ATLANTIS UPDATES

[Chipstone306]

Foam Work, Launch Preps Continue

Image above: A technician applies foam insulation to a portion of the external tank that space shuttle Atlantis will use at launch. Photo credit: NASA
View Hi-Res Image

Jan. 17
With a replacement external connector installed on space shuttle Atlantis' external tank, workers at NASA's Kennedy Space Center continue reapplying foam insulation to that portion of the tank as the agency targets a Feb. 7 launch date for mission STS-122.

All the work associated with replacing the connector and insulation is expected to be finished on Jan. 24. Meanwhile, standard launch preparations are under way to ready the spacecraft for flight.

The European-built Columbus laboratory remains safely tucked inside the payload bay of Atlantis. The spacecraft and its crew of NASA and European Space Agency astronauts is to install the space-based lab on the International Space Station, where it will provide a base for research and experiments into the space and weightless environment.

 

[apollo13]

Image above: A worker reapplies foam insulation to a section of the external fuel tank to be used by space shuttle Atlantis.
Photo credit: NASA
View Hi-Res Image

Technicians Reapplying Foam, Readying Atlantis
Teams of workers at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida are reapplying foam to a section of the external fuel tank to insulate the portion that was removed to allow replacement of an external connector.

Technicians will begin final standard launch preparations on Jan. 29. Space shuttle Atlantis is targeted to launch on mission STS-122 on Feb. 7 at 2:45 p.m. EST.

Atlantis will take the European-built Columbus laboratory to the International Space Station.

 

[Chipstone306]

Technicians Move Ahead with Launch Preparations

Image above: A technician applies foam insulation to a portion of the external tank that space shuttle Atlantis will use at launch. Photo credit: NASA
View Hi-Res Image

Jan. 18
Teams of technicians will spend the weekend working on foam insulation applied to small sections of space shuttle Atlantis’ external fuel tank and making standard launch preparations at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Some foam was removed from around an external wiring connector on the tank so technicians could replace it with a modified connector, which is part of the tank’s low fuel-level engine cutoff sensor system. Problems with the system lead to two launch delays for Atlantis in December. All the foam work is expected to be finished on Jan. 24.

Space Shuttle Program managers are targeting Feb. 7 for Atlantis’ launch on the STS-122 mission to install the European-built Columbus laboratory on the International Space Station.

 

[Chipstone306]

Jan. 22
Technicians are on pace to finish work Friday on new foam insulation applied over a replaced external wiring connector on space shuttle Atlantis' external fuel tank. The connector is part of the tank’s low fuel-level engine cutoff system, which experienced problems in December that caused two launch delays.

Teams working on Atlantis at the launch pad at NASA's Kennedy Space Center are also making other standard launch preparations to make the spacecraft ready for a targeted launch date of Feb. 7.

The European-built Columbus laboratory will be taken to the International Space Station aboard Atlantis during the STS-122 mission.

Space shuttle Endeavour also is undergoing standard preparations in Kennedy’s Orbiter Processing Facility 2 while the solid rocket boosters and external tanks it will use at launch are being readied inside the Vehicle Assembly Building. Endeavour’s STS-123 mission to the space station is targeted for launch in mid-March.

 

[Chipstone306]

Atlantis Launch Preps Continue, Launch Target set for STS-123

Image above: Technicians inspect the insulating foam installed over a replacement connector on the external tank to be used by space shuttle Atlantis on mission STS-122. Photo credit: NASA/Cory Huston
View Hi-Res Image

Jan. 24
As work continues to make space shuttle Atlantis ready to launch on its Feb. 7 target date, NASA's space shuttle program managers have set March 11 as the target launch date for space shuttle Endeavour on its STS-123 mission.

Both shuttles will use external tanks outfitted with a modified feed-through connector for the low fuel-level engine cutoff sensor system. The original connector design, which passes electrical signals from sensors inside the tank to the computers inside Atlantis, is believed to have caused two launch delays last month. Intensive testing traced the problem to the faulty connector. Specialists soldered the wiring together to prevent a future problem.

The connector was replaced on Atlantis while the shuttle remained at its launch pad at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Workers are replacing the one on Endeavour while the tank is still inside the Vehicle Assembly Building.

Both missions are critical construction flights for the International Space Station and carry scientific laboratories built by the project's international partners. Atlantis will install the European-built Columbus laboratory. Endeavour will carry the first part of the Japanese-built Kibo laboratory.

