Updates STS-135 Updates

[C3PO]

Wow! That looked more "dynamic" then I would have imagined.

It almost looks like there's some kind of explosion. The debris scatter very quickly after the initial structural failure. Even pieces that look like they have similar drag characteristics, are quite far apart. But they continue on with similar speed and trajectory.

I'm assuming that all traces of fuel an oxidizer are long gone that far into the reentry.

Very cool footage! :thumbup:

 

[orb]

NASASpaceflight: STS-135: Atlantis and ET-138 preparing for Wednesday’s Tanking Test:

Interrupting a nominal pad flow, engineers are set to begin S0037 operations – otherwise known as a tanking test – on Monday, ahead of tanking of External Tank ET-138 on Wednesday. The test will check the health of the tank’s intertank stringers, following the issue of cracks being found in the related ET-137, after STS-133′s scrubbed countdown.

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[ky]

I always wondered what the tank would look like re-entering earth.Are there pieces big enough for someone to recover?

---------- Post added 06-14-11 at 04:53 PM ---------- Previous post was 06-13-11 at 09:29 PM ----------

Atlantis tribute poster:

Atlantis and Columbia:

Glass Cockpit:

Powering down after flight:

Atlantis on pad for final mission:

 

[orb]

NASA: From Backpacking to Space Trekking:

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Scientists from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida plan to test a space-adapted version of the bag aboard space shuttle Atlantis during the STS-135 mission this summer. The group at Kennedy, led by NASA Project Manager Spencer Woodward, will include in the shuttle's cargo six forward osmosis bag kits for the astronauts to test. The bags' manufacturer, Hydration Technology Innovations of Albany, Ore., made a few adaptations to their commercial product for spaceflight.​

"It's the same membrane, but the bag was remanufactured out of plastic that doesn't 'off gas' or burn," says Woodward, explaining that the fittings were also changed to a quick- release version already used in space to make it easier for the astronauts to work with in weightlessness.​

The testing will come toward the end of the STS-135 mission, after undocking from the International Space Station. A shuttle astronaut will inject a prepared mixture of a lower concentration liquid containing dye into the outer chamber of the apparatus, which will represent the "dirty" water. He will then inject a higher concentrated "draw" solution into the bag's inner chamber, repeating the process for a total of six bags.​

"Some of the unknowns are, if you get an air and a fluid mixture in space it can turn to foam instead of a liquid, so then what will that do as it sits on the membrane?" says Woodward. "Will it still be drawn across the membrane just like it is in 1g?"​

The plan is to have the astronaut knead and manipulate three of the bags to assist in the transfer of the liquid through the membrane to see if it helps the process work better in the absence of gravity.​

"The experiment that we're going to be looking at is the effect of mechanical mixing on the membrane, as far as if that's going to increase the flux rate. Half of them are going to get shaken and hand-kneaded for a couple minutes," explains Project Engineer Monica Soler, who works under the Engineering Service Contract with Team QinetiQ North America.​

Soler says if the mixing helps, then the hope is that a long-term application would be in a spacesuit, which would induce the mechanical mixing as astronaut moves around during a spacewalk.​

To conclude the experiment, after five hours, the crew member will use sample syringes to connect to the inner chambers of each bag and remove 60 milliliters of the sample from each of the six bags and stow them for landing. Once the samples are returned to Earth aboard Atlantis, Project Scientists Dr. Howard Levine and Dr. Michael Roberts from Kennedy's Space Life Sciences Lab will conduct post-flight analysis of the samples to see how well forward osmosis worked in microgravity.​

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|[table="width=225"] Six forward osmosis kits will fly aboard space shuttle Atlantis on the STS-135 mission.

Image credit: NASA/Todd Mortenson​

​

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Astronauts will knead three of the bags to see if the action aids in the forward osmosis process.

Image credit: NASA/Monica Soler​

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[orb]

Spaceflight Now:

• Shuttle fueling test to check Atlantis' external tank
• Mission Status Center:
  

  1655 GMT (12:55 p.m. EDT)The fueling sequence started with the chilldown of the liquid oxygen system at 12:15 p.m. EDT. The transfer lines on the liquid oxygen side get chilled down, then the main propulsion system conditioning is completed.
  
