NASASpaceFlight.com Forum
NASA Shuttle Specific Sections => Atlantis (Post STS-135, T&R) => Topic started by: jacqmans on 03/23/2010 04:07 pm
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MEDIA ADVISORY: M15-10
NEWS MEDIA INVITED TO VIEW RUSSIAN RESEARCH MODULE ON MARCH 25
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - NASA and the Russian Federal Space Agency,
Roscosmos, will host a media opportunity at 10 a.m. EDT on Thursday,
March 25, to showcase the Mini Research Module-1, known as Rassvet.
The event will be held at the Astrotech facility in Port Canaveral,
Fla., where the module is being prepared for flight on shuttle
Atlantis' STS-132 mission, targeted for launch on May 14.
During the event, reporters will have the opportunity to speak with
RSC Energia project managers processing the element for flight. RSC
Energia is the prime contractor to Roscosmos for the design,
development and processing of the module.
Media planning to attend the event must contact Tracy Young at
321-867-9284 or [email protected] by 4 p.m. Wednesday, March 24.
Media need to arrive at the Astrotech facility in Port Canaveral by
9:45 a.m. The facility is located at 620 Magellan Road, south of Cape
Canaveral Air Force Station. Participants must be dressed in
full-length pants, flat shoes that entirely cover the feet, and
shirts with sleeves.
Rassvet, which translates to "dawn," will be used for cargo storage
and will provide an additional docking port to the International
Space Station. Rassvet will be attached to the Earth-facing port of
the Zarya control module.
For information about the STS-132 mission, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle
For information on the space station, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/station
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MEDIA ADVISORY: M10-050
NASA SETS MEDIA CREDENTIAL DEADLINES FOR NEXT SPACE SHUTTLE FLIGHT
WASHINGTON -- NASA has set media accreditation deadlines for the May
space shuttle flight to the International Space Station. Shuttle
Atlantis and six astronauts are targeted to launch the STS-132
mission on May 14 from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Deadlines for international journalists to apply for the shuttle
rollout and Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test are as early as
April 12.
The 12-day flight will be the 32nd and final scheduled flight for
Atlantis. The mission includes three spacewalks and will deliver the
Russian-made Mini Research Module, a new communications antenna and
batteries for one of the station's solar arrays.
Reporters must apply for credentials to attend the launch or cover the
mission from other NASA centers. To be accredited, reporters must
work for verifiable news-gathering organizations. No substitutions of
credentials are allowed at any NASA facility.
Additional time may be required to process accreditation requests by
journalists from certain designated countries. Designated countries
include those with which the United States has no diplomatic
relations, countries on the State Department's list of state sponsors
of terrorism, those under U.S. sanction or embargo, and countries
associated with proliferation concerns. Please contact the
accrediting NASA center for details. Journalists should confirm they
have been accredited before traveling.
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER
Reporters applying for credentials at Kennedy should submit requests
via the Web at:
https://media.ksc.nasa.gov
Reporters must use work e-mail addresses, not personal accounts, when
applying. After accreditation is approved, applicants will receive
confirmation via e-mail. Accredited media representatives with
mission badges will have access to Kennedy from launch through the
end of the mission.
The application deadline for mission badges is May 2 for all reporters
requesting credentials.
Atlantis' move from the Vehicle Assembly Building, or VAB, to Launch
Pad 39A, planned for April 20, follows its rollover from Orbiter
Processing Facility-1 to the VAB, which is targeted for April 13.
Launch dress rehearsal activities, known as the Terminal Countdown
Demonstration Test, or TCDT, and related training are scheduled for
April 21-23. To attend rollout and the TCDT, international
journalists must apply by 5 p.m. EDT April 12 to allow time for
processing. U.S. media representatives must apply by April 16. Media
badges will be valid for both activities.
