Updates STS-133 Updates

[Orbinaut Pete]

NASA TV Video: Discovery Rolls Off Launch Pad for Repairs Tests.​

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBGwJ-Wkucc"]YouTube - Discovery Rolls Off Launch Pad for Repairs Tests[/ame]

 

[Wonderer]

Was the crew allowed to go home and celebrate Christmas with their families?

 

[DaveS]

Was the crew allowed to go home and celebrate Christmas with their families?

You mean the STS-133 flight crew? Yes. They left KSC for Houston in the afternoon of November 5. As soon as it was decided to forego any more launch attempts in the early November window, the crew was allowed to break quarantine and head back Houston in the T-38's.

 

[orb]

NASASpaceFlight: STS-133: Discovery aiming for January 13 rollout for February launch target:

With Discovery now back inside the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB), a preliminary timeline has listed January 13 as a preliminary target to return to Pad 39A in order to make the opening of the next available launch window, which opens on February 3. NASA managers will meet on December 30 to discuss the forward plan after inspections of all ET-137′s stringers are complete.

{...}

Aviation Week: New Discovery Flight Readiness Review Planned:

HOUSTON — NASA will aim for a Jan. 26 Flight Readiness Review to formally assess the troubleshooting of small cracks in a pair of stringers on the external tank (ET) of the shuttle Discovery and a possible launch of the STS-133 mission during a window lasting Feb. 3-10.

{...}

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

NASA TV Video: Sensors and Foam Removed From Shuttle's External Tank.​

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

This isn't strictly related to STS-133, but here's a great Christmas poem about the end of the Shuttle Program.

Florida Today: "The shuttle's last Christmas".

‘Twas the Shuttle’s last Christmas
and our spirits were low,
For the program was ending
and soon we’d all go.

We’d processed the Shuttles
with infinite care
And followed each mission
as if we were there.

We made every effort
to achieve all our goals;
We offered our talents,
our hearts and our souls.

Our work was much more
than a meager career;
‘Twas an honor and privilege
beyond all compare.

As this marvel of science
was applauded worldwide,
We looked on each Shuttle
with unfettered pride:

Columbia, Challenger,
Discovery, and then
Atlantis, Endeavour
all ferried brave men

And women to realms
past the confines of Earth,
Uncovering knowledge
of infinite worth.

We rejoiced with each mission’s
success, and we grieved
For the losses too painful
for us to conceive.

And over the years,
something wondrous took place:
We became kindred spirits,
united by Space.

And so, as we part,
I will bear a great loss.
And hope in the future
our paths again cross.

But until then, my friend,
this wish I confide:
Happy Christmas to all
— we had a great ride!

 

[Star Voyager]

These are a must see!

http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts133/101221eclipse/

http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts133/101221aerial/

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

NASA TV Video: More Scans Taken of Shuttle Discovery's External Tank for The STS-133 Mission.​

 

[orb]

Florida Today - The Flame Trench: Discovery tank inspections continue at KSC.

Aviation Week: NASA Wraps Up Discovery X-ray Scans with Hope.

 

[orb]

Florida Today: Decision on Discovery's tank expected today.

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

Not good.

Discovery Tank Scans Complete, New Small Cracks Detected.

Technicians in the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida are essentially done with the latest round of X-ray type image scans of space shuttle Discovery's external fuel tank.

The computed radiography images of all 108 support beams, called stringers, on the outside of the external tank’s intertank section, which technicians began taking Sunday, are being evaluated by engineers.

However, preliminary analysis indicates small cracks were detected on the tops of three stringers on panel 6, which is on the opposite side of the tank from Discovery. The newly detected cracks currently are under evaluation and there has been no decisions on what affect, if any, these cracks will make on future plans.

The new data, along with previous testing and analysis, will help engineers and managers determine what caused other small cracks on the tops of two stringers during Discovery’s launch countdown on Nov. 5.

Space Shuttle Program managers are meeting this afternoon to decide whether testing and analysis indicate modifications are needed on some of the stringers. If required, modifications would begin next Monday (Jan. 3).

 

[orb]

CBS News Space: More cracks found in Discovery's external tank (UPDATED):

{...}

NASA managers met Thursday to review the on-going tank analysis and to discuss potential modifications to beef up the stringers to either side of the tank's massive booster-attachment thrust panels that experience the most stress during fueling and launch. All of the cracks found to date are located on stringers to either side of the left thrust panel.

