STS-134 Endeavour

ynotdu

STS-134 coming together at last!:),been a long wait but the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer now fitted with its new systyms that will extend its lifetime to equal that of the of the space station is ready to ship Tuesday to the Kennedy Space centre.It will probe anti-matter and dark matter from its home on the ISS.
The changes made to this instrument is one of the main reasons the Space Shuttle programme will not end in September of this year as had been planned.
nice to have some hard news in the midst of all the rumour:)

http://www.zdnet.co.uk/news/emerging-tech/2010/08/20/cern-gets-ready-to-hunt-for-antimatter-in-space-40089872/

ynotdu

Tough choice were to put this post as it relevent to about 75% of threads on A&S.What seemed like an annoyance that delayed a Shuttle flight on further study used in conjuction with the large Hadron collider could be of hugh significance to the understanding of almost everything physics requires to unlock the secrets of our Universe,right to the end it gave the team in Geneva a headache,it did not want to leave the Nest! Not even on a Giant Kick-Ass American Military Transport plane!Today it lands at KSC.



Space detector prepares to scour universe for secrets
(AFP) – 15 hours ago
GENEVA — A huge physics detector that will scour outer space for clues to the origins of the universe began the first stage of its voyage to the International Space Station at Geneva airport on Wednesday.
The European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) loaded the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) onto a giant C5 Galaxy US military transport plane, which will fly it to the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida on Thursday.
"The AMS left the research centre on Tuesday and was loaded onto an aircraft specially sent by the US air force on Wednesday," CERN spokesman James Gillies told AFP.
The AMS detector is due to reach the space station on the last US Space Shuttle mission towards the end of February 2011, he added.
The AMS is meant to complement attempts by the world's biggest atom smasher at CERN, the Large Hadron Collider, to unravel some of the secrets of the creation of the universe and add to its scientific data.
The detector's main target is the search for dark matter and antimatter, two of the mysterious missing links in human knowledge of the universe and life on earth.
The AMS "must notably find where antimatter came from", Gillies explained, by searching for stars in far flung galaxies that scientists believe to be entirely made of antimatter.
Under the theoretical standard laws of physics, for every type of ordinary particle -- matter -- a corresponding "antiparticle" exists.
Despite the huge precautions and scientific precision surrounding the experiment, loading was delayed on Wednesday because of trouble squeezing the container into the aircraft.
The top of the container was eventually removed and covered with plastic to fit into the plane, CERN said.

eilejh

Thanks for posting that story. It actually did make major network news today in the US of A. I think journalists are now trying to latch on to the sig of impending last missions of Shuttles.
And/Or:
Underground activists are at work leaking info lol. For what end who knows. What I DO know is that I am awaiting breathlessly the e-mail from KSC re STS Discovery and also arrival of the UFO HUNTERS shirt I ordered.

There has been an upscale number of Space related stories in the major news in the United States in the last week.

eilejh

"Despite the huge precautions and scientific precision surrounding the experiment, loading was delayed on Wednesday because of trouble squeezing the container into the aircraft.
The top of the container was eventually removed and covered with plastic to fit into the plane, CERN said."


Houston you fixed the problem.

12april1981

http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=128738134&m=128738120

Found this today while listening to NPR

Beeker

Astronauts and twin brothers Scott and Mark Kelly are interviewed before their missions. Scott Kelly will be Expedition 26 Commander and Mark will be the STS-134 Commander. The two brothers may meet in space when space shuttle Endeavour docks to the International Space Station in early 2011.:)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsn0rAMpFlI

lord lucan

ET-122 get's hoisted into it's holding bay. This ET will fly with Endeavour on STS-134.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlIQTEwiKzQ

Stargate

lord lucan wrote: »

ET-122 get's hoisted into it's holding bay. This ET will fly with Endeavour on STS-134.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlIQTEwiKzQ

Leo , i forgot today to say , I LOVE your sig hahaha

Beeker

Launch date has slipped to February 27 at 20:38.