Reporters with special logistic requests for Kennedy, such as space
for satellite trucks, trailers, electrical connections or work space,
must contact Laurel Lichtenberger by May 2 at:
[email protected]
There is no longer free wireless Internet access provided at Kennedy's
news center. Work space in the news center and the news center annex
is provided on a first-come basis, limited to one space per
organization. To set up temporary telephone, fax, ISDN or network
lines, media representatives must make arrangements with BellSouth at
800-213-4988. Reporters must have an assigned seat in the Kennedy
newsroom prior to setting up lines. To obtain an assigned seat,
contact Patricia Christian at:
[email protected]
Journalists must have a public affairs escort to all other areas of
Kennedy except the Launch Complex 39 cafeteria.
JOHNSON SPACE CENTER
Reporters may obtain credentials for NASA's Johnson Space Center in
Houston by calling the center's newsroom at 281-483-5111 or by
presenting STS-132 mission credentials from Kennedy. Media
representatives planning to cover the mission only from Johnson need
to apply for credentials only at the center. The application deadline
for mission badges is May 6 for all reporters requesting credentials.
Journalists covering the mission from Johnson using Kennedy
credentials must contact the center's newsroom by May 6 to arrange
workspace, phone lines and other logistics. Johnson is responsible
for credentialing media if the shuttle lands at NASA's White Sands
Space Harbor, N.M. If a landing is imminent at White Sands, Johnson
will arrange credentials.
DRYDEN FLIGHT RESEARCH CENTER, EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, CALIF.
Notice for a shuttle landing at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center
in Edwards Air Force Base in California could be short. Domestic
media outlets should consider accrediting Los Angeles-based personnel
who could travel quickly to Dryden.
Deadlines for submitting Dryden accreditation requests are April 19
for non-U.S. media, regardless of citizenship, and May 20 for U.S.
media who are U.S. citizens or who have permanent residency status.
For Dryden media credentials, U.S. citizens representing domestic
media outlets must provide their full name, date of birth, place of
birth, media organization, driver's license number with the name of
the issuing state, and the last six digits of their social security
number.
In addition to the above requirements, foreign media representatives,
regardless of citizenship, must provide data including their
citizenship, visa or passport number and its expiration date. Foreign
nationals representing either domestic or foreign media who have
permanent residency status must provide their alien registration
number and expiration date.
Journalists should fax requests for credentials on company letterhead
to 661-276-3566 or e-mail requests to:
[email protected]
Requests must include a phone number and business e-mail address for
follow-up contact. Journalists who previously requested credentials
will not need to do so again.
NASA PUBLIC AFFAIRS CONTACTS:
Kennedy Space Center: Allard Beutel, 321-867-2468,
[email protected]
Johnson Space Center: James Hartsfield, 281-483-5111,
[email protected]
Dryden Flight Research Center: Leslie Williams, 661-276-3893,
[email protected]
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MEDIA ADVISORY: M21-10
NASA'S SHUTTLE ATLANTIS MOVES TO LAUNCH PAD, LIFTOFF PRACTICE SET
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Media are invited to cover space shuttle
Atlantis' move from the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Pad 39A
and the STS-132 crew's launch dress rehearsal at NASA's Kennedy Space
Center, Fla.
Rollout currently is scheduled for 12:01 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, April
20, but could move to 8 p.m. on Monday, April 19. The Terminal
Countdown Demonstration Test, or TCDT, and related training are
scheduled from April 20-23. All times listed below are for an April
20 rollout.
Media with permanent Kennedy credentials, shuttle Discovery's STS-131
mission credentials, and those credentialed specifically for
Atlantis' rollout and TCDT for the STS-132 mission to the
International Space Station are invited to cover the beginning of the
move starting at 12:01 a.m. until two hours following Atlantis' first
motion. Viewing will only be available from Kennedy's Press Site
property. There will be no availability to cover first motion from
other locations.
Live coverage of the move will be shown on NASA Television beginning
at 6:30 a.m. Video highlights of the move will air on the NASA TV
Video File.
To attend rollout and the TCDT, international journalists must apply
by 5 p.m. April 12 to allow time for processing. U.S. media
representatives must apply by April 16. Media badges will be valid
for both activities.
Reporters requesting accreditation must apply online at:
https://media.ksc.nasa.gov
Badges for the events may be picked up on April 19 at 4 p.m., at the
Kennedy Space Center Badging Office on State Road 405.
