STS-123 Space Shuttle Mission - Page 4

01101001 · #91 (**permalink**) 20-March-2008, 05:25 AM

Quote:

Asked to describe the fast-growing space station, Reisman said the crew was struck by the view during final approach and similarities with the famous space station scene in the movie "2001: A Space Odyssey" by Stanley Kurbrick and Arthur C. Clarke. Clarke died Tuesday at the age of 90.

"It's interesting you should bring that up," Reisman said. "As we were rendezvousing, a bunch of us commented about that movie and how much the view out the window of the space station approaching, all we needed was 'The Blue Danube' playing in the background and it would have been just like the movie.

"Coming in from the shuttle, which is relatively small volume, it was pretty overwhelming. It's amazing how big station is, it's about the same size from stem to stern as a Boeing 767 and it's been astonishing to me how long it takes just to get from one end to the other. It's so big, you actually have to plan how you carry your stuff around because if you have to go back and get something, it takes time. And that's really marvelous."

Later...

Quote:

Japanese astronaut Takao Doi, Whitson and shuttle commander Dom Gorie chatted with Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda this evening, showing off the newly attached logistics module and answering questions from school kids.

"Doi-san, thank you for the hard work. Congratulations on the completion of the first stage of (the attachment of) Kibo," Fukuda said in Japanese. "Congratulations. Doi-san, for a very long time have been engaged in this project. How do you feel now, the fact that you've completed the first step, what is your impression? What are your thoughts?"

"Hello, prime minister, from space station," Doi replied. "Kibo module is filled with the dreams of the Japanese people. I'm very happy to be able to complete the first step, the attachment. People on the ground have been working hard supporting us up in space and we thank all of you very much indeed."

Said Whitson: "It's been a very special honor to me to welcome JAXA (the Japanese space agency) officially aboard the space station with the addition of this module. We are very happy to have Kibo up here with us."

Useful links:
NASA Space Shuttle Mission Pages
NASA STS-123 Mission Information
NASA Mission Overview: All Aboard for STS-123: The Station Goes Global
Wikipedia: STS-123
NASA Launch Schedule
NASA Kennedy Space Center Shuttle Countdown Status
NASA Shuttle Launch and Landing
NASA Shuttle Launch Blog (active about 6 hours before liftoff)
NASA Shuttle Landing Blog (active about 2 hours before landing)
CBS News Space Place
SpaceFlightNow STS-123 Mission Coverage (sparse at first)
BAUT Forum topic STS-122 Shuttle Mission (previous mission)
NASA TV

01101001 · #92 (**permalink**) 20-March-2008, 05:07 PM

CBS News STS-123 Flightplan (PDF)

Coming up (times EDT and mission elapsed day..hour..minute):

EVA-4: test heat shield repair method that uses a caulk-gun-like tool named the Tile Repair Ablator Dispenser (T-RAD)

Quote:

Flight Day 11
03/20/08 Thu 01:28 PM 09 11 00 Crew wakeup
03/20/08 Thu 02:28 PM 09 12 00 EVA-4: 14.7 psi repress/hygiene break
03/20/08 Thu 03:03 PM 09 12 35 EVA-4: Airlock depress to 10.2 psi
03/20/08 Thu 03:23 PM 09 12 55 EVA-4: Campout EVA preps
03/20/08 Thu 04:53 PM 09 14 25 EVA-4: Spacesuit purge
03/20/08 Thu 05:08 PM 09 14 40 EVA-4: Spacesuit prebreathe
03/20/08 Thu 05:58 PM 09 15 30 EVA-4: Crew lock depressurization
03/20/08 Thu 06:28 PM 09 16 00 EVA-4: Spacesuits to battery power
03/20/08 Thu 06:33 PM 09 16 05 EVA-4: Airlock egress
03/20/08 Thu 06:53 PM 09 16 25 EVA-4: Setup
03/20/08 Thu 06:58 PM 09 16 30 EVA-4 (EV1): RPCM R&R
03/20/08 Thu 06:58 PM 09 16 30 EVA-4 (EV2): Patch panel
03/20/08 Thu 07:28 PM 09 17 00 EVA-4: T-RAD worksite setup
03/20/08 Thu 08:48 PM 09 18 20 EVA-4: T-RAD DTO
03/20/08 Thu 10:33 PM 09 20 05 EVA-4: Tool cleanup
03/20/08 Thu 11:38 PM 09 21 10 EVA-4: Cleanup (TSA stow)

