglio il profilo in RCC (Reinforced Carbon Carbon) che è un pezzo unico, come dice il nome composto di carbonio rinforzato a doppio strato.

L'impatto di questo pezzo di oltre un Kg ha creato un foro di diversi cm di diametro che ha fatto si che al rientro l'aria caldissima a oltre 3.000 °C entrasse nell'ala creando un effetto di rotture a catena fatale per la navicella e l'equipaggio.

Ma scusa, e io che ho detto? Ma chiediti tu se leggi le nostre risposte.

[GioFX]

Ma scusa, e io che ho detto? Ma chiediti tu se leggi le nostre risposte.

Ho solo voluto far notare che avevo già detto che eventi come questo sono normali mentre nel caso del Columbia la cosa ha avuto le conseguenze note perchè l'evento benchè causato da un motivo del tutto simile, ha avuto le conseguenze che sappiamo perchè è stato sostanzialmente differente come natura dal quelli osservati in questa missione.

[icestorm82]

Ho solo voluto far notare che avevo già detto che eventi come questo sono normali mentre nel caso del Columbia la cosa ha avuto le conseguenze note perchè l'evento benchè causato da un motivo del tutto simile, ha avuto le conseguenze che sappiamo perchè è stato sostanzialmente differente come natura dal quelli osservati in questa missione.
;)

[GioFX]

Flight Day 4 - Highlights, in questo momento su: NASA TV (http://www.nasa.gov/ram/35037main_portal.ram)

[GioFX]

Dave (ingegnere dell'U.S.A presso il centro KSC) su SDC ha fatto sapere che:

"We have been told to not process Atlantis this weekend. We expect an official stand down from STS-300 tomorrow."

Quindi la NASA pensa di abbandonare ufficialmente la possibilità di continuare a "processare" l'OV-104 Atlantis per una possibile ma a questo punto improbabile missione di soccorso.

[gpc]

Ma scusa, e io che ho detto? Ma chiediti tu se leggi le nostre risposte.

Guarda che te hai detto cose ben diverse... e siamo in due ad aver capito diversamente.
Hai detto che il danno è stato fatto dalle piastrelle, che il problema non è stato lo scudo termico ma l'integrità strutturale dell'ala e che il distacco di pezzi di isolamento è una cosa straordinaria e non è vero che è sempre successo...

[icestorm82]

Tra un minuto ci sarà la prima passeggiata spaziale :)

http://www.nasa.gov/ram/35037main_portal.ram

[gpc]

Tra un minuto ci sarà la prima passeggiata spaziale :)

http://www.nasa.gov/ram/35037main_portal.ram

Ottimo, grazie! ;)

[icestorm82]

Ottimo, grazie! ;)

Vista, è stato spettacolare!!! Sembravano scene da film!!

[GioFX]

Discovery astronauts begin mission's first spacewalk

BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: July 30, 2005

Astronauts Stephen Robinson and Soichi Noguchi began a planned six-and-a-half hour spacewalk today, a busy excursion highlighted by long-awaited tests of rudimentary tile and wing leading edge repair techniques that were developed in the wake of the Columbia disaster.

Floating in the shuttle Discovery's airlock, Robinson and Noguchi switched their spacesuits to internal battery power at 5:46 a.m., officially kicking off the 59th spacewalk devoted to station assembly and maintenance. Going into today's excursion, 39 U.S. astronauts, one Canadian, one Frenchman and 10 Russian cosmonauts had logged 348 hours and 15 minutes of spacewalk time servicing and assembling the space station.

Today's spacewalk has five primary goals:

To demonstrate rudimentary techniques for repairing damage to heat-shield tiles, using a paint-like material called "emittance wash;" and to test a material called NOAX that could be used to smooth over cracks in the reinforced carbon carbon wing leading edge panels;
To mount an attachment device that will be used later to hold a large external tool kit and spare parts box called the external stowage platform, to the station's Quest airlock module;
To replace a broken GPS antenna;
To bypass a faulty circuit breaker, restoring one of the station's four gyroscopes to normal operation;
To route a 50-foot-long secondary electrical cable to the external stowage platform attachment device on Quest.
While the repair demonstrations have generated widespread attention, the electronic bypass planned for control moment gyroscope No. 2 is a higher priority item for the engineering community.

The space station uses four CMGs to maintain the lab's orientation in space without having to tap into limited supplies of on-board rocket fuel. They are housed in the Z1 truss, which was attached to the Unity module's upward-facing, or zenith hatch - hence the name - during shuttle mission STS-92 in October 2000.

Along with saving fuel, the 800-pound gyros, spinning at 6,600 rpm, allow station crews and flight controllers to reorient the outpost and keep it stable without fuel-consuming, experiment-jarring rocket firings.

But on June 8, 2002, CMG-1 suffered a malfunction and shut down. The station's orientation, or attitude, can be controlled by just two CMGs in a worst-case scenario. And indeed, a second gyro, CMG-2, was knocked off line last year because of trouble with a circuit breaker. The circuit breaker was replaced during a station-based spacewalk, but the new unit malfunctioned in March, taking CMG-2 off line once again.

If all goes well, Robinson will re-route power to CMG-2 today and the astronauts will replace CMG-1 during their second spacewalk Monday.

But gyro problems remain an issue. After CMGs 1 and 2 are spun up and put into operation, CMG-3 will be taken out of the loop until after Discovery departs. While still functional, CMG-3 has been experiencing lubrication-related bearing issues while helping control the orientation of the massive station-shuttle complex. After Discovery departs, the gyro will be returned to service.

Columbia was brought down by a hole in the ship's left wing leading edge caused by the impact of external tank foam insulation during launch 16 days earlier.

NASA originally planned for Robinson and Noguchi to test so-called cure in-place-ablator applicator - CIPAA - backpacks, loaded with a tile repair material known as STA-54, to fill in deliberately damaged tiles in Discovery's cargo bay.

But questions about the reliability of the procedure surfaced last year when engineers noticed the formation of air bubbles in the viscous STA-54 material as the two compounds that made it up were mixed together in the backpack. After extensive troubleshooting, engineers were able to reduce the bubbling but they could not eliminate it. The concern was that bubbles could migrate in weightlessness and form large voids as the material cured. Those voids could weaken the patch and its ability to shield against re-entry heating.

NASA's astronaut office opposed in-flight testing during Discovery's flight and tests were put on hold.

Another promising technique was a so-called overlay tile repair procedure in which damaged tiles would be covered with a thin, flexible sheet of heat-resistant carbon silicon-carbide. The sheet would be mounted atop a gasket and attached with fasteners similar to drywall bolts that would be screwed into surrounding tile.

Both CIPAA and the overlay technique are expected to be tested on a future shuttle flight. Robinson and Noguchi instead will test a tile repair technique known as "emittance wash" in Discovery's cargo bay.

Using a demonstration kit with deliberately damaged tiles, the spacewalkers will paint exposed surfaces with a material that will replace damaged or eroded coating and improve heat rejection.

NASA still has no way to repair the kind of leading edge damage that brought down Columbia, but Robinson and Noguchi will test a rudimentary technique in which a heat-resistant material known as NOAX will be smoothed over small cracks in RCC material.

NOAX, which stands for non-oxide adhesive experimental, will be squirted from a caulk gun-like device and then smoothed out with trowels.

A third repair procedure, aimed at fixing small holes in RCC panels, will be tested next week inside Discovery's crew cabin. It requires a flexible carbon silicon-carbide patch called a "plug" that would be inserted into a hole and held in place from behind by expansion bolts.

Between 20 and 30 different plugs, each with slightly different geometries, would be needed in a real repair kit to ensure a good fit virtually anywhere in the curving leading edge.

[GioFX]

From Space.com (http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/050729_sts114_iss.html):

ISS Managers Ask for Extra Docked Day for Discovery's Crew

By Tariq Malik
Staff Writer
posted: 29 July 2005
08:43 pm ET

HOUSTON – NASA managers for the International Space Station (ISS) have formally asked for an extra day of docked operations with the STS-114 astronauts aboard Discovery, shuttle officials said Friday.

NASA space shuttle program deputy manager Wayne Hale, who chairs Discovery’s Mission Management Team (MMT), said ISS officials requested the one-day mission extension to allow more time for transfer of material between the orbiter and the ISS.

That material, he said, consists of additional items to the 15 tons of supplies Discovery ferried to the ISS.

The MMT will meet Saturday to discuss adding the extra day, but will likely opt to go along with the plan.

“I expect that’s what we’ll do,” Hale said.

Earlier today, STS-114 mission operations representative Phil Engelauf said an engineering team is compiling a list of items Discovery’s crew could pluck from their orbiter and leave at the ISS as a precaution against an extended delay between Discovery’s space station visit and the next shuttle’s arrival. Among the possible items that could be pinned for transfer are laptop computers, unique space tools or extra water produced by Discovery’s fuel cells, he added.

The Atlantis orbiter is next in line to launch toward the ISS – with an initial flight window opening in September – but will likely not fly until NASA address a still unresolved foam debris issue that became abundantly clear during Discovery’s Tuesday launch.

During the July 26 space shot, an external tank-mounted video camera caught a large chunk of foam insulation separated from the tank just over two minutes into the flight, but did not impact Discovery. Additional image analysis turned up several smaller foam pieces that also popped free, one of which may have contacted the orbiter – inspections and impact sensors detected nothing – though it would have hit with 1/10 the energy needed to pose a hazard, Hale said Thursday.

ISS officials are also discussing the possibility of tacking on an additional task to the third spacewalk planned for Discovery’s crew.

STS-114 spacewalkers Soichi Noguchi and Stephen Robinson will make their first venture outside Discovery early Saturday to test new orbiter repair techniques and replace a space station global position system antenna. A second spacewalk is set for Aug. 1, with the final EVA slated for Aug. 3.

It is for that Aug. 3 spacewalk that ISS managers are considering whether to ask Noguchi and Robinson to retrieve a motor from a thermal radiator on the station’s exterior, though a formal request has not yet been made, Hale said.

“That is a potential task to be added,” Hale said, adding that engineers are hoping to perform a failure analysis on the motor.

Mind the gap filler

Video and still photography taken of Discovery’s belly-mounted heat-resistant tiles have given shuttle engineers their first look of an established phenomena seen in past shuttle flights.

The imagery caught two ceramic gap fillers, typically wedged between tiles that are spaced too far apart, poking about an inch out into space. While not due to damage, the gap filler images are the first views taken of the phenomena in orbit. Engineers typically don’t find protruding gap fillers until orbiters land back on Earth.

“This is really kind of exciting data,” Hale said, adding that other gap filler protrusions are behind Discovery’s nose landing gear doors, where such protrusions have occurred in the past. “There appears to be something going on behind the nose landing gear door that we’ll look at.”

Protruding gap fillers disrupt the aerodynamic flow around shuttles during descent, which can cause higher than normal heating aft of the protrusion, Hale said.

Engineers are discussing whether any measures are needed to address the gap fillers or other incidents, such as a damaged thermal blanket that was found during inspections.

“All of these things are not serious in the sense that they don’t cause serious alarm,” Hale said.

Analysts have also pinned down the size of a chipped tile near the nose landing gear doors after STS-114 astronauts observed it with Discovery’s sensor-tipped orbital boom.

The damaged area is about three inches wide, 3/4ths of an inch long and about 1/3rd of an inch deep, but does not breach any thermal protective barriers.

“That is very good news,” Hale said. “I’m feeling very confident that this is not going to turn out to be anything very significant.”

[GioFX]

Da SpaceFlight Now (http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts114/050730eva1b/)

Astronauts complete heat shield repair tests

BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: July 30, 2005

Working the shuttle Discovery's cargo bay, astronauts Stephen Robinson and Soichi Noguchi tested potential heat-shield repair techniques today, a major milestone in NASA's recovery from the Columbia disaster.

Using a high-tech caulk gun, Robinson squeezed out dollops of a thick heat-resistant material known as NOAX and used trowels to work it into deliberately cracked and gouged samples of wing leading edge material. Multiple layers were applied and smoothed over the damage sites to build-up enough material to resist the heat of re-entry. The samples will be subjected to a battery of tests on Earth to find out how well the repairs might work in an actual re-entry.

"It seems to be well behaved," Robinson said of the thick goop. "I see just a very little bit of bubbling. ... It's about like pizza dough. Licorice-flavored pizza dough."

Noguchi floated nearby, using a toweled glove to clean the tip of the applicator and a variety of trowels.

"I would recommend if we were to do this for real to use lots of spatulas," Robinson said. "You can't clean it."

Because of time constraints, Robinson was told to skip one crack repair demonstration that engineers had planned to test in a high-temperature furnace back on the ground.

Noguchi then took center stage, using a different applicator to apply a dark "emittance wash" material to deliberately damaged heat-shield tiles. The material could prove useful fixing tiles with coating damage, improving their ability to reject heat.

"The idea of emittence wash is to apply a coat of a thick kind of dark gray paint to replace areas where the black tile coating has been cracked and removed," said Lora Bailey, a spacewalk planner at the Johnson Space Center. "Originally, it was intended for certain types of damages. However, the true extent of its use is being evaluated carefully by analysis and tests to determine the depth of damage that you can repair and also that is dependent on where the damage is on the vehicle."

Today's tests were completed about two-and-a-half hours into the planned six-and-a-half hour spacewalk.

"Everyone's smiling, great job," mission control radioed.

The astronauts now are pressing ahead with work to mount an attachment fitting to the space station's Quest airlock module where a large tool kit and spare parts box will be mounted during a spacewalk next week.