  The liquid hydrogen loading transitioned from the chilldown thermal conditioning process to the "slow-fill" mode a short time later. This fills a small fraction of the tank, then the loading switches to "fast-fill" mode.
  
  {...}

NASASpaceflight: STS-135: ET-138 Tanking Test begins following weather delay:

Atlantis’ External Tank (ET-138) is undergoing its Tanking Test on Wednesday, slightly delayed due to a lightning storm which passed over the the Kennedy Space Center (KSC), which pushed operations to the right by several hours. The test will check the health of the tank’s LO2 stringers, ensuring the radius block modifications have provided the required mitigation against cracks in the support beams.

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CBS News Space: After storm delay, shuttle Atlantis fueled in pre-flight test (UPDATED)


NASA:

June 15, 2011​

MEDIA ADVISORY : M11-122
NASA Gives News Media Access To Final Shuttle Simulations


HOUSTON -- As the final space shuttle training simulations take place at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, the agency is giving journalists an unprecedented view of the crew and Mission Control team training for the upcoming STS-135 mission.

On Thursday, June 16, news media representatives can witness one of the final launch and ascent simulations conducted by the STS-135 crew, flight controllers and simulation and training teams. The Johnson badging office opens at 6 a.m. CDT and journalists should arrive early to be ready for transportation to the training site at 7 a.m.

Reporters will be able to photograph the crew getting into the motion-based shuttle simulator and gather behind-the-scenes interviews and footage with the teams that train the astronauts before launch. Flight controllers who oversee the shuttle's performance from the ground also will be available.

Filming and photographs will be allowed using only available light inside both the simulation control rooms and the space shuttle flight control room in the Mission Control Center. Reporters also will be able to listen to and record conversations between the crew and mission control, as well as between the flight director and his team as they work through mock shuttle launches.

Following the simulation, STS-135 Commander Chris Ferguson, Pilot Doug Hurley and Mission Specialists Sandra Magnus and Rex Walheim and STS-135 Ascent Flight Director Richard Jones will be available for a question-and-answer session in mission control. NASA Television will air the event live at 1 p.m. The training team will be available for interviews afterward.

On Friday, June 17, the space shuttle and space station flight controllers will practice the shuttle's final rendezvous and docking with the International Space Station. Reporters should arrive at Johnson's badging office by 10:30 a.m. for transportation to the training facility.
Journalists will have access to Johnson's fixed-based shuttle simulator and can witness the STS-135 crew preparing for a mock terminal initiation burn and getting the shuttle ready for docking with the station. At noon, news media representatives will be escorted to mission control to tour the space shuttle flight control room and the space station training version. The flight control team will be practicing the shuttle's backflip as it approaches the station and the docking. Reporters will have access to the front of the room and can listen to the flight director's audio and the air-to-ground transmissions from the shuttle crew. The simulated docking is expected to begin at 2 p.m.

Both training events will be recorded for broadcast on NASA TV. The schedule is below.

June 16
1 p.m. - Question-and-answer session with STS-135 crew and flight control team in space shuttle flight control room
2 p.m. - Replay of STS-135 ascent simulation

June 17
3:30 p.m. - Replay of STS-135 rendezvous simulation with shuttle and station flight control teams

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[IronRain]

Test checks Atlantis' tank, finds possible valve leak
(Spaceflight Now)

After confirming no problems with the shuttle Atlantis in the wake of overnight thunderstorms, engineers pumped a half-million gallons of supercold rocket fuel into the orbiter's external tank Wednesday to verify the integrity of structural stiffeners intended to prevent cracks during the countdown and climb to space July 8.

The initial stages of the three-hour fueling procedure went smoothly but as liquid hydrogen and oxygen circulated through Atlantis' main propulsion system and into the external tank, engineers noticed lower-than-expected temperatures downstream of main engine No. 3's main fuel valve. Such temperature drops can indicate a leak and during a 1995 launch campaign, liftoff of the shuttle Columbia was delayed a week to replace a leaking main fuel valve.

