Category: sts-120

I have just read that the repairs on Discovery’s strut are well under way.

I also found the nice picture showing how the landing gear is being disassembled. If you look closely, you can see the bottom part (right at the floor), where the tires normally sit. And right behind the head of the worker in front of the picture is the upper part of the strut, that one that is still connected to the space shuttle.

I am very glad to see these pictures, because they provide evidence that the repair seems to be on good track. I assume that there are now all needed spare parts available and work can continue to be carried out.

In the mean time, several space forums on the web report that there will probably be a slip in the launch date, but it is not expected to be extreme. So maybe I loose a day or two of “my launch” window, but I think chances are still pretty high I’ll make it. When I first heard about all that, I wondered if I should change my travel plans. Especially air travel to Orlando is a bit problematic. But today everything is unclear. If I move the dates, I’ll probably miss the launch when it is on time (and as of NASA’s official site, there still is a chance). I stay tuned…

Update: I found some new pictures, find them at http://www.gerhards.net/Gallery-sts_120_strut_repair.phtml (thumbs below).

space shuttle strut space shuttle

Yesterday, some info leaked that the shuttle … well, leaked ;) To be serious, there were reports that there is an unacceptable leak at a shuttle strut – hydraulics fluid seems to have been leaking. But yesterday the decision was made that a repair is actually needed.

Of course, it didn’t take long for all sorts of rumors to appear. Some sources even said that the October mission would be canceled and moved to January – which is as far from being true as it only can be. In fact, the NASA source quoted above does not outrule there is a change in the launch date, but it is expected to be not a major hit. As far as I understand it, things may be moved a few days at most. There seem to be buffers all along the process, so I do not yet begin to panic ;)

… but I have to admit that this triggers bad memories. As I said, I flew in into Orlando last year to see the STS-115 launch (which I finally didn’t make due to its long delay). With STS-115, all the trouble also started with launch delays, that time caused by a lightning strike. That, too, was quite some time before launch, at least if I correctly remember. It was not that early as the current problem, which leaves me with the firm hope that there is enough buffer time available even to launch on the target date of October, 23rd. Let’s see…

Photo: In the Orbiter Processing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, workers secure the tool storage assembly unit into Discovery’s payload bay. Photo credit: NASA/Amanda Diller

As some of you know, I am addicted to astronomy and space travel. Since long, I’d wanted to experience a space shuttle launch. Last summer, I got tickets for the STS-115 mission. I went down to Florida, went through a hurricane and … had to leave without the shuttle being launched. Well, actually I could view it rocketing into space from far away (Fort Myers) when I had to leave home. That was really bad luck.

Unfortunately, I either could not go for the next missions or I didn’t manage to get tickets (they sell out soooooo quickly that it is a real problem even if you type fast ;)).

Now, I was lucky enough to secure tickets and also manged to get enough vacancy to do a re-try. I am going to visit the STS-120 mission now. We’ll fly in to Orlando and then move over to the Titusville/Cocoa Beach area. Getting it all together was far from being simple.

After I got the launch tickets, I needed to get flights and then find hotels. This list is sorted in descending order or rareness ;) While I had only a 3-minute shot at obtaining the tickets, the flights were quite complicated too. Hotels were available, but of course not those I hoped to find. Based on experience from fellow travelers, Titusville seems to have only one decent hotel. I can back this, as I found none on my previous trips. The one in question is the Hampton. Everybody seems to know, and I didn’t get a room for the 22nd ;) But everybody also seems to expect the shuttle to take off on first launch attempt – because starting from the 23rd there were vacancies. I secured some of them ;)

I hope to have a really great launch experience. I hope I’ll find time to post more of my experiences on the way to the launch here in the blog. I’ll probably even start a STS-120 section on my site www.gerhards.net – let’s see :)