Month: November 2007

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STS-120 was a success – so what now …

Discovery’s STS-120 mission was a huge success. But remember, I started this blog because I wanted to record my launch viewing trip. Obviously, we are way past launch. Discovery even landed and the remotest reasoning for keeping up a STS-120 blog is now been blown away.

But, hey, this is about space faring: did you never hear about extending successful missions? With new mission objectives? It already happened to this blog, somewhat silently. The original objective was to track everything until launch. But then I said “hey, why not document the mission while it is flown”. And so I did …

All of this was great fun and I am honored to have found some loyal readers. In fact, it is so much fun, I’d like to continue.

I need to shift the focus a bit: From now on, I’ll not just concentrate on shuttle launches (have you seen an Ares article already sneaked in?). Also, I can probably not report as much in-depth as I did for STS-120. That was quite time consuming and I guess I can’t stand that in the long term. But I’ll keep every bit of useful information up, so that future launch viewers can find what they need. Along the same lines, I’ll also do a wrap-up of generally useful launch viewing information which I could not yet convey.

It would also be very pleasing if those of you intending to watch a launch could drop me a few lines after they have done so. Or, of course, anything pre-launch that may be of interest to the rest of us. I’ll gladly appoint you as contributing author for that.

I now hope that you, my valuable readers, like this “mission extension” and keep reading the blog. Feedback is also appreciated, so please don’t be shy ;)

Thanks again for all your support!

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NASA TV Schedule for ISS Work

There are a number of tasks left to do for the ISS crew, among them even some “first evers”. The schedule is pretty busy and all needs to be done in order to support Atlantis’ STS-122 flight.

Today I received the NASA TV schedule, just in case you’d like to watch the work:

HOUSTON – In the wake of space shuttle Discovery’s delivery of the Harmony connecting module to the International Space Station, the station crew will conduct three spacewalks and robotically move two components this month to prepare for delivery of a European laboratory. All of the spacewalks and major robotics work will be broadcast live on NASA Television.

The shuttle Atlantis is targeted to launch Dec. 6 to deliver the European Space Agency’s Columbus science module. Before Columbus can be added to the station, Harmony must be relocated to its permanent location at the front of the complex. The station crew’s spacewalks and robotics work this month will complete that task, allowing Atlantis to dock and Columbus to attach to Harmony.

The NASA Television schedule includes:

4 a.m. CST Friday, Nov. 9 – NASA TV live coverage will begin as Expedition 16 Commander Peggy Whitson and Flight Engineer Yuri Malenchenko don U.S. spacesuits to conduct a 6.5-hour spacewalk to prepare a docking port on the forward end of the Destiny Laboratory to be detached. A press conference will follow the spacewalk on NASA TV, originating from NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston with questions from reporters at participating NASA sites.

4 a.m. CST Monday, Nov. 12 – NASA TV will broadcast live coverage as Whitson and Flight Engineer Dan Tani use the station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm to detach the docking port, known as pressurized mating adapter-2, and relocate it to the forward end of the Harmony. No news conference is planned following the mating adapter relocation.

3:30 a.m. CST Wednesday, Nov. 14 – NASA TV will broadcast live coverage as Whitson and Tani use the Canadarm2 to detach Harmony and its new docking adapter from their current location attached to the Unity module. They will reposition Harmony to be attached to the forward end of the Destiny Lab, its permanent location. This will be the first time a major component of the station has been relocated without a shuttle present. No news conference is planned following Harmony’s relocation.

4 a.m. CST Tuesday, Nov. 20 – NASA TV will broadcast live coverage as Whitson and Tani conduct a 6.5-hour spacewalk to hook up fluid, electrical and data lines for the relocated mating adapter and Harmony module. A press conference will follow the spacewalk on NASA TV, originating from Johnson with questions from participating NASA sites.

4 a.m. CST Saturday, Nov. 24 – NASA TV will broadcast live coverage as Whitson and Tani conduct a final 6.5-hour spacewalk to complete the hook up of the mating adapter and Harmony module to the station and leave them ready for the docking of Atlantis and delivery of Columbus. No news conference is planned following the spacewalk.

For NASA TV downlink, schedule and streaming video information on the Web, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

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New Travel Blog …

While I am on the road, I thought it would be a good idea to create a travel blog. Said and done, it is already online — of course with few content.

Those of you interested in rsyslog might like to hear that I will be back in the office next Monday. I’ll then review what has happened and go for another round of enhancements.

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STS-120 MCC Status Report #32

Space shuttle Discovery lands at Kennedy Space Center, FloridaSTS-120
Report #32
Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2007 – 2 p.m. CST
Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas

After 6.25 million miles and 15 days, space shuttle Discovery landed safely in Florida completing its 34th mission and circling the Earth 238 times.

Under command of astronaut Pam Melroy, the shuttle touched down on runway 33 at 12:01 p.m., after the 23rd mission to the International Space Station.

Discovery’s crew – Melroy, Pilot George Zamka and mission specialists Scott Parazynski, Stephanie Wilson, Doug Wheelock, Paolo Nespoli and Clay Anderson – will return to Houston Thursday. A welcoming ceremony for the crew is planned for 4 p.m. at NASA’s Hangar 276 on the south end of Ellington Field.

During the record stay at the station, Discovery delivered the Harmony Node with its 2,600 cubic feet of pressurized volume. Left in a temporary location while the shuttle occupied its permanent home on the Destiny laboratory, Harmony will be prepared for relocation by the Expedition 16 crew over the next three weeks before the next shuttle mission arrives.

“We could not have done this mission without Discovery being as clean and wonderful as it was. The whole agency had to pull together for this mission,” Melroy said on the runway flanked by Discovery.

Station commander Peggy Whitson along with Flight Engineers Yuri Malenchenko and Dan Tani will oversee the work to configure station systems for the arrival of a new science laboratory supplied by the European Space Agency next month. Tani exchanged places with Anderson, who spent 152 days in space – 148 of which were onboard the station.

The STS-120 Discovery crew also moved the port 6 truss – or P6 –segment and its accompanying solar arrays to its permanent home at the end of the stations truss, and repaired damage done to the solar array as it was being redeployed.

Next up is Atlantis, which is scheduled to roll to the launch pad Saturday. It will carry ESA’s Columbus laboratory to the station in early December on the STS-122 mission. Discovery will be towed by to its processing hangar this afternoon to begin preparations for its STS-124 mission in April 2008.

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Discovery home again!

After a very successful flight, Discovery made a safe landing at Kennedy Space Center just a few minutes ago. The astronauts are exiting the space shuttle for the landing press conference.

The landing was successful on its first attempt, right at the home base at Kennedy Space Center. This was probably the most on time flight for years now – launch on first attempt, perfect orbit operations and now even a landing that could not be more perfect. Congrats to the whole NASA team for this fantastic effort.

Among the many achievements was a historic space walk to restore the international space station ISS to fully operational state after rips where detected in a solar array. This spacewalk was made possible not only by the professional work of the space walkers but also hundereds, if not thousands, of people on the ground that got a plan ready within a very short time frame.

As it looks now, Atlantis STS-122 December, 6th launch will probably be also right on time. But today let’s celebrate the successful STS-120 mission.

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Deorbit burn successful …

NASA just announced that the deorbit burn was successful. Discovery has slowed down by just 148 mph, but that is enough to descent within one hour. The landing is expected at 1:01pm ET at Kennedy Space Center.

All in all, it looks like an excellent mission, with an on-time launch on the first attempt as well as a landing on its first attempt, too.

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Discovery on her way home…

The astronauts on board space shuttle Discovery have just initiated the deorbit burn. TThe burn is 1 minute, 85 second to slow down the shuttle for its decent back to earth. Each orbital maneuvering engine provides 6,0000 pounds of thrust for this maneuver.

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Ares Launch Viewing …

Ares launched in to orbit (artist's conception)
While I was at Kennedy Space Center last week, some folks mentioned that the first Ares test flights are planned for 2009. That surprised me and, to be honest, I did not yet verify the information. On the other hand, Constellation (and thus Ares) has a very challenging schedule, so I would not wonder if it is try. After all, tests take time and so it makes only sense to start as early as possible.

I wonder if the public will be able to witness the first Ares flight. I guess the situation is quite different from a shuttle launch. Ares will be totally new, never before launched and as such there inherently is a much greater risk of a mishap during the first launch attempt. That risk may be too high to allow general attendance. On the other hand, NASA Causeway is over eleven miles away from launch pad 39B, where Ares will launch.

So it comes down to keep a keen eye on the potential Ares launch date. Of course, it would be very cool to view the first launch ever of a totally new vehicle. Keep reading my blog, I’ll keep you informed on any news updates. And if you happen to know something, please drop me a line ;)

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STS-120 MCC Status Report #31

STS-120
Report #31
4 a.m. CST Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2007
Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas

HOUSTON – The astronauts on space shuttle Discovery are only hours away from a landing in Florida that will conclude a successful 15-day mission that delivered a new module and repaired a damaged solar array on the International Space Station.

This morning’s wakeup song, “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” by Sherman and Sherman, was played at 1:38 a.m. CST for Commander Pam Melroy.

Deorbit preparations begin at 7:03 a.m. and the crew should get the okay to close the payload bay doors at 8:19 a.m. If systems are good and the weather cooperates, Melroy will conduct the deorbit burn at 10:59 a.m. That will slow Discovery enough to fall out of orbit to begin its descent toward a landing at the Kennedy Space Center’s Shuttle Landing Facility at 12:01 p.m. CST.

A landing on that opportunity will wrap up Mission Specialist Clay Anderson’s flight to the International Space Station after 152 days in space.

There is another landing opportunity on the following orbit, which would put touchdown at 1:36 p.m. CST.

Aboard the International Space Station today, Expedition 16 Commander Peggy Whitson and Flight Engineers Yuri Malenchenko and Dan Tani will review the plan for Friday’s spacewalk. Whitson and Malenchenko will undo connections between the Destiny laboratory and Pressurized Mating Adapter 2, in advance of robotics operations next week. That work will relocate PMA-2 to the new Harmony module, then move both of them into place on the front of the lab.

The next STS-120 status report will be issued Wednesday afternoon or earlier if events warrant.