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Broken down, the key events carried out by the crew based mainly around the Flight Control Surfaces (FCS) checkouts (C\/O) \u2013 a visible event as Endeavour\u2019s elevons were rotated to their extremes \u2013 and powered by one of the orbiter\u2019s Auxiliary Power Units (APU-1). All of Endeavour\u2019s Reaction Control System (RCS) jets used during the return to Earth were also pulsed once to confirm their status.<\/p>\n
No new issues \u2013 or any issues of note \u2013 are being worked by the Mission Evaluation Room (MER), with the Fuel Cell 2 indications \u2013 noted on FD-13 \u2013 related to instrumentation.<\/p>\n
Landing on Sunday remains at the mercy of the weather, with the two landing opportunities at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) both threatening to be waved off due to the possibility of showers and unacceptable cloud cover.<\/p>\n
STS-130 Specific Articles: http:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/tag\/sts-130\/<\/p>\n
All three sites are likely to be called up \u2013 which included Edwards Air Force Base in California and White Sands in New Mexico \u2013 on Monday (EOM+1). EOM+2 will remain reserved as the wave off day for a technical issue,<\/p>\n
Spaceflight
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TPS Clearance Overview:<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/02\/A318.jpg\" "\\"A3\\"")
In all, Endeavour enjoyed an extremely clean ride to orbit during her February 8th night launch from the Kennedy Space Center.<\/p>\nFollowing the FD-2 (Flight Day 2) OBSS (Orbiter Boom Sensor System) TPS (Thermal Protection System) scans\/surveys of Endeavour\u2019s upper flight surfaces, OMS pods, Crew Cabin, and Wing Leading Edge (RCC \u2013 Reinforced Carbon-Carbon) panels and FD-3\u2019s stunning RPM (R-bar Pitch Maneuver) and orbiter photography by ISS crewmembers, imagery analysts on the ground have clear Endeavour\u2019s TPS for landing.<\/p>\n
In all, every area of Endeavour\u2019s TPS was photographed\/imaged during the opening three FDs of her mission. Stemming from these photos\/images, there were no (0 \u2013 ZERO) identified underbelly TPS scuffs or damage zones on Endeavour.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/02\/A217.jpg\" "\\"A2\\"")
Both ET (External Tank) doors were verified closed via ISS photography.<\/p>\nNo ET door paint stripes were visible and all lighting and angles in relation to the Endeavour and ISS were acceptable for ISS photography.<\/p>\n
In all, there were only three (3) areas of TPS concern across Endeavour\u2019s entire TPS system \u2013 all of which are located on the upper portion of NASA\u2019s youngest orbiter.<\/p>\n
These three areas include a protruding ceramic insert\/plug below Window #2, a cracked title \u201cadjacent to (a) previous RTV (Room-Temperature Vulcanized) repair,\u201d and a peeled back Inconel Seal between Flipper Doors on an elevon as evalauted by the Damage Assessment Team (DAT) \u2013 with all their STS-130 presentations available to download on L2.<\/p>\n
Ceramic Insert:<\/p>\n
In regard to the protruding ceramic insert, documentation shows that the tile \u2013 which is 0.57\u201d thick \u2013 was installed onto Endeavour on June 11, 2006 during her last Orbiter Modification Down Period (OMDP).<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/02\/A413.jpg\" "\\"A4\\"")
The ceramic insert in question has an outer diameter of 0.938\u201d and a height of 0.47\u201d \u2013 0.57\u201d with a mass of 9-grams. The ceramic insert is protruding 0.37\u201d +\/- 0.05\u201d<\/p>\n\u201cDTA assessment completed for loose insert releases,\u201d notes the final on-orbit TPS report via the DAT (L2). \u201cLow angle impacts on windows up to 120 ft\/sec. Only very low angle impacts to OMS Pod \u2013 No OMS Pod leading edge impacts.\u201d<\/p>\n
The presentation notes that impacts to the Rudder Speed Brake (RSB) are possible at higher velocities should the ceramic insert liberate during reentry.<\/p>\n
In a worst case scenario, should the ceramic insert liberate, analyses show that no \u2018detrimental\u2019 damage would occur to the windows that would result in catastrophic failure.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo detrimental damage that will result in catastrophic failure. Potential exists for glass fracture at low altitude.\u201d<\/p>\n
