sts-122 Archives - Page 7 of 8

2007-12-04

Countdown started for Atlantis

The countdown clock for space shuttle Atlantis STS-122 mission has been started Monday evening at 7pm EST. If all goes well, the countdown will culminate at an 4:31pm EST launch on Thursday, Dec., 6th. So far, no problems are expected. Everything runs exceptionally smooth. Even the weather forecast is predicting a 80% chance for launch!

So if you want to go to Kennedy Space Center to view the launch, its time to get ready. And if you do, please drop me a line with your experience. I’d greatly appreciate that.

Prior to countdown start, the payload bay doors have been closed. This can be seen on the picture. Shuttle Atlantis will ferry the European Columbus lab module to the international space station ISS. It is Europe’s major contribution to the orbiting outpost. Columbus will be managed from an ESA-Center in Germany.

The astronauts have also arrived at Kennedy Space Center. They are now doing final preparations and getting ready for their exciting ride to the skies.

Finally, let me quote NASA’s home page with some more details:

The launch team at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida began the countdown Monday night for the launch of mission STS-122. Space shuttle Atlantis is scheduled to lift off at 4:31 p.m. EST on Thursday to begin an 11-day mission to the International Space Station.

“All of our systems are in good shape,” said assistant launch director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson.

The weather forecast calls for an 80 percent chance of acceptable weather at launch time, weather officer Kathy Winters said.

“We’re very optimistic about it,” Winters said.

The seven astronauts who will perform the mission arrived at Kennedy at about 12:30 p.m. EST on Monday to begin their final preparations for the mission. Atlantis has a 10-minute window to launch so it can catch up with the International Space Station.

NASA astronaut Steve Frick will command the seven-man crew during the 11-day mission to attach the European-built Columbus laboratory to the International Space Station. Frick, Alan Poindexter, Rex Walheim, Leland Melvin, Hans Schlegel and Leopold Eyharts will fly aboard Atlantis during mission STS-122.

“It’s been a long time building to this moment, so we’re just absolutely ready to go,” Frick said.

Atlantis’ primary mission is to install the European laboratory called Columbus on the International Space Station. It will take a series of spacewalks, not to mention intricate maneuvers with robotic arms on the shuttle and station to complete the task.

“We flew by shuttle Atlantis on the launch pad and it’s a beautiful sight,” Poindexter said.

2007-12-01

Atlantis still set for launch on December, 6th

The agency-level flight readiness review held yesterday concluded with the expected December, 6th launch date for Atlantis STS-122 mission. This continues Atlantis’ exceptionally well processing flow. No major problems occurred and this is probably one of the cleanest mission preparations for a long time.

Space Shuttle Atlantis is sitting at launch pad 39A and will rocket into space at 4:31p EST next Thursday. It will deliver the European Columbus space lab. It will be attached to the Harmony module which was brought up into space by Discovery’s STS-120 mission.

Meanwhile, the international space station crew has more or less finished the connection of Harmony to its final destination. This is a perquisite for STS-122, as Columbus will be mounted on one of Harmonies docking port. There are some news on a failed leak check, but it is said that this was most probably a sensor issue, not an actual leak. Sensor problems are common and so it looks very good from the ISS point of view, too.

What is becoming an increasing concern is abrasion in a solar array rotary joint (SARJ). This was detected a bit prior to STS-120. Discovery’s crew brought some samples back to earth, which are now being analyzed. Some more images and samples have been collected by the ISS crew. While the SARJ issue is no constraint for STS-122, it could (and probably will) affect future missions. Without a properly-working SARJ, the station can not generate enough power to support its final configuration. As far as it looks now, the repair will be quite complex and require a number of spacewalks, maybe carried out in February’s STS-123 mission. But it is way to early to know anything exactly – engineers are still evaluating the problem.

2007-11-29

Astronauts will wear overgloves…

On the picture to the right, you see the actual layers of a current space glove. I shot this picture when I attended World Space Expo 2007 at Kennedy Space Center. The green part on the left is the inner pressure bladder, the one in the middle is worn above it and can be configured to the astronauts hand. The white glove to the right is the outer layer. NASA always speaks of five glove layers, but I think this refers to layers of material brought up onto the three different glove parts you see in the picture. At least, I could not find anything else (if you happen to know, I’d appreciate to learn about it).

