STS-121 July 1, 2006

[DanM]

Great News! The Orbiter Discovery is launching this Saturday at 2:49 PM EDT. Check out more at www.nasa.gov

[Boomerang]

Actually thats 3:49 pm est and i watch every launch that i'm able to watch. Judt FYI Fox news And CNN will carry the launch and if your lucky enough to get NASA Tb they will as well, You can also find NASA tv on the web it workd best if you have a high speed connection though a dial uup will work, I suggest if your going to watch it on the web log on early because there will be alot of people watching that way which tends to slow things up and make it harder to get on later. NASA TV typicly has coverage all day long with the most watchable studd starting with crew walkout a few hours before launch till that point its ussually just a live picture of the shuttle on the pad with ocasional updates on whats going on from the PAO officer.

[SpaceCanada]

I'm so sad because I won't get to watch it.

No TV or internet at home makes it really difficult to watch the launch from way up here. Maybe if I lived in Florida or Georgia or something, but not here.

Maybe we'll go out to the lake lot to visit my parents for Canada Day (01 July). They have satellite out there...

[SpaceCanada]

If weather reports at KSC do not improve, the mission could be delayed...

[Boomerang]

True but the one article also pointed out there have been times when the forecast was worse and the launch stiill went ontime. They have 19 days to launch and each launch time gets earlier in the day which will actually improve the chance for a launch since afternoon seems to be the worst weather time. Problem is if they dont launch in the first 3 days the ,ission wont have the oppurtunity to be extended for the third possible eva due to natural drain on the consumables.

[Boomerang]

Here is also an intresting article from space.com on some new equipment being carried on discovery.

Shuttle Discovery to Carry New Repair, Landing Tools
By Tariq Malik
Staff Writer
posted: 29 June 2006
03:59 pm ET



When the space shuttle Discovery launches its seven-astronaut crew Saturday, tucked inside its cargo bins will be two new tools for heat shield repair and a remote control landing, though neither are expected to be needed.



NASA test director Pete Nickolenko said Thursday that a heat shield repair device dubbed T-RAD will be aboard Discovery as a safety precaution should the orbiter sustain damage during launch that could be repaired by its STS-121 astronaut crew.



The shuttle will also carry a data cable that will allow flight controllers in Houston to land Discovery by remote control, a first in NASA’s 25 years of space shuttle flight.



“This is a first flight,” said Kyle Herring, a NASA spokesperson at the agency’s Houston-based Johnson Space Center, of the cable in a recent telephone interview. “You certainly don’t expect to ever use it.”



Both tools will be packed in Discovery’s middeck during its 12-day STS-121 mission – NASA’s second shuttle flight since the 2003 Columbia accident – to the International Space Station (ISS).



NASA currently plans to launch Discovery at 3:48:37 p.m. EDT (1948:37 GMT) on July 1.



Pink goo gun evolution



Short for Tile Repair Ablator Dispenser, T-RAD is a 55-pound (25-kilogram) device designed to fill cracks between a shuttle’s heat-resistant tiles and door seals, such as those found on landing gear doors, during a spacewalk repair.



NASA began seeking such repair methods following the loss of Columbia and its astronaut crew, which investigators attributed to heat shield damage from an errant chunk of external tank foam. Engineers have also made several modifications to shuttle external tanks to reduce the amount of foam insulation that can be shed during liftoff.



“We are intent, and have expended a great deal of effort, to make sure that we can make hardware that will increase the safety of the shuttle system,” Kevin Wells, NASA’s T-RAD project manager at JSC, told SPACE.com. “We definitely want to have a safe flight.”



T-RAD is a smaller version of the Cure In Place Ablative Applicator (CIPAA), a backpack-mounted system, that mixes two compounds together into a pink, goo-like material called STA-54.



“It is an evolved version and one of the main changes is that we’ve reduced the size dramatically,” Wells said. “And that’s because we reduced the amount of repair material that we’re flying.”



T-RAD consists of a hand vacuum-sized cylinder that runs 18 inches (45-centimeter) in length and 10 inches (25 centimeters) in diameter that holds the two STA-54 compounds, Wells said. A 30-inch (76-centimeter) hose connects the cylinder to its dispenser gun, which mixes the two into its final pink form, he added.



Unlike CIPAA, which was designed to fill in gouged or dinged tiles, T-RAD is aimed at filling small cracks between tiles and door seals, and is applied much like the caulking agent used between bathroom tiles on Earth. A CIPAA unit did ride aboard Discovery’s STS-114 return to flight mission last July, but was not tested because NASA officials – and the spaceflight’s astronaut crew – did not believe it was ready. The STA-54 material tended to bubble in a weightless environment, creating voids that could compromise an intended repair.



Wells stressed that T-RAD is only being launched aboard Discovery in case of an unexpected contingency, and is not expected to undergo any testing in orbit.



Also riding in the shuttle’s middeck are extra heat shield plugs to cover any gouges in the orbiter’s reinforced carbon carbon panels along its nosecap and wing leading edges. A sticky black NOAX material to be smeared on RCC cracks – and which could be tested in a potential third spacewalk during the STS-121 mission – is also on the launch manifest along with a gray emittance wash for tile repair.



