This is our five-piece, 5,word mission preview. The shuttle Discovery fliers: A crew of seasoned pros A veteran astronaut crew with over a year of collective spaceflight experience has arrived at the Florida spaceport to begin final preps before taking the shuttle Discovery on its final voyage to orbit Thursday.
Shuttle Discovery cleared for launch next Thursday NASA managers have given the "go" to launch shuttle Discovery next Thursday on a long-delayed space station resupply mission after an exhaustive review of ground processing and unprecedented external tank repairs to fix and prevent potentially dangerous cracks in the ship's external tank like those that derailed a launch try last November.
NASA considers unique photo op during Discovery mission Space station officials are considering the possibility of staging what might be considered the ultimate photo op during Discovery's mission to deliver critical supplies and a final U. Meanwhile, NASA managers and contractors met Friday for a program-level flight readiness review for the upcoming shuttle mission.
Shuttle Discovery returns to launch pad after tank repairs With the external tank repaired and strengthened, the space shuttle Discovery re-emerged from the Vehicle Assembly Building and returned to launch pad 39A overnight for a final pre-retirement mission to the International Space Station. Rollout began at p. Injured astronaut replaced on shuttle Discovery's crew Less than six weeks before launch, astronaut Timothy Kopra, injured in a bicycle accident Saturday, was removed from the crew of the shuttle Discovery Wednesday and replaced by astronaut Stephen Bowen, a veteran spacewalker who flew aboard the shuttle Atlantis last May.
Despite the last-minute crew change, NASA officials say Bowen should be able to complete a hurried round of refresher training in time for blastoff around Feb. Shuttle Discovery's lead spacewalker hurt in accident Space station veteran Timothy Kopra, scheduled for launch Feb. The injury was not life threatening and the NASA official, citing medical privacy issues, provided no additional details. But multiple sources said Kopra may have broken his hip, raising the prospect of a significant impact to the already-delayed mission.
NASA zeroes in on root cause of shuttle tank cracks Engineers believe they have zeroed in on the root cause of cracks in the shuttle Discovery's external tank, NASA officials said Tuesday. Installation of a relatively simple modification to the tops of the structural ribs, or stringers, where the ship's liquid oxygen tank is supported by a massive flange should resolve the problem once and for all, setting the stage for another launch attempt Feb.
NASA orders full round of stiffeners to Discovery tank Senior NASA managers Monday agreed to install stiffeners all the way around the shuttle Discovery's external tank to beef up structural ribs, or stringers, that are susceptible to cracks when exposed to ultra-low-temperature propellant. Engineers say the modifications can be completed in time to support at launch as early as Feb. Shuttle Discovery launch delayed to late February NASA managers Thursday decided to give engineers additional time to assess external tank cracks and repair scenarios, ruling out an early February launch for the shuttle Discovery.
The next shuttle launch window opens Feb. Shuttle engineers consider beefing up all tank 'stringers' NASA managers Monday directed engineers to add stiffeners to some structural beams in the shuttle Discovery's external tank. Another meeting is planned for Thursday to discuss installing so called "radius-block" stiffeners to the tops of the remaining stringers that form the tank's familiar ribbed midsection, but work to beef up all almost certainly would delay Discovery's launch to late February.
Inspections reveal four more cracks on Discovery's tank Engineers examining the shuttle Discovery's external tank in the Vehicle Assembly Building have found four more small cracks in three structural ribs, or stringers, on the opposite side of the tank from the orbiter that could not be inspected at the launch pad.
Four cracks on the shuttle side of the tank were repaired earlier, and it's not yet clear what, if any, additional work might be needed to develop the "flight rationale" needed for another launch attempt as early as Feb. Discovery makes return trip to assembly building Leaving the launch pad and rolling back to the Vehicle Assembly Building early Wednesday, the space shuttle Discovery will spend the holidays having the external tank digitally X-rayed as engineers look to prove the hypothesis that its structural cracks resulted from pent up stresses accumulated during construction and were unleashed during the strains of cryogenic fueling.
The photos show the crawler-transporter poised to move underneath Discovery for the rollback. Photos: Lunar eclipse over shuttle Discovery NASA shot high-definition video of the lunar eclipse in the sky over Kennedy Space Center's launch pad 39A where the space shuttle Discovery was uncovered from the gantry during preps for rollback to the Vehicle Assembly Building.
We took some frame grabs from that video to create this photo gallery. Shuttle Discovery undergoes special fueling test The space shuttle Discovery's external tank was loaded with a half-million gallons of supercold liquid oxygen and hydrogen rocket fuel Friday for a knowledge-building test to understand the stresses and strains the external tank endures during a countdown.