[GioFX]

Da Spaceflightnow.com (http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts114/050730eva1c/):

First spacewalk of Discovery mission meets all objectives

BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: July 30, 2005

Astronauts Stephen Robinson and Soichi Noguchi wrapped up a smooth spacewalk today, testing heat-shield repair techniques, hot wiring one of the space station's gyroscopes and mounting an attachment device that later will hold a large external tool kit and spare parts box.

"You did a great job today," astronaut Mike Massimino radioed the crew from mission control. "It's just been a pleasure for us down here to work with you. Awesome views, great job, everything was just perfect. ... We'll look forward to another two great EVAs and a great flight continuing."

"Mike, thanks for your support, we appreciate it very much," replied astronaut Andy Thomas aboard Discovery.

The spacewalk began at 5:46 a.m. and ended at 12:36 a.m., for a total time of six hours 50 minutes. It was the 59th spacewalk devoted to station assembly and maintenance, pushing the cumulative total to 355 hours and five minutes by 40 NASA astronauts, 10 Russian cosmonauts, one Canadian, one Frenchman and now, one Japanese.

All of the objectives of the crew's first spacewalk were met, along with a few additional tasks. Noguchi was asked to photograph an apparently loose insulation blanket near Discovery's left-most cockpit window and Robinson retrieved two experiment packages mounted on the station's hull that were to have been brought back in next week.

"I can't even begin to tell you how excited and happy I am to welcome Steve and Soichi into the EVA hall of fame," said lead spacewalk planner Cindy Begley. "They have a total EVA time of six hours and 50 minutes today. They completed all of their scheduled tasks and they did all of them on the timeline and even some of them ahead of the timeline. ... I'm just more than happy with the performance today."

Flight controllers, meanwhile, reactivated control moment gyroscope No. 2, one of four used to maintain the station's orientation without the use of rocket fuel. CMG-2 was knocked off line earlier this year because of trouble with a circuit breaker. Robinson re-wired a patch panel today, bypassing the breaker and allowing controllers to spin it back up. CMG-1, which failed in 2002, will be replaced during a spacewalk Monday.

"The gyroscopes we have in the space station allow us to orient the space station without using any propellant, zero propellant, and if we got down to only one, we'd have to use the thrusters on the Russian segment in order to control our attitude," said station flight director Mark Ferring. "We really did not want to get down to a single gyroscope.

"With the recovery of the gyroscope here today, we're back up to three and after (a second spacewalk Monday), we're going to replace an entire gyroscope and we should be back up to a full count of four."

But gyro problems remain an issue. After CMGs 1 and 2 are spun up and put into operation, CMG-3 will be taken out of the control loop. While still functional, CMG-3 has been experiencing lubrication-related bearing issues while helping control the orientation of the massive station-shuttle complex.

[GioFX]

Da Spaceflightnow.com (http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts114/050730extend/):

Shuttle mission extended to give bonus day at station

BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: July 30, 2005

NASA's mission management team today extended the shuttle Discovery's flight by one day, giving the astronauts more time to assist and resupply the international space station's two-man crew, and concluded the shuttle's heat-shield tiles and insulation blankets are fit for a normal re-entry Aug. 8.

But management team chairman Wayne Hale said engineers planned to take one more day to fully assess the health of the orbiter's wing leading edge panels and another 24 hours after that to fully analyze two other minor problems to make sure they won't affect Discovery's handling and heating during re-entry.

"The imagery analysis from the launch phase has been completed," Hale told reporters late today. "And the damage assessment on the orbiter is in full swing. Today, a day ahead of our schedule, I'm pleased to report the tile and (insulation) blankets have been formally cleared by the engineering team. A few pock-marked tiles, a little gouge at the base of the nose landing gear door, a thermal blanket that had billowed out on the side below the commander's window, all of those items have been formally assessed through rigorous engineering models in great detail and found to be acceptable to fly home as is."

Hale said he expects engineers to formally clear the shuttle's reinforced carbon carbon wing leading edge panels Sunday, leaving only one issue to be resolved: The status of two so-called "gap fillers" seen protruding between tiles on the underside of the shuttle.

Gap fillers are inserted between tiles to provide a protective cushion. They can occasionally shake free during launch and end up extending beyond the surface of the surrounding tiles. During re-entry, the shuttle depends on a smooth, or laminar, flow of air over the underside tiles and anything that extends up into the flow can trigger turbulence. Turbulence, in turn, can cause higher heating across downstream tiles and affect the handling of the shuttle.

Engineers do not believe the gap fillers in question pose a threat to Discovery, Hale said, they are simply being thorough in their analysis.

"It's been a great day today," Hale told reporters. "We had an outstanding EVA (spacewalk), the crew is performing in just an awesome manner, it's admirable how well theyÕre doing. The orbiter is performing nearly flawlessly, we have no new funnies on our list to look at.

"Today we tested in space, in orbit, the thermal protection system, two of the methods of (heat-shield) repair we've developed ... and both of them performed very well. I got very good reports from the designers who watched those tests today on the ground and evaluated the outcome. They worked very well, we're very pleased and it bodes well.

"It is one thing to do tests on the ground, it is another thing entirely to be able to do a test actually in space and get real data in the real environment on how these materials will perform."

Hale said the astronauts had conserved enough electrical power, primarily by limiting the use of a booster fan, "to formally declare we have the capability to extend the mission a day. ... This will allow the crews to get more work done, more (equipment and supply) transfers."

The shuttle's three fuel cells produce electricity by combining liquid hydrogen and oxygen. A by product of the reaction is water, which is transferred to the space station. By staying an additional day, Discovery's crew will generate enough extra water to supply the station crew for 20 days.

The Discovery astronauts are also going to leave a few laptop computers behind and provide additional assistance to their station counterparts.

A Russian Progress supply ship is scheduled for launch Sept. 8 but NASA's plans to launch another shuttle supply mission in mid September are in limbo because of the external tank foam insulation problems seen during Discovery's launching.

NASA only has two shuttle launch windows left this year, one in September and a short four-day window in November.

Space station program manager Bill Gerstenmeir said the space station's current crew, and replacements expected to arrive in October aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft, will have more than enough supplies to make it through the rest of the year even if the shuttle stays grounded into 2006.

"The plan is we're going to have a Progress at the first part of September, Sept. 8, and that looks fine and it's on track and then there's another Progress later," he said. "We're fine from a consumables standpoint all the way through the end of the year. We're in very good shape. ... We're going to get a lot of water from the shuttle here, which will put us in very good shape."

[Octane]

domandina..

sono finalmente riusciti a stabilire se le fughe "allargate" tra le piastrelle costituiscono un problema per il rientro?

ciao

[gpc]

domandina..

sono finalmente riusciti a stabilire se le fughe "allargate" tra le piastrelle costituiscono un problema per il rientro?

ciao

Mi pareva di aver letto che era anche quello un fenomeno normale che avevano sempre rilevato quando lo shuttle tornava a terra, ma che non avevano mai avuto occasione di osservare mentre la navetta era nello spazio... per cui non credo che sia un problema se c'è sempre stato.

[giova22]

Tra un minuto ci sarà la prima passeggiata spaziale :)

http://www.nasa.gov/ram/35037main_portal.ram


SCusa, ma io col 56k vedo malino a risoluzione tipo 180x144 (o simile). Voi con l adsl vedete bene? Tipo televisione?

[gpc]

SCusa, ma io col 56k vedo malino a risoluzione tipo 180x144 (o simile). Voi con l adsl vedete bene? Tipo televisione?

Un po' più grandino di te ma non di tanto, direi...

[GioFX]

domandina..

sono finalmente riusciti a stabilire se le fughe "allargate" tra le piastrelle costituiscono un problema per il rientro?

ciao


Dall'articolo appena sopra...


Hale said he expects engineers to formally clear the shuttle's reinforced carbon carbon wing leading edge panels Sunday, leaving only one issue to be resolved: The status of two so-called "gap fillers" seen protruding between tiles on the underside of the shuttle.

Gap fillers are inserted between tiles to provide a protective cushion. They can occasionally shake free during launch and end up extending beyond the surface of the surrounding tiles. During re-entry, the shuttle depends on a smooth, or laminar, flow of air over the underside tiles and anything that extends up into the flow can trigger turbulence. Turbulence, in turn, can cause higher heating across downstream tiles and affect the handling of the shuttle.

Engineers do not believe the gap fillers in question pose a threat to Discovery, Hale said, they are simply being thorough in their analysis.

[GioFX]

Voi con l adsl vedete bene? Tipo televisione?

stessa grandezza ma maggiore fluidità, ovviamente... ;)

Io ricevo a 150 kbps.

[Quincy_it]

Sembra quasi che alla redazione de "La Repubblica" siano contenti dei guai dello Space Shuttle:

La Nasa ammette: "Abbiamo toppato"
Nuovi guai a bordo del Discovery
Atlantis in stand-by a Cape Canaveral per l'eventuale salvataggio
Il Los Angeles Times: "Ricambi comprati su eBay"
Foto articolo
Michael Griffin

WASHINGTON - Le foto non lasciano dubbi: sulla pancia del Discovery ci sono fessure anomale. Altrettanto chiare le parole dell'amministratore della Nasa, Michael Griffin: "Abbiamo toppato". E a Houston torna il pessimismo.

Le foto. Dall'area coperta di piastrelle che funzionano da scudo termico, fondamentale per nella fase del rientro a terra, si sono distaccate due striscioline di materiale isolante che serve per riempire le fessure tra le piastrelle. A Houston in molti hanno perso il sonno per esaminare l'impressionante mole di immagini ad alta definizione e rilievi con il laser eseguiti per capire se quegli oggetti che si staccavano dal razzo vettore al momento del decollo potevano aver causato problemi.

Toppato. "La nostra valutazione in quel momento era che tutto fosse a posto. E come tutti quanti hanno detto, senza alcun tentativo di nasconderlo, su quello abbiamo toppato". Ha detto alla Cnn Michael Griffin, che ha aggiunto: "Sicuramente siamo stati fortunati. Se si fosse spezzato prima, e se cadendo avesse seguito una traiettoria diversa, avrebbe potuto colpire il modulo orbitante" invece che il serbatoio esterno del Discovery.

I controlli. Da qui i controlli. Ma dopo un iniziale ottimismo è arrivata la doccia fredda: vicino al "naso" dello shuttle mancano filamenti di materiale - un composto di fibre e ceramica -, il più lungo non misura più di due centimetri, ma è abbastanza per suscitare le preoccupazioni della Nasa, visto che in passato non erano mai state notate fessure maggiori di un centimetro. I tecnici devono capire ora se sono un pericolo per l'infiltrazione di plasma incandescente al momento del rientro.

L'equipaggio. Intanto i sette dell'equipaggio del Discovery sono stati informati dal centro di controllo a terra che "un pezzo di schiuma di una novantina di centimetri è caduto su un punto del serbatoio esterno, che, fra l'altro, non è stato riparato. Ci hanno detto, inoltre, che quella schiuma non ha colpito noi. "Non intendo dire che possiamo continuare il volo in questo modo - ha detto ancora la comandante - perchè sappiamo che c'è qualcosa che deve essere aggiustato".

Traslochi. E la vita a bordo continua. Quella appena trascorsa è stata una domenica di trasloco e pulizie nello spazio, con l'equipaggio della Discovery impegnato a trasferire materiale sulla Stazione spaziale internazionale (Iss), nel fondato timore che passi molto tempo prima di una nuova missione. Il modulo spaziale Raffaello, un contenitore pressurizzato realizzato dall'Italia, nel fine settimana è stato il protagonista delle attività spaziali. Le 15 tonnellate di rifornimenti stipate dentro Raffaello sono state trasferite sulla Iss, dalla quale sono state scaricate 13 tonnellate di rifiuti spaziali accumulati dall'ultima missione di uno shuttle 'spazzino', nel novembre 2002. Per assicurare ampie scorte ai due astronauti sulla Stazione, è stata anche smantellata parte della navetta, per trasferire ulteriori computer, scorte alimentari e materiale di laboratorio: nessuno sa quando un altro shuttle andrà a far visita alla Iss.

Riparazioni. Ora c'è da pensare alle riparazioni. Quella in corso si sta rivelando una missione nella quale tutti gli astronauti sono chiamati a fare gli straordinari. Dopo aver annunciato sabato che la permanenza della navetta nello spazio sarà prorogata di un giorno, fino all'8 agosto, per completare le ulteriori operazioni di carico e scarico, la Nasa sta ora valutando la possibilità di aggiungere anche una quarta passeggiata alle tre previste. La prima uscita degli astronauti è stata sabato, la seconda è in programma lunedì e la terza mercoledì, ma forse non basteranno per smaltire tutto il lavoro da fare.

Salvataggio. Per raggiungere le due aree, vicine al "naso" dello shuttle, un astronauta dovrebbe muoversi su un lungo braccio robotizzato. La Nasa per il momento si dice non eccessivamente preoccupata dal problema e l'equipaggio, in interviste dallo spazio rese ai network tv americani, ha rassicurato: "Siamo tranquilli, non abbiamo timori particolari, la navetta è pronta per un buon ritorno", ha detto la Collins. A terra, però, l'altro shuttle Atlantis resta in stand-by al Kennedy Space Center per un'eventuale, drammatica operazione di recupero spaziale e la Nasa conta di tenerlo pronto ancora per qualche giorno.

eBay. E il vice direttore della Nasa Wayne ha anche
ammesso che le preoccupazioni sull'età degli shuttle (la Discovery vola da 21 anni) hanno un fondamento, al punto che il personale a terra è costretto talvolta a dare la caccia nei posti più impensabili a pezzi di ricambio che ormai risalgono agli anni Settanta. Secondo il Los Angeles Times - ma Hale non ha confermato - in qualche caso gli ingegneri della Nasa per trovare uno specifico pezzo si sono dovuti rivolgere alle aste online di eBay.

