STS-134 Endeavour

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!