 

[Chipstone306]

Crews to Return Monday for Launch Work

Image above: The seven astronauts who will fly aboard space shuttle Atlantis during missions STS-122 are Rex Walheim, from left, Leland Melvin, commander Stephen Frick, Alan Poindexter, Leopold Eyharts, Stanley Love and Hans Schlegel. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
View Hi-Res Image

Jan. 25
With the replacement of a faulty external electrical connector behind them, most of the crews preparing space shuttle Atlantis for launch will get the weekend off and return Monday to begin the final stretch of tasks before the countdown begins for space shuttle Atlantis’ STS-122 mission.

The first of two in-depth reviews of the mission ended Friday with no signs of impediments leading up to the launch of Atlantis on Feb. 7. The session was conducted via video teleconference and included program-level officials in NASA's space shuttle program.

A second meeting, known as the executive-level Flight Readiness Review, is scheduled for Wednesday and will brief NASA executives about the spacecraft and its European-built Columbus laboratory payload. Those officials will have an opportunity to the official launch date. The targeted launch time on Feb. 7 is 2:45 p.m. EST. The meetings are standard for the days leading up to launch of a space shuttle mission.

Modifications to the external connector on Atlantis' external fuel tank were one of the subjects of Friday's session. The modifications were made to a replacement connector in the engine cutoff sensor system after a faulty connector likely caused two launch postponements in December.

Atlantis will carry the Columbus laboratory to the International Space Station. The shuttle and space station crews will use robotic arms and a series of spacewalks to attach the lab to the orbiting facility and set it up for space research.

 

[Chipstone306]

Jan. 29
NASA's senior managers will evaluate space shuttle Atlantis during a daylong session known as a Flight Readiness Review on Wednesday. Once managers are certain Atlantis and its European-built Columbus laboratory payload are ready for its STS-122 mission, they'll formally announce a launch date.

During a shuttle program review conducted Friday, Atlantis was cleared for a targeted launch date of Feb. 7 at 2:45 p.m. EST from NASA's Kennedy Space Center. Wednesday's Flight Readiness Review, or FRR, involves shuttle program officials from across NASA's extensive network of field centers and contractor locations. The group is also joined by executives from NASA Headquarters in Washington.

Atlantis' seven-member crew will install the Columbus lab onto the International Space Station and swap station resident and NASA astronaut Dan Tani with European Space Agency astronaut Leopold Eyharts. Columbus is Europe's primary contribution to the orbiting research station and will provide cutting-edge facilities for experiments covering a wide range of space sciences.

 

[Chipstone306]

Jan. 30
Space Shuttle Program managers and NASA's senior management are meeting today by video conference to discuss preparations to launch space shuttle Atlantis' on its STS-122 mission. Liftoff is targeted for Feb. 7 at 2:45 p.m. EST from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The meeting, called a Flight Readiness Review, is a standard requirement leading up to a shuttle launch giving NASA and contractors the opportunity to evaluate the spacecraft's readiness and address any issues that could affect the mission.

The group also will review the readiness of the Columbus laboratory that the shuttle will carry to the International Space Station.

Participants will determine a formal launch date at the end of the meeting.

A post-meeting news conference is scheduled for 3 p.m. EST.

 

[Chipstone306]

Atlantis updates

Review sets Feb. 7 Launch Date

Image above: This flexible hose carries Freon through Atlantis' cooling system. Photo credit: NASA
› Hi-Res Image

› Post a comment

Jan. 30
NASA managers formally set the launch of space shuttle Atlantis for Feb. 7 at 2:45 p.m. EST, pending analysis of a flexible hose in the shuttle's radiator cooling system.

The bent hose was discovered Tuesday on Atlantis during inspections of the payload bay doors. Engineers want to determine whether the braided metal hose, which carries Freon to cool the shuttle's systems while in space, will work as planned. The hose in question runs from the shuttle body to the radiator panels on the cargo bay doors.

The problem was first uncovered during inspections of space shuttle Discovery.

"We're heading for the seventh of February for launch and we'll continue to look at the radiator hose issue," said Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA's associate administrator for Space Operations.

Officials will meet again Saturday to evaluate testing and other data related to the hose.