On April 19, international media must arrive at the Kennedy Pass and
Identification Building on State Road 3 before 11 p.m. for
transportation to the Press Site for Atlantis' rollout. This will be
the only pick-up opportunity due to limited staffing. Reporters will
be returned to their vehicles two hours after the start of the move.
On April 20, there will be a 6:30 a.m. photo opportunity, followed by
an 8:30 a.m. interview availability with Atlantis Flow Director Angie
Brewer. Reporters must arrive at Kennedy's news center by 6 a.m. for
transportation to the viewing area. Foreign media must arrive at the
Kennedy Space Center Badging Office on State Road 405 at 5:30 a.m.
for transportation to the Press Site.
Atlantis' astronauts and ground crews will participate in the Terminal
Countdown Demonstration Test related training starting April 20. TCDT
provides each shuttle crew with an opportunity to participate in
various simulated countdown activities, including equipment
familiarization and emergency training. Media events associated with
the test and badge pickup information will be announced at a later
date.
The six astronauts for Atlantis' STS-132 mission will deliver an
Integrated Cargo Carrier and the Russian-built Mini Research Module-1
to the International Space Station. Launch is targeted for May 14 at
2:19 p.m. EDT.
For NASA TV downlink information, schedules and links to streaming
video, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/ntv
For more information about the STS-132 mission and crew, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts132/index.html
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MEDIA ADVISORY: M10-056
NASA TO PREVIEW FINAL SCHEDULED FLIGHT OF SPACE SHUTTLE ATLANTIS
HOUSTON - NASA will preview the next space shuttle mission, the final
scheduled flight of space shuttle Atlantis, during a series of news
briefings Monday, May 3, at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.
NASA Television and the agency's Web site will broadcast the
briefings live. Reporters will be able to ask questions from
participating NASA locations.
Atlantis is targeted to launch May 14 on the STS-132 mission to the
International Space Station. The shuttle will deliver the
Russian-built Mini Research Module, also known as the Rassvet module,
which means "dawn" in Russian, to the station. The flight also will
deliver critical spare parts and cargo. Three spacewalks are planned
during the 12-day mission. Following STS-132, two more shuttle
flights remain scheduled.
Ken Ham will command Atlantis. Tony Antonelli is the pilot. They will
be joined by Mission Specialists Steve Bowen, Michael Good, Garrett
Reisman and Piers Sellers.
The schedule of briefings includes (all times EDT):
9 a.m. -- Program Overview
10:30 a.m. -- STS-132 Mission Overview
1:30 p.m. -- STS-132 Spacewalk Overview
2 p.m. -- STS-132 Crew News Conference
The crew will be available for interviews at Johnson by phone or in
person after the briefings. Reporters must contact Gayle Frere at
281-483-8645 by April 26 to reserve an interview opportunity.
Reporters planning to attend the briefings in Houston must contact
the Johnson newsroom at 281-483-5111 by 6 p.m. EDT on April 26 for
credentials.
For NASA TV downlink information, schedules and links to streaming
video, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/ntv
For the latest information about the STS-132 mission and its crew,
visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle
For more information about the space station and its crew, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/station
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RELEASE: 10-088
NASA HOSTS LAUNCH AND MISSION TWEETUPS FOR NEXT SPACE SHUTTLE MISSION
WASHINGTON -- During the next space shuttle mission, NASA will host
two Tweetups to give the public an insider's look at the nation's
space program.
For a second time, NASA Twitter followers are invited to view a
shuttle launch in person at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in
Florida. NASA is hosting the special Tweetup May 13-14. Shuttle
Atlantis is targeted to launch at 2:19 p.m. EDT, May 14 on its
STS-132 mission to the International Space Station.
Once the mission has launched, NASA will host an additional Tweetup at
the agency's Johnson Space Center in Houston that will provide a
different perspective of mission operations. This also will be the
second mission Tweetup at Johnson.