whynotdo

134 will be given an extra two days of flight and another EVA making a total of four,subject to approval of a Change Request(which is a given).

http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2010/10/sts-134-mission-officially-increase-by-two-days-one-eva/

Some nice ideas for those who did not get tickets for 133 and proably wont for STS-134,looks like a good second best to Me.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/10/17/1871601/final-shuttle-launches-promise.html

Stargate

whynotdo wrote: »

134 will be given an extra two days of flight and another EVA making a total of four,subject to approval of a Change Request(which is a given).

http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2010/10/sts-134-mission-officially-increase-by-two-days-one-eva/

Some nice ideas for those who did not get tickets for 133 and proably wont for STS-134,looks like a good second best to Me.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/10/17/1871601/final-shuttle-launches-promise.html

i`ll Go if someone will take me ha

whynotdo

Stargate wrote: »

i`ll Go if someone will take me ha

I will bring You SG, No problem................... are You willing to join Me aboard My bathtub with just a backpack to cross the Atlantic and a Square of choclate per day for rations,You can provide the tent and bail Me out when i am arrested!:D

whynotdo

whynotdo wrote: »

134 will be given an extra two days of flight and another EVA making a total of four,subject to approval of a Change Request(which is a given).

http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2010/10/sts-134-mission-officially-increase-by-two-days-one-eva/

Some nice ideas for those who did not get tickets for 133 and proably wont for STS-134,looks like a good second best to Me.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/10/17/1871601/final-shuttle-launches-promise.html

As expected the the Change request for 134 has been approved.
To make a long story short the 4th EVA is to replace a planned one by Astronauts Tracey Dyson Caldwell and Doug wheelock now safely home after the end of their part of Expedition 24 to the ISS via Soyuz TMA-18.They had the problem of replacing one of the two pump modules that keep the International Space Station cool.
It required three emergency Spacewalks by them to resolve the problem,and was the first time the ISS required an emergency Spacewalk:

As noted earlier this month, NASA managers decided to change STS-134′s mission content, by increasing the flight by two days, in order to accommodate an additional spacewalk (EVA-4). As expected, the change was approved by the all-powerful PRCB meeting last Thursday.
“Purpose: Approve Change Request (CR) to update the STS-134 Flight Definition and Requirements Document (FDRD): Mission Duration to 14+1 days. EVAs to 4+1,” noted the document presented to the PRCB (available on L2).
“Rationale of Change Request: Additional two docked days are required to perform the additional EVA during STS-134 mission. EVA added to perform FGB Power Data Grapple Fixture (PDGF) installation. Was to be performed during ISS US EVA 15 but deferred due to unscheduled Pump Module R&R.”
The decision wasn’t a surprise, with several pre-emptions of extending the mission already seen internally – and even publicly via one astronaut on twitter – with the presentation itself noting managers had already recommended “adding to the STS-134 flight at the 09/28/10 SSPCB (Space Station Program Control Board).”

Full details here:

http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2010/10/sts-134s-additional-eva-deferred-stage-work/

Beeker

Just came accross live coverage of the STS-134 stacked boosters being moved from high bay 1 to high bay 3. Not something you see very often:)

whynotdo

Beeker wrote: »

Just came accross live coverage of the STS-134 stacked boosters being moved from high bay 1 to high bay 3. Not something you see very often

Nice one Beeker,even if it makes it look like Endeavour got impatient and launched without them:)

Beeker

Looking ahead to Endeavour's flight next February:)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXuwV-iLgWc

lord lucan

STS-134 will now slip to at least April 1st because of delays to STS-133.

Beeker

lord lucan wrote: »

STS-134 will now slip to at least April 1st because of delays to STS-133.

08:15 launch time.

Beeker

Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords who was shot yesterday is the wife of STS-134 commander Mark Kelly and Sister-in-law to ISS commander Scott Kelly currently in Orbit.

clln

Beeker wrote: »

Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords who was shot yesterday is the wife of STS-134 commander Mark Kelly and Sister-in-law to ISS commander Scott Kelly currently in Orbit.