On the recent international space station spacewalks (aka “EVA”), there were very often problems with cut or punctured gloves. Thankfully, these cuts were always only in the outer layers, posing no risk to the spacewalkers. It is believed that there are some unknown sharp edges at the space station, but nobody knows for sure where (thus they are unknown ;)).

Below, find a picture of a damaged space glove. This was taken after a spacewalk on the STS-118 mission:

punctured space glove after STS-118 spacewalk

To protect the astronauts, frequent checking of the gloves is now a requirement during spacewalks. However, the detection of a glove issue can cut a spacewalk short and thus seriously compromise the mission. To prevent that problem, STS-122 spacewalkers will wear overgloves. They made their first live test on the STS-120 spacewalk devoted to repairing the torn solar array.

I have not yet seen an actual picture of these overgloves. But obviously, they cause some loss of feeling and flexibility. As such, tasks carried out by the astronauts may take a bit longer than usual. NASA has put only a conditional order to wear the overgloves. For delicate work, spacewalkers may remove them. This is also possible if time is running out on spacewalk. This poses no extra risk, as the rigid glove-checking guidelines then apply. So the overgloves are actually more to save the mission than the astronaut.

2007-11-29

STS-122 Press Kit Available

For everybody interested, the STS-122 press kit can now be downloaded from NASA. The press kit is an excellent resource for insight information on the flight AND for great pictures. I recommend to have a look at it to anyone really interested in this flight!

2007-11-27

STS-122 Flight Readiness Review on Friday…

Everything is going very smooth with Atlantis’ STS-122 launch. No matter where I looked, I do not find any information on problems. So no news again means excellent news!

The flight readiness review, the final approval of the launch date, is scheduled for this Friday. As it looks, this is more a formal act than something that will bring up surprises (but of course, you never know…). To quote the NASA space shuttle home page:

NASA managers will hold a flight readiness review on Friday at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center marking the next major milestone for mission STS-122.

NASA officials, space shuttle program managers, engineers and contractors will discuss the readiness of space shuttle Atlantis, the flight crew and payloads to determine if everything is set to proceed for launch. Managers will also select an official launch date at the end of the session. Launch is targeted for Dec. 6 on a mission to install the Columbus laboratory on the International Space Station.

A briefing following the meeting will include Associate Administrator for Space Operations Bill Gerstenmaier, Space Shuttle Program Manager Wayne Hale, International Space Station Program Manager Mike Suffredini and STS-122 Launch Director Doug Lyons.

The briefing will be broadcast live on NASA Television no earlier than 4 p.m. EST.

The real question is probably not if and when Atlantis will launch. The most discussed question currently is if the STS-122 mission is extended to allow a focussed inspection of the SARJ ISS solar array rotary joint. Anomalies were detected prior to STS-120 and inspection during recent spacewalks staged from the international space station showed signs of abrasion. This is an unexpected, not yet understood and potentially serious problem – so it is receiving priority for obvious reasons.

The additional inspection spacewalk requires a two-day mission extension. Other than its sister ships Discovery and Endeavour, Atlantis is not equipped with the station to shuttle power transfer system (SSPT). Thus, Atlantis can not support missions as long as its sister ships. So a two-day mission extension requires fully stocked consumables and is something that probably is not very easily done.

2007-11-25

November, 24th ISS spacewalk a success

Astronauts Peggy Whitson and Dan Tani conducted a successful spacewalk yesterday. It was the last in a series of important construction space walks which readied the international space station ISS to receive the European Columbus module.

Columbus will be delivered by space shuttle Atlantis’ STS-122 mission, set to launch from Kennedy Space Center on December, 6th 2007. As such, success of the spacewalk was also important for STS-122. Without it, a launch would not have been possible.

Now, with the successful spacewalk and everything going very smooth in the processing of Atlantis, it looks like weather is becoming the only constraint for the launch attempt. This is good news, because STS-122 has a very short launch window. It extends for just one week. So there is not much room for delays.

Here is also some more detail information from the NASA homepage:

Spacewalkers Peggy Whitson and Dan Tani completed Saturday’s spacewalk at 11:54 a.m. EST. The 7 hour and 4 minute excursion started an hour and 10 minutes early. They completed their main tasks well ahead of the timeline then moved on to perform some get-ahead work.