[gpc]

Eh beh, se Repubblica non ficca propaganda e politica ovunque viene meno alla sua missione...

[razziadacqua]

Ragazzi io non sò voi,ma io sò solo che ogni giorno io mi appicco al monitor in questo sito:

http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv :sofico:

vi prego dovete andarci,dovete guardare,scaricatevi Media Player Classic,Quick time...quel che volete!

Ma vi assicuro che ogni giorno ma specialmente di notte,c'è da piangerci a guardare NASA TV...del tipo adesso,IN DIRETTA mi sto guardando la 6extraveicolare...stan facendo riparazioni...datemi retta da gusto veder certe cose con la soggetiva dell astronauta,specialmente quando guarda verso la terra e vedete l italia

:sbav: :sbavvv:

[IcEMaN666]

ma che sta combinando con quell'aggeggio?? sembra non fare niente :confused:

[razziadacqua]

ma che sta combinando con quell'aggeggio?? sembra non fare niente :confused:

beh...a volte si impalla...devi fare pause e paly...e ricarica il buffer...e poi considera che muoversi e lavorare lassù non è mica tanto semplice :) solo la tuta a loro fa perdere 10anni di vita in fatica!

[GioFX]

Eh beh, se Repubblica non ficca propaganda e politica ovunque viene meno alla sua missione...

beh dai, politica o propaganda su cosa? sono semplicemente articoli inaffidabili e pieni di inesattezze come avviene su tutti i giornali italiani, che su questi aspetti scientifici hanno un livello che dire scarso è poco.

[gino46]

boh da me nn si vede nulla, uso linux, ho realplayer ma si vedono quadrettoni grandi come case!

[gpc]

beh dai, politica o propaganda su cosa? sono semplicemente articoli inaffidabili e pieni di inesattezze come avviene su tutti i giornali italiani, che su questi aspetti scientifici hanno un livello che dire scarso è poco.

No beh, mi riferivo alla linea generale del giornale, non tanto a quella scientifica... che è di pessimo livello praticamente su tutti i quotidiani, quello senza dubbio.

[GioFX]

Potential spacewalk repair never attempted before

BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: August 1, 2005

NASA engineers are refining plans for an unprecedented but relatively straight forward spacewalk repair job Wednesday to remove two protruding "gap fillers" from the shuttle Discovery's underside heat shield tiles. While no spacewalking astronaut has ever been asked to work under the shuttle, out of direct view, engineers say the gap filler fix is not technically difficult or especially risky.

"It should be a simple task," said Cindy Begley, lead spacewalk officer for Discovery's mission. "It could be just as easy as grabbing it with his fingers and pulling it out. And we hope that's all it's going to be."

A formal decision on whether or not to add the repair task to an already planned spacewalk Wednesday is expected by the end of the day, after NASA's mission management team receives a briefing on the aerodynamic effects of the protruding gap fillers and an assessment of the threat they might pose.

Gap fillers do exactly what their name implies: They fill gaps between adjacent heat-shield tiles to prevent heat intrusion and side-to-side rubbing as the shuttle's aluminum skin flexes. Photographic inspection of Discovery's under side showed that two of the thousands of gap fillers in place had shaken or partially pulled loose during launch or after the shuttle reached orbit. As a result, portions of the two gap fillers in question stick up above the surface of the tiles. One extends about an inch above the tiles while the other protrudes about six-tenths of an inch.

The concern is that the gap fillers could disrupt the smooth flow of supersonic, super-heated air across the belly of the shuttle early in re-entry - the so-called boundary layer - creating turbulent flows that, in turn, could lead to extreme heating that might damage surrounding tiles or even wing leading edge panels. The early creation of turbulent airflow is known as "tripping the boundary layer."

Shuttles have re-entered with extended gap fillers before, suffering tile damage as a result, but this is the first time NASA engineers have had a chance to see one in advance and consider possible fixes. That's because of a post-Columbia safety program that now includes a shuttle pitch-around maneuver during approach to the space station that provides an opportunity to photograph the belly of the orbiter in enormous detail.

Over the weekend, a tiger team of veteran spacewalkers and engineers began "evaluating several methods for removing the gap filler or cutting the gap filler," Begley said "They're evaluating how to get access to the area, which arm to get on and go down there and we have plans in work for a new EVA timeline if we need to do that.

"So we're getting everything staged and ready to go. We're even going to send some information to the crew so they can be looking at that if we end up going in that direction. ... As always, we try to get all our ducks in a row ahead of time."

Assuming the astronauts get the go ahead as expected, the station's robot arm would be "walked off" the Destiny laboratory module in inchworm fashion to reach a mounting point on the station's main solar array truss. Astronaut Stephen Robinson, equipped with forceps, scissors and a hacksaw-like tool, then would lock his boots in a foot restraint and the arm would be maneuvered to carry him to the gap filler work sites.

"The basic part of the task is to get to the worksite and that's something we've never done before, put an EV crew member underneath the vehicle," Begley said. "The task itself, pulling out the gap filler, they're going to have to be very careful of the area not to damage anything while they're there. We're making sure we're taking as many tools off of him as we can and holding the safety tethers back behind him.

"The first attempt is going to be to pull it out," she said. "We don't expect that to take a lot of force. If it seems to be taking a lot of force, then we're going to look at cutting it off. And we have a number of tools (available). We have a forceps you can lock on to the gap filler and gives him a tether point to hang on to it as he's cutting it off to get it out. Those are the things we're looking at. Doing the actual cutting may give us a little bit of debris to look at but otherwise, I think it's a fairly simple task, making sure we're not going to hit the vehicle when we're doing that."

Asked about what worst-case scenario NASA would be protecting against by ordering the repair work, mission operations representative Phil Engelauf said "I'm going to hedge a little bit here because that's going to be the topic of discussion at the (mission management team).

"The aerothermal team is going to come in and present the summation of the analysis they've been working on for a couple of days," Engelauf said. "The preliminary indications are that we're not going to be able to give a very definitive answer and that, in fact, is probably what will drive the discussion one way or the other.

"There are not a lot of vehicles that fly in the flight regime that the shuttle operates in and so our testing and real flight experience with boundary layer transition in the Mach 18 to 20 regions is a pretty thin data base and it's not well supported by analytical models because we've never had anything to validate those models against. The guys have been working furiously to try to understand that.

"Their considerations are bulk local heating as well as control," Engelauf said. "We think we've pretty well cleared the control issues. ... We're really down to local aero heating and there are two different categories of issues. These two pieces of gap filler are located one near the centerline of the vehicle, far forward by the nose landing gear door, and then a second one a little bit farther back but somewhat off to the side of the vehicle.

"For the most forward one, the biggest concern is the far forward early boundary layer transition, early in the flight regime. ... They're worried about transitions above Mach 20, which is earlier than the design point for the vehicle. That would be primarily (a) localized heating situation. But primarily for the tile. With the one over closer to the side, again if you had an asymmetrical transition you could potentially have localized high heating on the RCC (leading edge panels) because of anything wrapping around the vehicle and up over the leading edge of the wing."

Shuttles have returned from space with protruding gap fillers before "without detriment but also somewhat in ignorance because we've never had the opportunity to observe the way we have now. This was not, frankly, one of the things we spent a lot of time working on the past two years."

"There's a fair amount of conservatism prevailing in the community that until we can satisfy ourselves, maybe the better course of action is to go out here and remove these if that's the right thing to do."

[GioFX]

Da Spaceflightnow.com (http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts114/050801gapfiller/index2.html):

NASA gives go-ahead to spacewalk repair work

BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: August 1, 2005

A Discovery astronaut, working on the end of the space station's robot arm, will attempt to remove two protruding "gap fillers" sticking up from protective heat-shield tiles on the belly of the shuttle Discovery Wednesday during an already planned spacewalk, officials said today.

NASA's mission management team decided to order the repair work after a long meeting in which aerodynamicists said they could not guarantee a problem-free re-entry with the gap fillers sticking out as is. The stumbling block was uncertainy about high-altitude, high-speed aerodynamics and how turbulence, caused by the extended gap fillers, might affect heat loads on the orbiter.

Wayne Hale, chairman of the management team, told reporters late today that estimates of possible consequences ranged from no problems of any significance to exceeding the shuttle's design limits and safety margin. While the worst-case scenarios might or might not trigger a catastrophic failure, serious tile damage could result.

"Today at the mission management team meeting we had a very long discussion about aerodynamics," Hale said. "I went in with a very simple question: Did we have the engineering knowledge and analysis that would, without a shadow of a doubt, allow us to be 100 percent confident the vehicle could fly safely during entry?

"We investigated that at length, the team has been working for three days, they came in with a very long report, the management team asked them a lot of detailed questions and at the end of the day, the bottom line is there is large uncertainty because nobody has a very good handle on aerodynamics at those altitudes at those speeds. Given that large degree of uncertainty, life could be normal during entry or some bad things could happen.

"Then we examined our options to set our minds at rest and to make sure we didn't stay up late nights worrying about bad things happening, the EVA (spacewalk) team has ... put together a very simple plan, with good safety precautions and mitigations of many hazards that will allow the crew member to go out and remove those two gap fillers. And so when we looked at the unknown versus what we do know about EVA, it was a very easy decision to add the task to EVA number three, to go remove the two little gap fillers."

[GioFX]

Da NASA.gov (http://www.nasa.gov/returntoflight/multimedia/gap_filler_repair_techniques.html):

Gap Fillers Repairing Techniques

http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/124085main_jsc2005e30908_med.jpg

http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/124106main_jsc2005e30915_med.jpg

http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/124087main_jsc2005e30917_med.jpg

http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/124091main_jsc2005e30981_med.jpg

[Duncan]

interessante...

ma che materiale mettono tra le fughe?

Pare delicata come operazione.... se si tagliano la tuta mentre lo fanno... :eek:

[razziadacqua]

boh da me nn si vede nulla, uso linux, ho realplayer ma si vedono quadrettoni grandi come case!

mi dispiace davvero.Prova con media player classic o Media Player ...

io l altra notte mi son guardato pure la passeggiata di Riparazione!!! :sbavvv:

peccato che il sito era talmente bombardato di connesioni che un pò saltava,ma quando girava fluido gasava da matti!

[Octane]

Dall'articolo appena sopra...

Avevo letto, grazie inoltre per la puntuale e costane informazione..
e' solo che acoltando Nasa TV, ne parlavano ancora come se avessero ancora dei dubbi..

Se mi dici che hanno stabilito che e' tutto ok, ben venga, meglio cosi'!!

Tnx!
Ciao ;)


EDIT: Ho letto solo ora i tuoi post successivi.. dimentica tutto! ;) ;) ;)

[GioFX]

Astronauts confident about spacewalk fix-it mission

BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: August 2, 2005

The Discovery astronauts said today they were initially concerned about the safety of a proposed spacewalk repair job Wednesday to remove two protruding "gap fillers" sticking out from heat-shield tiles on the shuttle's belly. But they are now convinced it's not only safe, but a relatively simple task that will eliminate any lingering concern about unwanted re-entry heating.

After discussing the spacewalk details with her crew mates today, Discovery commander Eileen Collins told flight controllers they had agreed to add the repair work to an already-planned spacewalk Wednesday, the crew's third and final planned outing.

"The crew has talked about the EVA (spacewalk repair) and we are go for EVA on flight day nine," Collins called down. "Go for EVA tomorrow."

"Eileen, we copy. Go for EVA on flight day nine," replied Canadian astronaut Julie Payette in mission control. "This will be exciting."

In a morning news conference, astronaut Andrew Thomas told reporters that when the crew first heard about the planned repair work, "I think a number of us did have misgivings. We were concerned about it, we were concerned about the implications of it and what was motivating it."

"The ground has been very good in sending us up a lot of information about it," he said. "We understand some of the physics behind what would happen if (the gap fillers) weren't there. We know if it were to remain there, even under a worst-case scenario, it wouldn't present a threat to the orbiter. There might be some minor structural damage that might require post-flight attention, but it wouldn't be a threat to us personally.

"However, it's a lot better for a number of reasons, performance reasons, if you can remove this material and that justifies doing it, considering that every indication is that the removal of the material should be straight forward and pretty easy."

The protruding gap fillers, two of thousands in use across the underside of the shuttle, are not associated with foam debris shed by Discovery's external fuel tank during launch. The stiff, ceramic cloth material is inserted between heat shield tiles to ensure smooth air flow and to prevent adjacent tiles from rubbing as the shuttle's aluminum skin flexes during launch or due to temperature swings.

During Discovery's approach to the international space station last week, commander Eileen Collins piloted the ship through a 360-degree pitch maneuver that allowed the station crew to photograph the ship's normally unseen belly. Imagine analysts quickly spotted two gap fillers that had been dislodged. According to documentation of a similar incident during an earlier mission, engineers believe gap fillers typically dislodge as the shuttle goes supersonic during launch.

One gap filler seen on Discovery protrudes a full inch above the surface of the surrounding tiles while the other extends 0.6 inches.

The concern is that one or both gap fillers in question could "trip the boundary layer" during re-entry, that is, disrupt the smooth, laminar flow of supersonic air across the belly of the shuttle and create eddies of turbulence that, in turn, result in higher downstream heating.

The issue is when that transition to turbulent flow might occur. It occurs normally when the shuttle's velocity has dropped to around eight to 10 times the speed of sound, starting toward the back of the heat shield and moving forward. But a protruding gap filler in a 1995 shuttle mission tripped the boundary layer at Mach 18, causing significant tile damage during entry.

A gap filler also can trigger an asymmetric boundary layer transition, changing the aerodynamics and causing the shuttle's flight computers to compensate by firing rocket thruysters or adjusting the ship's elevons.