Engineers do not yet know whether the temperature readings seen Wednesday indicate an actual leak or some other problem. In any case, there appears to be enough contingency time left in Atlantis' processing schedule to accommodate a replacement without impacting the July 8 target date, officials said, if engineers conclude the 75-pound valve is actually leaking.

But engineers will not gain access to the shuttle's engine compartment until Thursday and it's too early to say what, if anything, might need to be done. For the fueling test, the valve was isolated after the low temperatures were noticed, the engine hardware warmed to normal levels and the fueling test continued.

Full article

NASA Spacefligt: STS-135: ET-138 Tanking Test reveals SSME Fuel Valve issue

 

[agentgonzo]

I always wondered what the tank would look like re-entering earth.Are there pieces big enough for someone to recover?

I would assume so. It'll ender at orbital speeds and I'd expect it to break up in a similar manner to other large objects entering the atmosphere that weren't capable of stable reentry (ATV, Columbia, mir). It lands in the Indian ocean where I'd expect it's constituent parts to break up and sink. On that note, I wonder how many ETs are littering the bottom of the Indian Ocean.

 

[ky]

100+ tanks, dont know exact amount.

 

[agentgonzo]

I've just re-read some stuff about the ETs. It seems that the originally landed in the Indian Ocean (as I mentioned) but the changed flight profile has them entering in the Pacific. I'm not sure where they land now. There have been some instances of people witnessing the ET reentry.
http://shuttle.seti.org/

 

[C3PO]

100+ tanks, dont know exact amount.

Shouldn't that be #STS missions - 1?

 

[ky]

Yes 134, I was too lazy to do the math lol.

 

[C3PO]

Yes 134, I was too lazy to do the math lol.

Huh? I get 133. :hmm: STS-135 is still on the pad, right?

 

[ky]

Well yes it is but there will be a 134th tank that falls into the ocean so I counted that in.

 

[N_Molson]

Well, I don't know what remains of the tanks after reentry, they are made of a thin foil of aluminium... Maybe the strongest parts, like the attachment points, elements of hi-pressure plumbing, some internal stringers...

 

[IronRain]

Raffaello Packed Up for Atlantis' STS-135 Mission

 

[ky]

Payload Readied for Trip to the Pad

The STS-135 payload canister's move to Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida is expected to begin at 9 p.m. EDT tonight with the canister's lift up the pad structure set for early Friday morning.

On Saturday, technicians will follow up on yesterday's tanking test for Atlantis by taking high-tech X-ray scans of the external fuel tank's support beams, called stringers, on the shuttle-facing side of the tank. Earlier this year, teams made the same stringer reinforcement modifications to Atlantis' tank as they had to Discovery's after small cracks in the support beams were discovered prior to the STS-133 mission. Managers ordered the work since Atlantis' tank is similar to the one used for STS-133. Yesterday's tanking test was conducted to help verify there are no issues with the reinforced tank.‬

‪During the tanking test, the main fuel valve for Atlantis' No. 3 space shuttle main engine recorded temperatures below normal levels, indicating a possible liquid hydrogen leak. Teams isolated the engine and continued to fuel Atlantis with no issues and temperatures returned to normal readings. Technicians can gain access to the engine area once it is cleared from tanking test operations, and engineers will evaluate any necessary work on the fuel valve. If the valve needs to be replaced, managers expect that the work could be done early next week at the pad and still support Atlantis' July 8 target launch date.‬

 

[princetontiger]

STS-135

Way coo..

Anyone planning to go?

 

[80mileshigh]

Nice interview with STS-135 commander Chris Ferguson on the Australian ABC:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/video/2011/06/17/3246519.htm

 

[ky]

Way cool..

Anyone planning to go?

If i'm lucky yes.

 

[orb]

A couple of photos from the movement of the payload canister to the payload changeout room (and 2 more showing Atlantis at sunrise this morning):

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Click on images to view larger versions​

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