**The most comprehensive collection of Shuttle, Ares, Orion and ISS related presentations and mission documentation, plus expansive daily processing documentation and updates are <\/em>available to download on L2<\/em> **<\/em><\/p>\n <\/em><\/p>\n **<\/em><\/p>\n STS-124 Sub Section (over 3000mb already) \u2013 Includes Flight Plans, S0007 Documents. Mission Overview CGI Videos. Plus 25 Flight Readiness Review (FRR) Presentations, a multitude of mission presentations and extensive, live, processing flashes, updates. MMT level Live Flight Day Coverage has begun.<\/em><\/p>\n RPM, ET Umbilical Well, 40 Pad Damage Images (Exclusives) and 120mb Engineering Replays of Launch. Super Hi Res EVA images. Several stunning TPS Evalaution Presentations that include all RPM and Tile evaluation images and data \u2013 now available.<\/em><\/p>\n **STS-125\/LON-400 Sub Section Special already over 1600mb in size \u2013 special section Now Live, with over 40 superb mission presentations. STS-125 Flight Plan (newly created) and Flight Data Files now uploaded.<\/p>\n **STS-124 LIVE FLIGHT DAY SPECIFIC UPDATE PAGES (The most extensive live coverage on the net)**<\/em><\/p>\n **STS-124 News Articles**<\/em><\/p>\n **ALL STS-124 NASA TV videos (media briefings, booster videos, flight day highlights etc. Available and downloadable for FREE**<\/em><\/p>\n NASA mission patches (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); <\/p>\n <\/em><\/p>\n STS-124 Flight Day 10-11 (Undocking article will follow shortly):<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n As Discovery prepares to undock on Wednesday, the crew have completed the final major tasks of the STS-124 docked stage of their mission.<\/p>\n Flight Day 10 consisted of further evaluations of the Japanese RMS (Remote Manipulator System), which included Brake Checkouts \u2013 as the robotic arm was stretched out on the end of the Kibo module.<\/p>\n JPM\/Logistics Module Vestibule outfitting, the final stages of completing work on Kibo\u2019s attic, also took place during Monday, in tandem with a late addition to the mission requirements \u2013 namely the changeout of two Battery Charger Modules (BCMs) in the Quest Airlock.<\/p>\n The task was completed by commander Mark Kelly and Mike Fossum during the second half of Flight Day 10, a requirement that saw two modified BCMs being installed into Quest.<\/p>\n \u2018Late addition of Battery Charger Module (BCM) R&R task: In order to expedite the removal of hardware with Tox 4 components from ISS, the BCM R&R had been planned for the 1J Stage, with the old BCMs slated for return on ULF-2,\u2019 noted associated Flight Readiness Review (FRR) documentation.<\/p>\n \u2018Perform the BCM R&R task during the 1J docked timeframe following the completion of all scheduled EVAs and return the old BCMs on 1J. The two returning BCMs contain Tox 4 D-cell memory keeper batteries which are preintegrated into the circuit boards.<\/p>\n \u2018The BCMs will be double-bagged for return in the middeck as required by the Flight Equipment Safety and Reliability Review Panel (FESRRP). FESRRP coordinated with and received concurrence from Shuttle Safety.<\/p>\n \u2018The returning BCMs will be refurbished and reflown on a future flight to replace the two remaining BCMs on-orbit with Tox 4 components.\u2019<\/p>\n Interestingly, Kelly and Fossum carried out some additional work on the two new BCMs on Flight Day 7, which involved disassembling the two units and snipping a resistor to keep the units from possibly overheating.<\/p>\n The BCM charging will be terminated and the health of the system statused on Flight Day 11. If the R&R is not successful, which is unlikely, the old units will be retrieved from Discovery\u2019s middeck and left behind for re-R&R during the 1J stage.<\/p>\n A large amount of off duty time is available to the crew, ahead of their egress from the ISS to Discovery for the closure of the hatches between the two vehicles. Undocking will take place on Wednesday.<\/p>\n TPS Evaluations: The reviews, conducted via imagery from the Flight Day 2 (FD-2) survey of Discovery\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Reinforced Carbon-Carbon (RCC) panels and Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS) pods, as well as FD-3\u2019s R-bar Pitch Maneuver (RPM) photography of Discovery\u2019s underbelly and base heat shield, revealed a remarkably clean TPS.<\/p>\n This led to a prompt release of a requirement for a focused inspection.<\/p>\n With a great deal of attention being focused on the inspection of Discovery\u2019s heat shield at the beginning of STS-124 last week, the DAT in Houston completed their review of all TPS images obtained by the shuttle and station crews.<\/p>\n Discovery was unable to carry the Orbiter Boom Sensor System (OBSS) to orbit due to the size of the Japanese Kibo lab.