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\u201cAll procedures and flight rules have been updated to account for the change in location. Lessons learned from previous MPLM flights (were) reviewed and updated in the MPLM procedures to capture any changes\/workarounds required.\u201d<\/p>\n
Seven tons of cargo was packed into the MPLM, which also included the utilization of the aft endcone, making STS-126 the heaviest logistics flight in shuttle history.<\/p>\n
\u201cMPLM and Stowage first time to berth MPLM to Node 2 Nadir. First flight of a completely full (16 racks) MPLM. First flight of MPLM Aft Endcone Stowage,\u201d noted the mission firsts in the FRR presentation, which also noted that additional items will be returned from the ISS after the docked stage.<\/p>\n
\u201cReturn cargo mass is less than the assumed mass used in the minimum VLA (Verification Loads Assessment). ISS Program Office (was) attempting to find more return items.\u201d<\/p>\n
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The transfer of items from Endeavour and the installed MPLM will take up a large part of the mission, which will prove to be challenging to the crew. However, managers recently cited the maturity of the STS-126 crew to ably pace themselves to complete the required tasks.<\/p>\n
\u201cTransfer status: Middeck: 33hrs of around 30 hours generic requirement. MPLM: 86:15 hrs of the (around) 85 hrs previous estimated requirement. Revised estimate increases requirement to 100 hours.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/a220.jpg\")
The Mission Management Team (MMT) are continuing to evaluate the huge array of imagery gained on Endeavour\u2019s ascent on Friday, via FD2 and FD3 inspections, with several items still being worked by the Damage Assessment Team (DAT).<\/p>\nItems of interest include a couple of areas of minor \u2013 almost cosmetic \u2013 damage to the aft of Endeavour, such as OMS Pod tiles and the SSME (Space Shuttle Main Engine) dome heat shield. They are likely to be cleared.<\/p>\n
\u201cPort Side T-0 FRSI and TPS nominal \u2013 additional imagery provided data. LH2 T-0 plate 16 mm film review completed by KSC imagery Team. Identified potential of solid ice in the area \u2013 dimensions being determined,\u201d noted a TPS presentation on L2, referencing what was initially thought to be a strip of thermal blanket.<\/p>\n
\u201cAFT Flight Deck Complete \u2013 OMS Pod discrepancies noted: 4 Gap Fillers protruding frayed\/2 Tile Damages. LESS Carrier Panel Inspection Complete \u2013 No damages identified.\u201d<\/p>\n
Importantly, no damage has been observed on Endeavour\u2019s critical TPS systems, as evaluations into RPM imagery (selection available in L2) continue.<\/p>\n
The first area to be cleared was the starboard side of the vehicle \u2013 which was required ahead of MPLM unberthing, due to clearance issues with the OBSS (Orbiter Boom Sensor System), had a Focused Inspection been required.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll RPM imagery has been downlinked and is being reviewed by the Damage Assessment Team (DAT). In addition, the DAT has been reviewing the SRMS survey imagery,\u201d noted information on Monday. \u201cThe Orbiter Project Office (OPO) cleared the starboard side of the vehicle and gave Flight Control a go for MPLM unberthing on FD 4.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Reinforced Carbon-Carbon (RCC) Leading Edge Subsystem (LESS) had no focused inspection (FI) requirements for the starboard or port wings or the nose-cap. The DAT is analyzing the imagery to formally clear the regions of interest for the FD 4 OPO (Orbiter Project Office) meeting.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Thermal Protection System (TPS) had no FI (Focused Inspection) candidates on the starboard side. There are some protruding gap fillers at various locations, tile coating damage near the Left-Hand (LH) External Tank (ET) door tile with shallow damage and a broken dome heat shield tile.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe DAT is continuing the analysis process and is confident that these areas will be cleared.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/a37.jpg\")
One gap filler referenced has been observed to be slightly protruding from below a RCC panel. It\u2019s specific location is not yet documented. Another \u2013 less protruding \u2013 gap filler is also observed further down the wing.<\/p>\nWhile these will likely be cleared for re-entry, such a process may take slightly longer than most areas, due to the computational models required for how the gap fillers will \u2018perform\u2019 during re-entry. However, as of FD4, Endeavour has been cleared from any requirement of a Focused Inspection \u2013 a sign of how clean the orbiter is of damage.<\/p>\n
The lack of any damage to Endeavour\u2019s RCC panels and underbelly is thanks to what appears to be an amazing performance by ET-129\u2019s TPS. Images taken from Endeavour\u2019s umbilical well show a pristine tank, with only three very minor areas of foam loss.<\/p>\n
A huge amount of improvements to the ET by engineers at Lockheed Martin\u2019s Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF) since Return To Flight appear to be paying off, with no major foam loss from the tanks since STS-121.<\/p>\n
Modifications will continue to take place on the tanks \u2013 although some items have been cancelled due to the vastly improved performance of late \u2013 with the end goal of making the final tank to fly with the shuttle the safest ever.<\/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":"
The \u201cLeonardo\u201d Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM) has been transferred from Endeavour\u2019s payload bay to Node 2 of the International Space Station (ISS) on Flight Day 4 of STS-126. Meanwhile, images of Endeavour\u2019s External Tank (ET-129) show what may be the cleanest even tank \u2013 with only around three small areas of foam loss, with Endeavour […]<\/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":[9239,9210,9219,7935],"class_list":["post-41260","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-et-129","tag-mplm","tag-sts-126","tag-tps"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41260"}],"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=41260"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41260\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}