\n
**L2 STS-115 Coverage: ALL related handbooks, from Final Flight Plan to Robotics to EVA Presentations (620mb of 115 presentations downloadable).<\/p>\n Refer to live pages for up to the second updates.<\/p>\n ALL STS-115 related videos \u2013 Free<\/font><\/em><\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n Atlantis\u2019 first opportunity to land at the Kennedy Space Center is now 06:21 EDT (11:21am UK Time) on Thursday morning.<\/p>\n During most of the latter part of today, controllers at the Johnson Space Center in Houston have been driving the camera placed on the end of the Shuttle Robotic Arm to check the along the exposed parts of Atlantis\u2019 Thermal Protection System (TPS), Cargo Bay and body. <\/font><\/p>\n <\/p>\n So far nothing of concern has turned up, although \u2013 to be on the safe side \u2013 more inspections will take place tomorrow, with five hours worth of inspections taking place with the camera on the end of the Robotic Arm. Further inspections with the OBSS can take place \u2013 if required \u2013 later in the day. <\/font><\/p>\n \u2018We have spent the day talking about the plan for tomorrow,\u2019 said Hale. \u2018We have not yet had a definitive characterisation of that apparently very small object (we observed) in the video. We don\u2019t have any more information, apart from that it was a dark colour. <\/font><\/p>\n \u2018It appears to be tumbling, and it also appears to be rectangular in shape, but we have no scale to reference with that photography \u2013 so we still have a bit of a mystery there. <\/font><\/p>\n \u2018But we have decided, seen as we have the time and we have the capability that we will go off and do a survey of the critical parts of the orbiter.\u2019 <\/font><\/p>\n That has already been aided, when it comes to protective tiles and thermal blankets, given NASA would have spotted thermal variations in any exposed part of Atlantis\u2019 outer skin, as she travels between day and night many times per day whilst on orbit. <\/font><\/p>\n \u2018We have already cleared many parts of the orbiter (through that data),\u2019 confirmed Hale. \u2018And we\u2019ve spotted nothing missing.\u2019 Though deemed as a non constraint for re-entry, it appears it could have been displaced \u2013 from its position near the Port ET door \u2013 during testing of Atlantis\u2019 Flight Control Systems, and is now being seen floating away from the orbiter.<\/p>\n \u2018A likely candidate is that piece of Shim Stock that we saw sticking out from the underside of the orbiter,\u2019 added Hale. \u2018It\u2019s very likely that during the Flight Control System check out provided the impudence, the shock, the vibration \u2013 as if you were driving over potholes \u2013 to shake that loose and drive it out.<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n <\/font><\/font><\/p>\n \u2018We don\u2019t know for sure, but it\u2019s a highly likely candidate.\u2019<\/p>\n Hale noted that the temptation was to check the area of the TPS where the Shim Stock was located, thus clearing the orbiter, was in evidence at the MMT (Mission Management Team) meeting. <\/p>\n However, given the Robotic Arm is already out and in use, the opportunity to check over Atlantis was the best course of action \u2013 it was decided.<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n **DETERMINED STS-115 MUSIC VIDEO**<\/em> \u2013 <\/em><\/font> <\/p>\n **NASASpaceflight.com Job Opportunities**<\/em><\/font> <\/em><\/font><\/p>\n <\/u><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/font><\/font><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Shuttle Atlantis\u2019 return home has been moved back a day, until Thursday morning, due to poor weather at the Kennedy Space Center, and continued analysis by NASA managers\/Tiger Team to ascertain what an Unidentified Falling Object (UFO) may be, after it was spotted near the orbiter. Shuttle manager Wayne Hale believes the object is likely […]<\/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-41933","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41933"}],"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=41933"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41933\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41933"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41933"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41933"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}**STS-115: LIVE COUNTDOWN AND LAUNCH Update Page** \u2013 **Flight Day 2** **Flight Day 3** **Flight Day 4 ** **Flight Day 5** **Flight Day 6** **Flight Day 7** **Flight Day 8** **Flight Day 9** **Flight Days 10-11 \u2013 LIVE**<\/font><\/font>
<\/em><\/p>\n
What could be missing, however, is the orange strip of plastic that was seen sticking out of Atlantis\u2019 TPS on Flight Day 3, known as a Shim Stock.<\/p>\n<\/em><\/p>\n
(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><\/font><\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n<\/em><\/font>
<\/em><\/font>
<\/em><\/font>LIVE UPDATE PAGES<\/em><\/font><\/p>\n