The two spacewalkers moved the 300-pound, 18.5 foot Loop B fluid tray from the station’s main truss to the port side of Destiny and completed fluid and electrical connections.

Tani did an inspection of a Solar Alpha Rotary Joint that had previously shown increased power consumption and vibration while rotating as it followed the Sun. Whitson deployed and mated cables to be used as part of the Station to Shuttle Power Transfer System, or SSPTS. A portable foot restraint was also installed on Node 2 for upcoming spacewalks when the European Columbus laboratory is installed on the STS-122 mission.

If you like even more details, you can find them on an additional NASA page devoted to Saturday’s spacewalk.

2007-11-22

Happy Thanksgiving!

I wish a happy Thanksgiving to all my US readers! As it looks, most NASA folks will also enjoy a nice four-day weekend. Processing flow on space shuttle Atlantis STS-122 mission seems to be so smooth that only very limited work is scheduled for now until Sunday evening. It is really nice to see that the engineers worked so well that this is possible.

As far as me is concerned, I do not have a holiday over here but obviously there will not be much to report. So do not expect too many STS-122 related news. Except, of course, on the upcoming ISS spacewalk (November, 24th), which is critical for an on-time launch of Atlantis.

Enjoy the holiday!

2007-11-21

ISS Crew successfully completed Spacewalk

The international space station’s expedition 16 crew successfully completed an important spacewalk yesterday. It was needed to get the ISS ready for the arrival of space shuttle Atlantis, which delivers the Columbus space lab. This spacewalk, as well as another one scheduled for November, 24th, is needed to be able to attach Columbus. So successful completion of these tasks is a critical perquisite to launch STS-122.

The spacewalk was threatened by a problem with the spacesuits, which thankfully got cleared a few days ago. The ISS spacewalking schedule was not affected by the problem investigation.

This series of spacewalks is needed to attach the Harmony module to its permanent location. Harmony was delivered during Discovery’s STS-120 mission. It could not be attached to its permanent location because that was used as the docking port for Discovery. So it was stowed at a temporary place and has been removed after Discovery departed. Yesterday’s spacewalk, as well as the upcoming one, is dedicated to rewire Harmony to the station, so that the module is fully functional. In December, Atlantis will delivery the Columbus module, which will be attached to the Harmony module.

Visit NASA’s space station page for a detailed report on the spacewalk.

2007-11-21

Countdown demonstation test for STS-122

The terminal countdown demonstration test for Atlantis’ STS-122 is being carried out at Kennedy Space Center. During the test, astronauts and ground crews practice count down procedures including emergency procedures that will protect the astronauts during a mishap immediately before launch. This includes a ride in the basket evacuation system as well as driving the emergency escape tank (which, in popular rumor, is always an astronaut’s favorite). The astronauts also try on the launch and entry suites, as can be seen on the picture above.

In NASA‘s latest information on the shuttle home page I noticed a slight slip in launch time. I now says 4:31pm and I think it previously was 4:38pm. But I guess these seven minutes don’t really make a difference. So, everything looks still quite well. If this is another as-schedule shuttle launch in a very successful 2007? Let’s hope for the best…

And here is the relevant quote from the NASA shuttle home page (they don’t archive it, its a shame):

It looks a lot like launch day at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida as the crew of mission STS-122 put on their pressure suits and get ready to climb aboard space shuttle Atlantis. However, the work is all part of the countdown dress rehearsal designed to get the launch team and astronauts set for the real thing on Dec. 6.

The crew of seven men, including two from the European Space Agency, will follow their normal launch day routine including riding in the astrovan to Launch Pad 39A and taking their places inside Atlantis.

They will sit inside Atlantis as the pretend countdown winds down. The engines will not ignite, of course, and the astronauts will practice emergency escape procedures on their launch pad to conclude the drill.

Atlantis is targeted to launch December 6 at 4:31 p.m. EST on its 11-day mission to the International Space Station.

2007-11-18

Spacesuit problem solved…

The spacesuit problem that threatened the next ISS EVA (spacewalk) has been resolved. As nasaspaceflight.com reports, the investigation into the issue showed no actual malfunction. As such, the spacesuits are cleared again for EVAs.

This is an important step as the international space station’s crew must do another important spacewalk to permit on-time launch of Atlantis’ STS-122 mission. This can now be carried out as scheduled. As such, Atlantis is still on a good path to a December, 6th launch!