The shuttle will be rolled back to the Vehicle Assembly Building on Tuesday for detailed inspections. Discovery will return to assembly building next week Shuttle Discovery's external tank will be loaded with supercold rocket propellants as early as Friday in a critical test to help engineers understand what might have caused cracks in two structural ribs. After the test, the shuttle will be hauled back to the Vehicle Assembly Building for additional inspections and possible repairs.
Discovery's final launch postponed until February Launch of the shuttle Discovery on a space station resupply mission will be delayed until at least Feb. Special fueling test could be ordered for Discovery's tank NASA managers and engineers met Thursday to discuss the potential root cause of cracks in the shuttle Discovery's external tank, what additional tests might be needed and what, if any, modifications might be required before another launch attempt can be made.
Discovery's launch delayed until at least mid-December NASA managers reviewing the progress of repairs to the shuttle Discovery's external tank and the rationale for making another launch attempt decided Wednesday to pass up an early December launch window, delaying the flight to at least Dec. Space shuttle Discovery's launch delayed to Dec. Tank repairs proceed amid work on 'flight rationale' Engineers are pressing ahead with work to repair small cracks in the shuttle Discovery's external tank and to finish installation and tests of a replacement hydrogen vent line quick-disconnect fitting that grounded the ship Nov.
At the same time, troubleshooters are assessing the structural integrity of the tank and its foam insulation to develop the necessary flight rationale, or justification, for proceeding with another launch as early as Nov. Fourth crack found on shuttle Discovery's external tank Engineers inspecting the shuttle Discovery's external tank have found a fourth crack in the structural ribs, or stringers, making up the outer skin of the compartment between the liquid oxygen and hydrogen sections.
Second cracked stringer found in Discovery's tank Engineers removed additional foam insulation near a cracked structural rib, or stringer, in the shuttle Discovery's external tank Friday and found yet another crack in an adjacent stringer, sources said. Apparent seal problem found in leaking shuttle vent line A leaking hydrogen vent line attachment fitting on the side of the shuttle Discovery's external tank was removed and disassembled overnight, revealing an unevenly compressed internal seal.
The quick-disconnect hardware also may have a less concentric fit than pre-fueling measurements indicated. Underlying metal cracks found on Discovery's tank Cracked foam insulation on the shuttle Discovery's external tank was cut away early Wednesday, revealing serpentine cracks in an underlying structural rib, or stringer. Based on experience repairing similar cracks on other tanks, sources said, engineers believe the damage can be fixed at the pad before the next launch window opens at the end of the month.
Shuttle gaseous hydrogen vent line inspections begin Engineers worked to disconnect a 7-inch hydrogen vent line from a leaky quick-disconnect fitting on the side of the shuttle Discovery's external tank Tuesday that grounded the ship last Friday. Disassembly of the suspect fitting was expected overnight, with troubleshooters taking in situ photographs of the hardware, double-checking its alignment and looking for any obvious signs of trouble. Discovery troubleshooting plans being formulated Engineers extended a launch pad access platform Monday in preparation for inspections and disassembly of a 7-inch hydrogen vent line quick-disconnect fitting to find out what caused a potentially dangerous leak that forced NASA to cancel the shuttle Discovery's planned launching last Friday.
Shuttle Discovery's launch delayed to November 30 Friday's liftoff of space shuttle Discovery has been postponed due to a "significant" leak in the gaseous hydrogen venting system between the launch pad and external fuel tank. It's the same problem that delayed a pair of shuttle missions last year. NASA says the next launch attempt won't be made until the next window opens on November 30 at a. Weather postpones shuttle Discovery's final launch The Mission Management Team met early Thursday morning and decided the weather conditions at Kennedy Space Center were too unfavorable to attempt launching space shuttle Discovery that day.
The countdown will hold for 24 hours and retarget a liftoff on Friday at p. Shuttle Discovery will shoot for launch Thursday Despite threatening weather, NASA managers Wednesday cleared the shuttle Discovery for launch Thursday on its 39th and final mission, deciding an electrical glitch that prompted a hour delay was not a threat to flight safety.
Liftoff was targeted for p. Launch attempt on November 4, was scrubbed due to bad weather at the launch site. Launch on February 24, was delayed about three minutes to resolve a computer issue in the Range Safety Office. Launch occurred with just two seconds remaining in the launch window. March 9, — a. Mission duration was 12 days, 19 hours, 4 minutes, 50 seconds.
One of the more interesting payloads was Robonaut 2, a robot consisting of an upper torso and head designed to aid the ISS crew in routine operations. The wedge was secured to the truss using a bolt, and then the stanchion bolted back onto the wedge.
The spacewalkers then moved together further down the starboard truss to the solar alpha rotary joint at the starboard three segment. There, they were installing two extensions to the station's mobile transporter track, which will allow the mobile transporter to travel the entire length of the track with the CETA cart and still reach all the worksites.
