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- DAT role - Examining every inch of Endeavour’s TPS for safe returnYesterday
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The engineering review of Endeavour’s Thermal Protection System (TPS) - which earlier this week cleared the orbiter for re-entry - has once again shown the amazing level of detail the Damage Assessment Team (DAT) engineers undertake to ensure orbiters can return home safely.
Overall, Endeavour’s TPS is very clean, owed in part to the superb job by Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF) workers in preparing Endeavour’s External Tank (ET) for flight - a tank which appears to have had the cleanest flight in the history of the program.
Nevertheless, there were a total of 13 Areas of Interest (AOIs) identified during Endeavour’s stunning Rbar Pitch Maneuver (RPM) that were referred to the Damage Assessment Team (DAT). These areas consisted of dings to Endeavour TPS tiles as well as frayed and protruding gap fillers and thermal barriers.
Of particular interest to imagery experts were the RPM photos of Endeavour’s two ET umbilical doors. The doors cover the umbilical wells - the area at the aft end of the shuttle where it connects to the ET, thus allowing propellan
- EVA-2 marks 10th birthday for ISS - STS-126 passing midway pointNovember 20
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On the tenth anniversary of the International Space Station (ISS), Astronauts Shane Kimbrough (EV3) and Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper (EV1) have conducted the second of four EVAs during STS-126. As with EVA-1, the spacewalk concentrated on the starboard SARJ (Solar Alpha Rotary Joint).
ISS 10 years old:
The ISS - is the largest spacecraft ever built - was born in Kazakhstan, when Russia launched the Zarya module 10 years ago today. It was soon joined by the Shuttle launched Unity module, as the orbital outpost began its expansion process. Since then, the ISS has grown by 627,000 pounds.
The station is truly international, involving NASA, the Russian Federal Space Agency, Canadian Space Agency, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, and 11 members of the European Space Agency: Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK.
Many years in the planning before finally taking shape, its design has been reduced from the original plan, but still holds elements that were previously designed for the Russian Mir 2 and US Space Station Freedom.
It’s major expansion will continue until at least the end of the shuttle schedule, with major elements such as the S6 truss and Node 3 yet to be launched, alongside other elements like the JAXA exposed research facility for Kibo.
The Station will provide vital science and long duration flight experience deep into the
- Pad 39A Flame Trench repair performed well during STS-126 launchNovember 19
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Engineers at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) have compiled a preliminary report on the state of Launch Pad 39A - highlighting a lack of major damage to the pad’s structure after the year’s fourth shuttle launch. However, a couple of items of interest are under investigation.
Tail Service Mast and General Pad Assessments:
Overall, Launch Pad 39A faired extremely well during Friday night’s spectacular launch of space shuttle Endeavour. Completing the traditional post-launch inspection and walk down, pad technicians noted no significant damage to the launch pad and its surrounding structures.
“Post launch walk down did not find any items that could cause an issue for flight hardware or the ability to do a launch on need,” notes the Post-launch Pad Ice/Debris Findings presentation, available for download on L2.
Two areas of interest were identified on the Mobile Launch Platform (MLP). The first pertained to erosion on Solid Rocket Booster (SRB) hold-down post number 3
- STS-126: EVA-1 opens major effort to repair SARJ on StationNovember 18
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Spacewalkers Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper (EV1), and Stephen Bowen (EV2) have completed the first of four EVAs planned for STS-126, which are centered around replacing the Trundle Bearing Assemblies (TBAs) - along with cleaning and lubricating tasks - on the troublesome starboard SARJ (Solar Alpha Rotary Joint).
An issue was worked ahead of the EVA, with issues noted with the Pan Tilt Unit (PTU) camera on the joint of the SRMS/OBSS (Shuttle Remote Manipulator/Orbiter Boom Sensor System). The camera is used to observe - among other items - EVAs and Late Inspections.
“Targets 1, 2 and 3 are near the pan limit for the PTU. Target 1 is also near the tilt limit. Target 2 is at the tilt and pan limit. Target 4 is not near the pan/tilt limits, but is also not at the preferred higher tilt values (only at -118 degrees),” noted the error report.
“The OBSS/SRMS remains in the MPLM viewing position. OBSS personnel continued to evaluate potential OBSS PTU viewing opportunities to further troubleshoot the tilt discrepancy noted during the Flight Day 2 survey. OBSS personnel are coordinating with EV personnel on possible tests that could be done to further troubleshoot this discrepancy.
- STS-126: MPLM attached to ISS - ET-129 images show extremely clean tankNovember 17
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The “Leonardo” Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM) has been transferred from Endeavour’s payload bay to Node 2 of the International Space Station (ISS) on Flight Day 4 of STS-126. Meanwhile, images of Endeavour’s External Tank (ET-129) show what may be the cleanest even tank - with only around three small areas of foam loss, with Endeavour already cleared from Focused Inspection requirements.
STS-126 is proceeding without issue, and is currently slightly ahead of the timeline. A smooth transition for the MPLM to the ISS was vital, to allow the crew to begin their series of transfers that will play a major role in providing equipment for the future six person crew on the Station.
“MPLM Docking to Node 2 Nadir: MPLM mated to Node 2 Nadir for the first time on ULF-2 (STS-126). The system functionality is the same as when berthed to Node 1,” noted an associated Flight Readiness Review (FRR) presentation.
“All procedures and flight rules have been updated to account for the change