Too early to tell but Mark is from the USAF who's policy is to stand down pilots who are known to be under severe family stress.
Rumour on Net that if NASA or himself don't stand him down he might ask to swap commands with the still notional STS-135.

Really weird for Me that of all the hundreds of Senators and house of Reps of Congress i knew Gabrielle Giffords! She was the only woman who spoke in the house of representitives in the emergency one hour debate,and She spoke against the bill Obama signed in the end.

She was against the cancellation of Constellation,not to save money but to say so much had already been spent on it it should be kept going (Rocket engineers had said the 4 stage AresV would have shook its payload to bits(as in Skylab wrecked at launch by vibrations from a Saturn 1B)

She said it was all crazy and said either give NASA more money or don't ask them to do so much

well whatever happens God Speed her and Mark to a quality of life they fought so hard for.

Scott Kelly,Marks twin brother and in orbit until March observed the minutes silence but not before he had a few barbed comments about shootings in the USA.

http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/videogallery/index.html?media_id=50674531

thecommander

Backup commander replaces Kelly in near-term training

Conor108

clln wrote: »

Too early to tell but Mark is from the USAF who's policy is to stand down pilots who are known to be under severe family stress.

Maybe wikipedia is wrong but it says both Mark and Scott are active-duty US Navy on loan to NASA. Minor point I know

Beeker

Launch set for April 19 at 19:48 EST so that would be an April 20 00:48 launch for us.
NASA will also probally call for an examination of Endeavours tank in advance of rollout to the pad.

Beeker

Conor108 wrote: »

Maybe wikipedia is wrong but it says both Mark and Scott are active-duty US Navy on loan to NASA. Minor point I know

Yeah NASA bios show both are USN.

clln

Conor108 wrote: »

Maybe wikipedia is wrong but it says both Mark and Scott are active-duty US Navy on loan to NASA. Minor point I know

Hi Conor indeed You are right and thank You for setting it straight,that will teach Me not to believe what i read in the papers!:)

http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/kellyme.html

MonkeyDoo

Astronaut Scott Kelly was giving a presentation at the infamous FAS Jobs expo in Croke Park a few years back, he came acrose as a nice bloke.

Beeker

External tank for Endeavour's STS-134 flight was attached to the boosters in the last few days. Launch due April 19th.

clln

speech. from her homepage,She seems to be doing remarakably well,only 5% of people shot through the head survive,doctors say.
I am sure if She manage's to speak she will tell him to get his ass into space on 134......hope that can work out for them both!



BTW the ribbon You can see on Marks top was worn by all members of congress for the six who died and of course Gabrielle herself.
call it corny,but i think it was sweet.

Beeker

clln wrote: »

speech. from her homepage,She seems to be doing remarakably well,only 5% of people shot through the head survive,doctors say.
I am sure if She manage's to speak she will tell him to get his ass into space on 134......hope that can work out for them both!



BTW the ribbon You can see on Marks top was worn by all members of congress for the six who died and of course Gabrielle herself.
call it corny,but i think it was sweet.

Lucky woman, sure hope all goes well for them and she would certainly want him to fly.

Beeker

Endeavour will roll over to the VAB on Feb 28 ahead of her April 19 launch.

clln

nice to see that no chances are being taken with 134's tank.

Although ET-122 is a much older tank, when compared to STS-133′s ET-137 and STS-135′s ET-138, due diligence was once again placed first by Shuttle managers late last week, as they decided to press ahead of the installation of radius blocks to STS-134′s tank.
Currently located in High Bay 3 (HB-3) of the VAB, ET-122 – stacked with its two Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs) – is already undergoing shakedown operations for the modification which provides additional strength to the stringers, mitigating the potential of cracks forming.
The opening effort revolved around physical inspections of the stringers via the use of borescope examinations. It is understood that no obvious issues were found during the inspections, which included a check for signs of the “mottled” material on the stringers – one of the root causes for ET-137′s cracks during the scrubbed November launch countdown.
“Borescopes from inside the intertank to detect mottled metal on ET-122 stringers is complete,” noted the NTD report for ET-122. “The data and results are being passed onto the respective engineering organizations for further analysis and discussions.”
In the end, managers decided to approve the modification plan – a mirror of the work conducted on ET-137, bar the doublers which were installed over stringers which had already cracked – as a failsafe, as opposed to any direct observations.