The worst case scenario for a RSB impact would be a damage area on the RSB of 12.5ft2 which \u2013 even at that stage \u2013 would still yield positive margins in terms of Entry GN&C (Guidance Navigation and Control) performance. These findings will be expanded on in Sunday\u2019s article.<\/p>\n
Cracked Cabin Tile:<\/p>\n
For the cracked TPS tile on the top of Endeavour\u2019s Crew Cabin, documentation shows the cracked tile was repaired in 2007 using a standard RTV repair technique.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/02\/A55.jpg\" "\\"A5\\"")
The tile is 0.485\u201d thick and was originally cracked 2.2\u201d in length back in 2007.<\/p>\n\u201cDTA assessment completed for cracked corner canopy tile release,\u201d notes the TPS report.<\/p>\n
Should the cracked piece of tile liberate during reentry, a 120ft-lb normal kinetic energy impact would be required to produce significant structural to the OMS pods and RSB.<\/p>\n
\u201c120ft-lb is a mean value that has no uncertainties associated based on AFRSI impacts on OMS Pod structure.\u201d<\/p>\n
Based on the liberation properties of the cracked tile piece, the maximum predicted OMS pod kinetic impact is 72ft-lb and 30ft-lb for the RSB \u2013 well below the energy required to cause damage.<\/p>\n
Protruding Inconel Strip:<\/p>\n
The final TPS anomaly for Endeavour relates to the lifted elevon flipper door sliding seal.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/02\/A62.jpg\" "\\"A6\\"")
\u201cLeft hand outboard elevon flipper door sliding seal between doors #12 and #13 is deformed resulting in a 2.6\u201d high x 3\u201d wide protuberance and 0.5\u201d wide by 1.7\u201d long leak path into the elevon cove.\u201d<\/p>\nThe seal in question is \u201cbent up\u201d the full length of seal.<\/p>\n
The presentation notes that similar conditions have been noted on previous flights of orbiter Atlantis, flights 10 and 11 specifically.<\/p>\n
\u201cSimilar condition noted on previous flights: OV-104 Flight 11 \u2013 RH side between doors #1 and #2. OV-104 Flight 10 \u2013 RH side between doors #5 and #6.<\/p>\n
The presentation notes that multiple Problem Reports have been taken on the flipper door seals throughout the near 29-year history of the Shuttle Program.<\/p>\n
A rework of the system was attempted but the primary concern could not be eliminated.<\/p>\n
The cause of the flipper door damage on Endeavour has been identified as \u201cflight damage\u201d occurring approximately 48-seconds into Endeavour\u2019s launch during a potential debris impact near that area of the vehicle.<\/p>\n
In all, the elevons\u2019 full range of motion is 21.5 degrees down and 36.5 degrees up. The elevons are positioned at \u201cfull down\u201d during rollover ops to the VAB and are returned to the null position during mating ops to the ET.<\/p>\n
Prior to liftoff, the elevons are tested by moving them 10 degrees up and 11 degrees down. Ascent data from Endeavour, indicated that the elevons traveled between 7 degrees up to 11 degrees down during her launch.<\/p>\n
During Endeavour\u2019s Flight Control System checkout today, the elevons were be cycled 18 degrees down 32 degrees up.<\/p>\n
Reentry, descent, and landing elevon predictions for Endeavour show a \u201c7.5 degree down deflection late in the entry profile.\u201d<\/p>\n
There are no thermal concerns for entry from this damage site as the flipper seal experience approximately double the heating rate during ascent than descent.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As Endeavour sails into what is expected to be her final full day on orbit, the STS-130 crew spent the day testing and reconfiguring Endeavour ahead of the mission\u2019s opening Deorbit, Entry, and Landing attempts Sunday evening. Meanwhile, Endeavour\u2019s TPS (Thermal Protection System) has been cleared for reentry \u2013 with only three (3) areas of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29567,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[9183,7935],"class_list":["post-40862","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-sts-130","tag-tps"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40862"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40862"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40862\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29567"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40862"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}