Tech Enthusiast. Nature Lover. Computer Geek. rsyslog lead developer.
Countdown is still going very nicely. Minor problems, nothing seems to be of substance.
If you go to Titusville, the Orlando Sentinel has a map of launch viewing parks. I think it is useful.
There are also some quite interesting postings at the flickr STS-122 page.
… lol … No, I am not talking about the space shuttle. It is me who is changing into “road mode”. It kind of sounded cool ;) What it really means is that I will leave my desk soon and drive down to the European Columbus Control Center close to Munich. This is about a three-hours drive (approx 150 miles) from my place – if all goes well.
Germany is 6 hours ahead of Florida, so the launch is here at 10:31p local time. The press facility at Columbus Control Center opens at 4p and I hope to be there by 7p. I need to check in to the hotel before, because the reception is open only until midnight (not uncommon over here…). So I need to plan for a brief stop there, too.
“Road mode” means a few changes to my blogging. Most importantly, I think I’ll do a number of blogposts via my PDA, which has cell-based Internet. That means lots of typos and short sentences and the grammar may be even more horrible than it is in everyday life. But I hope you’ll get a good impression. I also just (really: just!) got my brand-new cell based broadband Internet wireless card up and running. So I may post from the notebook.
In any case, I expect me to be very busy. So I will not place any links, tags, whatever into the mails. I take pictures, but I am not sure if I find time to upload them today. Most importantly, I must take care of my reporting job for raumfahrer.net, because these guys made me go there (and, besides, it is a great team effort, a great experience). I will also probably be unable to poll other Internet news sources. But I guess I can keep quite good up on the status from within mission control ;)
I will also most probably not find any time to comment. Don’t be disappointed if I do not reply (also applies to yesterday’s comments). I really appreciate your comments and will reply as soon as possible – what probably means Friday afternoon or Saturday.
So, now I’ll do the final preparations and then head to my car. I wish all of you a great launch. So far, it still looks excellent!
Rainer
Over the night, the Rotating Service Structure (RSS) has been rotated away from space shuttle Atlantis to get it ready for its STS-122 mission launch.
The RSS is used for servicing the shuttle prior to launch. Tonight’s retraction was the final one in support for today’s launch to the international space station ISS. I created the animation based on public NASA webcam imaginary, which I animated later. The difference in retraction speed may either be actual small holds or just an artifact of NASA webcam updates (sometimes an update is missing). I have polled pictures once every minute. The whole retraction took roughly 50 minutes.
The retraction was originally scheduled for around 8pm ET and begun at almost that time. This, plus the absence of any bad news, makes me believe we still have a flawless processing flow for STS-122. The weather also still looks excellent, so I expect Atlantis to roar into space in about 13 and a half hours from now!
Soon, you’ll see this again at launch pad 39A, Kennedy Space Center:
Everything is gooing very smoothly and the rotating service structure will soon be rotated away from Atlantis. Then, the space shuttle is free to launch off the ground. Sure, problems may still happen at any time, but he so-far absolutely flawless processing flow is very promising. It looks like we will have a great launch tomorrow afternoon.
GO ATLANTIS!
And here are some details from the NASA homepage:
The launch team at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center is continuing its steady march toward a lift off Thursday afternoon for space shuttle Atlantis. The countdown is proceeding smoothly, NASA Test Director Jeff Spaulding said Wednesday.
Mission STS-122 is scheduled to launch at 4:31 p.m. EST from NASA’s Florida launch base. Atlantis will carry the European-developed Columbus laboratory and attach it to the International Space Station. Seven astronauts, including two from the European Space Agency, will fly aboard Atlantis.
Technicians and engineers at the launch pad have several steps ahead of them Wednesday. The most visible milestone will come in the evening when the Rotating Service Structure is moved to its launch position where it will be out of the way of Atlantis. The gantry encloses much of the shuttle while it is on the launch pad and gives workers access to critical areas of the shuttle and its payload.
If you are going to view the STS-122 launch, it finally is time to get ready. If you have Causeway tickets or go to Kennedy Space Center’s main visitor complex, you are probably all set. Just remember to come right in time, at your allocated arrival window! And be sure to plan for heavy taffic!
If you do not have any tickets, probably the best place to view the lauch is from Titusville. I have not been there for launch myself, but my friend Armando Perdomo (and others) recommends Veteran’s Memorial Park. I suggest you have a look at his launch viewing report in his blog – that should give you ample clues. If you go any other place, make sure that you find one with unobstructed view of the launch pads! Also be sure to park your car at some legal place, as police doesn’t like all those cars parking in strange places…
And one important note: sound travels faster than light. Of course, you know that. But the effect is that in Titusville, you will hear the launch roughly 60 seconds after you can see it! That means 60 seconds AFTER it has happend! So the most spectacular part of the liftoff is already over when you hear it. So make sure you look into the right direction at the right time! The launch is scheduled for 4:31pm ET and it is just a ten minute window. That means the launch can (usually, no guarantee ;)) happen between 4:26 and 4:36. I highly recommend a radio scanner, wireless Internet access for NASA TV, your friend at the phone or whatever you can do to get hold of the official countdown information.