03/21/08 Fri 12:38 AM 09 22 10 EVA-4: Airlock ingress
03/21/08 Fri 12:58 AM 09 22 30 EVA-4: Airlock repressurization
03/21/08 Fri 01:13 AM 09 22 45 Spacesuit servicing
03/21/08 Fri 04:58 AM 10 02 30 ISS crew sleep begins
03/21/08 Fri 05:28 AM 10 03 00 STS crew sleep begins

01101001 · #93 (**permalink**) 23-March-2008, 09:05 PM

CBS News Space Place

Quote:

Astronauts take a break, prepare for undocking Monday

The Endeavour astronauts are enjoying a final few hours of off-duty time today before making preparations for undocking Monday evening. The joint shuttle-station crews will share an Easter meal later today before participating in a news conference to discuss the progress of the mission.

"Fortunately, the mission has been going extremely well so there's not a whole lot left for the crew to do," said space station Flight Director Bob Dempsey. "In fact, they're getting a half-day off to give them a chance to rest after the five EVAs and all the busy work they've been doing. And of course, preparing for the undocking and re-entry in a few days."

Endeavour will undock from the station at 7:56 p.m. EDT Monday and begin its journey back to Kennedy Space Center, Florida.

01101001 · #94 (**permalink**) 25-March-2008, 01:03 AM

CBS News Space Place

Quote:

06:00 PM, 3/24/08, Update: Shuttle astronauts bid station crew farewell

With hugs and handshakes, the Endeavour astronauts said farewell to their space station colleagues today, gathering one last time to mark the end of a marathon five-spacewalk assembly mission before floating back into the shuttle, closing hatches and preparing to undock.

European Space Agency astronaut Leopold Eyharts, launched to the station aboard the shuttle Atlantis in February to help activate ESA's new Columbus research module, departed with Endeavour's crew, leaving his replacement, Garrett Reisman, behind with Expedition 16 commander Peggy Whitson and flight engineer Yuri Malenchenko.

NASA TV

I think I just heard it's about 5 minutes to undocking, running a little late -- delayed because of the failure of a latch; the latch was recommanded... and I lost audio...

Edit, later, 50 minutes past the hour: Endeavour is well away, maybe 150 meters, performing fly-around.

CBS News Space Place:

Quote:

08:30 PM, 3/24/08, Update: Shuttle Endeavour undocks after solar panel glitch resolved

With shuttle pilot Gregory Johnson at the controls, the Endeavour gently undocked from the international space station this evening, a half hour behind schedule because of problems getting one of the lab's solar arrays locked in place. After a second command successfully got the left-side outboard arrays to latch as required, Endeavour disconnected from the station's shuttle docking port at 8:25 p.m.
[...]
Landing is targeted for 7:05:08 p.m. Wednesday and forecasters are calling for good weather, with scattered clouds at 3,500 feet and winds out of the north at eight knots, gusting to 12. A second landing opportunity is available one orbit later, at 8:39:06 p.m.

"I know we're still three days out from landing but the weather is looking pretty reasonable," astronaut Terry Virts radioed the shuttle Sunday evening. "For now it looks good. We'll keep our fingers crossed."

01101001 · #95 (**permalink**) 26-March-2008, 07:56 AM

CBS News Space Place

Quote:

The Endeavour astronauts tested the shuttle's re-entry systems Tuesday and packed for landing Wednesday at the Kennedy Space Center to close out a 16-day space station assembly mission. Entry Flight Director Richard Jones said the shuttle is in good shape and the weather is "go" for a late afternoon descent.

"The flight control system behaved beautifully, there are no issues to really talk about," Jones said of today's entry preparations.

Flying upside down and backward, Gorie and pilot Gregory Johnson plan to fire Endeavour's twin braking rockets for two minutes and 51 seconds starting at 5:58:14 p.m., slowing the ship by about 209 mph and dropping it out of orbit.

Flying northward over Central America just west of the Panama Canal, the shuttle's flight path will carry it high above central Cuba and then up the east coast of Florida before a left overhead turn to line up on runway 15. Touchdown is expected at 7:05:08 p.m.

