STS-130 Updates

[Orbinaut Pete]

Some fantastic photos of Node 3 in Endeavour's Payload Bay are now up in the KSC STS-130 Media Gallery! :thumbup:

http://mediaarchive.ksc.nasa.gov/search.cfm?cat=186

 

[Donamy]

That's a strange place for the grapple fixture.

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

That's a strange place for the grapple fixture.

It is indeed! Below I will explain the reason why this PDGF (Power & Data Grapple Fixture) is located in such a strange place!

As you can see in the above image, a PDGF is located in the middle of Node 3’s Zenith CBM port.
The reason for this is as follows.

Node 3's Zenith CBM port will be unusable when Node 3 is installed on Node 1 Port, due to clearances with the Truss & the Z1 KU band antenna.
So rather than have the CBM port sit (float? ) there doing nothing, NASA decided to block it off & put a PDGF there instead.
The PDGF is fully powered, and eventually the SPDM (Dextre) will be located on it.

This of course means that Node 3's Zenith CBM hatch will NEVER, EVER be opened!

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Quick, Don, there's still time to edit your Node 3 mesh before the launch! :lol:

 

[Donamy]

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Quick, Don, there's still time to edit your Node 3 mesh before the launch! :lol:

This is true !!

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

Astronaut Mike Massimino (STS-130 CAPCOM) goes behind the scenes with the STS-130 crew.

Nick Patrick has a British accent! I want to hear more British accents in space!

 

[Zoe]

Flight readiness review on January 27 approved first launch attempt on February 7. Briefing and Events schedule is below, all times Eastern.

L-5 Days - Tuesday, Feb. 2

Approx. 10:30 p.m. - STS-130 astronaut crew arrival

L-4 Days - Wednesday, Feb. 3

10 a.m. - Prelaunch update
- Jeremy Graeber, NASA test director
- Joe Delai, STS-130 payload manager
- Kathy Winters, shuttle weather officer

L-3 Days – Thursday, Feb. 4

2 a.m. - Countdown officially begins (not on NASA TV)

10 a.m. - Countdown status briefing
- Jeff Spaulding, NASA test director
- Joe Delai, STS-130 payload manager
- Kathy Winters, shuttle weather officer

L-2 Days - Friday, Feb. 5

11 a.m. (no earlier than) - Prelaunch news conference
- Mike Moses, shuttle launch integration manager
- TBA, European Space Agency
- Mike Leinbach, shuttle launch director
- Kathy Winters, shuttle weather officer

1 p.m. - International Space Station science briefing
- Julie Robinson, International Space Station Program scientist, NASA Johnson Space Center
- Robert Ferl, University of Florida, Gainesville, principal investigator of Transgenic Arabidopsis Gene Expression System
- Wagner Vendrame, University of Florida, Homestead, and ISS National Laboratory investigator for National Lab Pathfinder-Cells
- Perry Johnson-Green, senior program scientist, Life and Physical Sciences, Canadian Space Agency

L-1 Day - Saturday, Feb. 6

Approx. 8 a.m. - Rotating Service Structure moves into position

7 p.m. - Fueling commentary begins

Approx. 7:14 p.m. - Fueling begins

11:30 p.m. - Live launch commentary begins

Crew Activities: (times may vary slightly)
5:45 p.m. -- Crew wakes up (not on NASA TV)

Launch Day – Sunday, Feb. 7

12:11 a.m. -- Weather briefing with commander, pilot and mission specialist 2 (not on NASA TV)
12:21 a.m. -- Astronauts don flight suits
12:59 a.m. -- Depart for launch pad
1:19 a.m. -- Arrive at White Room and begin ingress
2:24 a.m. -- Close crew hatch
4:39 a.m. -- Launch

Launch + 1 hour - Post-launch News Conference
- Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for Space Operations
- Jean-Jacques Dordain, European Space Agency director general
- Mike Moses, shuttle launch integration manager
- Mike Leinbach, shuttle launch director

---------- Post added at 10:56 AM ---------- Previous post was at 04:05 AM ----------

A focused inspection has been called to evaluate what seems to be a scratch on the left SRB.