That's not thought to be an issue with Discovery. Rather, engineers were concerned that the protruding gap fillers could disrupt the boundary layer at speeds higher than Mach 20, thus exposing downstream tiles to higher heating for an even longer period. In the end, mission managers decided not to risk any such damage to the shuttle and asked the astronauts to remove the offending gap fillers during the crew's third spacewalk.

The primary objective of the spacewalk is to attach a large tool caddy and spare parts kit called an external stowage platform to the side of the station's Quest airlock module. As soon as it's locked in place, the station's robot arm will disengage and lock its free end onto a mobile transporter mounted on rails along one side of the station's main solar array truss. Moving like slow-moving inchworm, the other end of the arm will then release a grapple fixture on the Destiny laboratory module, freeing it to grasp an astronaut foot restraint.

From its new perch on the truss, the robot arm will be able to move astronaut Stephen Robinson down the starboard side of the space shuttle, giving him access to the work sites on the far side of the orbiter. Television cameras on the station arm and the shuttle's own robot arm will let flight controllers monitor his position to help ensure he stays well away from any inadvertent contact with Discovery's heat shield.

The most significant concern is any such inadvertent contact that might damage one or more tiles.

"Like all kinds of repairs, it's conceptually very simple but it has to be done very, very carefully," Robinson said today. "The tiles as we all know are fragile and an EVA (spacewalk) crew member out there is a pretty large mass. I'll have to be very, very careful, but the task is extremely simple and we predict it won't be too complex."

Arm operators Wendy Lawrence and pilot James Kelly will take extra care moving Robinson into position.

"We're ready to do this in a very careful manner," Robinson said. "And besides, it's not just me. We'll also have a camera ... looking at me and trying to look at the clearance between me and the orbiter's belly. So we'll have lots of ways to be very, very conservative. It's going to be like watching grass grow. Nothing's going to happen fast."

The two gap fillers are located relatively close to the shuttle's nose. Robinson first will try to simply pull the spacers free.

"There won't be any yanking going on at all," he said. "It will be a gentle pull with my hands and if that doesn't work, I have some forceps, I'll give a slightly more than gentle pull and if that doesn't work, I'll saw it off with a hacksaw. No yanking."

Robinson, identified during spacewalks as EV-2, will be joined by Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi, EV-1. Here is an updated timeline of Wednesday's spacewalk activities (in EDT and elapsed time):

EDT........HH...MM...EVENT

04:14 AM...00...00...Airlock egress
04:44 AM...00...30...EV1/EV2: External stowage platform (ESP 2) installation
05:29 AM...01...15...EV1: MISSE 5 experiment package installation
05:29 AM...01...15...EV2: Grapple fixture removal and stowage
05:44 AM...01...30...Station arm (SSRMS): ESP 2 ungrapple
05:49 AM...01...35...SSRMS: walk off to S0 truss mobile transporter
06:14 AM...02...00...Shuttle arm (SRMS): TPS sample box scan
06:29 AM...02...15...EV1: Rotary joint motor coupler removal
06:29 AM...02...15...EV2: Gap filler tool prep
07:29 AM...03...15...EV1: Attach foot restraint to SSRMS
07:29 AM...03...15...EV2: Attach tethers, ingress SSRMS
07:44 AM...03...30...EV1: Close TPS sample box; stand by
07:44 AM...03...30...EV2: gap filler removal process begins
07:54 AM...03...40...SSRMS: move EV2 to work site 1
08:34 AM...04...20...SSRMS: move EV2 to work site 2
09:14 AM...05...00...SSRMS cleanup/egress
09:44 AM...05...30...IV egress for shuttle EVA
10:29 AM...06...15...EV1/EV2: Payload bay cleanup and tool stow
11:14 AM...07...00...Airlock repressurization

The space station's robotic arm will move Robinson down the right side of Discovery and then under its nose. He will not be visible from the shuttle's crew cabin or the space station. But he will be in view of the robot arm cameras and in constant UHF radio contact with his crew mates and flight controllers in Houston through the station's communications system.

Robinson said his major concern will be making sure his helmet doesn't bump into the shuttle's fragile tiles as he nears the orbiter. As for the actual repair work, "I've got several old airplanes at home that I've had for many, many years, so I'm pretty comfortable with using tools very carefully."

"But no doubt about it, this is going to be a very delicate task. But as I say, a simple one. The hacksaw is really a contingency device. The idea is to just pull out this thin gap filler, either by hand or with a pair of forceps, and we'll use the hacksaw only if necessary. But I think it's a great solution ... and it should be pretty safe."

Earlier today, President Bush called the astronauts from the White House.

"Thank you for taking my phone call," he said. "I just wanted to tell you all how proud the American people are of our astronauts. I want to thank you for being risk takers for the sake of exploration. I want to welcome our Japanese, Australian and Russian friends and wish you God speed in your mission. I know you've got very important work to do ahead of you and we look forward to seeing a successful completion of this mission. Obviously, as you prepare to come back, a lot of Americans will be praying for a safe return. So it's great talking to you. Thanks for being such great examples of courage for a lot of our fellow citizens."

"Well thank you very much, Mr. President," Collins replied. "We want to tell you we really enjoy what we're doing, we really believe in our mission and we believe in space exploration and getting people off the planet and seeing what's out there. The steps that we're taking right now are really worth it, we want everybody to know that. Thank you very much for taking the time out of your busy schedule to talk to us."

"Well listen," Bush replied, "I want to thank you, commander, and thank your fellow astronauts there. I agree with you, I think what you're doing is really important. You've got a strong supporter for your mission here in the White House. ... We're with you and wish you all the very best. Thanks for taking my phone call. Now get back to work!"

[GioFX]

Management's rationale for spacewalk repair

BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: August 2, 2005

Editor's Note...

The following discussion was uplinked to the Discovery astronauts overnight as part of a lengthy daily "execute package" from mission control. It is fairly technical, but given the recent discussion about protruding gap fillers and how they might affect the shuttle Discovery's aerodynamics during re-entry, it provides insight into how managers reached the decision to order a spacewalk repair. Acronyms are spelled out for clarity, but the reader is assumed to be familiar with the general thrust of the discussion.


SOURCE: NASA

The major discussion and decision point from the MMT (mission management team) today was with regard to performing the EVA (spacewalk) task to remove the 2 protruding gap fillers. The MMT decided that the prudent course of action was to add this task to EVA 3 to remove the uncertainty and potential concerns for flying entry with the gap fillers in place. As a result we are sending along more details of the task and timeline, and the overall plan for EVA 3 with this task inserted.

The MMT decision resulted after careful deliberation and extensive discussion on the potential thermal and structural effects of leaving the gap fillers in place and experiencing early boundary layer transition (BLT), as compared to the relative risk aspects of this particular EVA task. The following outlines some of those particulars, and of course we're also sending along the presentation material for your consideration.

The aero/thermal team outlined their approach to predicting the point at which early transition could occur, and they then discussed the resulting potential thermal implications for both the RCC (reinforced carbon carbon leading edge panels) and TPS (thermal protection system) tile. As you know there are many challenges in this area, not the least of which is that the wind tunnel and CFD (computational fluid dynamics) data bases do not cover this Mach regime, and of course the only flight test data we have is that for Shuttle entry, since no other winged vehicles have flown in this regime. We have had 2 documented cases of early BLT at about M (Mach) 18, STS-28 and STS-73.

We have had several cases of early transition and ABLT (asymmetric boundary layer transition) at lower Mach numbers, the majority of them in the M 12-15 region. For reference, transition normally occurs in the M 8-12 region. As a result, the team used this limited flight data for the M 18 early BLT's to extrapolate on the currently accepted and certified model for BLT.

The extrapolation was necessary in order to consider the effects of having early BLT with our flight conditions, primarily because these gap fillers are further forward relative to our data base, and among other things the BL is thinner in this area over these forward nose tiles. The end item answer is that because of the further forward position and the amount of protrusion that we have, approximately 1 inch, the resulting best estimate for early BLT is about M 21.5 (+/- 2.5M).

The team then evaluated the potential effects of an early BLT in this Mach regime, and presented the results for both the RCC and the TPS tile area. It was noted that as it relates to the RCC, we have no documented flight evidence or reason to believe that we have ever had early transition that affected the RCC. Said differently, we have no evidence that we have ever had turbulent flow wash onto the RCC in these regions of higher heating.

However, given an early BLT at M 21.5 and the resulting flow due to these gap fillers being off-centerline, the analyses show that we could have turbulent flow wash onto the RCC. It was noted that these analyses were overall best estimate (conservative in some aspects and best estimate in other aspects). The magnitude of the resultant heating could be on the order of the heating rates that we expect on a TAL (trans-Atlantic landing) for example, where we go to the single use RCC limits of ~ 3250 deg F. This is compared to the nominal EOM (end of mission) multi-flight reuse limits that we design to of about 2950 deg F.

If the early BLT occurred at the high end of the uncertainty at about M 24 the heating rate could be even higher than our TAL limits by about 100 deg F. For the tile areas, the analyses showed that this thermal profile could result in negative margins on the mid-body and aft fuselage structures from the normal 1.4 FS (factor of safety). The results ranged from slightly negative margins to as much as a 30% decrease in the FS (0.98 FS) depending on the exact tile locations.

As a note, the aero and flight control communities also reviewed these conditions and determined that there would be no concerns. As you'll recall the WRAP DAP (digital autopilot software) was designed to handle early transition and ABLT, so these satisfactory results were expected. As such, the MMT opted to not review those specific details, although the technical community did the necessary rigor for completeness.

The team acknowledged that there is high uncertainty in the analyses for determining just how early BLT could occur, as well as for determining the resulting potential thermal implications for the RCC and tile. It is possible that we've flown with these conditions before, however we do not have data to show that we have and therefore we cannot prove that it would be a lower risk than the EVA task.

As such, given the relative risk trade between the potential for these heating conditions as compared to the EVA task to remove the gap fillers, the MMT determined that the EVA was the prudent approach. As for the proposed EVA 3 task, the first and preferred option is to remove the gap fillers by pulling them out with the gloved fingers, or the forceps if required. The downmode will be to cut them off to the lowest level feasible, with the hacksaw or scissors. If they are left in place the desire is to get them to a height of no more than 29 ~ 0.4 ". The general plan would be to pre-position ESP-2 on FD8, and then access the area from the starboard side with an APFR on the SSRMS after completing the ESP-2 installation task.

The current estimates are for a 7:15 duration EVA, with 1:15 dedicated to the gap filler task. We are sending the details of this task as well as the overall EVA 3 plan for your consideration and look forward to your comments/questions.

[oscuroviandante]

Scusate la domanda non riferita alla missione in corso.
A quando risale la progettazione dello Shuttle?
Mi ricordo che cominciò già agli albori dei primi lanci negli anni '60 , mi sbaglio?

P.S. leggo ora su corriere.it che hanno riparato le piastrelle dello scudo

[GioFX]

Scusate la domanda non riferita alla missione in corso.
A quando risale la progettazione dello Shuttle?
Mi ricordo che cominciò già agli albori dei primi lanci negli anni '60 , mi sbaglio?


Dunque... ufficialmente l'inizio del programma STS (Space Transportation System, il nome ufficiale del programma Shuttle della NASA) risale al 5 Gennaio 1972, alla chiusura del programma Apollo, anche se in effetti lo studio di un sistema riutilizzabile venne per la prima volta proposto nel settembre 1969, poco dopo il riuscito allunaggio dell'Apollo 11.

Il programma era del tutto diverso dai precedenti perchè si prefissava di progettare e costruire un sistema riutilizzabile per le missioni in LEO (orbita bassa terrestre).

Il progetto fu affidato con un bando di gara alla Rockwell International per l'orbiter (la navetta), alla Thiokol Corporation per i SSME (Space Shuttle Main Engines, i grandi motori a combustibile liquido Ossigeno - Idrogeno), e alla Martin Marietta Corporation per l'ET (external tank, il grande serbatoio esterno).

Il primo orbiter costruito è stato l'Enterprise, nel 1974 (OV-101, tutti i nomi non ufficiali degli shutte sono stati scelti tramite concorsi tra gli alunni del paese), ma si trattava di un prototipo statico non in grado di volare autonomamente. Furono fatti ben 13 di test di caduta libera simulando il rientro a terra della navetta.

L'Enterprise si trova oggi allo Smithsonian Institution di Washington.

Il primo e vero orbiter in grado di volare fu il Columbia (OV-102), che fece il primo volo (STS-1), un volo con sole 2 orbite effettuate con un comandante ed un pilota, il 12 aprile 1981:

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0104/columbia_sts1.jpg

Gli altri Shuttle costruiti furono, in ordine cronologico:

- Challenger (OV-99) > 1983
- Discovery (OV-103) > 1984
- Atlantis (OV-104) > 1985
- Endeavour (OV-105) > 1992 (ordinato per la sostituzione del Challenger)

[GioFX]

Da Space Flight Now (http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts114/050803eva3b):

Space repair man fixes tile gap fillers

BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: August 3, 2005

Like an anxious mom plucking out splinters, astronaut Stephen Robinson gently pulled two dislodged gap fillers from the shuttle Discovery's belly early today in an unprecedented 223-mile-high repair job.

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts114/050803gapfillerremove/gapfill2pull.jpg
Robinson gently holds the second protruding gap filler with his spacesuited thumb and finger. Images: NASA TV/Spaceflight Now.

Floating under Discovery's nose on the end of the international space station's robot arm, Robinson reached out with his gloved hand and very carefully pulled the first gap filler out at 8:45 a.m.

"I'm grasping it, I'm pulling, it's coming out very easily," Robinson radioed. "OK, the offending gap filler has been removed."

Exactly 10 minutes later, after astronauts Wendy Lawrence and James Kelly guided the arm to the second protruding gap filler, Robinson completed the repair job with little fanfare.