<\/p>\n As a result, Discovery\u2019s flight crew were only able to conduct a limited survey of their ship\u2019s RCC panels and OMS pods on FD-2, using the End Effector camera on the Shuttle Remote Manipulator System (SRMS).<\/p>\n Once the Discovery arrived at the ISS, station crewmembers took RPM photographs, which were then downlinked to Mission Control.<\/p>\n \u2018The upper surface sidewalls, upper chine, and upper LESS carrier panel tiles were only partial covered with a combination of SRMS, RPM, and extra imagery from ISS,\u2019 noted one of several superb Mission Evaluation Room (MER) presentation, available to download on L2.<\/p>\n \u2018All these locations can be verified that the tile is installed. Resolution is not high enough to detect tile damage.\u2019<\/p>\n All of these areas will be viewed in full resolution during Late Inspections with the OBSS after undocking from ISS. Nevertheless, the FD-5 MER report revealed a relatively clean TPS for Discovery, with only nine areas on the underbelly of the vehicle requiring review by the DAT.<\/p>\n Nevertheless, thanks to the wide array of inspection tools and experience gained since Discovery\u2019s Return to Flight mission three years ago, the DAT was quickly able to determine that \u2018all Frayed Thermal Barriers and Gap Fillers are within previous flight experience,\u2019 according to the MER presentation.<\/p>\n For the TPS tile damage near the thermal barrier of the NLGD, DAT analysis has shown that the damage is mainly superficial and does not extend to the primary thermal barrier.<\/p>\n \u2018Damage site is contained at the Outer Mold Line (OML) Thermal Barrier and does not extend to the Primary Barrier. Thermal seal integrity is maintained,\u2019 added the MER presentation.<\/p>\n As is commonplace with TPS evaluations, the DAT analyzed the damage to the NLGD at three times its actually depth. \u2018Damage analyzed at 0.65 inches in depth (with on-orbit photographic) observation (of) 0.18 inches,\u2019 the report noted.<\/p>\n Even with these conservative analyses, there were no reductions to structural integrity or thermal seal integrity noted.<\/p>\n This, aided by flight history which includes at least six instances of NLGD tile damage adjacent to the thermal barrier \u2013 the most recent example being Discovery\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s STS-114 Return to Flight mission in July 2005 \u2013 led to the DAT clearing this area for re-entry.<\/p>\n The other area of interest on the underbelly of Discovery was an unknown protrusion outboard of the right ET door. While the material has not yet been identified, the DAT has concluded that the protrusion does not pose any threat to downstream structures or TPS damage sites on Discovery during Boundary Layer Transition upon re-entry.<\/p>\n All OMS pod damage sites are within flight experience are will not pose an issue during re-entry.<\/p>\n The final damage evaluation area on Discovery relates to the base heat shield around the vehicle\u2019s main engines. Damage to one tile is estimated to be approximately two inches in depth. The most likely cause of this damage has been identified.<\/p>\n \u2018Tile insert was ground out during this processing flow due to damage from the OML to the IML with internal bore damage. An oversized FRSI plug was installed on an MR restricted basis,\u2019 noted the presentation.<\/p>\n Aiding evaluations to clear this area for landing is a relatively low heat exposure for the base heat shield on re-entry compared to launch.<\/p>\n \u2018Ascent heating is five times greater than descent heating,\u2019 added the MER report. \u2018Ascent total heat load is 1837 Btu\/ft2. Entry total heat load is 324 Btu\/ff2.\u2019<\/p>\n Overall, Discovery\u2019s TPS is in great shape heading into the final phase of the mission.<\/p>\n The final OBSS late-scans will confirm the health of the vehicle\u2019s TPS in the post-undock portion of the mission, with the DAT team gaining one extra Flight Day in the post-undock timeline to analyze the images obtained during the Late Inspections.<\/p>\n Launch On Need:<\/p>\n Thanks to the clean ascent Discovery and her modified External Tank (ET-128) achieved, the primary requirement for Endeavour to be ready to launch on a rescue mission (LON \u2013 Launch On Need) has been stood down.<\/p>\n While the chances of requirement a LON mission are slim at best, shuttle managers have to ensure a mission has the backup of another shuttle that can launch within a set timescale \u2013 called Contingency Shuttle Crew Support (CSCS) \u2013 to rescue the crew from the \u2018safe haven\u2019 of the ISS.<\/p>\n At the time of the Flight Readiness Review (FRR), the ISS could cope with the STS-124 crew living on Station with Expedition 17 for 90 days, before consumables started to run out.<\/p>\n In the event of critical damage to Discovery, Endeavour would have been tasked with a launch date of August 29. \u2018STS-124 Rescued in 90 days (CSCS consumables = 94 days\/O2 limiting factor),\u2019 noted associated FRR documentation.