Prelaunch Mission Management Team

Wed, 03 Nov 2010 12:50:07 -0500


The Prelaunch Mission Management Team will begin its meeting at 2:30 p.m. today to give participants more time to prepare for the session.

Discovery Launch Delayed by at Least a Day

The Space Shuttle Program Mission Management Team decided to delay by at least one day the launch of shuttle Discovery to begin its 11-day mission to the International Space Station.

The Rotating Service Structure will not be retracted tonight.

NASA Television will air a news conference at 6:30 p.m. EDT with Mike Moses, prelaunch MMT chair and Mike Leinbach, shuttle launch director.

The delay enables engineers more time to evaluate data gathered after irregular electrical readings were received while powering up the shuttle main engines Tuesday morning.

Expedition 25 - 220 miles above Earth

From 220 miles above Earth, the Expedition 25 crew aboard the International Space Station shot this night time image of the northern Gulf coast. Mobile Bay and the city of Mobile (top left, beneath one of the solar panels of a docked Russian Soyuz spacecraft), New Orleans and Houston are visible as the view moves southeastward. The Interstate Highway 20 cities of Jackson, Shreveport, Dallas and Fort Worth are also visible further inland. The view extends northward (left) to Little Rock and Oklahoma City.

Since Nov. 2, 2000, humans have lived and worked in space continuously on board the station.

Image Credit: NASA

NASA Administrator Statement On 10th Anniversary Of Crews Aboard The International Space Station

WASHINGTON -- On Nov. 2, 2000, the first crew arrived aboard the International Space Station to live and work aboard the orbiting laboratory. The following is a statement from NASA Administrator Charles on the 10th anniversary:

"Today, we celebrate ten years of humans living and working continuously aboard the International Space Station. This global milestone is tremendously significant, both for NASA and our partners. It recognizes the success of an amazing feat of engineering and a magnificent leap forward in the story of human achievement. I congratulate the entire station team and the thousands of people worldwide who have helped us reach this anniversary.

"Since Bill Shepherd, Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalev first boarded the station as the Expedition 1 crew, more than 196 people have visited the complex, and by the exact time of the anniversary this morning, the station will have completed 57,361 orbits of the Earth, traveling some 1.5 billion miles.

"More than 600 different research and technology development experiments have been conducted on the station, many of which are producing advances in medicine, recycling systems and a fundamental understanding of the universe. On Oct. 25, the station set a record for being the longest continuously inhabited spacecraft. On that day, the space station eclipsed the previous record of 3,644 days set by the Russian Mir Space Station. The station is our toehold in space, and it will be an essential part of our work to send humans on missions beyond low Earth orbit in the future.

"With passage of the NASA Authorization bill, we will now be able to extend the life of the station to at least 2020. Representatives of the five international agencies that built and operate the outpost have also agreed on this in principle. Indeed, one of the station's greatest legacies is the international partnerships we have forged to create something awe-inspiring that benefits people all over the world. Partnerships with other nations will be essential to the global exploration enterprise of the future, and with each new day, NASA and its partners are pushing the envelope of human achievement in space into uncharted territory.

"On board the station right now are six talented and courageous travelers representing NASA and our Russian partners. Tomorrow, the crew of STS-133 is expected to lift off on its way to the International Space Station aboard the last flight of shuttle Discovery. As we enter the station's second decade, our path forward will take us deeper into space and expand humanity's potential farther. The lessons we learn on the station will carry us to Mars and beyond. I want to give a heartfelt thank you to the six crew members on orbit and all the teams over the years that have helped us get to this milestone day."

To see the administrator’s discussion with the station's Expedition 25 crew Tuesday morning, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/videogallery/index.html?media_id=25688011

For more information about NASA and agency programs, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov

Shuttle Managers Assess Main Engine Controller Issue

Tue, 02 Nov 2010 12:37:49 -0500

During space shuttle main engine checkouts, the backup controller for engine 3 did not turn on as expected. There appeared to be an issue with one of three power phases, which was narrowed down to either a cockpit circuit breaker or switch that provides power. The circuit breaker and switch were turned off and on, restoring power.

Engineers continue to analyze data that showed voltage irregularities and will meet this afternoon to review their data. The Mission Management Team will convene at 3 p.m. EDT to assess the issue.

NASA Countdown activities continue

Countdown activities continue to pick up as space shuttle Discovery is a day away from its final launch. Technicians are inspecting the external tank liquid oxygen feedline today. The onboard and ground communications systems will be activated this afternoon and preparations are being made to move the rotating service structure away from the shuttle this evening.

"There is excitement in the air," said NASA Test Director Steve Payne. "People are putting their game faces on."

This mission is the last spaceflight for Discovery, NASA's oldest active shuttle. Its history includes deployment of NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and two successful Return to Flight missions, STS-26 and STS-114.

"When she goes, she's going to take a little bit of everyone of us and we're ready," Payne said.

The weather forecast is holding steady with a 70 percent chance of acceptable conditions at launch time Wednesday. Liftoff is scheduled for 3:52 p.m. EDT.

One Day to Go - STS-133

Tue, 02 Nov 2010 07:21:30 -0500

Countdown activities continue to pick up as space shuttle Discovery is a day away from its final launch. Technicians are inspecting the external tank liquid oxygen feedline today. The onboard and ground communications systems will be activated this afternoon and preparations are being made to move the rotating service structure away from the shuttle this evening.

NASA TV will air an STS-133 Countdown Status Briefing at 10:30 a.m. with Steve Payne, NASA test director, Scott Higginbotham, STS-133 payload manager and Kathy Winters, shuttle weather officer.

Robonaut 2, a dexterous, humanoid astronaut helper

Robonaut 2, a dexterous, humanoid astronaut helper, will fly to the International Space Station aboard space shuttle Discovery on the STS-133 mission. Although it will initially only participate in operational tests, upgrades could eventually allow the robot to realize its true purpose -- helping spacewalking astronauts with tasks outside the space station.

Image Credit: NASA/JSC Robert Markowitz

Discovery's Last Ride

Discovery's Last Ride

This image of space shuttle Discovery was taken as the craft began its nighttime trek, known as "rollout," from the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Pad 39A.

It took the shuttle, attached to its external fuel tank, twin solid rocket boosters and mobile launcher platform, about six hours to complete the move atop a crawler-transporter. On STS-133, its final planned mission, Discovery will take the Permanent Multipurpose Module packed with supplies and critical spare parts, as well as Robonaut 2 to the International Space Station.

Image Credit: NASA/Tony Gray

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MMT Gives "Go" for Discovery to Launch Wednesday

Mon, 01 Nov 2010 09:30:53 -0500

The Space Shuttle Program Mission Management Team voted unanimously to proceed toward Discovery’s targeted liftoff at 3:52 p.m. Wednesday. At 11 a.m., NASA Television will air the STS-133 Prelaunch News Conference with Mike Moses, chair of the Prelaunch Mission Management Team and Space Shuttle Program Launch Integration Manager, Mike Leinbach, shuttle launch director and Kathy Winters, shuttle weather officer.

The weather forecast calls for a 70 percent chance of acceptable conditions at launch time. Those odds fall to 40 percent for Thursday. The launch window extends until Sunday. Discovery is headed to the International Space Station for an 11-day mission to deliver the Permanent Multipurpose Module and its host of supplies and equipment to the orbiting outpost.

At the launch pad at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians will load super-cold oxygen and hydrogen into Discovery's onboard tanks this morning. The hyroden and oxygen are going into Discovery's power reactant storage and distribution system that supplies the shuttle with electrical power during the mission. The process is often abbreviated to "PRSD load."