I hope this last-minute information is useful. I wish all of you a great launch day. And if you have some time left, I’d really appreciate if you would drop me a few notes for the blog here. I promise I’ll publish all of them ;)
With almost no chance or bad weather, an on-time launch for space shuttle Discovery is very likely. The skies at Cape Canaveral are clear and there is only low humidity. So besides being excellent launch conditions, launch viewers may also experience a great, clear view. The weather conditions are stable for some days now, so there is little chance things will turn on the bad side…
The international space station ISS reports it is ready to welcome the STS-122 mission. Astronaut Daniel Tani is spending his last days at the station. He will return to earth aboard Discovery. ESA astronaut Léopold Eyharts will take his seat on the ISS. He will work in the Columbus lab module and start its scientific experiments. Eyharts is set to return with the STS-123 mission.
The ISS crew has also completed all leak checks, with the ISS in a top condition to receive the Colubus module.
Some more details from the NASA homepage:
The Expedition 16 crew members aboard the International Space Station are completing final preparations for the arrival of space shuttle Atlantis, set to launch Thursday from Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
On Wednesday, the Expedition 16 crew spent time reviewing spacewalk procedures and detailed timelines for joint operations with the STS-122 crew. Atlantis is scheduled to dock with the space station on Saturday.
During the STS-122 mission, the shuttle crew will conduct three spacewalks to install the Columbus Research module on the orbital outpost. STS-122 will also deliver a new station crew member, European Space Agency astronaut Leopold Eyharts.
Flight Engineer Dan Tani, who arrived at the station in October with STS-120, will return home aboard Atlantis.
Commander Peggy Whitson, Flight Engineer Yuri Malenchenko and Tani will enjoy an off-duty day Thursday.
Columbus is Europe’s space lab at the international space station. It is ESA‘s most important European mission to the ISS to date and the cornerstone of Europe’s contribution to this international endeavour. Once Columbus is launched, assembled to the Space Station and verified, ESA will become an active partner in the operations and utilization of mankind’s only permanent outpost in space.
It will be launched on December, 6th onboard space shuttle Atlantis (STS-122 mission). Columbus will be transported into Earth orbit in the Shuttle’s cargo bay, pre equipped with five internal rack. Two of its external experiment facilities will be stowed separately in the Shuttle’s cargo bay and attached to the outside of the laboratory module structure in orbit. German ESA astronaut Hans Schlegel will play a key role in two of the three spacewalks or EVA (Extra-Vehicular Activity) scheduled for the mission. During the mission’s first EVA, Schlegel will help to install and power up the laboratory.
As the first European laboratory devoted to long-term research in space, Columbus will further expand the science capabilities of the ISS. In its interior, the Columbus laboratory will provide accommodation for experiments in the field of multidisciplinary research into biology, physiology, material science, fluid physics, technology, life science and education. In addition, its external payload facility hosts experiments and applications in the field of space science, Earth observation and technology.
Columbus is manged from its control center in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany (near Munic). The center is operated by DLR under a contract with ESA. The Columbus Control Center will work together with mission control in the US and Russia and provide operational oversight, data transfer facility and all other essential services to the Columbus module.
Columbus was built by Bremen, Germany based EADS Astrium, which coordinated 41 suppliers from 14 countries. Its development cost roughly 880 Million Euros. The Columbus module is scheduled to last at least 10 years in space. It was originally scheduled to be delivered to the ISS in 2004, but delayed after the space shuttle Columbia accident.
Well, almost… ;) I don’t make it to Florida’s Kennedy Space Center. Of course, I’d love to see Atlantis rocket off the ground and head into space. See that, hear that, small that. But … I got another great opportunity. I’ll view the launch from ESA’s control center for the Columbus module. In some ways, it’s even cooler than standing on the Causeway…
I have written a few articles for a German online portal called raumfahrer.net. It’s a cool site and it is, believe it or not, about astronomy and space flight. I joined it when I wrote about the Cassini mission. I had not much time to do a lot of work, but I kept subscribed to their mailing list.
Last week, a mail arrived looking for folks interested in attending ESA‘s (the European space organisation) launch event in the Columbus Control Center in Munich, Germany. Of course, that drew my attention. But having not done much work… I stood by and waited. Nobody asked for the job, so I finally stepped out and offered to go over (a day before the press accreditation deadline). And, believe it or not, the nice guys from raumfahrer.net agreed.
Reporting on the launch event has now even become a team effort, with me being at one frontline in the control center and someone else being in a local ESA center. We also have some backoffice writers, who will consolidate all our information plus NASA and ESA streams into nice launch update articles. This in itself is a great experience and I am proud to be part of it.
Imagine it: me attending the official launch event as a member of the press and being right at that very place where the Columbus module will be controlled. I think I am a really lucky guy ;)
Even though the center is located in Germany, it is an European effort. The project leader is ESA. Columbus mission control will work closely with US and Russian mission controllers. In fact, the Columbus Control Center will go live as soon as the Columbus module is attached to the international space station. This is scheduled to happen on December, 10th, the day after EVA-1.
Now I am back again at finger crossing. The Columbus Control Center is close to Munic, which is around 300km (roughly 140 miles) away from my place. I can afford to spent one day going to there, but I can not stay for any other launch attempts. So I sincerely hope all will go well on December, 6th. Thankfully, things look quite good. But: keep you fingers crossed. If all goes well, I’ll provide some nice stories and pictures from the other end of the world ;)
The weather forecast for Atlantis STS-122 December, 6th launch is close to perfect. Other than with STS-120, which had only a 40% chance of launch on time, the forecast for Thursday is no 90% favorable for launch!
The emergency landing sites are also all go. Even better, the weather forecast has improved – it was 80% yesterday. The trend looks good. Let’s cross fingers it remains the same…