**The most comprehensive collection of Shuttle, Ares, Orion and ISS related presentations and mission documentation, plus expansive daily processing documentation and updates are available to download on L2<\/em><\/font> **<\/em><\/font><\/font><\/em><\/em><\/p>\n Special STS-118 L2 Section continues with post flight documentation (over 1,800mb of MMT level documentation already uploaded into the section \u2013 which includes processing memos, mission notes, videos, handbooks, checklists.)<\/p>\n Re-live very special live updates of actual NASA mission notes direct from mission control, allowing you to follow the mission at the same time as NASA, along with real NASA\/USA engineers helping update and explain status live. All totally unavailable anywhere else on the net.<\/p>\n **LIVE news updates on Endeavour STS-118 Post Flight and STS-123 Processing**<\/font><\/em><\/p>\n **LIVE news updates on Atlantis STS-122 Processing**<\/font><\/em><\/p>\n Spaceflight news subscription (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});<\/p>\n **LIVE news updates on Discovery STS-120 Processing**<\/font><\/em><\/p>\n Article:<\/u><\/em><\/p>\n Endeavour is undergoing the dual post-flight and pre-flight STS-123 processing inside of OPF-2, following her first flight in nearly five years. The mission was a huge success, with all mission goals achieved, along with the debuting of both the SSPTS (Station-to-Shuttle Power Transfer System)<\/font> and the new three-string GPS.<\/p>\n Four EVAs were carried out, with all of STS-118\u2019s International Space Station (ISS) assembly tasks completed, earning the praise of shuttle manager Wayne Hale. <\/p>\n \u2018\u2026spectacularly pleased with the wonderful mission we completed. It was truly an extraordinary flight. All planned work was completed, plus extra activities. The crew, Flight Control Team, training folks and entire team are to be congratulated,\u2019 noted Hale to his team during a Shuttle Stand-up\/Integration meeting.<\/p>\n \u2018Everyone should take time to reflect on what a great job we have and how very lucky we are to be involved in this endeavor. It\u2019s a great time to be part of this organization. We have many more flights ahead of us.\u2019 <\/p>\n However, the mission only gained increased mass media attention once tile damage near Endeavour\u2019s starboard Landing Gear Door was revealed. <\/p>\n Resulting from a small piece of foam liberating from a LO2 feedline bracket, 58 seconds during ascent, before unluckily bouncing off the aft strut of the External Tank and deflecting up on to Endeavour\u2019s TPS (Thermal Protection System), the damage was spotted during Flight Day 3\u2019s Rbar Pitch Maneuver (RPM).<\/font><\/p>\n Imagery from the RPM was analyzed on the ground, leading to the call for a Focused Inspection<\/font> \u2013 the first since STS-114 \u2013 which utilized the OBSS (Orbiter Boom Sensor System) suite of lasers and cameras<\/font>. <\/p>\n That provided teams on the ground with a 3D map of the gouge, allowing for computational models and test articles of the damage to be re-created on the ground for ArcJet testing, which simulated how the area would perform during re-entry<\/font>.<\/p>\n Despite the damage being historically less than that previously observed on orbiters which have landed safely, several days of evaluations took place, allowing a full overview of options to be provided. This took place ahead of the final MMT (Mission Management Team) meeting that consisted of over 200 engineers pouring over the thermal fluid dynamics data and flight history, allowing them to provide their assessments for the MMT decision<\/font>. <\/p>\n Only one department (the conservative JSC Engineering) and two engineers (one USA, one Lockheed Martin<\/font> \u2013 the latter withdrawing his opinion a day before the MMT) dissented against leaving the damage \u2018as is\u2019 \u2013 with everyone else concuring that a repair was either not required, or could have made the issue worse.<\/p>\n Despite the open evaluation process, including summarized overviews via the daily MSB (Mission Status Briefing) press briefings, some sections of the media questioned the rationale behind the decision not to repair \u2013 and also why it took so long to come to a decision \u2013 in some cases using letters from their readership as the basis of questioning the conclusion of the MMT.<\/p>\n This in particular annoyed Steve Poulos, NASA\u2019s orbiter project manager, who \u2013 one day after the MMT decision was made \u2013 sent an e-mail about his frustrations to NASA PAO (Public Affairs Office). That e-mail was copied \u2013 or forwarded \u2013 to a large section of the shuttle workforce. <\/p>\n \u2018I feel a need to vent a little relative to some of the articles today (the day after the MMT decision) and the comments from \u2018outside experts\u2019 who believe we should repair just because we can; or, we took so long to make a decision, therefore, there must be a problem, etc,\u2019 wrote Poulos. <\/p>\n \u2018After spending 4-plus years on this Program and being integrally involved with all aspects of the process we use to clear the vehicle as safe for re-entry, we executed everything exactly how we planned before RTF (Return To Flight). <\/p>\n \u2018The damage was identified during RPM photography, a focused inspection was requested, the imagery (laser and visual) was used to develop our analytical and test article models, the analysis was performed exactly as we practiced (with some minor mods), and all the results were synthesized to allow for a high confidence recommendation. <\/p>\n \u2018The fact that we took 4-5 days is partly due to the amount of work required, but it also included the independent reviews we requested to ensure are methodology was accurate.