STS 125

[Woo482]

does nasa get more funding the more they delay the flights ? they all ways delay them

 

[DaveS]

does nasa get more funding the more they delay the flights ? they all ways delay them

No! And for "they always delay them" part: This is just plain false. Any long delays is usually due to technical problems and issues. In this case, the SSP would have been more than ready to support a launch on October 14.

Now they simply want time to qualify and certify a brand new box that is at Goddard Spaceflight Center and also train the EV crewmembers on the task of swapping out the old failed unt with the new unit.

And this all takes time. The new box isn't expected to have gone through it's full Acceptance Test Program(ATP) until early January. Then they have to install it in it's carrier box on the Multi Use Lightweight Equipment(MULE) carrier.

And this pushes the next flight opportunity into February.

So as you see, lots of small technical details, none of which has anything to do with money.

You just doesn't understand how the Space Shuttle Program operates.

 

[Donamy]

I would think it more fitting to burn up.

 

[tblaxland]

does nasa get more funding the more they delay the flights ? they all ways delay them

No. In fact it is lucky that this problem with Hubble occurred now, rather than just after the servicing mission. It will be interesting to see what the new launch schedule will look like in relation to STS-126 and STS-119.


-----Posted Added-----


Reading the Spaceflight Now article, it looks like STS-127 (Endeavour) could even get called up again for STS-400 duties, due to the beta cutout in Q2'09.

Questions:

1. Anyone know the dates of that beta cutout?
2. Is there any info available on the failed CU/SDF (control unit/science data formatter)?

 

[joeybigO]

1. Beta cutout day is the last window. Which would be November 25.

 

[tblaxland]

1. Beta cutout day is the last window. Which would be November 25.

That is the start of the winter beta cutout, there is another around May next year.

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

STS-125 launch set back to 2009!!!!

From NASA Space Shuttle site...
_______________________________________________
Hubble Space Telescope Problem Delays STS-125 Launch :

Sept. 30, 2008
Due to the significant Hubble Space Telescope malfunction that occurred over the weekend affecting the storage and transmittal of science data to Earth, NASA will evaluate the investigation results before fully determining the impact to launch of the STS-125 servicing mission.

Under consideration is the possibility of flying a back-up replacement system as part of the payload, which could be installed during the servicing mission. The back-up unit will need to be checked out and tested at Goddard Spaceflight Center in Greenbelt, Md., and as a result, won’t be ready to be delivered to Kennedy Space Center in Florida until the first week in January.

NASA now will fly space shuttle Endeavour's STS-126 mission to the International Space Station first, with the STS-125 servicing mission moving into 2009. Endeavour is targeted to launch Nov. 16. Managers are looking into moving the target date up a couple of days if possible.


The malfunctioning system is Hubble's Control Unit/Science Data Formatter - Side A. Shortly after 8 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 27, the telescope's spacecraft computer issued commands to safe the payload computer and science instruments when errors were detected within the Science Data Formatter. An attempt to reset the formatter and obtain a dump of the payload computer’s memory was unsuccessful.

Additional testing demonstrates Side A no longer supports the transfer of science data to the ground. A transition to the redundant Side B should restore full functionality to the science instruments and operations.

The transition to Side B operations is complex. It requires that five other modules used in managing data also be switched to their B-side systems. The B-sides of these modules last were activated during ground tests in the late 1980’s and/or early 1990, prior to launch.

The Hubble operations team has begun work on the Side B transition and believes it will be ready to reconfigure Hubble later this week. The transition will happen after the team completes a readiness review.

Hubble could return to science operations in the immediate future if the reconfiguration is successful.

 

[Belisarius]

Well, well. That's a blow. I suppose they'll have to move Endeavour to 39A and Atlantis back to the VAB?

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

Yes, I should think so, It can't stay on the pad for 6 months, and also 39A will be needed for other launches.

The payloads will probably be have to be unloaded from Atlantis and go back to the PHSF, a climate-controlled environment. New payload carriers will also have to be designed.

Atlantis will now not be available for other missions.
A new back-up shuttle will have to be made available for STS-125, so that wont be available either, so some missions may have to be cancelled

The crew will have to do more training.

STS-126 preparations will need to be speeded up.

Pad 39-B will not be able to be handed over to Project Constellation, as it will be needed for the backup shuttle when STS-125 does finally launch (probably in Feb 2009). So the Ares I tests scheduled for Feb will have to be cancelled.
Other shuttle missions will have to be re-organised.

It will really set back NASA's entire program.


--But on the plus side, at least there will be more time to work on the STS-125 payloads addon--

 

[Belisarius]

Wow, that's a huge chain of time-consuming and expensive changes following from the failure of the HST's data transmitter. One asks oneself if it's really worth continuing with HST now, whether it wouldn't be best just to let it die?