"I'm ready for brakes," he called, asking the arm operators to stabilize the robotic crane.

"Brakes are on. You're go," Kelly replied from inside the Destiny laboratory module.

"Thank you. Here we go..."

Crystal clear video from Robinson's helmet camera showed the astronaut gently pushing on the gap filler to get a feel for it before working it out, pulling it free with seemingly little force. Reddish glue could be seen on the bottom of the stiff spacer as Robinson turned it this way and that.

"OK, I'd like to move away from the orbiter, body aft 5 feet please," he radioed.

"Body aft. We're taking the brakes off."

"Sounds great. OK, that came out very easily, probably even less force," Robinson commented. "It looks like this big patient is cured.

And with that, the Discovery astronauts pulled off one of the more memorable space shuttle repair jobs in program history, venturing below the underside of the shuttle for the first time to service an area of the spacecraft that is normally considered strictly off limits.

Spectacular television views from cameras mounted on the space station, Discovery's robot arm and Robinson's space suit allowed flight controllers and armchair astronauts around the world to follow along as the spacewalker worked alone against the backdrop of Discovery's tiled under belly.

Shots from fellow spacewalker Soichi Noguchi's helmet camera showed the entire space shuttle against the blue-and-white globe of Earth with Robinson visible in the distance on the end of the station's robot arm.

Contrary to news accounts that focused on what some viewed as an especially risky venture, Robinson had no problems at all, never came close to damaging any surrounding tiles and completed the repair work in the time needed to simply pluck the gap fillers out.

But the astronauts clearly took the work seriously, reviewing safety precautions while the arm slowly moved Robinson to the work sites below the shuttle.

"It goes without saying we don't want any inadvertent contact with tile or the belly of the orbiter," astronaut Andrew Thomas called from inside the shuttle-station complex.

"OK."

"You've got a lot of things still hanging onto you even though we cleaned you up, so try to keep an eye on where they are. ... And under the orbiter, we'll probably have comm drop outs, we may lose wireless video. So we'll need continuous communications protocol while you're doing the (job) so we can be assured it's going properly."

Thomas cautioned that if Robinson had to resort to a hacksaw to cut the gap fillers off, "the serrated edge is also going to be sharp so you need to watch that. If by any chance you do need to contact the tile with your hands, we would require only gentle hand reaction alone. We want you to distribute the load over several fingers or the backs of the fingers. How copy?"

"Copy all, particularly the hand touch," Robinson said as he approached the shuttle "My goal, of course, is not to touch the tiles at all, but I have touched the tiles at KSC with my work gloves on, so I know what to expect. I'll use a very gentle touch."

As it turned out, he didn't to.

"I can see it pretty well," he called at one point, referring the the first gap filler.

"How far are you from it, by the way?" Kelly asked.

I'm about eight feet, maybe seven feet, looking straight down on it. It looks to be about close to three inches on one side and about an inch and a half on the other side. The corner looks like it is bent over, presumably by air loads" during launch.

A few moments later, he called Kelly: "Vegas, I'm ready to go get it if you are. ... I'm ready to go."

"It's your show, Steve, take it away," Thomas said."

After the repair work was over, Robinson took a moment to enjoy the spectacular view and to chat with flight controllers in Houston.

"You guys did a great job," astronaut Mike Massimino called from mission control.

"Thank you, Mike," someone replied.

"We trained for four years," Robinson joked. "We're going to spend the next four years signing autographs! ... I'm getting the best view. Oh my goodness... just beautiful."

The 61st spacewalk devoted to station assembly and maintenance began at 4:48 a.m. and ended at 10:49 a.m. for a duration of six hours and one minute. Robinson and Noguchi logged 20 hours and five minutes of EVA time during their three excursions, pushing the station total to 368 hours and 20 minutes.

Earlier today, Robinson and Noguchi installed a large tool storage platform on the side of the Quest airlock module. Noguchi also mounted an experiment package on the top of the station's P6 solar array truss. But mission planners earlier decided to defer installation of a camera mount to a future spacewalk and after the gap filler fix, they opted to also defer retrieval of a radiator coupling.

Engineers are still debating what, if anything, might need to be done about a damaged insulation blanket just below commander Eileen Collins' left cockpit window. Astronauts at the Johnson Space Center worked overnight to develop possible remedies, but no final decisions have been made.

During a news briefing Tuesday evening, Wayne Hale, chairman of NASA's mission management team, said he hoped to make a final decision later today or tomorrow, after the engineering analysis is complete.

"Right now, we know that in terms of the local area, it's OK," Hale said. "This is just a question of could it fly back and hit something on the after part of the vehicle? And, in fact, the biggest work going on, I think, is to determine whether or not it's even possible the blanket could come off."

The Discovery astronauts used a camera on the end of a sensor boom attached to the shuttle's robot arm today to collect additional, close-up pictures of the blanket to help engineers assess the damage.

[GioFX]

Spacewalk to fix damaged blanket a 'remote' possibility

BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: August 3, 2005

With a successful spacewalk repair job today, engineers believe the shuttle Discovery's heat shield is in good shape for re-entry and landing Monday. But one question mark remains: What, if anything, to do about a damaged insulation blanket just below commander Eileen Collins' left cockpit window.

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts114/050802blanket/blanket.jpg
Credit: NASA

As the Discovery astronauts were unwinding from their third and presumably final spacewalk today, mission control called Collins with word that a fourth spacewalk, this one to repair the blanket, is a possibility, depending on how the damage assessment turns out.

"We wanted you to know that they are looking at the remote possibility, but yet if indeed the damage on the blanket warrants it, that they might have to plan for a fourth EVA," astronaut Julie Payette radioed from mission control in Houston. "This is a small probability, but we wanted you to know about their thinking, and also get any comments from your crew and especially from the EV (spacewalk) crew members about this idea so we can put that in the pot for planning."

"OK, thanks for the heads up," Collins replied.

Cameras on Discovery's robot arm were used to photograph the torn, puffed-up blanket today, providing zoomed-in views showing what looked like impact damage on the slender segment. At a change-of-shift news briefing, lead flight director Paul Hill said engineers hoped to complete a thorough damage assessment by Thursday morning.

Unlike the consequences of the protruding gap fillers removed by spacewalker Stephen Robinson earlier today, the blanket does not pose a threat during the high-speed, high-heating part of re-entry. Rather, the concern is that when Discovery reaches the denser, lower atmosphere, a piece of the blanket could rip away, possibly hitting the back of the orbiter.

"It's not an entry heating concern," Hill said. "The concern is if something comes off and then flies aft and hits some critical surface, whether its a control surface, the front of an OMS (rocket) pod or something like that. So we're taking a look at this as a debris problem, not an entry heating problem."

Hill said engineers are trying to assess "how significant it would be if we made impact with the amount of material that could come off in the worst case."

"There are also folks off doing statistical analysis on where the most likely areas are that could be hit," he added. "We'll have more data tomorrow. ... But we are definitely looking at various areas on the vehicle aft and what it would mean to us if we were to hit it with the predicted masses that could come off."

Mission management team chairman Wayne Hale likely will address the issue at his daily news briefing later today.

[gpc]

Ho troppo sonno per andare a prendere il vocabolario :p Cos'è esattamente un "blanket"?

[Banus]

Ho troppo sonno per andare a prendere il vocabolario :p Cos'è esattamente un "blanket"?
"Copertura". Prendi babylon :read: :D

[GioFX]

Ho troppo sonno per andare a prendere il vocabolario :p Cos'è esattamente un "blanket"?

Letteralmente è "coperta", ma in codesto contesto ( :p ) trattasi di rivestimento.

[gpc]

Capito, capito, grazie... :p

[GioFX]

Fourth spacewalk ruled out

BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: August 4, 2005

NASA's mission management team today ruled out another shuttle repair spacewalk, this one to fix a damaged insulation blanket, saying a detailed analysis showed Discovery's crew can safely return to Earth as is.

"We have good news," astronaut Julie Payette radioed from mission control a few minutes past 1 p.m. "The MMT just got to the conclusion that the blanket underneath (the commander's) window is safe for return. There is no issue."

Concern about the damaged 20-inch-long, 4-inch-wide insulation blanket just below Discovery commander Eileen Collins' left cockpit window was the only remaining question mark about the shuttle's condition prior to re-entry and landing Monday at the Kennedy Space Center. Engineers earlier cleared the shuttle's heat-shield tiles and wing leading edge panels after an impromptu repair job Wednesday in which two protruding "gap fillers" were plucked from the ship's belly during the crew's third, and now final, spacewalk.

The blanket in question forms an interface of sorts between heat-shield tiles surrounding the cockpit windows and thermal insulation blankets that protect much of the shuttle's upper fuselage.

Engineers concluded earlier that the damaged blanket posed no threat during the high-speed, high-heating parts of re-entry. Rather, the concern was that the top layer of the blanket could rip away at lower velocities, when the shuttle has fallen into the thicker regions of the atmosphere, fly back and impact the back end of the space shuttle.

Deliberately damaged blankets similar to the one aboard Discovery were tested overnight in a wind tunnel at NASA's Ames Research Center in California to help engineers and aerodynamicists calculate when during entry debris might rip away, what sort of trajectory it might follow and whether an impact could cause serious damage to the shuttle's rear wing elevons, rudder/speed brake or aft rocket pods.

But the wind tunnel tests, along with additional analyses, showed the blanket posed no significant threat to Discovery's return to Earth.

"We have new analysis that shows debris transport would be no issue and we came to the same conclusion with the Ames (wind) tunnel tests," Payette told the crew today. "So basically, no EVA 4 (fourth spacewalk)."

"Thanks, no EVA 4," Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi replied from orbit. "That's, I would say, good news."

In Crawford, Texas, President Bush today praised the crew's repair work Wednesday, saying "like a lot of Americans, I was amazed at the procedures that took place to repair the craft. It was pretty remarkable."

"I believe that the mission is important," he said. "And I know that the mission directors will make the right decision about how to proceed. Ours is a country that values the safety of our citizens, particularly those we ask to take risks in space. And there will be a lot of deliberation, a lot of thought, that goes into the decision as to whether or not those brave souls should return on that vehicle."

Earlier today, the Discovery astronauts and their colleagues aboard the international space station paid tribute today to the 21 astronauts and cosmonauts who lost their lives in spacecraft mishaps, saying the benefits of space travel outweigh the risks and that America "must not be bridled by timidity."

Taking turns reading prepared scripts while downlinking video of a long pass across the Indian Ocean, the combined shuttle-station crews remembered the crews of Columbia, Challenger, Soyuz 1 and 11 and the Apollo 1 victims of a launch pad fire that forced NASA to redesign its Apollo moonships.

"Certainly, space exploration is not easy and there has been a human price that has been paid," said Wendy Lawrence. "As we step out into these new frontiers, we find that it is very unforgiving of our mistakes. The lives lost over 30 years ago with the earliest steps taken by the crews of Apollo 1, Soyuz 1 and Soyuz 11 showed us that and after, the crew of Challenger reaffirmed the need to be ever vigilant of the risk."

Charles Camarda then took over, saying "tragically, two years ago we came once more to realize that we had let our guard down. We became lost in our own hubris and learned once more the terrible price that must be paid for our failures."

"In that accident, we not only lost seven colleagues, we lost seven friends. Their families never shared any homecoming. Those seven were driven by the fire of the human spirit within, they believed in space exploration, they knew the risks, but they believed in what they were doing. They showed us that the power of the human spirit is insatiable. They knew that in order for a great people to do great things, they must not be bridled by timidity."

"To the crew of Columbia, as well as the crews of Challenger, Apollo 1, and Soyuz 1 and 11, and to those who have courageously given so much, we now offer our enduring thanks," said Discovery pilot James Kelly. "From you, we will carry the human spirit out into space and we will continue the explorations you have begun. We will find those new harbors that lie out in the stars of which you dreamed.

"We do this not just because we owe it to you, but we do it because we also share your dream of a better world. We share your dream of coming to understand ourselves and our place in this universe. And as we journey into space you will be in our thoughts and will be deeply missed."

Collins closed the brief memorial with a verse from Laurence Binyon's poem, "For the Fallen:

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

For the record, here's a list of the 21 men and women who have lost their lives in spacecraft accidents:

Apollo 1, 01/27/67: Launch pad fire
Commander Virgil "Gus" Grissom
Edward White
Roger Chaffee


Soyuz 1, 04/24/67: Re-entry parachute failure
Vladimir Komarov


Soyuz 11, 06/29/71: Capsule depressurization during entry
Georgy Dobrovolsky
Viktor Patsayev
Vladislav Volkov


Challenger, STS-51L: 01/28/86: Booster failure during launch
Commander Francis "Dick" Scobee
Pilot Michael Smith
Mission Specialist Judith Resnik
Mission Specialist Ronald McNair
Mission Specialist Ellison Onizuka
Payload Specialist Gregory Jarvis (private sector engineer)
Spaceflight Participant Christa McAuliffe (school teacher)


Columbia, STS-107: 02/01/03: Left wing plasma intrusion during entry
Commander Rick Husband
Pilot William McCool
Mission Specialist Kalpana Chawla
Mission Specialist Laurel Clark
Mission Specialist Michael Anderson
Mission Specialist David Brown
Payload Specialist Ilan Ramon (Israel)


In an Op-Ed piece published by the Houston Chronicle, legendary Apollo flight director Gene Kranz, known for the "Apollo 13" screenplay line "failure is not an option," echoed Camarda's concerns about timidity in the face of danger. In a strongly worded piece, Kranz decried critics who have suggested retiring the shuttle program in the wake of renewed concerns about external tank foam debris.
"For the risk-averse, the only acceptable thing to do now is retire the shuttle program immediately and wait for the divine arrival of the next generation of spacecraft," he wrote. "I am disgusted at the lack of courage and common sense this attitude shows.

