sts-123 Archives - Rainer Gerhards

2007-12-26

NASA’s holiday break

The folks at NASA enjoy a few well-deserved days off during the holiday season. They have worked very hard and finally gotten close to the root cause of the ECO sensor problem. Well done!

As nasaspaceflight.com reports, there are some new problem reports. However, I think this is nothing really unusual, problems appear every now and then. Right now, we are just more aware of them. I personally think we should not get to concerned about them, at least not until further facts are known.

The mission management team is set to meet again on December, 27th. Then, they will look at the work done so far. Besides some work at the orbiter, this most importantly includes plans drawn to address the ECO sensor problem.

From what I have read, the actual root cause is still unknown. It is know that the problem is inside the LH2 feedthrough connector, which is good and provides a lot of repair options. However, the question why the connector suffers problems is not answered yet. As of my understanding, NASA prefers to get hold of Atlantis’ feedthrough connector. That would enable detailed analysis with the actual failed part – and thus there is an excellent chance of finding the root cause. However, that is probably one of the more time consuming options. If that route is taken, launch would be further delayed, and January 10th would not be an option any more.

With just the little information I know, I think it would be useful to sacrifice the launch date in order to get access to the failing feedthrough connector. Remember: the external tank is the only part of the space shuttle stack that is not reusable. As such, analyzing the feedthrough connector after launch is not an option. I personally think it would make more sense to launch, let’s say, in February if that offers the choice to find the root cause. That would not only be good for the remaining shuttle flights, but could also provide valuable “lessons learned” for the Constellation program. Even if Ares will not fly ECO sensors (I don’t know…), the root cause may show something that we do not yet know, be it electrical engineering related, material sciences or whatever else. Getting that missing information can possible increase our understanding and help prevent other, not yet know, problems in future equipment.

But again, keep in mind I have very limited insight. Maybe NASA has even a way to find root cause and still maintain the January, 10th launch attempt. I don’t know for sure. But I know that after the December, 27th press briefing we’ll probably know more. And if you plan to travel to see Atlantis January launch, I wouldn’t book my tickets too early…

2007-12-22

Atlantis STS-122 launch date not decided yet…

As I had written, the launch date for space shuttle Atlantis’ STS-122 mission has been moved to no earlier than January 2007. The tanking test last week seems to have brought quite solid data, but NASA has not yet decided which options to take.

There is still a chance that Atlantis can launch early January – but it looks a bit more like a further delay. I have read both about January, 25th and February, 14th as possible launch dates. In any case, if the shuttle can not be launched on the 10th, the rest of the shuttle flight schedule will be affected. If Atlantis mid-January or later, there is not enough time left to launch shuttle Endeavour’s SS-123 mission on February, 14th as originally planned.

NASA’s mission management team will meet again next week, on the 27th and see which additional data has been gathered. More importantly, repair options will have been thought out in the mean time and so it is expected that after that meeting the exact course of actions will be known.

There is already some work going on at the pad, but my understanding is that this is go forward work: it does some things that may be useful, based on what may be decided on the 27th. Not
doing that work right now, would limit options available.

If the January, 10th launch target can not be preserved, it is most likely that Atlantis will take up Endeavour’s launch window and the other missions move forward in an equivalent way. However, a new launch schedule will than probably be needed.

This also puts some pressure on the Constellation program – they need to wait for Atlantis’ STS-125 flight, the Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission. Only after that has been completed, launch pad 39B can be handed over to Constellation and be reconstructed. So delays in STS-122 will probably also affect constellation.

According to NASA, there is still sufficient buffer available to complete the international space station ISS before the shuttle fleet is set to retire in 2010. But that buffer is also eaten up, so this is probably another concern.

As you can see, there is a lot depending on STS-122. But I applaud NASA “better safe than sorry” approach. It is important that the space shuttle is safe to fly. And it is also important to understand that ECO sensor problem, so that the root cause will not bite again on future missions.