"Right now, that hose is perfectly functional," Space Shuttle Program Manager Wayne Hale said. "Since the hose is not leaking now and the sister hose on Discovery didn't leak on a number of flights, I'm feeling very positive we'll come to a good conclusion. But we have to do our work here, the engineers have to do their work and we want to make sure we know what we're doing before we go fly this vehicle."

 

[Chipstone306]

Shuttle Atlantis Set for Launch Week

Image above: Members of the crew of space shuttle Atlantis practice countdown procedures in a training mockup of the shuttle's middeck at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. Photo credit: NASA
› Hi-Res Image

Feb. 1
Space shuttle Atlantis’ STS-122 mission remains on schedule for launch Feb. 7 at 2:45 p.m. EST from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida now that a plan to fix a bent cooling system hose has been determined.

During launch preparations at Kennedy, technicians noticed a small section of a braided metal hose that was bent in a shape similar to the Greek letter Omega. The radiator retract hose, part of the shuttle's cooling system that carries Freon, is designed to flex. However, engineers wanted to make sure they were not overlooking potential problems and designed a tool to guide the hose back into the storage box. Testing in Huntington Beach, Calif., has proven successful and program managers gave the go ahead to close payload bay doors using the tool on Sunday evening.

The NASA teams of controllers at Kennedy, Johnson Space Center in Houston and Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., will be joined by European teams based in Germany for the mission. The German-based controllers will oversee the operation of the new Columbus laboratory which is tucked inside Atlantis' payload bay.

The lab, built in Italy and outfitted in Germany, will be the second dedicated research facility taken to the International Space Station. It can hold 10 racks dedicated for experiments covering a wide range of space science.

Atlantis’ seven astronauts will arrive at Kennedy Monday at 10:30 a.m., and the countdown clock will begin ticking down Monday at 5 p.m.

 

[Chipstone306]

With Doors Closed, Atlantis Ready

Image above: Technicians use a special tool to help a cooling system hose retract into its storage box correctly as the payload bay doors of space shuttle Atlantis are closed in preparation for launch. Launch remains scheduled for Feb. 7 at 2:45 p.m. EST. Photo credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller
› Hi-Res Image

› Post a comment

Feb. 4
Space shuttle Atlantis' payload bay doors were closed Sunday evening at about 10 p.m. EST with no radiator retract hose issue. During the starboard door closure, eight incremental stops were performed. After each stop, the aft hose was adjusted and seated in place utilizing the ladder and HAT (Hose Assist Tool). The team was satisfied with the final placement of the hose at door closure.

Atlantis’ seven astronauts will arrive at Kennedy this morning at 10:30 a.m. The countdown clock will begin ticking down today at 5 p.m.

› Weather Forecast

 

[DaveS]

The word from this mornings L-3 day Countdown Status Briefing is that they have no constraints that prevents an on-time start of the Launch Countdown also called S0007("sue-7 LCD").

CONUS and TAL site weather forecast for Thursday through Saturday is good. All of them is expected to have nice acceptable weather conditions.

KSC however is a different story: Due to a frontal boundary that is expected to reach central Florida by Thursday, they're going with a 60% chance that KSC weather conditions will prohibit launch due to showers and broken decks at 3000 ft(flight rule is 6000 ft).

KSC conditions will however improve on Friday and Saturday, with both days having a 20% chance that KSC weather conditions will prohibit launch.

And now the STS-122 flight crew has arrived in N944NA at KSC for launch.

 

[Chipstone306]

Thanks DaveS! I always enjoy your launch thread in m6 I am going to post the weather forcast for launch day !:speakcool:

 

[DaveS]

All of the STS-122 flight crew members have now exited the aircraft.

 

[Chipstone306]

STS-122 Launch Weather Forecast ​

Vehicle:

[FONT=Arial,Arial]Atlantis / Columbus Laboratory [/FONT]

Issued: ​

​

[FONT=Arial,Arial]4 February 2008 0700 EST [/FONT]

Valid: ​

​

[FONT=Arial,Arial]7 February 2008 2:40 p.m. – 2:50 p.m. EST [/FONT]

Synoptic Discussion: ​

​

[FONT=Arial,Arial]High pressure will dominate the Central Florida area for the next few days, and temperatures will be above average with highs reaching the low 80s. A cold front will move into the Central Florida area on launch day, bringing concerns for showers by launch time. [/FONT]Our primary concerns for launch day are cumulus clouds and showers. [FONT=Arial,Arial]The front will move through the area early Friday morning, and weather conditions improve for the 24- and 48-hour launch attempts. [/FONT]