"We're inviting the public to share in the excitement of human
spaceflight during one of the last three scheduled space shuttle
missions," said Stephanie Schierholz, social media manager at NASA
Headquarters in Washington. "NASA is providing this behind-the-scenes
access to give our Twitter followers an understanding and
appreciation of all the work that goes into a successful shuttle
launch and mission."
For the launch Tweetup May 13-14, NASA will randomly select 150 people
from those who sign up on the Web. Registration opens at 10 a.m. on
Monday, April 19, and closes at 10 a.m. Tuesday, April 20. To sign up
and for more information about the Tweetup, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/tweetup
At Kennedy, NASA Twitter followers will take a tour of the center,
view the shuttle launch and speak with shuttle technicians, managers,
engineers, and astronauts.
After Atlantis' launch, registration for the STS-132 mission Tweetup
at Johnson Space Center will be announced on NASA's Twitter account:
http://www.twitter.com/nasa
NASA Twitter followers at the Johnson Tweetup will tour the center,
view mission control and astronauts' training facilities and speak
with managers, flight directors, trainers, and astronauts.
Both Tweetups will include a "meet and greet" session to allow
participants to mingle with fellow Tweeps and the staff behind the
tweets on @NASA.
To follow NASA programs on Twitter visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/connect
For more information about space shuttle Atlantis' STS-132 mission,
visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts132
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MEDIA ADVISORY: M10-059
NASA'S SHUTTLE ATLANTIS MOVES TO LAUNCH PAD, LIFTOFF PRACTICE SET
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Journalists are invited to cover the STS-132
space shuttle crew's Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test, a
practice countdown and related training, April 20-23 at NASA's
Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Reporters also may cover space
shuttle Atlantis' move from the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch
Pad 39A on Monday, April 19.
Atop a giant crawler-transporter, Atlantis' first motion on its
rollout to the pad is scheduled for Monday at 8 p.m. EDT. The
3.4-mile journey is expected to take approximately six hours.
Reporters with permanent Kennedy credentials, STS-131 mission
credentials and those credentialed specifically for Atlantis' rollout
and TCDT for the STS-132 mission to the International Space Station
are invited to cover the move. An interview opportunity will be held
at 8:30 p.m. with Atlantis Flow Director Angie Brewer.
Media accreditation for these events now is closed.
Badges for the events may be picked up on April 19 before 4 p.m., at
the Kennedy Space Center Badging Office on State Road 405. On April
19, international reporters must arrive at the Kennedy Pass and
Identification Building on State Road 3 before 7 p.m. for
transportation to the press site for Atlantis' rollout.
Beginning April 20, Atlantis' astronauts and ground crews will
participate in the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test-related
training. TCDT provides each shuttle crew with an opportunity to
participate in various simulated countdown activities, including
equipment familiarization and emergency training.
For information about events, including proper attire and meeting
locations, credentialed media should visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/news/media.html
Updates for events are available at 321-867-2525.
The six astronauts for Atlantis' STS-132 mission will deliver the
Russian-built Mini Research Module, also known as the Rassvet module,
(dawn in Russian), to the International Space Station. The flight
also will deliver critical spare parts and cargo. Three spacewalks
are planned during the 12-day mission, the final scheduled flight of
space shuttle Atlantis. Launch is targeted for May 14 at 2:19 p.m.
Following STS-132, two more shuttle flights remain scheduled.
Video highlights of the move will air on the NASA TV Video File.
For NASA TV downlink information, schedules and links to streaming
video, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/ntv
For more information about the STS-132 mission and crew, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts132/index.html
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MEDIA ADVISORY: M10-067
NASA INVITES REPORTERS TO NEXT SPACE SHUTTLE LAUNCH AND TWEETUPS
WASHINGTON - At the next space shuttle launch, NASA will host 150
people from around the world and provide them with a
behind-the-scenes perspective to share with their followers via the
social networking service Twitter. Reporters are invited to cover the
NASA Tweetup and the liftoff of shuttle Atlantis, targeted for 2:20
p.m. EDT on May 14, from the agency's Kennedy Space Center in
Florida.
