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

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Da Spaceflightnow.com:

Solid rocket booster tests could be ordered

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Da Spaceflightnow.com:

Monday launch no longer appears possible

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

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


Credit: NASA-KSC

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

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

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

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

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

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eh, madre natura!

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

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

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

Originariamente inviato da Dave OPF

We're expecting to hear a rollback being called

http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/for...4039&start=151

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

edit: 2:30 ora.

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

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

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

[adsasdhaasddeasdd]

fulmine di merda

[Octane]

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

da spaceflightnow :

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

[GioFX]

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

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

[GioFX]

Da Spaceflightnow.com:

NASA defers rollback decision to Monday

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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[GioFX]

NASA call off Shuttle launch - Rollback

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

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

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

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

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

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

[Octane]

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

[GioFX]

Originariamente inviato da Octane

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

tu che dici?



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

[Octane]

Originariamente inviato da GioFX

tu che dici?

Originariamente inviato da GioFX

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

alla faccia!

[GioFX]

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

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

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

grazie!

[Octane]

Originariamente inviato da GioFX

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

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

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

grazie!

No problem!!
e ovviamente buone ferie!

[GioFX]

Originariamente inviato da Octane

No problem!!
e ovviamente buone ferie!

grazie caro!

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