2007-12-05

STS-123 status update

I know we are all interested in Atlantis STS-122 mission right at this time. I’d like to add a few notes about STS-123, scheduled to fly next Februray, though. One reason is that I found some cool pictures ;)

STS-123 will deliver the Japanese Kibo module to the international space station ISS. Kibo can right now seen in its processing facility:

The external tank has also arrived on November, 30th. Actually, this was one day earlier than scheduled.

Also on November, 30th, the crew equipment interface test, a process of familiarization with payloads, hardware and the space shuttle happened. For this test, the STS-123 crew was present. Here you can see Commander Dominic Gorie inspecting the window in space shuttle Endeavour:

Even though it is early right now, it looks like things are progressing quite smoothly for Endeavour’s STS-123 mission.

But now let’s hope for a flawless STS-122 launch ;)

2007-12-05

STS-123 mission facts: launch window, time, ….

While I am at it, I noticed that I did not yet post any facts on the STS-123 misson. So here we are:

STS-123 is set to launch on February, 14th 2008. It is the 122nd space shuttle flight and the 25th heading to the international space station. It will be flown on Orbiter Endeavour and launched from pad 39A. The launch time is not yet set (rumors call for noon). The daily launch window is 10 minutes (as usual for ISS flights). It is not yet known how many days the launch window extends.

A veteran space flier, Navy Capt. Dominic L. Gorie, will command the STS-123 shuttle mission to deliver the Japanese Kibo Logistics Module and the Canadian Dextre robotics system to the International Space Station. Air Force Col. Gregory H. Johnson will serve as pilot. Mission specialists include Richard M. Linnehan, Air Force Maj. Robert L. Behnken, Navy Capt. Michael J. Foreman and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Takao Doi. Johnson, Behnken and Foreman will be making their first spaceflight.

The mission will deliver NASA Astronaut Garrett Reisman to the complex and return European Space Agency astronaut Léopold Eyharts to Earth.

2007-12-02

2008 Space Shuttle Launches

I thought I post some potential launch dates for 2008. Only the February date for STS-123 is officially given by NASA, the others are based on well-informed rumor. However, NASA has decided to continue to use space shuttle Atlantis after the Hubble service mission in August 2008. That will most probably affect the overall launch scheduled. I would be very careful planning anything based on the dates given below, as they are likely to change.

February , 2008: STS-122, flown by space shuttle Atlantis.

March, 11th, 2008: STS-123, flown by space shuttle Endeavour

May, 31st, 2008: STS-124, flown by space shuttle Discovery

August, 28th 2008: STS-125, flown by space shuttle Atlantis. This is the famous Hubble space telescope servicing mission. Please note that for this launch it will be the last time in history that you can see two space shuttles being at the launch pads at the same time. Atlantis will be at pad 39A and Endeavour will be at pad 39B, ready to launch for a (hopefully never needed) rescue mission. Pad 39B will be handed over to the Ares/Constellation (NASA’s new moon program) after this launch.

October, 16th 2008: STS-126, flown by space shuttle Endeavour

December, 4th 2007: STS-119, flown by space shuttle Discovery

All missions except STS-125 are ISS construction flights and will be launched from pad 39A.

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.

2007-11-14

launch transportation tickets for STS-123 …

Endeavour’s STS-123 mission to the international space station is currently scheduled to launch on February, 14th 2008. Of course, there are many things that can make that launch date slip (though I guess we all hope that won’t happen).

Even though it is quite early, I received a few comments asking if launch transportation tickets could already be purchased for it. Unfortunately, this is not possible.

Tickets typically go on sale four to six weeks before launch. And they sell out very quickly. So you should watch the Kennedy Space Center site closely and subscribe to its “Armchair Astronaut Newsletter”. Thus you know when they go on sale and can act quickly.

I will also post in this blog when the tickets become available. So keep reading ;)