To cover the launch on site, U.S. reporters must request credentials
from Kennedy by May 2. Media representatives should submit requests
online at:
https://media.ksc.nasa.gov
Participants at the NASA Tweetup on May 13 and 14 will meet with
shuttle technicians, managers, engineers and astronauts, take a tour
of Kennedy and view the shuttle launch. People are expected to attend
from more than 30 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the
Netherlands, New Zealand and England. Attendees were randomly
selected from more than 1,000 online registrations. To follow the
Tweetup participants as they experience the prelaunch events and
shuttle liftoff, visit:
http://twitter.com/nasatweetup/sts-132-launch
NASA will host an additional Tweetup May 19 at the agency's Johnson
Space Center in Houston to provide a different perspective of shuttle
mission operations. At Johnson, participants will tour the center,
view mission control and astronauts' training facilities, and speak
with managers, flight directors, trainers and astronauts.
Registration to participate in the Johnson Tweetup opens at 10 a.m.
Friday, April 30, and closes at 10 a.m. Monday, May 3. To register,
visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/tweetup
To follow NASA on Twitter, visit:
http://www.twitter.com/nasa
For more information about the space shuttle Atlantis STS-132 mission,
visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle
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MEDIA ADVISORY: M10-067
NASA SCHEDULES NEWS CONFERENCE ABOUT NEXT SPACE SHUTTLE LAUNCH
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- NASA managers will hold a news conference on
Wednesday, May 5, at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida to
discuss the status of the next space shuttle launch. The briefing
will begin after the Flight Readiness Review, a meeting to assess
preparations for shuttle Atlantis' STS-132 mission to the
International Space Station.
Live status updates, including the start time for the news conference,
will be provided during the meeting via the NASA News Twitter feed.
To access the feed, go to the nasa.gov homepage or visit:
http://www.twitter.com/nasa
The review is expected to include the selection of an official launch
date. Atlantis and six NASA astronauts are targeted to lift off at
2:20 p.m. EDT on Friday, May 14.
The briefing participants are:
- Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for Space Operations
- John Shannon, Space Shuttle Program manager
- Mike Leinbach, space shuttle launch director
NASA Television and the agency's website will broadcast the briefing
live. Reporters may ask questions from participating NASA locations,
and should contact their preferred NASA center to confirm
participation. For NASA TV streaming video, downlink and scheduling
information, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/ntv
For STS-132 crew and mission information, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle
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MEDIA ADVISORY: M10-068
NASA FLIGHT DIRECTORS AVAILABLE FOR INTERVIEWS ON SHUTTLE ATLANTIS' LAST SCHEDULED MISSION
HOUSTON -- NASA Flight Directors Michael Sarafin of Herkimer, N.Y.,
and Emily Nelson of Austin, Texas, are available for live satellite
interviews from 6 to 7 a.m. CDT Friday, May 7. Nelson and Sarafin
will discuss the upcoming space shuttle Atlantis STS-132 mission to
the International Space Station and their roles as flight directors.
The shuttle and its crew are scheduled to lift off at 2:20 p.m. EDT,
Friday, May 14 from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The
mission currently is the last flight scheduled for Atlantis.
Including STS-132, there are only three remaining shuttle missions
scheduled before the fleet is retired.
To participate in the interviews, reporters should contact Jeremiah
Maddix at 281-483-8631 before 1 p.m. on Thursday, May 6.
Sarafin will be available from 6 to 6:30 a.m. He is the lead shuttle
flight director for STS-132. Sarafin, a NASA flight director since
2005, has supported 10 shuttle missions, including three as the lead
shuttle flight director. He served in NASA's Mission Control as a
shuttle flight controller for 10 years and graduated from Clarkson
University in Potsdam, N.Y.
Nelson will be available from 6:30 to 7 a.m. She is the lead space
station flight director for STS-132 and has been a NASA flight
director since 2007. Since 1998, Nelson served as a flight controller
overseeing the station's thermal systems. She is a graduate of the
University of Texas in Austin.
The six astronauts for the mission will deliver the Russian-built Mini
Research Module, also known as Rassvet (dawn in Russian) to the
station. The flight also will deliver critical spare parts and cargo.
During the 12-day mission, three spacewalks are planned.
