In my last posting I thought I had spotted a mobile launcher platform. But I was wrong. As a friend pointed out, it can not be. Look at the red circle – this is a table. It would be a real gigantic table, if it were a MLP. So it can’t be…
Is this a mobile launcher platform?
I found this picture on one of the NASA webcams. I wonder if it is a mobile launcher platform (MLP)? If so, is it the one to be used for Discovery? I do not know enough about VAB processing flow, but it might be that the full stack (orbiter, boosters, external tank) be assembled first. When this is done, they might be lowered to the mobile launcher platform. If that’s the case, then my speculation will probably be right. If anybody knows for sure, please drop me a comment. And, of course, I’ll also try to find out…
One Day of Contingency Recovered?
As I have read on the web, Discovery seems to have one more contingency day left in its launch schedule. The wizards in the VAB seem to have done real magic. Originally, the rollout to the pad was scheduled for Sunday. Now, it seems to be Saturday, September 29th at 8pm ED. Well, that’s maybe half a day of contingency if I think more about it. Extra contingency time is very desirable, because four days were lost when a damage on a landing gear strut was found and needed to be repaired. Even though the repair was ultra-fast, almost all remaining contingency time was used up. Now, with the excellent processing flow, NASA keeps again up with it. My hope is that some other activities will also be earlier than planned, leaving even more contingency. As we all know, spaceflight is inherently complex and there is a good chance that extra contingency (spare) time is needed at some stage.
For those interested: I assume that NASA TV carries some video footage from the VAB rollout.
Its very promising to see work progressing so well. To me, it looks more and more like the first launch attempt is indeed on the October, 23rd. Let’s hope for the best, including good weather. I’ll keep you updated.
News Source: http://www.raumfahrer.net/forum/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1173608035/480 (german!)
Picture: VAB rollout during the STS-83 mission (this is NOT STS-120!), Photo Credit: NASA
hotels, hotels, hotels…
Did I mention that I had quite some trouble booking hotel rooms for my shuttle launch? The nights in Orlando were no problem at all – Orlando simply has so many hotels of all kinds, it is really hard to book them out… But Titusville and Cocoa Beach is a different story.
I made the mistake to not immediately book hotel rooms after I booked my launch transportation tickets from KSC. When I was ready to do that, my fellow “launch viewers” already had taken the majority of rooms. Interestingly, the 22nd was most heavily booked – but the 23rd was much easier to get. It looks like a lot of folks believe in a total on-time launch – or hope to be able to extend if the launch is delayed. The later, I think, is a false impression.
I finally managed to book rooms, but I have to change hotels every now and then. The interesting fact about this is that on certain days I need to pack all my luggage into the car – and if that is on a launch day, I’ll need to drive with my fully-packed car up to KSC. I am not sure what the security guards will say about this… For now, I hope it will not really be necessary, but, if so, I hope I can get along with it. Of course, once I am down there in the Titusville area, I’ll check with the hotels if I can put my luggage into some room even when I have checked out.
So I was all set. Ahem – was I? Actually, I made a second mistake: I was so sure that Orlando hotels are no problem that I simply forgot to book a room over there! Boing… Crazy me. What now? Well, book ASAP. And that I did. Thankfully, I was able to book at the Residence Inn, what was exactly what I wanted. But the bad news was that pricing had changed. I suspect there is higher demand for rooms due to the shuttle launch. Whatever it was, it costs me around 20 bucks (plus tax, of course), per day. Bottom line: if you want to visit a shuttle launch and still stay in Orlando, book as early as possible even if it typically is no problem to get a nice room in the Orlando area…
Discovery being mated…
Launch preparations for STS-120 seem to be on a good track. I just was able to obtain a few stunning images of Discovery being mated to the external tank and the solid rocket boosters. This all happens in the VAB, the gigantic assembly building.
On the images, you can see how the orbiter is hooked on a crane and then slowly moved over and attached to the rest of the stack.
Please note that in everyday speak, we say “space shuttle” and usually actually mean orbiter. The airplane-like crew and cargo transport system is “just” the orbiter. When mated to the boosters and external tank, it *then* become the full space shuttle.
To view all pictures, please visit my STS-120 VAB assembly picture album.