"All progress involves risk. Risk is essential to fuel the economic engine of our nation. And risk is essential to renew America's fundamental spirit of discovery so we remain competitive with the rest of the world."

Kranz said Discovery's flight has been "remarkably successful" so far, despite the unexpected release of a large piece of foam insulation during launch. Overall, Kranz said, the shuttle tank shed 80 percent less foam than previous missions and "only in the news media, apparently, is an 80 percent improvement considered a failure. Rather than quit, we must now try to reduce even more the amount of foam that comes off the tank."

"There are many nations that wish to surpass us in space," he wrote. "Does the 'quit now' crowd really believe that abandoning the shuttle and the international space station is the way to keep America the pre-eminent space-fairing nation? Do they really believe that a new spacecraft will come without an engineering challenge or a human toll? The path the naysayers suggest is so out of touch with the American character of perseverance, hard work and discovery that they don't even realize the danger in which they are putting future astronauts - not to mention our nation."

President Bush did not directly address the risks of spaceflight, but he made it clear he believes his new moon/Mars initiative will reinvigorate the space program.

"It is important for our fellow citizens to understand that we're going to take the NASA mission beyond the current mission," he said. "The plan right now is to phase out the shuttle by 2010 and then begin to put a strategy in place that will use the moon as a launching spot for further exploration. ... The people I've talked to inside NASA are excited about the mission, the reinvigoration of the vision of exploration.

"And I appreciate the administrator (Michael Griffin) working on getting that strategy in place so that when the decision is made to finally get rid of this phase of exploration we'll be ready to take on the new phase. That's important for the American people to understand, that, one, exploration is important. Two, there'll be some good coming out of exploration. And three, that we've got a new vision embraced by NASA and its pioneers."

[gpc]

GioFX, ti hanno evocato nel thread sulla veridicità delle missioni lunari... Io ti ho avvisato per dovere di cronaca, ma sappi che ho sconsigliato il tuo intervento per la tua salute :O :D

[GioFX]

GioFX, ti hanno evocato nel thread sulla veridicità delle missioni lunari... Io ti ho avvisato per dovere di cronaca, ma sappi che ho sconsigliato il tuo intervento per la tua salute :O :D

arrivo!

:cool:

[GioFX]

Da Space.com (http://www.space.com):

Discovery Completes Cargo Transfer at ISS

By Tariq Malik
Staff Writer
posted: 5 August 2005
9:10 a.m. ET

HOUSTON – After delivering tons of new equipment and, supplies and fresh food to the International Space Station (ISS), the crew of the space shuttle Discovery packed up their cargo pod and returned it to the shuttle’s payload bay for the trip back to Earth.

Discovery astronaut Wendy Lawrence, an STS-114 mission specialist, and pilot James Kelly deftly placed the Italian-built Raffaello cargo module back into its berth aboard the shuttle after a week of unpacking supplies for the ISS and stowing trash, unneeded equipment and the personal effects left onboard the station by previous crewmembers.

The move sets the stage for Discovery’s departure from the ISS, which is scheduled to begin Saturday at 3:22 a.m. EDT (0722 GMT). The shuttle and its STS-114 crew are scheduled to land at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) on Aug. 8.

Altogether, Discovery hauled about six tons (12,107 pounds) of new equipment up to the International Space Station (ISS), though only 3,768 pounds were tucked away onboard Raffaello, which is one of four Italian-built Multi-Purpose Logistics Modules used to ferry supplies to the station aboard U.S. shuttles. Discovery also carried about 1,394 pounds of cargo earmarked for the ISS in its middeck. The rest of the cargo, a new control moment gyroscope, spare parts platform and their related cables, were installed outside the ISS over the course of three spacewalks.

Discovery is the first shuttle to resupply the ISS since the Endeavour orbiter docked at the station on Nov. 25, 2002. The loss of the Columbia orbiter and its seven-astronaut crew on Feb. 1, 2003 prompted NASA to ground its three remaining shuttles and spend two and half years redesigning shuttle external tanks and developing new tools for orbiter safety. Columbia was brought down by a 1.67-pound piece of external tank foam that pulled free during launch and damaged the orbiter’s heat shield.

In the interim, only Russian Progress cargo ships and Soyuz spacecraft delivered fresh crews and supplies to the ISS.

After Discovery’s launch, at least three pieces of external tank foam – the largest weighing about a pound – fell from the orbiter’s external tank, disappointing the shuttle’s astronauts and mission managers who had hoped they had solve d the problem. Shuttle officials grounded future launches until they understand and solve the new foam loss problem.

To prepare for another potential delay between shuttle resupply flight to the ISS, STS-114 mission controllers gave Discovery and the space station crew an extra day of docked operations to allow more time to collect spare parts and other items around the shuttle to leave onboard the orbital laboratory.

Laptop computers, additional water, spare exercise equipment parts and tools were among the added few hundred pounds that Discovery’s crew pulled from

“The most important thing, I think, are the laptop computers,” said Mark Ferring, lead ISS flight director during the STS-114 mission, earlier this week. “We’re going to steal most of those computers that the shuttle has.”

Laptop computers are the sole display and control devices aboard the ISS, and some of the station machines have experienced screen problems, station officials have said.

Batteries, spacewalk and cabin tools and water were also on the docket for the additional transfer, Ferring said.

Later today, Discovery astronauts will wield both the station and shuttle robotic arms to hand off the orbiter’s 50-foot (15-meter) inspection boom for stowage inside the payload bay.

[GioFX]

Da Space.com (http://www.space.com):

Shuttle Discovery Prepares to Come Home

By Tariq Malik
Staff Writer
posted: 5 August 2005
10:49 a.m. ET

HOUSTON—Following a hectic week docked at the International Space Station (ISS) where a few historic “firsts” were performed in space, the shuttle Discovery is being prepared to come home.

“We’re ready to go,” said Paul Hill, Discovery’s lead STS-114 flight director, during a briefing here at NASA’s Johnson Space Center.

The only major concern, aside from the typical risks associated with flying the shuttle—effectively a 100-ton glider during reentry—back to Earth, is weather at Kennedy Space Center where it will land at 4:46 a.m. EDT ( 0746 GMT) Aug. 8, Hill said.

“We are highly confident in this entry,” veteran astronaut Eileen Collins, Discovery’s STS-114 commander, said earlier this week. “I think we’re going to have a clean entry.”

Discovery is set to undock from the ISS Saturday at 3:44 a.m. EDT (0744 GMT) then back about 400 feet away, where it will slowly circle the orbital laboratory with the station with shuttle pilot James Kelly at the helm.

“The only reason we’re doing it is to take pictures of the space station,” Hill said. “There’s no technical reason other than the fact that we can see all the way around. We’re going to take the time to snap some pictures from some angles we haven’t seen since the last orbiter was there.”

Discovery is the first shuttle to visit the space station since 2002, and NASA’s first orbiter to fly since the Columbia disaster. Columbia’s STS-107 mission, commanded by astronaut Rick Husband, ended in tragedy about 16 minutes before landing when the orbiter broke apart during reentry on Feb. 1, 2003 while flying over Texas. Investigators pinned the accident on wing damaged cause during Columbia’s launch, when a piece of foam debris fell form the orbiter’s external tank and pierced its heat shield.

Many of the new tools and methods used by Discovery’s crew are a direct result of the Columbia accident.

The astronauts repeatedly used a laser camera-tipped inspection boom extension for the shuttle’s robotic arm to scan their ship’s thermal protection system, and ISS crewmembers photographed the orbiter’s heat tile-covered belly during a backflip maneuver prior to docking on July 28.

The shuttle is now fit for landing after an in-flight repair to pluck two protruding strips of filler material from its belly tiles during a first-ever spacewalk and conclusions that a damaged thermal blanket should not pose a hazard during landing, the shuttle is fit for landing, mission managers said.

“But there is no such thing as no concern,” Hill said. “Just making it past the milestone where we lost STS-107 is not enough.”

Hill said that the lost Columbia astronauts have been a constant presence in his mind and those of his flight team, even as mission controllers focused on returning Discovery and its STS-114 crew home safely.

“During the crew commemoration yesterday, they were on our minds a lot,” Hill said. “During de-orbit I’m sure I’ll have a thought or two about Rick Husband and his crew. At wheel stop, I think a lot of us are going to think a lot about the STS-107 crew as well as the STS-114 crew at landing.”

[GioFX]

Discovery does victory lap after departing station

BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: August 6, 2005

The shuttle Discovery undocked from the international space station early today, wrapping up a successful repair and resupply mission. With pilot James Kelly at the controls, Discovery pulled away directly in front of the lab complex and then flew a loop around the station for a spectacular photo survey.

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts114/050806undocking/undocking.jpg
Discovery flies above the station following undocking. Credit: NASA TV/Spaceflight Now

In what may be the most stunning video ever shot of the lab complex, Discovery's cameras captured the station flying serenely against the backdrop of central Asia like some great bird, its huge solar arrays stretching across the scene like wings as the snow-capped Himalayas came into view below the limb of the Earth.

Earlier, in a brief farewell ceremony inside the station's Destiny lab module, shuttle commander Eileen Collins thanked the station's two-man crew "for being such great hosts."

"We thank them for being part of such a successful mission," she said of station commander Sergei Krikalev and flight engineer John Phillips. "We're so happy to have spent the time up here with them. ... And with that, we're going to say a short goodbye and do a fly around of their space station and get them some great pictures and do a photo survey and add some final memories."

Krikalev thanked the shuttle astronauts in turn along with ground support crews, saying "it's really a big event for us because we were waiting for this flight for several years, more than three years already. And fortunately, everything goes smooth. We want to say thank you and wish you a good, soft landing."

Phillips then took the microphone for a final word: "Thank you so much for being wonderful guests, it's really been a pleasure. And no, we're not glad to see you go. We'd love to have you stay a little longer. As Sergei says, have a great flight and a soft landing. We look forward to seeing you back in Houston."

The two crews exchanged hugs and handshakes before the shuttle astronauts floated out of the station and hatches between the two craft were sealed. Undocking occurred at 3:24 a.m. EDT (0724 GMT) as the spacecraft sailed more than 220 miles above the Pacific Ocean west of Chile.

Kelly guided Discovery to a point 400 feet directly in front of the space station before beginning a slow loop around the outpost at 3:51 a.m., flying over the top of the lab then directly behind and below it before departing the area after a full lap.

[razziadacqua]

Oh ma mi qui mi collego a NASA tv e mi ritrovo lo shuttle che se ne và bel bello per i fatti suoi!!!

ma quando si è staccato perchè non mi avete avvisato? :°D
No ma ora voglio capire quando atterra?ora?qui stan facendo vedere una ripresa infrarosso del cielo...sembra...cape canaveral!veedo la piattaforma!e tante luci lampeggiare!cazzo fà atterra ora!??!?!

AHHhH!!!no capito ora!""""che pirla!!erano delle immgini in diretta dallo shuttle!!!!dell emisfero buoio!!!!!belloooo!!!! :sofico:

[GioFX]

Entry and Landing Timeline

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts114/fdf/images/114_entry.gif

[GioFX]

Video da vedere assolutamente:

Left SRB separation (http://wm.nasa-global.speedera.net/wm.nasa-global/ccvideos/jsc/080105/114_SRB_LTwmv_56.asf)

Right SRB separation (http://wm.nasa-global.speedera.net/wm.nasa-global/ccvideos/jsc/080105/114_SRB_RTwmv_56.asf)


Immagini da vedere:

Flight Day - 12 (http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/shuttle/sts-114/flightday12/ndxpage1.html)

[gpc]

Potevi postarle questa mattina che ora sono in grps fino a fine mese!? :muro: :D

[GioFX]

Potevi postarle questa mattina che ora sono in grps fino a fine mese!? :muro: :D

:fiufiu:





:vicini:

:D :D

[GioFX]

Discovery landing postponed by bad weather

Low clouds that could hamper commander Eileen Collins' view of the runway on final approach have forced a delay in this morning's landing. The shuttle will circle the Earth one more time and target a deorbit burn at 5:15 a.m. for landing on the Kennedy Space Center three-mile runway at 6:22 a.m. EDT.

[GioFX]

ANOTHER DAY IN SPACE! Unstable weather conditions and low clouds aren't going to cooperate at Kennedy Space Center this morning, forcing space shuttle Discovery to remain in orbit for an additional day. Tomorrow's first landing opportunity would be 5:08 a.m. EDT at the Cape.

[GioFX]

NASA will activate the backup landing site at Edwards Air Force Base in California. The space agency intends to get Discovery back on Earth tomorrow at either Kennedy Space Center or Edwards.

Here are all possible landing times, including targets for White Sands, N.M. (in EDT)


ORBIT...DEORBIT......LANDING...SITE

Tuesday, Aug. 9

217.....04:05 AM.....05:08 AM...Kennedy Space Center
218.....05:37 AM.....06:39 AM...White Sands, NM
218.....05:41 AM.....06:43 AM...Kennedy Space Center
219.....07:11 AM.....08:13 AM...Edwards AFB, CA
219.....07:13 AM.....08:14 AM...White Sands, NM
220.....08:47 AM.....09:48 AM...Edwards AFB, CA

[Quincy_it]

Entry and Landing Timeline

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts114/fdf/images/114_entry.gif
Bellissimo il "Toilet Deactivation". :D
E se a qualcuno scappa, che fa?

[GioFX]

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

Shuttle landing delayed 24 hours

BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: August 8, 2005

Uncertainty about dynamic weather at the Kennedy Space Center forced entry flight director LeRoy Cain to pass up two landing opportunities today and to keep the shuttle Discovery's crew in orbit an extra 24 hours.