<\/p>\n \u2018I am personally amazed at how well all the Teams performed (DAT, Team 4, Flight Controllers, MMT, etc.). I think everyone put the right level of emphasis and concern into this damage that it deserved, and the discussions, questions, alternate opinions expressed, and conclusions were all right on the mark. <\/p>\n \u2018We have trained ourselves to work with data and not assumptions, and this is what will make us successful as we continue to explore.\u2019<\/p>\n However, the actual result of how Endeavour performed during re-entry has only now been fully revealed, following the removal of all the damaged tiles, enabling a closer look at the underlying structure that the tiles are there to protect the orbiter against the heat of re-entry. <\/p>\n No damage, or even any evidence of heating, was found on the structure. <\/p>\n \u2018Engineering has inspected the orbiter structure underneath the impacted tile beneath the right hand wing and have found no evidence of heat related,\u2019 noted processing information this week. \u2018No further testing will be required.\u2019<\/p>\n Over the years, NASA managers have usually had to deal with negative media with either polite responses or silence. This now appears to be changing, both internally and externally.<\/p>\n Publically, a recent opinion editorial in the Houston Chronicle<\/font>, which was filled with inaccuracies and \u2013 for lack of a better word, bile \u2013 about NASA, received an open letter from Johnson Space Center director, Michael Coats, putting the record straight<\/font>.<\/p>\n Internally, Hale has also started to make his feelings known, targeting the same op-ed, during the latest Shuttle Stand-up\/Integration meeting. <\/p>\n \u2018In regards to a recent article in a local newspaper that the facts were incorrect\u2026any reasonably informed reader would recognize the errors in fact and also should understand the criticism of NASA\u2019s performance in the article is not well founded,\u2019 Hale said, with his comments transcribed into the Stand-Up report.<\/p>\n \u2018(Mr Hale) recommended folks in the Shuttle Program not be concerned about this or other criticisms in the media that are negative or unfounded, and just concentrate on their work to help NASA continue operating successfully.\u2019<\/p>\n Negative media for NASA is nothing new, but recent trends appear to be verging more and more on sensationalizing issues that are worked on most shuttle missions, a norm for ensuring safe flight for the shuttle. <\/p>\n Thankfully, it appears NASA management no longer is going to just sit back and take it.<\/p>\n L2 members<\/font>: All documentation \u2013 from which the above article has quoted snippets \u2013 is available in full in the related L2 sections, updated live.<\/em><\/p>\n **STARLIGHT: STS-117 MISSION REVIEW MUSIC VIDEO**<\/font><\/em><\/font> <\/em><\/font><\/p>\n **ROCK YOU LIKE A HURRICANE: STS-117 MISSION REVIEW MUSIC VIDEO \u2013 AS SEEN BY THE STS-117 CREW!!**<\/font> -. **NASASpaceflight.com Job Opportunities**<\/em><\/font> Engineers have found no heat damage to Endeavour\u2019s structure, following the removal of the damaged tiles from her belly during OPF (Orbiter Processing Facility) post flight processing. The results add increased justification to NASA\u2019s decision not to carry out an on orbit repair during STS-118, which was the subject of some critical media reports \u2013 […]<\/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-41612","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41612"}],"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=41612"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41612\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41612"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}**Ride home through the fire, sparks and plasma of re-entry with Atlantis, Discovery and Endeavour. FOUR Stunning high quality 2hr, 355-400mb Camcorder and HUD videos \u2013 from payload bay closure \u2013 through re-entry with a astronaut held camcorder video \u2013 to post landing \u2013 several more videos showing landing from 90,000 ft also available**<\/font><\/p>\n
<\/font>The repair \u2013 or return \u2018as-is\u2019 \u2013 decision was never based around the safety of the vehicle and crew, with the worst case scenario being a 10 week repair schedule in the OPF. That was later downgraded.<\/p>\n
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