 

[SiberianTiger]

Is it right that the need for the L39-B pad will require the Ares 1-X test launch to be performed no sooner than the 2nd half of 2009? This makes me recall that English folk song about lack of the nail to shoe the horse and what the consequences were...

BTW, what will be the fate of the HST if it's just left there on a decaying orbit? It still does not have a deorbiting engine, right? It might sound cruel, but will US Navy use it for another target practice for this reason?

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

Well, is it worth trying to save the HST? That's the "twenty thousand dollar question" now, isn't it.

One has to remember, the HST was launched in 1990, which means it was finished in 1988 at least, which means it was being assembled in the mid-80's, which means it was being manufactured in the early 80's, which means it was designed in the late 70's....

It's been in the harsh environment of space now for 18 years...
And we're trying to make it work with the very latest technology..

I'd have been more surprised it it HAD all worked...

But now NASA have spent god-knows how much on STS-125, they're not about to just "give up" i think, not without a public outcry anyway....

However, to fix Hubble, lots of other things will have to suffer, the ISS, Project Constellation..
Hubble will only last until 2013 anyway, and Project Constellation and the ISS will continue way past that.....

Is it really worth risking them for the old HST????

 

[Moonwalker]

One has to remember, the HST was launched in 1990, which means it was finished in 1988 at least, which means it was being assembled in the mid-80's, which means it was being manufactured in the early 80's, which means it was designed in the late 70's....

Well, the Shuttle was launched almost ten years earlier than Hubble and officially announced in 1972 already, while Charles Duke and John Young walked on the Moon (Apollo 16) and even mentioned the Shuttle funding during one of their EVA's.

However, to fix Hubble, lots of other things will have to suffer, the ISS, Project Constellation..
Hubble will only last until 2013 anyway, and Project Constellation and the ISS will continue way past that.....

It is not quite sure that the ISS will last "way" longer than Hubble. After STS-125 Hubble could operate at least until 2014. At the moment the ISS will last only 2 years longer...

Hubble still is a great and unbeaten instrument. It is worth to keep it alive until its replacement, the James Webb Telescope, is going to replace Hubble in 2013. I don't think that Hubble and STS-125 has a big impact on the future of the ISS and even more on Constellation.

 

[Arrowstar]

This may have been mentioned above, but: does anyone know what this is going to do to the timelines for the other ISS construction missions scheduled?

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

We will not know that until NASA conducts a proper review of the situation.
Some ISS missions may have to be cancelled/bumped back.

Any updates will be posted on the official NASA launch manifest here:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/iss_manifest.html

It's not as easy as simply pushing all launches back by a few months, as NASA is required to retire all shuttles no later that than mid 2010, so there is limited time to get all the missions in. Lets hope they just don't start rushing - look what happened last time they did......Challenger!

-------
Maybe, if Hubble really can't be fixed, Atlantis could go up there empty, and bring Hubble back to Earth to be repaired, then re-launch it later???

 

[tblaxland]

Atlantis will be rolled back to the VAB and Endeavour rolled over to 39A in two weeks. STS-126 probable launch around Nov 14.

More info from nasaspaceflight.com:
http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2008...-to-pad-39a-in-two-weeks-sts-125-back-to-vab/

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

A quick question about the STS-125 payloads:

The STS-125 hardware carriers, SLIC, ORUC, FSS & MULE:

Are they brand new, or have they been used on previous servicing missions? Or have they just been modified or updated since last time?

I only ask because I found this pic, dated 1994, and it looks like the FSS & ORUC were around then:

 

[tblaxland]

A quick question about the STS-125 payloads:

The STS-125 hardware carriers, SLIC, ORUC, FSS & MULE:

Are they brand new, or have they been used on previous servicing missions? Or have they just been modified or updated since last time?

I only ask because I found this pic, dated 1994, and it looks like the FSS & ORUC were around then:

SLIC is new but the others have been used before.

 

[DaveS]

The HST carriers have now been removed from Atlantis' payload bay and the canister was lowered from the RSS earlier this morning.

The canister should now be in the Canister Rotation Facility being rotated back to a horizontal configuration after which it will be transported back to the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility where it will wait.

Integrated rollback preps are now in work and the Pad A RSS will be rotated back around Atlantis tommorow night. RSS rotation for the actual rollback is scheduled for second shift Sunday with CT first motion planned for 12:01 am EDT Monday.

 

[Thunder Chicken]

I've been out of the loop - I heard something about possible debris in one of the ET tanks (forget which mission it was assigned to). What is the story on this?