An initial landing opportunity was passed up because of low clouds near the Shuttle Landing Facility and while conditions appeared to improve while Discovery went back around the planet, forecasters could not guarantee acceptable conditions for the second landing opportunity at 6:22 a.m.

Less than 15 minutes before the 5:15 a.m. rocket firing that would have committed commander Eileen Collins and her crew to re-entry, Cain decided to wave off for the day.

"As you can imagine from our silence down here, there continues to be a low layer (of clouds) varying between 300, 400 and 500 feet, it's been few and scattered all evening and again, the one word that describes all this all night has been 'unstable,' astronaut Ken Ham radioed Collins from Houston.

"Our current observed weather is actually 'go,' it's few at 500, broken at 15,000 and the forecast is in the same neighborhood, 800 scattered, broken at 15,000, which is technically 'go' as well. However, we just can't get comfortable with the stability of the situation for this particular opportunity. So we're going to officially wave you off for 24 hours."

"OK, Houston, we copy that," Collins replied. "It will be a wave off for today."

Landing now is targeted for around 5:07 a.m. Tuesday at Kennedy, weather permitting.

Cain said Sunday that if Discovery failed to get back to Florida today he would activate NASA's backup landing site at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. - and possibly White Sands, N.M. - and bring the shuttle down, on one coast or the other, Tuesday.

The forecast for Kennedy calls for just a few clouds at 2,000 feet and 10,000 feet, scattered clouds at 25,000 feet with a slight chance of showers within 30 nautical miles. Winds will be out of 220 degrees at three knots with peaks to five knots, well within NASA's crosswind limits.

At Edwards, the outlook is for few clouds at 10,000 feet, scattered clouds at 25,000 feet and winds from 220 degrees at four knots peaking to seven knots. White Sands is expecting a slight chance of showers and broken cloud decks at 10,000 and 25,000 feet.

Here are all possible landing times for Tuesday and Wednesday (in EDT):


ORBIT...TIG..........LANDING....SITE

Tuesday, Aug. 9

217.....04:01 AM.....05:07 AM...Kennedy Space Center
218.....05:33 AM.....06:39 AM...White Sands, NM
218.....05:37 AM.....06:43 AM...Kennedy Space Center
219.....07:06 AM.....08:12 AM...Edwards AFB, CA
219.....07:09 AM.....08:13 AM...White Sands, NM
220.....08:44 AM.....09:47 AM...Edwards AFB, CA

Wednesday, Aug. 10

232.....02:50 AM.....03:53 AM...Kennedy Space Center
233.....04:25 AM.....05:28 AM...Kennedy Space Center
234.....05:55 AM.....06:58 AM...Edwards AFB, CA
234.....05:57 AM.....06:59 AM...White Sands, NM
235.....07:31 AM.....08:32 AM...Edwards AFB, CA
235.....07:33 AM.....08:34 AM...White Sands, NM

[GioFX]

E se a qualcuno scappa, che fa?

se la fa addosso, mi sembra ovvio... :p

[Octane]

se la fa addosso, mi sembra ovvio... :p

poi per punizione gli faranno lavare la tuta :p :p

[gpc]

Sul TG3 ho appena sentito il servizio più osceno concepibile da mente (dis)umana... :nono:
Hanno parlato di "ammaraggio" dello Shuttle e hanno detto che anche in questa missione si sono staccate "parti della coperta (?!) termica"... beata ignoranza :muro:

[razziadacqua]

Sul TG3 ho appena sentito il servizio più osceno concepibile da mente (dis)umana... :nono:
Hanno parlato di "ammaraggio" dello Shuttle e hanno detto che anche in questa missione si sono staccate "parti della coperta (?!) termica"... beata ignoranza :muro:

ah guarda fosse solo quella....

che se ci pensi non han fatto che tradurre letteralmente la parola BLANKET :) coperta...

Cmq,al posto tuo,manderei una mail di notifica al TG io ogni tanto lo faccio per questione di principio...quando sento certe castronerie faccio fatica a stare zitto.

MI ricordo a tempo TSUNAMI quando dissero che l asse terrestre si era spostato di non sò quantoi decimi di grado :°°D e che parlavano di cambiamenti di clima...un apocalisse insomma.TG1 in prima linea,TG2 e mi pare pure TG5...mandai una letterina(mail) sull uso della ragione,dell astronomia e delle proporzioni alle redazioni e ai consulenti...che in pratica dormivano...
Per fare i servizi in fretta del resto buttano su tutto e spesso non si rendono conto di quello che dicono.

Farglielo notare serve a noi per dormire la notte :D e a loro per migliorare

[icestorm82]

Ragazzi, a che ora italiana arriveranno di preciso?

[GioFX]

0657 GMT (2:57 a.m. EDT)

The official weather forecast for the first KSC landing opportunity has been presented to the flight control team. The forecast is "no go" for Discovery's homecoming.

[GioFX]

0703 GMT (3:03 a.m. EDT)

WAVE OFF. This morning's first chance to bring space shuttle Discovery back to Earth has been scrubbed due to unacceptable weather conditions at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida due to rainshowers and thunderstorms within 30 miles of the runway. Discovery will circle the planet one more time while flight controllers watch the weather. If Mother Nature decides to cooperate, Discovery could fire its braking engines at 5:37 a.m. EDT for KSC touchdown at 6:42 a.m. EDT.

NASA's backup plan if the weather remains unfavorable at the Florida spaceport this morning is diverting Discovery to the alternate landing site at Edwards Air Force Base in California's Mojave Desert. The first Edwards opportunity would begin with a deorbit burn at 7:07 a.m. EDT and landing at 8:11 a.m. EDT.

[pistolino]

0703 GMT (3:03 a.m. EDT)

WAVE OFF. This morning's first chance to bring space shuttle Discovery back to Earth has been scrubbed due to unacceptable weather conditions at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida due to rainshowers and thunderstorms within 30 miles of the runway. Discovery will circle the planet one more time while flight controllers watch the weather. If Mother Nature decides to cooperate, Discovery could fire its braking engines at 5:37 a.m. EDT for KSC touchdown at 6:42 a.m. EDT.

NASA's backup plan if the weather remains unfavorable at the Florida spaceport this morning is diverting Discovery to the alternate landing site at Edwards Air Force Base in California's Mojave Desert. The first Edwards opportunity would begin with a deorbit burn at 7:07 a.m. EDT and landing at 8:11 a.m. EDT.

sto Discovery per un motivo o per l'altro non torna più :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :cry:

Temporali entro 30 KM dalla pista di atterraggio... :rolleyes: azz sono 30 Km... :rolleyes: quanto vogliono tenerli ancora in orbita quei poveracci? :rolleyes:

[GioFX]

Ragazzi, a che ora italiana arriveranno di preciso?

ORBIT...TIG..........LANDING....SITE

Tuesday, Aug. 9

217.....04:01 AM.....05:07 AM...Kennedy Space Center > 11:07 (SALTATA)
218.....05:33 AM.....06:39 AM...White Sands, NM > 12:39 (SALTATA)
218.....05:37 AM.....06:43 AM...Kennedy Space Center > 12:43 (PREVISTA)
219.....07:06 AM.....08:12 AM...Edwards AFB, CA > 13:12
219.....07:09 AM.....08:13 AM...White Sands, NM > 13:13
220.....08:44 AM.....09:47 AM...Edwards AFB, CA > 14:47

[GioFX]

sto Discovery per un motivo o per l'altro non torna più :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :cry:

Temporali entro 30 KM dalla pista di atterraggio... :rolleyes: azz sono 30 Km... :rolleyes: quanto vogliono tenerli ancora in orbita quei poveracci? :rolleyes:

d'accordo che l'avvicinamento è automatico ma ti ricordo che si tratta di un giocattolino che costa qualche miliardo di dollari e che per la propria discesa deve far affidamento solo alle manovre del pilota e all'aerobraking per perdere velocità da circa MACH 26 fino a toccare la pista a 300 km/h... vedi te... :)

[pistolino]

d'accordo che l'avvicinamento è automatico ma ti ricordo che si tratta di un giocattolino che costa qualche miliardo di dollari e che per la propria discesa deve far affidamento solo alle manovre del pilota e all'aerobraking per perdere velocità da circa MACH 26 fino a toccare la pista a 300 km/h... vedi te... :)

si ma ricorda anche che quei poveracci hanno ossigeno fino a domani :rolleyes:
Continuando a rimandare, la vedo brutta :rolleyes:
Preferirei danneggiare lo shuttle da miliardi di dollari che far crepare quegli astronauti :rolleyes:

[Octane]

d'accordo che l'avvicinamento è automatico ma ti ricordo che si tratta di un giocattolino che costa qualche miliardo di dollari e che per la propria discesa deve far affidamento solo alle manovre del pilota e all'aerobraking per perdere velocità da circa MACH 26 fino a toccare la pista a 300 km/h... vedi te... :)

mach 26..
altra domandina..qual e' la velocita' (tangenziale) in orbita LEO?

[GioFX]

si ma ricorda anche che quei poveracci hanno ossigeno fino a domani :rolleyes:
Continuando a rimandare, la vedo brutta :rolleyes:
Preferirei danneggiare lo shuttle da miliardi di dollari che far crepare quegli astronauti :rolleyes:

MA STIAMO SCHERZANDO?

A parte che le celle a combustibile sono in grado di generare ossigeno per 30 giorni ALMENO, viveri e sistemi vitali sono in grado di permettere alla navetta oltre un mese di autonomia... il limite primario e la produzione di energia elettrica delle stesse celle a combustibile che producono acqua ed ossigeno per la vita a bordo, e cmq anche per quello non vi sono problemi.

Guarda che ritardi nel landing sono sempre capitati nella storia del programma STS, è normale.

Certo, hanno speso 2 miliardi e si sono impegnati centianaia di persone per ottenere il più sicuro e perfetto volo di un orbiter per far "CREPARE" l'equipaggio... ma fammi il piacere dai... :rolleyes:

[Athlon]

si ma ricorda anche che quei poveracci hanno ossigeno fino a domani :rolleyes:
Continuando a rimandare, la vedo brutta :rolleyes:
Preferirei danneggiare lo shuttle da miliardi di dollari che far crepare quegli astronauti :rolleyes:


Quelli a corto di ossigeno erano i russi nel batiscafo .. ti stai confondendo.

Senza contare che se proprio non si riuscisse ad atterrare possono sempre tornare ad attraccare alla stazione orbitante e prendere ossigeno e combustibile dalla stazione.

Infine se preferisci danneggiare lo shuttle ti vorrei far notare che danneggiare lo shuttle vuol dire quasi sicuramente ucciderne gli occupanti.

[GioFX]

mach 26..
altra domandina..qual e' la velocita' (tangenziale) in orbita LEO?

la vel. max in orbita LEO con inclinazione ISS (51,6°) è di 27,685.7 km/h o 7,69 km/s.

[GioFX]

Senza contare che se proprio non si riuscisse ad atterrare possono sempre tornare ad attraccare alla stazione orbitante e prendere ossigeno e combustibile dalla stazione.


Questo purtroppo non è possibile, il propellente per l'RCS (Reaction Control System) e OMS (Orbital Maneuver System) è generato dall'APU (che controlla tutti i sistemi idraulici) così come l'elettricità per la strumentazione e per la vita a bordo è creata dalle celle a combustibile, che non sono interfacciabili con l'ISS (almeno per il momento, si parla di un upgrade dal 2006 in grado di permettere lo "scambio" di energia elettrica tra lo shuttle e l'ISS).

Il propellente per le manovre dello Shuttle è assai limitato e non è possibile tornare alla ISS dalla distanza alla quale si trova ora anche perchè è necessario conservarlo al massimo per il de-orbiting burn.

[sempreio]

comunque quella navetta è una bagnarola se pensate che per farla andare è disseminata di processori 8086 per intenderci quelli del m24 di 25 anni fa....

[GioFX]

comunque quella navetta è una bagnarola se pensate che per farla andare è disseminata di processori 8086 per intenderci quelli del m24 di 25 anni fa....

ma basta con ste cazzate!!!

Gli orbiter sono dotati di 3 sistemi di elaborazione indipendenti basati su versioni estremizzate e personalizzate di IBM-360 con software di volo scritti in linguagigo HAL/S, e che negli anni hanno ricevuto due upgrade, il più importante dei quali ha visto la sostituzione di tutti i sistemi analogici con nuovi sistemi digitali simili a qualli utilizzati sui moderni areei di linea e la sostituzione di memoria on core al memoria DRAM.

Detto questo, i computer a bordo degli orbiter controllano tutto dalla fase di lancio a quella di atterraggio mediante appositi software centinaia di sensori per la determinazione istantanea dello stato dell'intero veicolo, senza mai aver avuto un problema. Anzi, ricordo che l'unica volta che si è tentato l'avvicinamento manuale al KSC con uno shuttle si è rischiata una tragedia.

E poi vorrei ricordare che non sono necessari supercomputer per far volare un'astronave al contrario di quanto si pensi, per diversi motivi, primo tra i quali la SICUREZZA, cosa che un computer dell'ultima generazione non è in grado di garantire, oltre ai COSTI astronomici che già costano gli attuali modificati sistemi di calcolo utilizzati.

Spiegami tu perchè cazzo spendere miliardi per un upgrade INUTILE quando oltretutto è previsto il ritiro della flotta entro 5 anni.

[GioFX]

0825 GMT (4:25 a.m. EDT)

A decision point on this next landing opportunity is coming up in about 10 minutes. That is when the crew would need to begin their "fluid loading" to take salt tablets and drink several quarts of water to restore fluids lost during two weeks spent in microgravity.


0830 GMT (4:30 a.m. EDT)

The crew is beginning an alignment of the shuttle's inertial measurement unit guidance computers.