Reentry burn target:
March 26 1458 PDT
March 26 1758 EDT
March 26 2158 UTC

Touchdown target:
March 26 1605 PDT
March 26 1905 EDT
March 26 2305 UTC

01101001 · #96 (**permalink**) 26-March-2008, 06:05 PM

NASA Shuttle Landing Blog

Quote:

Live landing coverage of space shuttle Endeavour will begin about two hours before touchdown.

Landing target:
March 26 1605 PDT
March 26 1905 EDT
March 26 2305 UTC

6 hours to landing

01101001 · #97 (**permalink**) 26-March-2008, 10:06 PM

NASA Shuttle Landing Blog (now active)

Quote:

The forecast for both landing opportunities at Kennedy is favorable. Crosswinds are well within landing limits. Astronaut Steve Lindsey has been in the skies flying a T-38 jet monitoring the weather and relaying the information back to mission control in Houston. Meanwhile, in space, the astronauts aboard Endeavour donned their orange launch-and-entry suits and then took their assigned seats for reentry.

The astronauts have begun fluid loading, which means they will drink large amounts of liquid to aid them in their re-acclimation into Earth's gravity. Each crew member will drink about 40 ounces of water, chicken broth or orange-aid.

CBS News Space Place

Coming up:

Quote:

05:15:00 PM...Shuttle steering check
05:18:00 PM...Hydraulic power system prestart
05:25:00 PM...Toilet deactivation
05:33:00 PM...Vent doors closed for entry
05:38:00 PM...Mission control 'go' for deorbit burn
05:44:00 PM...MS seat ingress
05:53:00 PM...Single APU start

05:58:14 PM...Deorbit ignition (Alt: 215.2 sm; Vel: 17,251 mph; dV: 209 mph; dT: 2:51)
06:01:05 PM...Deorbit burn complete

06:33:06 PM...Entry interface (alt: 75.7 sm; Vel: 16,979 mph; range: 4,959 sm)
06:38:03 PM...1st roll command to left
06:52:00 PM...C-band radar acquisition
06:54:34 PM...1st left to right roll reversal
06:58:36 PM...Velocity less than mach 2.5 (alt: 83,000 ft; vel: 1,709 mph)
07:00:47 PM...Velocity less than mach 1 (alt: 51,100 ft; vel: 613 mph)
07:02:05 PM...Shuttle on the heading alignment cylinder
07:05:08 PM...Landing

Hmm...

2 hours to landing

01101001 · #98 (**permalink**) 26-March-2008, 10:50 PM

CBS News Space Place

Quote:

Update: Shuttle landing delayed one orbit
Florida's hard-to-predict weather surprised NASA forecasters today, forcing flight director Richard Jones to delay the shuttle Endeavour's re-entry by one orbit because of low clouds over the Kennedy Space Center. Shuttle commander Dominic Gorie and pilot Gregory Johnson are now setting up for a deorbit rocket firing at 7:33 p.m., which would result in a landing at 8:39 p.m.
[...]
"The forecast for the second opportunity is scattered (clouds) at 5,000," Dutton said. "So we're looking for some improvement."

There are no technical problems of any significance and the weather remains the only concern. If Gorie and his crewmates cannot get down on their second opportunity, the mission will be extended 24 hours and they will try again Thursday.

Revised timeline:

Quote:

Rev. 249 descent to KSC runway 15

07:13:14 PM...Mission control 'go' for deorbit burn
07:19:14 PM...MS seat ingress
07:28:14 PM...Single APU start

07:33:14 PM...Deorbit ignition (alt: 216 sm; vel: 17,251 mph; dV: 206 mph; dT: 2:48)
07:36:02 PM...Deorbit burn complete

08:07:23 PM...Entry interface (alt: 75.6 sm; vel: 16,979 mph; range: 5,055 sm)
08:12:18 PM...1st roll command to right
08:21:14 PM...1st right-to-left roll reversal
08:26:00 PM...C-band radar acquisition
08:32:34 PM...Velocity less than mach 2.5 (alt: 83,900 feet; vel: 1,704 mph)
08:34:46 PM...Velocity less than mach 1 (alt: 50,700 feet; vel: 613 mph)
08:35:32 PM...Shuttle on the heading alignment cylinder
08:39:06 PM...Landing

New landing target:
March 26 1739 PDT
March 26 2039 EDT
March 27 0039 UTC

2 hours 49 minutes to landing

01101001 · #99 (**permalink**) 27-March-2008, 12:34 AM

3-minute deorbit burn begun

About 66 minutes to landing

KaiYeves · #**100** (**permalink**) 27-March-2008, 12:39 AM

Okay, so my little brother's playing his strategy game, which is really cool and I'm watching, but then I look at my watch and it says "7:10" So I freak out and shout
"I missed the Space Shuttle!"
And scream and rant at fate, and wait for Internet Explorer to open so I can at least see if the crew is o.k.
So I open the NASA website and it says...
Endeavour set to land at 8:39.