The NASA Television Live Interview Media Outlet channel will be used
for the interviews. The channel is a digital satellite C-band
downlink by uplink provider Americom. It is on satellite AMC 3,
transponder 9C, located at 87 degrees west, downlink frequency 3865.5
Mhz based on a standard C-band, horizontal downlink polarity, FEC is
3/4, data rate is 6.0 Mbps, symbol rate is 4.3404 Msps, transmission
DVB-S, 4:2:0.
The NASA TV Live Interview Media Outlet channel will air b-roll
footage of preparations for the STS-132 mission beginning at 5:30
a.m. The interviews also will be broadcast live on NASA TV. For
streaming video, downlink and scheduling information, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/ntv
For more information about the STS-132 mission, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle
For more information about the space station, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/station
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MEDIA ADVISORY: M10-070
NASA ANNOUNCES SHUTTLE PRELAUNCH EVENTS AND COUNTDOWN DETAILS
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - NASA has set the schedule for news conferences,
events and operating hours at the Kennedy Space Center press site for
space shuttle Atlantis' upcoming launch.
Atlantis' STS-132 mission to the International Space Station is
scheduled to lift off at 2:20 p.m. EDT on Friday, May 14. The mission
is the last scheduled flight for Atlantis. Including STS-132, there
are only three remaining shuttle missions scheduled before the fleet
is retired. Detailed lists of countdown milestones, news briefing
times and participants, and hours of operation for Kennedy's news
center and media credentialing office are available at:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/news
A NASA blog will provide countdown updates beginning at 9 a.m. on May
14. Originating from Kennedy, the blog is the definitive Internet
source for information leading up to launch. During the mission,
visitors to NASA's shuttle Web site can read about the crew's
progress and watch the mission's three spacewalks live.
As Atlantis' flight concludes, the NASA blog will detail the
spacecraft's return to Earth. For NASA's launch blog and continuous
mission updates, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle
NASA will make live updates to the NASA News Twitter feed throughout
the shuttle launch countdown, mission and landing. To access the
feed, go to the NASA.gov home page or visit:
http://www.twitter.com/nasa
For NASA Television streaming video, scheduling and downlink
information, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/ntv
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The STS-132 Press Kit is now available at:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/news/index.html
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The STS-132 Press Kit is now avaialble at:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/news/index.html
Interesting, the press kit contained a section on Atlantis' history, including miles logged per mission. I have not seen that before in a press kit.
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MEDIA ADVISORY: M26-10
AIRSPACE, ROAD, BRIDGE AND WATERWAY CLOSURES FOR STS-132
Launch Date: May 14, 2010
Launch Vehicle: Space shuttle Atlantis
Launch Pad: 39A
Launch Window: 2:15 - 2:26 p.m. EDT
Targeted Launch Time: 2:20:07 p.m. EDT
NASA KENNEDY SPACE CENTER AREA AVIATION FLIGHT RESTRICTIONS
What: Cape Canaveral Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR)
When: Friday, May 14 from 7:15 a.m. EDT until no later than 2:56 p.m.
Where: General aviation and VFR operations are prohibited within a
30-nautical-mile radius of Launch Pad 39A from the surface to (but
not including) 18,000 feet (located on the Melbourne VOR/DME
004-degree radial at 30.6 nautical miles). Pilots should obtain NOTAM
information regarding affected airports.
Aeronautical Chart in Use: Orlando Class B terminal area and
Jacksonville sectional
Additional airspace restrictions: Within an airspace radius between 30
and 40 nautical miles of Pad 39A, a discrete transponder code must be
obtained and clearance granted from air traffic control before
entering this airspace. Continuous radio communications must be
maintained. All VFR aircraft are restricted to 180 knots or less
unless a variance is granted by air traffic control. Pilots should
obtain NOTAM information to determine the affected airports within
this radius before departure.