Clouds
Coverage
Bases (feet)
Tops (feet)
[FONT=Arial,Arial]Cumulus [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Arial]Altocumulus [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Arial]Cirrostratus [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Arial]3/8 Scattered [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Arial]5/8 Broken [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Arial]8/8 Overcast [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Arial]2,000 [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Arial]8,000 [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Arial]20,000 [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Arial]5,000 [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Arial]10,000 [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Arial]24,000 [/FONT]
Weather:
[FONT=Arial,Arial]Showers [/FONT]
Visibility:
[FONT=Arial,Arial]7 miles [/FONT]
Wind:
[FONT=Arial,Arial]340° @ 8 P 12KT [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Arial](60 foot pad winds) [/FONT]
Temperature:
[FONT=Arial,Arial]72°F [/FONT]
RH:
[FONT=Arial,Arial]66% [/FONT]
Dewpoint:
[FONT=Arial,Arial]62°F [/FONT]
Probability of KSC weather prohibiting launch:
60%
Probability of KSC weather prohibiting tanking:
10%
Primary concern(s):
[FONT=Arial,Arial]Cumulus Clouds, Showers [/FONT]
Probability of KSC weather prohibiting launch for 24-hour delay:
20%
Probability of KSC weather prohibiting tanking:
10%
Primary concern(s):
[FONT=Arial,Arial]Launch Winds [/FONT]
Probability of KSC weather prohibiting launch for 48-hour delay:
20%
Probability of KSC weather prohibiting tanking:
0%
Primary concern(s):
[FONT=Arial,Arial]Launch Winds [/FONT]
Sunrise:
[FONT=Arial,Arial]7/0707 EST [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Arial]8/0706 EST [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Arial]9/0706 EST [/FONT]
Sunset:
[FONT=Arial,Arial]7/1807 EST [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Arial]8/1807 EST [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Arial]9/1808 EST [/FONT]
Moonrise:
[FONT=Arial,Arial]7/0727 EST [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Arial]8/0801 EST [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Arial]9/0833 EST [/FONT]
Moonset:
[FONT=Arial,Arial]7/1850 EST [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Arial]8/1952 EST [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Arial]9/2053 EST [/FONT]
Illumination:
[FONT=Arial,Arial]7 February: 0% [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Arial]8 February: 3% [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Arial]9 February: 8% [/FONT]
Next forecast will be issued:
[FONT=Arial,Arial]5 February 2008, 0700 EST [/FONT]​

 

[DaveS]

All of the crew members is now getting a chance to say a few words to media at the SLF.

The giant Rotating Service Structure is scheduled to be moved to the launch "park" position at 6 pm EST(2300 UTC) Wednesday.

NASA TV coverage will start on launch day at 5:15 am EST(1015 UTC) Thursday. It will be briefly interrupted though by the Progress M-63 docking coverage which will begin at 9:15 am EST(1415 UTC). STS-122 coverage will resume again at 9:45 am EST(1045 UTC)-

 

[DaveS]

Here's a nice compilation chart of the STS-122/1E launch countdown events by CBS News' Bill Harwood: http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts122/fdf/122countdown.html

An interesting fact regarding fuel cell reactant loading: These cryogenic liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen is not loaded from the two giant storage spheres at the pad. These are actually loaded from ordinary tanker trucks hooked up to the FSS/RSS. Once one reactant have been loaded into the Power Reactant Storage and Distribution(PRSD) tanks in the midbody of the orbiter, the tanker truck is disconnected from the FSS/RSS, and the second one is brought in and hooked up.

 

[Chipstone306]

Hmmmmm Interesting about refueling...I am going to start the launch day thread on the 6th in the evening similar to your set up in m6

Keepem coming DaveS!

 

[DaveS]

Here's a from screen grabs from OTV-060(this camera is mounted about midway up the water tower at the pad) which shows the Intertank Access Arm being retracted earlier today.

 

[Tex]

Hi Dave, welcome to Orbiter-Forum! I made a special usergroup & rank tag back when Richwall first joined here to be used by the staff who joined from M6 and Martin himself should he ever join this forum. I just now moved you over to that usergroup, Orbitersim Staff.

Although it doesn't give you guys moderator rank, I felt it was deserving to have your own usergroup for your efforts with Orbiter and it's websites. Thanks for joining and welcome!