**The most comprehensive collection of STS-117 onwards related presentions and mission documentation \u2013 not available anywhere else on the public net \u2013 are <\/em>available to download on L2<\/em> <\/em>**<\/em><\/p>\n **LIVE news updates on Atlantis STS-117 \u2013 ET repair latest**<\/em><\/p>\n **LIVE news updates on Endeavour STS-118 (LON-318) Processing**<\/em><\/p>\n **LIVE news updates on Discovery STS-122 (LON-322) Processing**<\/em><\/p>\n <\/font>Related Notes and Presentations on L2, including: New FAWG Manifests \u2013 Post ET Damage. Daily Ops Reports. The NASA and Lockheed Martin notes on the ET damage (VAST), plus new images and many downloadable presentations. ET Manifest (Lockheed Martin) ET-117 Production Milestone Presentations, \u2018through to\u2019 STS-124 Baseline Mission Presentations, plus more,<\/em> available to download on L2.<\/em><\/font><\/p>\n Spaceflight history books (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});<\/p>\n **Previous articles on the damage events: Article 1 \u2013 Article 2 \u2013 Article 3 \u2013 Article 4 \u2013 Article 5** Click for more screenshots of the damage.<\/p>\n <\/font>**FREE 100mb video of the NASA ET Damage press briefing** \u2013 required to login to forum.<\/em><\/font><\/p>\n While some sanding and preparation work has already started on the top of the ET, the full process \u2013 from complete inspection, to repairs, to qualification and then rollout back to Pad 39A \u2013 is still believed to be a six week\/45 day process, which would delay STS-117 from launching before May 11.<\/p>\n However, the most recent presentations do \u2018sign off\u2019 on some previous concerns, which in turn may reduce the timeline for repairs and possibly increase the chances of a late April launch target.<\/p>\n \u2018ET-124 experienced significant hail damage at Pad A. Damage consists of numerous sites (>1000) of crushed \/ damaged TPS (Thermal Protection System \u2013 Foam),\u2019 noted a Lockheed Martin overview presentation on Thursday, backed up by similar update presentations on Friday. \u2018Similar hail-induced damage occurred on ET-100 (<1000).\u2019<\/p>\n One of the first \u2018hands on\u2019 processes was the application of a red dye to the very top of the ET LOX section foam. However, the special mix did not work to plan, leading to a request for more supplies to be trucked over from the Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF) in New Orleans.<\/font><\/p>\n \u2018Found that the big bottles of dye that the mix is created form had not been opened in 10 years. There was no shelf life expiration issue, but the components were unacceptable (dried up),\u2019 noted one presentation. \u2018PRACA will be initiated to cover the discrepant material and we are currently getting more from mix components from MAF. New dye is currently being transported from MAF by truck.\u2019<\/p>\n To inspect the tank \u2013 and carry out the repairs \u2013 several platforms were installed this week, including scaffolding. Most of these access points are now in place, although a couple of \u2018remote\u2019 areas won\u2019t have access completed until next Monday.<\/p>\n The staggering amount of information gained by engineers show that NASA is utilizing a number of centers for the repair effort, including get-ahead tasks at MSFC (Marshall Space Flight Center) \u2013 who will aid the thermography effort. <\/p>\n \u2018Nose cone \u2013 Complete, No rejectable indications: 3 minor observations noted. Distorted fabric. No exposed, broken fibers, delaminations etc,\u2019 added another encouraging presentation that was outlined to NASA\u2019s PRCB (Program Requirements Control Board) meeting. \u2018Thermography technique in work at MSFC. Plan to ship equipment to KSC Monday 3\/11\/07.<\/p>\n \u2018Intertank door \u2013 Complete, No rejectable indications. Ultrasonic Inspection is being staged for shipment for NDE next week. GH2 press line fairing \u2013 Complete, No rejectable indications. 2 minor observations. Ultrasonic Inspection is being staged for shipment for NDE next week. \u2018LO2 Tank Ogive and Barrel TPS. Numerous defects were observed, but the density and severity is less than that observed in the pencil sharpened area. No areas were identified for possible BX-265 repair. Preliminarily expect PDL repairs, use-as-is and blend type repairs at this location.\u2019 <\/font><\/p>\n Also encouraging are repairs to Atlantis herself, with most of the tile damage \u2013 to the tip of her left wing \u2013 now repaired. <\/font><\/p>\n \u2018Identified 28 repairs on Orbiter TPS. Twenty are currently complete. Need to provide access to finish up the job,\u2019 noted the most recent Shuttle Standup\/Integration report.<\/p>\n Same applies for the observed damage to the Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBS), with the report adding: \u2018SRB inspections are complete. Found very little damage attributed to hail. Engineering evaluation is in work on things they did find.\u2019 <\/p>\n The next key milestone with returning the tank back to flight status will be the evaluation of repair techniques on a test article at MAF. Should those repair efforts prove to be a success, those processes will be immediately translated on to ET-124, mitigating the possibility of a \u2018bad repair\u2019 on the tank.<\/font><\/p>\n <\/font>Further articles will follow. Please refer to the live update pages on L2 (for NASA presentations, memos, emails and images) and on Atlantis\u2019 section (open to all)<\/em>. **INFINITY: 10 minute STS MUSIC VIDEO**<\/font><\/em><\/font> \u2013 **NASASpaceflight.com Job Opportunities**<\/em><\/font> <\/font><\/em><\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" NASA, United Space Alliance and Lockheed Martin engineers have completed an exhaustive overview of the main areas of damage sustained to Atlantis\u2019 External Tank (ET-124) and are now begining to carrying out repairs. A series of presentations acquired by this site downgrade areas of concern that do not meet \u201cPost Build Acceptance Criteria\u201d to around […]<\/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-41777","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41777"}],"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=41777"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41777\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41777"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41777"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41777"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Those 1000 items are classified as crushed foam, caused by the freak hail storm late in February. <\/font><\/p>\n<\/font>**Ride home through the fire and plasma of re-entry with Atlantis on STS-115 \u2013 And now also with Discovery on STS-116 \u2013 TWO Stunning high quality 2hr, 355mb videos \u2013 from deorbit burn to post landing**<\/font><\/p>\n
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<\/em>(Video section is FREE, but you need to sign up as a member of the forum to enter the video section of the site. We only use your e-mail to send you your password. It will not be used for spam etc.)<\/em><\/font><\/em><\/p>\n