01101001 · #**101** (**permalink**) 27-March-2008, 12:40 AM

NASA TV
Lizard-Tail GoogleSatTrack

deorbit burn good

1 hour to landing

EndeavorRX7 · #**102** (**permalink**) 27-March-2008, 12:52 AM

I'm going to go outside and see if I can hear the sonic booms. Welcome back Endeavor (whom I named myself after).

01101001 · #**103** (**permalink**) 27-March-2008, 12:59 AM

Coming up:

Atmosphere!

08:07:23 PM...Entry interface (alt: 75.6 sm; vel: 16,979 mph; range: 5,055 sm)
08:12:18 PM...1st roll command to right
08:21:14 PM...1st right-to-left roll reversal
08:26:00 PM...C-band radar acquisition
08:32:34 PM...Velocity less than mach 2.5 (alt: 83,900 feet; vel: 1,704 mph)
08:34:46 PM...Velocity less than mach 1 (alt: 50,700 feet; vel: 613 mph)
08:35:32 PM...Shuttle on the heading alignment cylinder
08:39:06 PM...Landing

41 minutes

KaiYeves · #**104** (**permalink**) 27-March-2008, 01:08 AM

I'll be covering it on MuseBlog.

01101001 · #**105** (**permalink**) 27-March-2008, 01:15 AM

25 minutes

01101001 · #**106** (**permalink**) 27-March-2008, 01:22 AM

Crossing Mexico southwest Pacific coast, heading towards Yucatan peninsula.

18 minutes

01101001 · #**107** (**permalink**) 27-March-2008, 01:26 AM

Leaving Yucatan Peninsula, over Gulf of Mexico.

range 635 miles

13 minutes

01101001 · #**108** (**permalink**) 27-March-2008, 01:30 AM

Approaching Florida west coast, near St Petersburg.

9 minutes

01101001 · #**109** (**permalink**) 27-March-2008, 01:32 AM

Halfway across Florida.

120 miles

6 minutes

01101001 · #**110** (**permalink**) 27-March-2008, 01:34 AM

5 minutes

1000 mph

altitude 70000 feet

see it on camera

01101001 · #**111** (**permalink**) 27-March-2008, 01:42 AM

Touchdown.

Wheel stop.

touchdown.PNG

EndeavorRX7 · #**112** (**permalink**) 27-March-2008, 01:50 AM

Another one in the books.

Can't see much in the night landings, but still very nice.

aerovoid · #**113** (**permalink**) 27-March-2008, 02:05 AM

what's going on near the tail of the shuttle. It looked like a flame or something when the shuttle had stopped or some sort of pulsating light.

KaiYeves · #**114** (**permalink**) 27-March-2008, 02:17 AM

^ Yeah, my brother was wondering about that, too. I don't think it was anything bad, because there wasn't anything in the mission patter about it.

01101001 · #**115** (**permalink**) 27-March-2008, 02:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aerovoid

what's going on near the tail of the shuttle. It looked like a flame or something when the shuttle had stopped or some sort of pulsating light.

(I didn't watch it, but were they using an infrared camera which would emphasize high-temperature exhaust at night?)

It's probably exhaust from the APUs (Wikipedia). It was them the last time someone asked about the huffing and exhaust. They seem to run many minutes after the shuttle stops.

See articles in topic STS 118.

Dave J · #**116** (**permalink**) 27-March-2008, 03:03 AM

Had a brief viewing pass of the Shuttle and ISS last night. Watched Endeavour land, then just went out to watch the ATV and an extremely bright ISS go by on a 5 or so minute pass. Was impressed that the ATV was easily visible in the twilight sky.
Welcome home, Endeavour and crew!

jrkeller · #**117** (**permalink**) 27-March-2008, 04:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aerovoid

what's going on near the tail of the shuttle. It looked like a flame or something when the shuttle had stopped or some sort of pulsating light.

According to NASA TV, it was the exhaust of the APUs.

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