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NASA News Briefs and Releases BBSNews 2005 Compiled by Kandy Ringer |
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NASA via BBSNews - 2005-12-02 -- Technicians continue to process Discovery for NASA's second shuttle return-to-flight test mission, STS-121. Powered-up system testing and drag chute door installation continue. Once the cure on the door is complete, it will be opened to verify proper cure, and the flight pins will be installed.
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Discovery is towed into the Orbiter Processing Facility Bay 3.
Image Credit: NASA/KSC |
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For the image shown above in a larger size, see Discovery Bay 3.
More NASA images are available in BBSNews NASA Photos. |
- Mission: STS-121 - 18th ISS Flight (ULF1.1) - Multi-Purpose Logistics
- Module
- Vehicle: Discovery (OV-103)
- Location: Orbiter Processing Facility Bay 3
- Launch Date: No earlier than May 2006
- Launch Pad: 39B
- Crew: Lindsey, Kelly, Sellers, Fossum, Nowak, Wilson and Reiter
- Inclination/Orbit Altitude: 51.6 degrees/122 nautical miles
The orbiter boom sensor system is in the transfer aisle of the processing facility awaiting installation. Final work will be completed soon on the manipulator positioning mechanism, the pedestals that hold the boom in place in the payload bay, and the boom will be installed next week.
- Mission: STS-115 - 19th ISS Flight (12A) - P3/P4 Solar Arrays
- Vehicle: Atlantis (OV-104)
- Location: Orbiter Processing Facility Bay 1
- Launch Date: TBD
- Launch Pad: 39B
- Crew: Jett, Ferguson, Tanner, Burbank, MacLean and Stefanyshyn-Piper
- Inclination/Orbit Altitude: 51.6 degrees/122 nautical miles
Atlantis processing continues on schedule. Thermal protection system gap-filler pull tests are complete. Work will begin soon to replace selected gap fillers identified during pull tests and analysis. This work is being performed due to two gap fillers that protruded from the underside of Discovery during STS-114. New installation procedures are being developed to ensure the gap fillers stay in place and do not pose a hazard during re-entry.
Preparations to install the forward reaction control system continue. The cavity closeout photos were completed Thursday, and the installation of the system is scheduled for early next week. This control system provides the thrust for attitude maneuvers, pitch, yaw and roll, and for small velocity changes along the orbiter axis.
Endeavour (OV-105)
Body-flap power drive-unit installation continues in Orbiter Processing Facility Bay 2, with work focused on safety wire and insulation. The main landing gear was cycled this week to support environmental seal compression testing on compartment doors. The vehicle will remain powered down for work on the new modification, called the "station to shuttle power transfer system." The system will allow the shuttle to remain docked to the station longer.
External Tank
At NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, engineers continue evaluating the causes of the foam loss during Discovery's launch in July. Detailed inspections of the Protuberance Air Load ramp of external tank #120 show at least one crack that extends all the way to the tank's base foam layer. Evaluation continues on the cracks, their cause and the possibility of flying STS-121 without the ramp.
Preliminary analysis indicates it is aerodynamically feasible, but additional wind-tunnel testing will be scheduled to ensure flight integrity. Work continues to meet a May launch window. If additional testing shows the ramp is needed, external tank processing will be stopped until requirements are assessed.
For previous space shuttle processing status reports on the Web, visit: NASA Shuttle.