 

[DaveS]

SRB nozzle scratch have been cleared, however last night the Launch Complex 39 Launch Control Center suffered a FIREX malfunction which has flooded all levels of the LCC building. More here: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2010/01/sts-130-minor-damage-left-booster-frr-summary/

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

NASA's STS-130 press kit is now available! :thumbup:

I've been waiting for this!

www.nasa.gov/pdf/420302main_sts130_press_kit.pdf

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

Check out the HILARIOUS STS-130 crew poster! :rofl:

http://sfa.nasa.gov/MISSIONPOSTERS/sts130/nw-2010-01-001-a-jsc sts-130 POSTERflat-lores.pdf

Steve Robinson has a guitar in his hand because he is lead guitarist in the astronaut band "Max Q".

 

[orb]

No one posted launch timer for targeted launch date/time yet, so here it is:

[highlight]L[eventTimer]2010-02-08 09:14:08;%c%%ddd%/%hh%:%mm%:%ss%[/eventTimer][/highlight]

I have also added this event to Default Calendar.

 

[96bliss]

Greetings folks,
Newbie and first time user here, so I apologize in advance if this posting isn't 'site appropriate'.
Anyway, I've been closely watching your postings on the upcoming STS 130 mission for purposes of making travel arrangements from the left coast to east coast to view this launch. All of you have posted some very informative stuff regarding orbiter prep and status. Largely based on this input, plus additonal info from the NASA websites, I've taken the plunge and finalized my flight arrangements to go out to KSC to view the launch - my first. I work for an aerospace company out here in SoCal and have been somewhat involved in the STS/ISS program over the last several years - our comapny built the Mobil Transporter that is currently in use on the ISS.
Anyway, I do have tickets to view the launch from the KSC visitors center, which is nice, but ultimately, my desire has always been to view a launch as close as possible - from the VIP viewing area. Are VIP passses for this launch available at all? Are they attainable? Just throwing this out here in the event that any of you posters are knowledgeable or familiar with NASA ragulations regarding passes to get onto the base.
Thanks in advance.

 

[Star Voyager]

Since this launch is so close, I doubt it (my dad worked at the KSC Visitor's Center for 8 years, so I have seen a good many launchings from there). You really want to buy them about a month in advance, if not sooner. But I can put you in the right direction:

http://www.kennedyspacecenter.com/space-shuttle-launch-viewing-tickets.aspx

 

[Turbinator]

Take a boat right up to the coastline?

 

[Star Voyager]

I definitely DO NOT recommend this only because they are heavily patrolled during launch time by Black Hawks. However, some friends of mine who live there go out on Banana River, which anyone with a boat around there usually does.

 

[DaveS]

Only [eventTimer]2010-02-04 07:00:00;%hh% Hours %mm% Minutes %ss% Seconds[/eventTimer] to go before start of the launch countdown.

 

[Zoe]

Only [eventTimer]2010-02-04 07:00:00;%hh% Hours %mm% Minutes %ss% Seconds[/eventTimer] to go before start of the launch countdown.

I believe call to stations is at 1:30 AM Eastern and the countdown will actually start from the T-43 hour mark at 2:00 AM Eastern.

For the benefit of anyone new here, once we are into S0007 only major updates tend to get posted in the thread with live events posted in the chat box. If you are new you will need to enable this chat box in your control panel.

 

[Zoe]

The countdown started on time at 2 AM Eastern. At the Countdown Status Briefing earlier Shuttle Weather Officer Kathy Winters reported a 0% chance of weather prohibiting tanking and a 30% chance of weather prohibiting launch on Sunday. If for any reason launch is delayed 24 hours then there is 20% chance of weather prohibiting launch on Monday and if launched is delayed by 48 hours then the chance of weather prohibiting launch is also 20% on Tuesday.

 

[DaveS]

Right now at T-26 hours and 44 minutes and counting. PRSD servicing should begin within the next 80 minutes or so with loading of LOX.

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

STS-130 Behind The Scenes Volume 2 with Astronaut Mike Massimino:

 

[Kyle]

RSS rollback should be at 8 a.m, in 12 hours.