But senior managers deferred any decisions about additional modifications pending further analysis of the newly discovered cracks. Shuttle Program Manager John Shannon told engineers to repair the cracks using the same techniques employed to fix the four found after the Nov. 5 launch try. That work will take two to three days to complete. Another review is planned for Monday.

If the modifications are ordered and no other major problems develop, NASA could roll Discovery back to launch pad 39A around Jan. 14 for work to ready the ship for another launch try Feb. 3.

But an on-going analysis of structural safety margins is not yet complete and it's not yet clear how the latest cracks might play into that discussion. Laboratory tests of stringers using mockups of external tank hardware to determine worst-case loads and failure modes are expected to begin next week.

{...}

X-ray-like images showing four cracks on three stringers on the back side of the external tank. (Photo: NASA)​

Spaceflight Now: Inspections reveal four more cracks on Discovery's tank.

SPACE.com: NASA Finds New Cracks on Space Shuttle's Fuel Tank.

 

[orb]

NASASpaceFlight: STS-133: Managers to decide on ET-137 stringer modifications next week:

Following a Space Shuttle Program (SSP) meeting on Thursday, a decision on carrying out modifications to STS-133′s External Tank (ET-137) won’t be made until next week, as engineers inside the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) carry out repairs to a number of additional cracks, found during Non Destructive Evaluation (NDE) scans of the intertank flanges.

{...}

The four cracks were found on the S6 and S7 stringers – an area which faces the orbiter’s critical Thermal Protection System (TPS), thus a concern from a foam liberation standpoint. The new cracks are located on the opposite side of the tank, and will undergo the same repair procedure that was carried out at the pad on the original cracks.

This repair, which will involve foam removal, followed by the installation of doublers, should result in the tank being confirmed as defect-free, although a decision is yet to be taken on whether to carry out additional work via the installation of a modification to a number of the stringers.

{...}

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

Shuttle managers decided to repair four cracks on external tank stringers and a strengthening mod to 34 stringers, called a radius block. The external tank work still keeps Discovery on target for a launch window that begins Feb. 3.

Note: We are now only one month away from launch.

 

[orb]

Florida Today - The Flame Trench: KSC starts new year with Discovery tank repairs.

 

[orb]

NASASpaceFlight: ET-137 stringers to be modified – LO2 flange foam liberation assessed:

NASA managers have made a key decision to modify 34 stringers on the LO2 flange area of the tank – following the observation of several cracks around its circumference. The radius block modification is designed to mitigate potential foam liberations from the flange, an incident that has never been seen before via flight history.

{...}

Spaceflight Now: Shuttle engineers consider beefing up all tank 'stringers' / CBS News Space: Engineers consider beefing up all external tank 'stringers'.

 

[IronRain]

We can almost go back to the original plan; First STS-134 and then STS-133

 

[orb]

Florida Today: Repair work to begin on Discovery.

Florida Today - The Flame Trench: Discovery's tank to get reinforcement before flight.

 

[orb]

NASASpaceFlight: STS-133: ET-137 stringer investigation boosted by potential root cause find:

The root cause of the cracked stringers on STS-133′s External Tank (ET-137) may have been found, following the investigation team’s findings that the material used for the tank’s intertank support beams was found to be “mottled”, when compared to standard material. Meanwhile, the ongoing evaluation into the modification plan for the stringers may slip the launch to late February.

{...}

 

[N_Molson]

SpaceFlight Now : Shuttle engineers consider beefing up all tank 'stringers'

NASA managers Monday directed engineers to press ahead with work to repair four small cracks in three structural ribs, or stringers, in the shuttle Discovery's external tank that were discovered during X-ray inspections after Christmas. They also decided to add stiffeners to 34 other stringers to either side of the tank's massive booster attachment thrust panels that carry most of the load during launch.

[...]

Under that scenario, the next flight in the sequence, a mission by the shuttle Endeavour to deliver a $2 billion physics experiment to the International Space Station, likely would slip from around April 1 to around April 28, sources say. But no scheduling decisions have been made.

---------- Post added at 01:23 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:20 PM ----------

At this pace, maybe there will be no gap between the first manned Dragon flight and the Shuttle retirement. :dry: