Updates STS-133 Updates

NASA Updates Shuttle Target Launch Dates For Two Flights.

NASA is targeting 4:50 p.m. EST on Thursday, Feb. 24, for the launch of space shuttle Discovery's STS-133 mission to the International Space Station. The liftoff of shuttle Endeavour's STS-134 flight is planned for 7:48 p.m. EDT on April 19, from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The target dates were selected Thursday during the Space Shuttle Program's weekly Program Requirements Control Board meeting.

NASA sets official launch dates for each shuttle mission following agency Flight Readiness Reviews, which typically occur about two weeks prior to launches. All target launch dates are subject to change.
 
NASASpaceFlight: STS-133: Discovery aiming for Feb 1 rollout – Crewmember Kopra injured:
Shuttle Discovery is aiming to roll back out to Pad 39A on February 1, following what will be the completion of numerous “radius block” modifications to the circumferance of her External Tank (ET-137). NASA managers are also evaluating impacts to crew training – and potentially the launch date – following the injury sustained by STS-133′s Tim Kopra during a biking accident.

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Tornado heading straight for KSC and LC complex.
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What's next ? A tsunami, an earthquake, then a meteor shower on the VAB ?! :uhh:
 
Tornado looks right on top of the VAB per weatherunderground radar! The purple triangle represents tornado signature on my previous link. 'Looks' like its going to miss LC-39A and just barely miss LC-39B (but tornadoes change course a lot)

Tornadoes in Florida are rarely above EF-1 (100 mph winds) so hopefully nothing is damaged.
 
Ahem... okay... Just as I was about to tell you guys I had booked plane tickets for the first week of March, to try to be lucky and catch either the liftoff or the landing of Discovery... Anyone else willing to travel to Florida around those dates? Tips for visiting Miami and Orlando? People wanting to do a little Get Together/Farewell to Discovery?

Hope nothing Bad has happened today!
 
Looks like the tornado never touched the ground -- great news!

Also, I live in Florida Carian, but I don't plan to go see STS-133 (I've seen STS-114, STS-121, STS-124, STS-128, and recently STS-130 scrub)

Only shuttle I've ever seen go up from a close distance has been Discovery.
 
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Astronaut Steve Bowen Named To STS-133 Space Shuttle Crew; Media Teleconference scheduled for 3:30 p.m. CST.

NASA selected astronaut Steve Bowen as a mission specialist on STS-133, the next space shuttle mission planned for launch on Feb. 24. Bowen replaces astronaut Tim Kopra, who was injured in a bicycle accident over the weekend. The agency will hold a media teleconference at 3:30 p.m. CST on Wednesday, Jan. 19, to discuss the change in crew personnel.

The teleconference panelists are:
-- Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA associate administrator for Space Operations
-- Peggy Whitson, chief of the Astronaut Office

To participate in the teleconference, reporters must contact the NASA Space Operations Public Affairs office at 202-358-1100 or the Johnson Space Center's newsroom at 281-483-5111 for dial-in instructions. Requests must include reporters' media affiliation and telephone number.

"Tim is doing fine and expects a full recovery, however, he will not be able to support the launch window next month," said Peggy Whitson, chief of the Astronaut Office at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. "If for some unanticipated reason STS-133 slips significantly, it is possible that Tim could rejoin the crew."

The crew change should not affect the mission's target launch date.

"Steve is an ideal candidate, and we have complete confidence he'll contribute to a fully successful STS-133 mission," Whitson said. "He has performed five prior spacewalks. That extensive experience, coupled with some adjustments to the spread of duties among the crew, will allow for all mission objectives to be accomplished as originally planned in the current launch window."

Bowen will begin training this week with the STS-133 crew, which includes Commander Steve Lindsey, Pilot Eric Boe, and Mission Specialists Alvin Drew, Michael Barratt and Nicole Stott. Bowen also will train to perform the two planned spacewalks of the mission. He will join Alvin Drew to move a failed ammonia pump and perform other external configurations to the station.

The STS-133 mission to the International Space Station will deliver the Permanent Multipurpose Module, an external platform that holds large equipment and critical spare components for the station. The mission also will deliver Robonaut 2, or R2, the first human-like robot in space.

Audio of the teleconference will be streamed live at:
www.nasa.gov/newsaudio

For Bowen's complete astronaut biographical information, visit:
www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/bowen-sg.html

For Kopra's complete astronaut biographical information, visit:
www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/kopra-tl.html

For information on the STS-133 mission, visit:
www.nasa.gov/shuttle
 
Updated STS-133 mission patch (with Bowen's name)!

133_bowen_400.jpg
 
Florida Today - The Flame Trench: Work on Discovery's tank progressing well:
Technicians at Kennedy Space Center are about two-thirds done with modifications to support beams on Discovery's tank, NASA reports.

Sixty-one of 94 beams called "stringers" on the tank's mid-section, or intertank, have been bolstered with metal strips intended to keep them from cracking when the tank is fueled or during flight.

"The work is progressing very well down at the Cape," Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA's associate administrator for space operations, told reporters earlier this week.

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Florida Today - The Flame Trench: Discovery's return to launch pad planned Jan. 31:
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NASA has scheduled the shuttle's return to pad 39A for 8 p.m. Jan. 31, a time intended to allow hundreds of center employees a good viewing opportunity.

The shuttle will be bathed in white xenon light as it exits the Vehicle Assembly Building to start it 3.4-mile crawl to the pad. It will arrive early Feb. 1.

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NASASpaceFlight: STS-133: Stringer repairs/modifications to be completed on ET-137 this week:
A group of United Space Alliance (USA) and Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF) technicians and engineers are heading into the final few days of work on modifying the stringers on Discovery’s External Tank (ET-137). With the root cause evaluations and subsequent modifications ensuring there is “no uncertainty” on all flight tanks, STS-133 remains on track for rollout to Pad 39A next Monday.

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NASA's Space Shuttle Discovery Set for Final Trip to Launch Pad.

Journalists are invited to cover space shuttle Discovery's move from the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) to Launch Pad 39A on Monday, Jan. 31 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Six astronauts are set to launch aboard the shuttle on Feb. 24. The STS-133 mission to the International Space Station is the final scheduled flight for Discovery before it is retired.

Discovery's first motion out of the VAB to the pad is scheduled for 8 p.m. EST. NASA Television will provide live coverage of the shuttle's rollout. NASA TV's Video File will broadcast highlights of the move.

The shuttle's 3.4-mile journey atop a giant crawler-transporter is expected to take approximately six hours. Activities include an 8 p.m. photo opportunity of the move followed by interview availability at 8:30 p.m. with Discovery Flow Director Stephanie Stilson. Media representatives must arrive at Kennedy's news center by 7:30 p.m. for the rollout photo opportunity.

NASA also will provide a sunrise photo opportunity at the launch pad on Feb. 1, following Discovery's arrival. Reporters need to be at the news center for transportation to the viewing area by 6 a.m. Updates for events are available at 321-867-2525.

To attend rollout and the sunrise pad photo opportunity, U.S. media representatives must apply by 5 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 28. Accreditation for international media representatives is closed. Reporters requesting accreditation must apply online at:
https://media.ksc.nasa.gov

Badges for rollout may be picked up starting at 6 a.m. Jan. 31 at the Kennedy Space Center Badging Office on State Road 405.

The 11-day mission will be the 35th flight to the station and the 39th flight for Discovery. The mission will deliver and install the Permanent Multipurpose Module; critical spare components for the space station; and the Express Logistics Carrier 4 -- an external platform that holds large equipment. Discovery also will deliver Robonaut 2, or R2, to become a permanent resident of the station as the first human-like robot in space.

Discovery's first launch attempt on Nov. 5, 2010, was scrubbed because of a gaseous hydrogen leak at the external fuel tank's ground umbilical carrier plate. The spacecraft was rolled off of the launch pad and back into the VAB on Dec. 21, 2010, to allow technicians to perform X-ray type scans and repairs to Discovery's external tank.

For NASA TV downlink information, schedules and links to streaming video, visit:
www.nasa.gov/ntv

For more information about the STS-133 mission and crew, visit:
www.nasa.gov/shuttle
 
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