Each extension one on either rail of the track was secured by two bolts. Alvin Drew and Stephen Bowen wrapped up their work at S3 by pushing two "stops" out of the way on the rails - one meant to keep the mobile transporter from passing and one meant to keep a spacewalker's tether from passing.
They opened and filled a metal cylinder that was signed by other astronauts who have flown in space. The bottle then was returned to the ground for public display. The arm lifted the fully-loaded 28,pound 12, kg PMM from space shuttle Discovery's cargo bay and carry it to the Earth-facing port on the Unity node, where it will be permanently attached. The astronauts removed thermal insulation from a platform, while Stephen Bowen swapped out an attachment bracket on the Columbus module. Stephen Bowen then installed a camera assembly on the Dextre robot then removed insulation from Dextre 's electronics platform.
Alvin Drew installed a light on a cargo cart and repaired some dislodged thermal insulation from a valve on the truss then remove other insulation from Tranquility. The final task was to "fill" a special bottle with space for a Japanese education payload.
The bottle will be part of a museum exhibit for public viewing. The second spacewalk of the mission included one more task to finish up the work with the failed pump module. That task - removing the remaining ammonia from the pump module - took Alvin Drew about an hour.
The balance of the two spacewalker's six and a half hours scheduled outside the station was spent on the assorted tasks originally assigned to the STS mission. The pump module work was first up on Alvin Drew 's timeline. As the vent tool was been installed on the first spacewalk, Alvin Drew simply had to open the vent and wait about two minutes for ammonia to be vented out to space. The tool allows it to vent without contaminating Alvin Drew 's spacesuit with ammonia. Once it was done, he removed the tool and took it back to the Quest airlock.
Meanwhile, Stephen Bowen was climbing back into the foot restraint on the station's robotic arm. He rode the robotic arm to the end of that module to pick up a lightweight adapter plate assembly, which was used to attach experiments to the exterior of Columbus.
Stephen Bowen stored it on the sidewall carrier in the shuttle's cargo bay to return home with Discovery. This task was originally scheduled for STS , but canceled due to time constraints. Stephen Bowen needed to remove one bolt to retrieve the plate and install one bolt to secure it in the cargo bay.
The spacewalkers continued to work separately throughout the rest of the spacewalk. The robotic arm flew Stephen Bowen to the special purpose dexterous manipulator, or Dextre. There, he installed a second camera using one bolt on the robot and removed an unnecessary insulation blanket, while Alvin Drew installed a light on the port CETA cart.
To install the light, Alvin Drew disconnected a cable on a stanchion on the CETA cart and connected it to the new light, then drove one bolt to hold it in place. From there, Alvin Drew travelled to a radiator beam on the first port segment of the truss and installed insulation on its valve module fluid line. He also spent some time troubleshooting a radiator grapple fixture stowage beam.
The beam, which was originally installed on STS , was used temporarily to store handles that would be necessary if a radiator ever needed to be replaced. However, during its installation, the astronauts noticed the beam was looser than they expected.
Experts on the ground think this might be because the two bolts securing it did not seat properly or were misaligned. So, to fix that, Alvin Drew was releasing the two bolts and redriving them.
Afterward, Alvin Drew moved to the Tranquility node to remove some insulation covering electrical connectors. In the meantime, Stephen Bowen had gotten off the robotic arm. Since he was in the vicinity, his next task was to install a lens cover on the camera on the arm's elbow joint. The cover will protect the lens from any erosion that might be caused by the thruster plume of visiting vehicles that the arm is used to dock.
It is attached using a lever that locks it into place. The rest of the spacewalk was spent installing similar covers on other cameras. Stephen Bowen installed one of Dextre 's cameras the one he did not install earlier in the spacewalk.
Meanwhile the mission was extended two days. At undocking time, the hooks and latches were opened and springs pushed the shuttle away from the station. Discovery's steering jets were shut off to avoid any inadvertent firings during the initial separation. Once the shuttle was about two feet 61 centimeters from the station and the docking devices were clear of one another, Eric Boe turned the steering jets back on and manually control Discovery within a tight corridor as the shuttle separated from the station.
Discovery moved to a distance of about feet Discovery circled the shuttle around the station at a distance of feet - meters. Once the shuttle completed 1. The shuttle began to increase its distance behind the station with each trip around the earth while the crew conducted one last inspection of the heat shield using the Orbiter Boom Sensor System OBSS. The distance was close enough to allow the shuttle to return to the station in the unlikely event that the heat shield is damaged, preventing the shuttle's safe re-entry.
International Flight No. Launch date:. Cape Canaveral KSC. Launch pad:. Docking ISS :. Undocking ISS :. Landing site:.
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