STS 114/121 launch windows set

[Cylinder]

Space Shuttle Processing Status Report: S05-007

The Shuttle fleet is housed and processed at NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Fla. The order Shuttles are listed may not reflect the chronological order of future missions.

Discovery (OV-103)

Mission: STS-114 - 17th ISS Flight (LF1) - Multi-Purpose Logistics Module
Vehicle: Discovery (OV-103)
Location: Orbiter Processing Facility Bay 3
Launch Date: Launch Planning Window May 15 - June 3, 2005
Launch Pad: 39B
Crew: Collins, Kelly, Noguchi, Robinson, Thomas, Lawrence and Camarda
Inclination/Orbit Altitude: 51.6 degrees/122 nautical miles

NASA's Space Flight Leadership Council met today and refined the launch planning window for Discovery’s Return to Flight mission to May 15 to June 3, 2005. This is to accommodate daylight launch and to ensure detailed, clear photography of the External Tank. STS-114 will rendezvous with the International Space Station (ISS).

Discovery's system testing is approximately 90 percent complete in the Orbiter Processing Facility bay 3. Work continued on the Auxiliary Power Unit controller checkout and drain system checks. Orbiter Maneuvering System heat shields were installed and controller checkouts completed.

Thermal Protection System blanket bonding continues on the vertical stabilizer, which is the tail of the orbiter. Checkout work is progressing with the new Orbiter Boom Sensor System on the starboard side of Discovery's payload bay. Testing on one of the boom sensor packages is complete.

Manipulator Positioning Mechanism (MPM) adjustments were completed and closeouts continue. The MPMs are the pedestals that hold and latch the boom in the payload bay.

In the Vehicle Assembly Building, all final closeouts have been completed on the External Tank (ET) in the checkout cell prior to the tank being mated to the Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs). The SRBs for STS-114 are stacked on the Mobile Launcher Platform and closeouts and preps for ET mating continue. SRB alignment optics were completed this week in preparation for the ET mating. Repairs continue on the SRB aft inactive stub ring, an attach ring surrounding the booster located about 10 feet below the ET attach point. The paint replacement on the stub ring is complete, and pull tests are planned for this weekend. The ET is scheduled to be moved to the integration cell and mated with the SRBs no earlier than Feb. 25.

Mission: STS-121 - 18th ISS Flight (ULF1) - Multi-Purpose Logistics Module/Crew Rotation
Vehicle: Atlantis (OV-104)
Location: Orbiter Processing Facility Bay 1
Launch Date: Launch Planning Window July 12 - July 31, 2005
Launch Pad: 39B
Crew: Lindsey, Kelly, Sellers, Fossum, Nowak and Wilson
Inclination/Orbit Altitude: 51.6 degrees/122 nautical miles

Processing and system testing continues on Atlantis in Orbiter Processing Facility bay 1 for its mission to the ISS. The body flap installation was completed this week, and the left-hand Orbiter Maneuvering System pod was also installed. Water coolant loop No. 1 servicing is under way, and water coolant loop No. 2 is scheduled for de-servicing over the weekend.

The Rudder Speed Brake installation is nearly complete. Seal installation and Thermal Protection System blanket bonding on the vertical stabilizer is ongoing. Fuel cell No. 3 mechanical mates and re-pressurization are complete, and leak checks have been successfully performed on all three fuel cells. Preparations are under way for the installation of the Forward Reaction Control System next week.

Mobile Launch Platform No. 3 was moved into High Bay 3 of the VAB this week, in preparation for STS-121 stacking.

Endeavour (OV-105)

Space Shuttle Endeavour is in its Orbiter Major Modification period, which began in December 2003.

[the_shaggy_one]

Check this article on CNN for a less technical version

[Thumper]

Sorry to bump this. Also sorry I'm too lazy and busy to do my own research. Does anyone have revised information as to Discovery's tentative launch date? I'll be in FL in mid May and this will be my first (and most likely last) chance see a shuttle launch.

[Swift]

Thread over in BABBling

[Launch window]

discovered cracks in a foam "ramp" on the space shuttle's external fuel tank may present an "unacceptable safety threat" to the orbiter, raising the possibility that NASA could delay its next launch while engineers decide whether to get rid of the ramp altogether
....
The PAL ramps are foam ridges that run alongside electric cables and pressurized gas lines on the exterior of the tank. They serve as a windbreak for these fixtures during the turbulence of launch.....engineers attributed the Discovery foam loss to other factors, including "crushing" by technicians crawling on top of the tank during manufacture and a possible air-filled "void" inside the foam that had expanded and burst as Discovery climbed.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...120101601.html

NASA might remove the large ramp of foam insulation that shed a 3-foot long slab of debris on the first post-Columbia shuttle mission.
The 38-foot long protuberance air load ramp could be removed from the external fuel tank after two more shuttle missions
http://www.flatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dl...15/1007/NEWS02
NASA has suspended all Space Shuttle flights until the foam debris problem that doomed Columbia STS-107 and reappeared in STS-114 is fixed.


NASA media accreditation is open for the Space Shuttle Discovery mission (STS-121). The possible launch window is May 3 to 22 from NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2006...editation.html
All U.S. and foreign media must apply for credentials. For accreditation, media must work for legitimate, verifiable news-gathering organizations. Media may need to submit accreditation requests at multiple NASA facilities.