Beeker

clln wrote: »

nice to see that no chances are being taken with 134's tank.

+1 to that. Better safe than sorry!

Beeker

NASA will hold a news conference to discuss command of the STS-134 space shuttle mission at 2 p.m. CST {20:00 Irish time} Friday, Feb. 4, at the agency's Johnson Space Center in Houston.
We should find out is Mark Kelly will fly and step aside.

lord lucan

Kelly has resumed training and will fly on STS-134 as Commander.

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html

clln

lord lucan wrote: »

Kelly has resumed training and will fly on STS-134 as Commander.

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html

Fantastic news!:)

irishgeo

any chance of seeing any of the last 2 shuttle launches from ireland?

lord lucan

irishgeo wrote: »

any chance of seeing any of the last 2 shuttle launches from ireland?

The way STS-133 has worked out in terms of ever-shifting launch dates i'd hate to call the last few launches. I think(not 100%) that there's a chance that Discovery(STS-133) may be visible(just) if she launches at her current targeted launch date(24/2 @ 21.50 our time). We'll have gone well into the hours of darkness by then unfortunately but depending on her track and how far south of Ireland she flies it may be possible.

Love to see it one more time before they go,the craic on the A&S forum when Endeavour was visible was brilliant.:)

irishgeo

lord lucan wrote: »

The way STS-133 has worked out in terms of ever-shifting launch dates i'd hate to call the last few launches. I think(not 100%) that there's a chance that Discovery(STS-133) may be visible(just) if she launches at her current targeted launch date(24/2 @ 21.50 our time). We'll have gone well into the hours of darkness by then unfortunately but depending on her track and how far south of Ireland she flies it may be possible.

Love to see it one more time before they go,the craic on the A&S forum when Endeavour was visible was brilliant.:)

for ever grateful to your guys on here for letting me know about that, just caught sight of it between the clouds on achill island. saw it coming from west and then lost in a cloud and caught site of it again when the could moved just as the external tank was separated. it was heading south, i was thinking it was going to west to east and not west to south.

lord lucan

Just for the craic,here's the thread from July 2009 when Endeavour was visible after launch. The first 12 pages or so cover the scrubs before she finally got away. Great buzz here that night.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055618844&highlight=space+shuttle+visible

clln

This was Endeavour passing over Kilcullen Ireland on that memorable occasion,i will never forget it!

lord lucan

And here's Mark Kelly back in training with his crewmates.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHzEsXUfqD0

Beeker

clln wrote: »

This was Endeavour passing over Kilcullen Ireland on that memorable occasion,i will never forget it!

Nice to see thanks!:)

lord lucan

Whilst Discovery flies her final lap of honour,Endeavour rolls over to the VAB tomorrow to be mated with her ET and SRB's. She's due to rollout to 39A on March 9th.

Tenger

lord lucan wrote: »

Whilst Discovery flies her final lap of honour,Endeavour rolls over to the VAB tomorrow to be mated with her ET and SRB's. She's due to rollout to 39A on March 9th.

Is that not very early for a June launch?

Oops, mea culpa. Its Endeavour for April, then Atlantis for June/July.

ceejay

STS-134 is due to go April 19th, it's STS-135 that's in June - though the payload looks like it won't be ready so it's likely to be delayed into early July I think.

Beeker

Endeavour rolls over to the VAB for the final time ahead of STS-134

thecommander

Beeker wrote: »

[/URL]

Actually in front.

Beeker

thecommander wrote: »

Actually in front.

:D:D

Beeker

Endeavour connected up to the crane awaiting lift to be mated to its external tank and booster stack.

eilejh

I LOVE Endeavour! I hope I get ticketssssssssss...........