Heat-resistant panels of carbon silicate carbide are also aboard to cover damaged tiles on the orbiter’s belly, Wells said.



Remote landing capability



Should Discovery’s STS-121 spacewalkers be forced to make a serious heat shield repair, the chances of which NASA officials believe to be extremely remote, flight controllers could opt to try to save the orbiter without endangering its astronaut crew.



Herring said that a 28-foot (8.5-meter) cable packed in the orbiter’s middeck has been certified to fly in just such a situation, which would keep an astronaut crew aboard the ISS while the orbiter returns home on remote control.



“It’s kind of like a jumper cable that would only be used in an event where you had done a repair, but couldn’t be 100 percent certain [it] would be something that would be flight worthy with a crew,” Herring said.



The cable would connect an avionics bay in Discovery’s middeck with the controls one level up on its flight deck, effectively allowing flight controllers in Houston to perform landing activities currently done by shuttle astronauts.



Those manual activities include starting the shuttle’s auxiliary power units, deploying an air data probe, unstowing the orbiter’s landing gear and releasing its drag chute after landing, Herring said.



“The things that would be manually controlled, this jumper cable allows them to be controlled from mission control,” Herring said.



In such a contingency, Discovery or any future shuttle would land at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, NASA said.



“We would not target a landing site at KSC or Edwards Air Force Base [in California],” Herring said. “The prime landing site would be at White Sands because of the wide expanse of the range.”

[Boomerang]

Here is another intresting snipit on the upcoming flight specificly about its SRB's, its from collectspace.com


June 29, 2006 / 5:18 p.m. CT (2218 GMT)
Something old, something new: The two solid rocket boosters that will provide 80% of the thrust needed to launch Discovery to space were assembled from segments that have made the two minute trip to 30 miles on 54 previous missions. According to statistics provided by NASA's contractor ATK, the boosters' 22 components each are rated to fly 20 missions. Unless damaged during splashdown the segments are refurbished and reused. As a result, every launch not only makes history, it carries it as well. Flying on STS-121, SRB segments represent the first operational shuttle mission, STS-5; the first flights of Challenger and Endeavour, STS-6 and 49; and the Hubble Space Telescope deploy mission, STS-31. The legacy of the hardware extends back 25 years to the very first flight of the shuttle as the uppermost cylinder on STS-121's left SRB also helped launch Columbia on STS-1 (as had also been the case on STS-114 in 2005, although that cylinder is not the same as the one prepared to launch). Of the 22 components only the right booster's lower stiffener is new.

[Boomerang]

Just some ore FYI 2 of the 3 major US netowrks will also cover the launch. NBC and CBS will both have coverage ABC will not.

[DanM]

There was a scrub today , but that gives nasa more time to fix problems, once again, check www.nasa.gv

[Boomerang]

True but actually by launch time the only proble,s were wit westher/ Launch is scheduled for 3:26 pm est tommorow/ By the way in adition to the above mentioned channels carrying the launch Cspan is actually carrying the NASA TV feed so if you want to watch the launch without constant comentary from idiot reporters whi have no idea what they are talking about most of the time and hear the actual air to ground andflight control loops cspan is your best bet they start coverage at 2:30 pm tommorow.

[DanM]

Another Scrub, it will launch on the 4th of july.

[Boomerang]

Now that launch date is looking questionable inspectors have found a crack in the foam on one of the fuel lines mission managers are now meeting to make a decision on whether to proceed tommorow or not.

[Boomerang]

Looks like NASA is going to go forward with launch plans for now but keep looking at the situation so the plans may change.

[Boomerang]

Well NASA has just announced that they will go ahead with the launch attempt tommorow and dont believe the foam will be a problem.

[Boomerang]

Currently everything including the weather is a go for launch. There is an 80% chance weather will cooperate today and the hatch is now beeing sealed with the astronauts strapped inside.

[DanM]

Congrats Discovery! Nice ascent! I wish the crew good luck and best wishes!

[Boomerang]

It was a beautiful launch and C-span will also cary the first post launch press confrence today about 3:30 est. Ofcourse it will be too early to really know if there was major foam shedding and i hope i'm wrong but i believe i observed some on the tank camera but couldnt tell how lowon the tank it was it was a good ways down and hopefully below the wings leading edge.

[Boomerang]

It looks like i was right several pieces of foam were observed coming off the tank according to the post launch press confrence. Size and whether there was any impact with the orbiter will take 2-3 days to determine. However NASA seems to think the chance of it impacting the orbiter was small. Everything is still planned to go ahead wit work towards an august launch of Atlantis.

[Boomerang]

Having just watched the footage again there were definately 3 pieces of foam that came off the tank just after SRB seperation thankfully it looked like they went harmlessly under the wing of the orbiter. NASA has another press cxonfrence scheduled for 7:30 pm tonight. Wont really know about damage till they deploy the sensor boom tommorow.

[Boomerang]

Looks like the mission is going well. Most areas of the orbiter have been cleared as safe for reentry and the 2 left are expected to be cleared. 1 EVA down 2 to go and today the crew is doing cargo transfer.