- \n
- Downstream Mission UPDATES<\/li>\n
- L2 STS-125\/400 Special Section<\/li>\n
- L2 STS-127 Special Section<\/li>\n
- Click here to Join L2<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
That\u2019s mainly thanks to the smooth processing of both Atlantis and Endeavour, and the lack of pressure from the shipping of the required External Tanks (ETs), previously one of the main concerns with the downstream schedule.<\/p>\n
ET-130, which will fly with Atlantis, is already mated with its twin Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs) inside the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB), and last week was \u201crolled around\u201d from High Bay 1 to High Bay 3, in order to make room for the build-up of the STS-400 (STS-127) stack on the Mobile Launch Platform (MLP-3).<\/p>\n
Atlantis herself \u2013 over in Orbiter Processing Facility High Bay 1 (OPF-1) \u2013 is in the process of completing final closeouts, which include the closure of the Payload Bay Doors (PLBDs) ahead of rollover to the VAB.<\/p>\n
NASA mission updates
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This coming week will involve the removal of the strongbacks from the doors, which are used to allow OPF mechanisms to open and close the doors, as the orbiter\u2019s own door motors are only strong enough to work in the micro G on orbit.<\/p>\n
\u201cOrbiter MPS (Main Propulsion System) closeouts continue. The APU (Auxiliary Power Unit) gearbox pressurization now in sequential 24 and 48 hour decay checks,\u201d noted processing information on L2.<\/p>\n
\u201cAirlock waterline installation continuing. The water lines are installed and are now awaiting o-rings and filter installation. The work is expected to continue through Tuesday of next week.\u201d<\/p>\n
The only issue of note relates to the fleet as a whole, and was noted on Atlantis\u2019 processing notes.<\/p>\n
\u201cRemoved window carrier panels from windows 1 and 2, performed window fastener torque checks, and are waiting for Engineering\u2019s evaluation,\u201d which in turn speaks of an issue found with Endeavour\u2019s windows.<\/p>\n
Endeavour STS-127\/STS-400 Latest:<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/02\/a215.jpg\")
Endeavour, processing for her primary mission of STS-127 \u2013 which will follow the standdown from her LON requirements in support of STS-125 \u2013 has undergone usual replacement work on a number of her windows, including the window which was damaged by a Micrometeoroid Orbital Debris (MMOD) strike during the latter part of STS-126.<\/p>\nDuring this work, engineers noticed that some of the window fasteners broke away under low torque conditions. Evaluations are taking place on whether a modification, noted as a new locking feature design, will be required on all windows, across the fleet.<\/p>\n
Work has already taken place on installing the new design on some windows on the fleet. However, if evaluations call for it, two windows on Discovery will require work ahead of STS-119. Such work would not cause an additional delay to the current NET date of February 27.<\/p>\n
\u201cA potential issue came up with windows. Were doing torque checks on OV-105 (Endeavour) and found some fasteners with low break-away torques,\u201d noted the Orbiter Project Office in notes on L2. \u201cDecided to check the torque in the \u2018on\u2019 direction, and did not understand that data.<\/p>\n
\u201cDecided to check some other windows on OV-105, including some of the fasteners that have the new locking feature design. We have been implementing them across the fleet on an attrition basis, where we change the insert from a locking insert to having the locking feature on the fastener itself because the fasteners are much easier to replace than the inserts.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, they got some data they didn\u2019t understand when they looked at the torque of these fasteners. It is not clear if there is a problem, because the data received is highly influenced by the pattern in which they took the date. Torquing the fastener will affect the reading on the fastener next to it.<\/p>\n
\u201cA worst case potential is that we might have to go out and do some retorque on two windows on OV-103 (Discovery) that have this new locking feature mod, Window #7 and #3.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/02\/a310.jpg\")
Over in OPF-2, processing has been proceeding to plan, with the milestone of SSME (Space Shuttle Main Engine) installation set to take place in around two weeks.<\/p>\nEngines ready to install on OV-105 on March 1 include 5045, 5060, and 5054,\u201d noted Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne\/KSC on L2 processing information. \u201cThese are through their major milestones and into final walkdown.\u201d<\/p>\n
Work on Endeavour over the weekend has been associated with her Thermal Protection System (TPS), with Monday marking the testing of her Station to Shuttle Power Transfer System (SSPTS).<\/p>\n
\u201cSSPTS overvoltage PTU (Power Transfer Unit) 1 & 2 testing pre-ops were worked. Testing is to begin on Monday,\u201d added processing information. \u201cNH3 boiler tank servicing has been rescheduled until next Tuesday due to a servicing cart issue.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe APU GN2 QD (Quick Disconnect) heater mod work has been rescheduled for Monday and Tuesday next week. The MPS CV16\/PD9 validation test was successfully completed yesterday. Orbiter docking mechanism functional is complete to date and will continue.\u201d<\/p>\n
Endeavour will be using ET-131, which \u2013 unlike the tanks over previous years \u2013 will arrive in plenty of time, arriving on dock at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) somewhere between the 23rd and 25th of this month.<\/p>\n
Once again, it\u2019s been a superb effort by the engineers at the Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF), despite being aided by several delays in the downstream manifest, which earned deserved praise from shuttle manager John Shannon.<\/p>\n
\u201cExpect to complete all build activities by February 14. The tank will be weighed and rolled to the barge on Sunday for departure to Gulfport, MS,\u201d noted Lockheed Martin\/MAF processing information.<\/p>\n
\u201cMr. Shannon congratulated the team at MAF for all of their hard work on getting this tank ready ahead of schedule.\u201d<\/p>\n
All tanks due to launch throughout the 2009 schedule are also on \u2013 or above \u2013 schedule on their shipping dates.<\/p>\n
L2 members<\/em><\/em>: All documentation \u2013 from which the above article has quoted snippets \u2013 is available in full in the related L2 sections, now over 4000 gbs in size.<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
While the majority of engineering concentration on the Flow Control Valve (FCV) flight rationale for Discovery and her STS-119 flight, Atlantis \u2013 and Endeavour as her rescue support \u2013 currently remain on track for their May date surrounding STS-125. Atlantis STS-125 Latest: With STS-119\u2019s NET (No Earlier Than) only slipping my a matter of a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"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":[9021,8290,9038,8291],"class_list":["post-41187","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-et","tag-sts-125","tag-sts-127","tag-sts-400"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41187"}],"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=41187"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41187\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}