Discovery rolled over to the VAB
I just read on the NASA space shuttle homepage:
Sept. 23 at 5:30 p.m. EDT
The orbiter Discovery is parked in the transfer aisle of the Vehicle Assembly Building after rolling over from the Orbiter Processing Facility bay 3. First motion was at 12:22 p.m. EDT. This marks a prelaunch milestone.Overnight Discovery will be rotated to a vertical position, hoisted and attached to its external fuel tank and two solid rocket boosters for its upcoming mission, STS-120, to the International Space Station.
Space Shuttle Discovery will roll out to Launch Pad 39A approximately one week after rollover. The launch of STS-120 is currently targeted for Oct. 23.
This is excellent news. Looks like my reservations are still right.
But what does this all mean? And why was it necessary?
Orbiters are parked in special, smaller buildings called “orbiter processing facility” or OPF. This is where the majority of work is being done on them. For example, the strut repair happened there. As far as I know, orbiters are immediately moved to the OPF when they have arrived in Kennedy Space Center. Then they are checked, repairs conducted and prepared for the next mission. They are not, mated to either the tank or the solid rocket boosters – the OPF is simply too small to do that.
Instead, that is done in the “Vehicle Assembly Building”, or VAB for short. This is a gigantic building (see picture), where the boosters and tank are mounted and the shuttle is then mated to them. As I have now learned, shuttles are typically moved over to the VAB roughly a month before launch. There the mate happens and, I assume, also some further checks.
I requires good weather to move a shuttle from the OPF to the VAB. Thus this movement can easily be delayed, especially at this time of the year (just think about Florida’s frequent afternoon thunderstorms…). This time, we obviously had no or at least very little delay – which is, why we are still on the timeline.
Kennedy Space Center Webcams…
I just did a quick search on Google to view webcam of the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) complex. I have to admit I did not expect anything real interesting to pop up – wrong! There is actually a bunch of webcams run by NASA itself, and they seem to over interesting content.
BTW: I need to say “seem”, because it is night in Florida as I blog this. So I rely on the captions.
But see yourself:
I’ll be on the hunt for more related webcams. If you happen to know some, I’d appreciate if you let me know (just use a comment).
Even a day of contingency for launch…
As nasaspaceflight.com reports, there is even one day of contingency (spare time) left in the schedule for the launch of space shuttle Discovery on October, 23rd. This is excellent news for me, once again showing that it was right to stick with my original travel plans.
Discovery still in for October, 23rd launch…
The guys at NASA and its suppliers are fantastic. As you can see on the picture, the strut is re-assembled and even the tires are mounted again. NASA is very optimistic to even launch on the 23rd, as originally planned.
Listen to what these fantastic guys have to say:
With space shuttle Discovery’s right landing gear reassembled following the replacement of its four hydraulic seals, technicians now are carrying out a series of tests on the system. Once these tests are concluded on Saturday and the repairs have been determined successful, the way would be cleared for Discovery’s move on Sunday from its processing hangar at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center to the Vehicle Assembly Building. Depending on how processing operations go, rollout to the launch pad could take place one week later.
One of Discovery’s struts, which act as shock absorbers during the shuttle’s landing, began leaking hydraulic fluid last week.
Once Discovery is in the Vehicle Assembly Building, it will be attached to its external fuel tank and two solid rocket boosters for its upcoming mission, STS-120, to the International Space Station.
While NASA managers will continue to assess the progress, the ongoing preparations would still support Discovery’s Oct. 23 target launch date.
Source: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html
Shuttle Discovery probably back on schedule
On the picture, you can see the shuttle strut being reassembled. That’s actually a great relief to me.
This article does a full wrap-up and analysis of the current state:
http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/content/?cid=5234
As it looks, the launch date for Discovery’s STS-120 mission will only slip nominally, if at all. The engineers have done superb work today, managed the repair that was scheduled for a few days in just one morning – congrats!
To me, that means my travel plans are so far unaffected. However, there is now no buffer time left, so everything else is on the critical path. But, hey, why should something else go wrong? :-D
I see that it was right not to panic, even while a larger launch slip was in question. I guess I’ll manage to keep cool on other occasions, too (at least this is my current school of thinking ;)).
OK, enough good news for the evening.