0839 GMT (4:39 a.m. EDT)

In a positive step to potentially bringing Discovery home to the Kennedy Space Center at sunrise this morning, entry flight director LeRoy Cain has instructed the astronauts to begin the "fluid loading" protocol. Typically, the crew is allowed to hold off drinking the large quantities of liquids unless there's a reasonable chance of landing on the next available opportunity.

Clouds around the Cape and rainshowers off the coast continue to be assessed to ensure the weather conditions do not violate any of the landing rules. A final "go/no go" decision for the deorbit burn is expected around 5:15 a.m.

[GioFX]

0903 GMT (5:03 a.m. EDT)

CALIFORNIA BOUND. Continued instibility in the weather off the Florida coast has prompted entry flight director LeRoy Cain to throw in the towel for a Kennedy Space Center homecoming of space shuttle Discovery. Today's landing has been officially diverted to Edwards Air Force Base in California where skies are clear. Touchdown is expected at 8:11 a.m. EDT.

[Banus]

E poi vorrei ricordare che non sono necessari supercomputer per far volare un'astronave al contrario di quanto si pensi, per diversi motivi, primo tra i quali la SICUREZZA,
E infatti in molte situazioni in cui è richiesta affidabilità vengono usati processori "superati", ma che garantiscono un'alta affidabilità.
Se lo shuttle ha dei problemi, non è certo a causa dei sistemi elettronici. I due disastri sono stati causati da una valvola difettosa (Challenger) e dalla copetura termica danneggiata (Columbia); inoltre le macchine hanno ormai più di 20 anni di vita.

[GioFX]

0911 GMT (5:11 a.m. EDT)

Now three hours from touchdown in the Mojave Desert.

Today will mark the 50th shuttle landing at California's Edwards Air Force Base, the first since mission STS-111 in June 2002. The predawn touchdown at 5:11 a.m. local time (8:11 a.m. EDT; 1211 GMT) will make Discovery's return the first night shuttle landing at Edwards since STS-48 in September 1993.

[GioFX]

0948 GMT (5:48 a.m. EDT)

The deorbit burn will begin at 7:06:18 a.m. EDT. The two-minute, 42-second firing of the orbital maneuvering system engines will slow Discovery by 186 miles per hour for the plunge back into the atmosphere. Discovery will make a 196-degree right overhead turn to align with Runway 22, the three-mile concrete strip at Edwards. Touchdown is expected is expected at 8:11 a.m. EDT (1211 GMT).

These maps show space shuttle Discovery's track to landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California before Tuesday. Images: NASA

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts114/050809landingtracks/EDW219_long.gif

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts114/050809landingtracks/EDW219_mid.gif

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts114/050809landingtracks/EDW219_close.gif

[Athlon]

comunque quella navetta è una bagnarola se pensate che per farla andare è disseminata di processori 8086 per intenderci quelli del m24 di 25 anni fa....


E' vero gli 8086 non vanno bene ... mettiamoci qualche nuovo Pentium 60 con l'errore nella FPU oppure uno qualunque dei processori piu' recenti affetti dal bug DAN-0411.

Oppure meglio ancora mettiamoci sopra un processore di ultima generazione che oltre a consumare un sacco di elettricita' inutilmente e' sicuramente pieno di bachi non ancora scoperti e non ancora neutralizzabili via software.
:muro: :muro: :muro: :muro: :muro: :muro: :muro: :muro: :muro:

[GioFX]

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

Weather conditions are reported to be ideal at Edwards, according to Mission Control. Astronaut Mike Bloomfield is flying the Shuttle Training Aircraft around the desert military base to monitor conditions aloft and the path Discovery will follow on final approach to Runway 22.

[GioFX]

Per chi vuole vedere la telecronaca in diretta:

NASA TV (http://www.nasa.gov/ram/35037main_portal.ram)

[GioFX]

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

GO FOR THE DEORBIT BURN! The return to flight mission of NASA's space shuttle is headed to conclusion in the Mojave Desert of California this morning. Discovery's astronauts are "go" to perform the deorbit burn at 7:06:18 a.m. EDT to commit the shuttle for the trip back to Earth.

The upcoming two-minute, 42-second retrograde burn using the twin orbital maneuvering system engines on the tail of Discovery will slow the shuttle's velocity by 186 miles per hour, just enough to slip the craft out of orbit and begin the plunge into the atmosphere.

Discovery is headed to a landing at 8:11 a.m. EDT on Runway 22 at Edwards Air Force Base to end the two-week voyage. Touchdown will occur about 54 minutes before sunrise.

[GioFX]

1052 GMT (6:52 a.m. EDT)

Discovery has maneuvered to the deorbit burn attitude. The shuttle is flying upside-down and backwards with its tail pointed in the direction of travel.

[GioFX]

1101 GMT (7:01 a.m. EDT)

Pilot Jim Kelly is activating one of three Auxiliary Power Units -- APU No. 2 -- in advance of the deorbit burn, now five 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 only needs a single unit to make a safe landing.

[GioFX]

1106 GMT (7:06 a.m. EDT)

DEORBIT BURN IGNITION. Flying upside down and backwards 205 miles above the western Indian Ocean, Discovery 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 42 seconds, slowing the craft to slip from orbit. The retro-burn will send Discovery to Edwards Air Force Base in California for a touchdown at 8:11 a.m. EDT.

[GioFX]

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

The deorbit burn is progressing normally, flight controllers report.

[GioFX]

1109 GMT (7:09 a.m. EDT)

DEORBIT BURN COMPLETE. Discovery has successfully completed the deorbit burn, committing the shuttle for its journey back to Earth. Landing is scheduled for 8:11 a.m. EDT (1211 GMT) at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

[GioFX]

1109 GMT (7:09 a.m. EDT)

Touchdown is 60 minutes away.


1115 GMT (7:15 a.m. EDT)

Onboard guidance is maneuvering Discovery from its heads-down, tail-forward position needed for the deorbit burn to the reentry configuration of heads-up and nose-forward. The nose also will be pitched upward 40 degrees. In this new position, the black tiles on the shuttle's belly will shield the spacecraft during the fiery plunge through the Earth's atmosphere with temperatures reaching 3,000 degrees F. Discovery will begin interacting with the upper fringes of the atmosphere above the South Pacific at 7:40 a.m. EDT.


1117 GMT (7:17 a.m. EDT)

Excess propellant reserves in the shuttle's forward maneuvering thrusters will be dumped overboard via four jets. The dump time will be 44 seconds, the astronauts were just told.


1120 GMT (7:20 a.m. EDT)

Discovery is 205 miles above Earth, continuing its free-fall to the atmosphere. The ship will hit the upper edge of the atmosphere at altitude of about 75 miles in 20 minutes.


1121 GMT (7:21 a.m. EDT)

Time to touchdown is 50 minutes. Discovery is flying over the extreme southern Indian Ocean and about to pass south of Australia.

[GioFX]

1122 GMT (7:22 a.m. EDT)

The propellant no longer needed for the shuttle's forward steering jets is being dumped overboard now.

[pistolino]

E infatti in molte situazioni in cui è richiesta affidabilità vengono usati processori "superati", ma che garantiscono un'alta affidabilità.
Se lo shuttle ha dei problemi, non è certo a causa dei sistemi elettronici. I due disastri sono stati causati da una valvola difettosa (Challenger) e dalla copetura termica danneggiata (Columbia); inoltre le macchine hanno ormai più di 20 anni di vita.

quoto. mi ricordo anche che l'Apollo che per primo è arrivato sulla luna aveva dei processori da 10 mhz :eek:

[GioFX]

1123 GMT (7:23 a.m. EDT)

Altitude is 190 miles.

[GioFX]

1128 GMT (7:28 a.m. EDT)

All three auxiliary power units are now running to supply pressure to the shuttle's hydraulic systems, which in turn move Discovery's aerosurfaces and deploy the landing gear. One unit was started prior to the deorbit burn; the others just a few moments ago. The units are only activated during the launch and landing phases of the shuttle mission.

[GioFX]

1129 GMT (7:29 a.m. EDT)

Discovery is descending through 155 miles.

[ulk]

E' vero gli 8086 non vanno bene ... mettiamoci qualche nuovo Pentium 60 con l'errore nella FPU oppure uno qualunque dei processori piu' recenti affetti dal bug DAN-0411.

Oppure meglio ancora mettiamoci sopra un processore di ultima generazione che oltre a consumare un sacco di elettricita' inutilmente e' sicuramente pieno di bachi non ancora scoperti e non ancora neutralizzabili via software.
:muro: :muro: :muro: :muro: :muro: :muro: :muro: :muro: :muro:


Comunque non è solo l'uso dei processori vecchio, ma un po tutta la tecnologia hardware e software su cui basta leggersi questo articolo..

http://www.mytech.it/archivio/articolo/idA028001040653.art


Ma il problema principale mia pare che sia l'uso dei materiali, possibili che con facoltà come Ingegneria dei Materiali non si riesca ad implementare materiali più resistenti e affidabili a tutti i mezzi destinati allo spazio specie quelli con equipèaggi umani?

:stordita:

[GioFX]

1134 GMT (7:34 a.m. EDT)

Altitude is now 120 miles.

[GioFX]

1136 GMT (7:36 a.m. EDT)

The shuttle is 100 miles above the South Pacific as it nears the upper fringe of Earth's atmosphere and just under 6,000 miles from the runway.

[Mauro82]

quoto. mi ricordo anche che l'Apollo che per primo è arrivato sulla luna aveva dei processori da 10 mhz :eek:
dubito che negli anni '60 avessero processori da "ben" 10MHz ;)

[GioFX]

1139 GMT (7:39 a.m. EDT)

With less than a minute before entry interface, altitude is now 81 miles.

[GioFX]

1140 GMT (7:40 a.m. EDT)

ENTRY INTERFACE. The protective tiles on the belly of Discovery are now 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 with its nose elevated 40 degrees, wings level, at an altitude of 400,000 feet, passing over the southern Pacific Ocean, about 4,400 nautical miles from the landing site, at a velocity of Mach 25, descending at a rate of over 600 feet per second.

Touchdown is set for 8:11 a.m. EDT at Edwards Air Force Base, California.

[GioFX]

1141 GMT (7:41 a.m. EDT)

Altitude is now 65 miles.

[GioFX]

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

Discovery is traveling 17,000 mph at an altitude of 56 miles.

[GioFX]

1144 GMT (7:44 a.m. EDT)

Discovery is about 4,000 miles from the runway, descending through 51 miles.

[GioFX]

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

Discovery is beginning the first of four banks to scrub off speed as it plunges into the atmosphere. These turns basically remove the energy Discovery built up during launch. This first bank is to the left with the wings angled 74 degrees.

[GioFX]

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

Speed is beginning to decrease, now 16,800 mph.

[GioFX]

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

Time to touchdown now 25 minutes.

[GioFX]

1147 GMT (7:47 a.m. EDT)

Discovery is crossing the equator in the central Pacific.

[GioFX]

1148 GMT (7:48 a.m. EDT)

Altitude is now 45 miles, traveling at 16,100 mph.

[GioFX]

1149 GMT (7:49 a.m. EDT)

Distance left to travel to the runway now 2,500 miles.

[GioFX]

1150 GMT (7:50 a.m. EDT)

Speed is now 15,400 mph at an altitude of 230,000 feet.

[GioFX]

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

All of Discovery's systems are operating normally, flight controllers report, as Discovery passes an altitude of 41 miles, some 2,000 miles from Edwards Air Force Base.

[GioFX]

1152 GMT (7:52 a.m. EDT)

The shuttle's speed is 14,500 mph as Discovery begins reversing its bank to the right to further reduce speed.

[GioFX]

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

Discovery is 217,000 feet in altitude, 1,450 miles from the runway.

[GioFX]

1155 GMT (7:55 a.m. EDT)

The shuttle is 16 minutes to touchdown, descending through 200,000 feet.

[GioFX]

1156 GMT (7:56 a.m. EDT)

The shuttle is flying at Mach 17, now 1,000 miles from Edwards.

[GioFX]

1157 GMT (7:57 a.m. EDT)

Discovery's speed is 10,000 mph at an altitude of 34 miles.

[Quincy_it]

Grazie per gli aggiornamenti in diretta GioFX. :)
Purtroppo dall'ufficio non posso vedere la Nasa TV :(

[GioFX]

1158 GMT (7:58 a.m. EDT)

Speed is 8,700 mph, altitude is 33 miles, 630 miles from touchdown.

[GioFX]

1159 GMT (7:59 a.m. EDT)

The shuttle is beginning to bank back to the left at a speed of 7,500 mph. Altitude is 167,000 feet.

[GioFX]

1159 GMT (7:59 a.m. EDT)

Discovery remains on the proper track for landing in 12 minutes at Edwards Air Force Base. Mission Control computes Discovery will land 2,700 feet down the runway at 205 knots.

[GioFX]

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

All appears to be going smoothly in Discovery's descent.

[GioFX]

1201 GMT (8:01 a.m. EDT)

Speed is now 5,100 some 287 miles from the runway.

[Quincy_it]

Ma è già stato superato il momento in cui, attraversando un dato strato dell'atmosfera, si interrompono le comunicazioni?

[GioFX]

1201 GMT (8:01 a.m. EDT)

The TACAN navigation units aboard Discovery are now receiving data from beacons located at the landing site.

[GioFX]

Ma è già stato superato il momento in cui, attraversando un dato strato dell'atmosfera, si interrompono le comunicazioni?

da un sacco...

[GioFX]

1202 GMT (8:02 a.m. EDT)

Discovery is now flying at Mach 6.

[GioFX]

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

An infrared tracking camera at Edwards has spotted Discovery. The shuttle is 155 miles away at an altitude of 21 miles.