<\/p>\n To achieve this launch date, the Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF) in New Orleans would have been tasked with an emergency shipping of ET-127 \u2013 currently set to ride with Atlantis on STS-125.<\/p>\n However, due to the problems and recent delays associated to its scheduled shipping date, this would have involved 24 hour processing on the tank, before being sent with a team of engineers to continue final processing at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC), during mating operations.<\/p>\n \u2018ET-127 Emergency Ship Date: June 24 with May 31 call-up (nominal ship date July 15), ET-127 On Dock: July 1,\u2019 added FRR documentation. \u2018ET-127 planned delivery currently does not support LON based on the approach to maintain ET-127 and ET-129 parallel processing.<\/p>\n \u2018ET-127 emergency processing, if required, will support a June 24 delivery date if LON is determined on Launch Day 1. Additional schedule assessment in work to determine delivery date if LON is determined on L+5 days (action taken at MSFC Center Director\u2019s review).\u2019<\/p>\n A secondary factor of \u2018late call-up\u2019 \u2013 which is even more unlikely and based on an unexpected damage occurring post-undocking, such as via freak MMOD damage found during Late Inspections \u2013 is also factored in by the FRR.<\/p>\n \u2018LON Late Call-up: Post-Undock Inspection timelined for FD12 (June 11),\u2019 noted FRR documentation. \u2018ET-127 Emergency Ship Date: July 3 with June 11 call-up. ET-127 On Dock: July 10. STS-326 Launch: September 8 (60 days for ET processing).\u2019<\/p>\n The rescue mission would have been flown via a subset crew of four from STS-126, with the ability to bring down a total of 11 crewmembers. Other factors were also pre-planned in the event of LON being called \u2013 which includes a special software patch for Endeavour\u2019s General Purpose Computers (GPCs).<\/p>\n \u2018In the event of call-up by the SSP (Space Shuttle Program), STS-326 would be flown on OV-105 using the STS-123 Base Load as well as the flight specific I-Load patch released for the STS-323 Rescue LON.<\/p>\n \u2018Patch for flight specific I-Loads that was generated and released for STS-323 training. Two PASS code patches and one standard GMEM that were originally released for STS-123 were re-released for STS-326<\/p>\n \u2018Development\/Verification\/Release of 1 BFS Patch (Incorrect Bit Set for BFS HUD Velocity Scaling Indicator). 1 On-Orbit I-Load patch. Re-release of STS-400 data patch (Raise RCS Fwd Tank Temperature Limit). Level 8 Testing and Integrated Avionics Verification.<\/p>\n \u2018Based on expected content, can support a rescue LON launch NET (No Earlier Than) 30 days after STS-326 call-up.\u2019<\/p>\n Endeavour had three roles coming out of processing, with the LON requirements for STS-124, STS-125 (LON\/STS-400), and her primary mission, STS-126.<\/p>\n <\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A series of presentations, showing the superb work carried out by the Damage Assessment Team (DAT) engineers, have shed light on the refined process that allows for the confirmation that an orbiter is clear for re-entry.As is the case with Discovery on STS-124, baring a highly unlikely problem being found during Late Inspections, the LON […]<\/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":[],"class_list":["post-41385","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41385"}],"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=41385"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41385\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/em>**Click here for sample of L2 menu and content**<\/em><\/p>\n
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\nOne of the most impressive elements of mission support is the comprehensive review of the orbiter\u2019s Thermal Protection System (TPS), which is conducted by the Damage Assessment Team (DAT) in Houston.<\/p>\n
The combination of RPM and SRMS images have provided ground engineers with an overall picture of Discovery\u2019s TPS \u2013 though there remain portions of the TPS that were only partially covered by all the imagery operations.<\/p>\n
Of these nine areas, only three pertain to damage to the tiles \u2013 the other six include two frayed gap fillers, one protruding gap filler, two frayed thermal barriers on the Nose Landing Gear Door (NLGD) and right Main Landing Gear Door (MLGD) respectively, and one as yet unidentified protruding item near the right ET door.<\/p>\n
The other areas of TPS damage identified in the MER report include one damage area on the base heat shield, two protruding gap fillers on the OMS pods (one on each pod), and one frayed blanket patch on the right OMS pod.<\/p>\n
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