NOTAM Information: St. Petersburg Flight Service Station
Telephone: 1-800-992-7433
Radio frequencies: 123.6 MHz (Titusville), 122.6 MHz (Melbourne)
Radio Communications: FAA Orlando Approach Control
Titusville/Cocoa area: 134.950 MHz
Melbourne area: 132.650 MHz
South Volusia County: 125.350 MHz
Space Coast Regional Airport control tower: 118.9 MHz
PUBLIC ACCESS ROAD CLOSURES:
- The Cape Canaveral National Seashore, also called Playalinda Beach,
will close for launch on Monday, May 10, at 6 p.m. and will reopen
after launch. The Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge will close
on Thursday, May 13, at 6 p.m. and will reopen after launch.
- State Road 406 east to State Road 3, and State Road 3 from the
Haulover Canal bridge south to County Road 402 leading to Titusville
will be open to badged personnel only beginning on Thursday, May 13,
at 6 p.m.. These roads will close to all vehicle traffic on Friday,
May 14, at 2:10 p.m. until after a successful launch is confirmed.
- State Road 3 from the Gate 2 News Media Pass and Identification
Building to State Road 405 NASA Causeway via Space Commerce Way will
be closed for launch to unauthorized vehicles beginning at 8 a.m. on
Friday, May 14. NASA Causeway between the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame
and the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex will also close starting
at that time. The roads will reopen two hours after launch.
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER AREA BOATING RESTRICTIONS
ATLANTIC OCEAN: Beginning at 6 a.m. on Monday, May 10, which is L-4
days to launch, and continuing through launch, a general exclusion
zone will be in effect three miles offshore from the Haulover Canal,
on the northern end of Kennedy Space Center, and southward to Port
Canaveral. Four hours prior to launch, all ocean-going traffic will
be restricted from entering an area measured from nine statute miles
north and south of the launch pad and extending 64 nautical miles
east into the ocean. An additional three-mile-wide exclusion zone
will be extended eastward along the flight path of the space shuttle.
INDIAN RIVER: Restrictions apply from the NASA Causeway north to
Haulover Canal and east of the Indian River's main channel.
Restrictions are in effect four days prior to launch beginning at 6
a.m. on Monday, May 10.
MOSQUITO LAGOON: This area south of Haulover Canal in the Mosquito
Lagoon is off limits to all boats four days prior to launch beginning
at 6 a.m. on Monday, May 10.
BANANA RIVER: Security limits begin at the Banana River Barge Canal
south of Kennedy which is located immediately above State Road 528
and extends north. The area includes KARS Park on Merritt Island.
This restriction is effective four days prior to launch beginning at
6 a.m. on Monday, May 10.
All boating restrictions will be lifted one hour after launch. Boating
interests should monitor U.S. Coast Guard Radio transmitting on
Marine Channel 16 from Port Canaveral.
For the latest information about Atlantis' STS-132 mission and crew,
visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle
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Report #J10-013
NASA'S STS-132 TWEETUP WILL OFFER PARTICIPANTS AN OUT OF THIS WORLD EXPERIENCE
HOUSTON -NASA Twitter followers will have the chance to personally go inside the heart of a space shuttle mission at the agency's Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston. NASA is hosting a unique Tweetup on Wednesday, May 19 during Atlantis' STS-132 mission to the International Space Station. Atlantis will launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Friday, May 14 at 1:20 p.m. CST.
"We're inviting the public to share in the excitement of human spaceflight during one of the last three scheduled space shuttle missions," said Stephanie Schierholz, social media manager at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "NASA is providing this behind-the-scenes access to give our Twitter followers an understanding and appreciation of all the work that goes into a successful shuttle launch and mission."
NASA randomly selected 100 individuals on Twitter from a pool of registrants who signed up on the Web. The event will start at Space Center Houston (SCH) where participants will have the opportunity to meet astronaut Jeff Williams (@Astro_Jeff) and tweet about NASA hardware.
Media is invited to attend the Tweetup at SCH from 8:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. If you plan on attending, please contact Lindsay Cunningham at 281-483-2924 for more details.
After lunch, Twitter followers will take a tour of JSC; view mission control and astronauts' training facilities; and speak with flight directors, trainers, astronauts and managers.
For more information about the Tweetup, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/tweetup
To follow NASA programs and astronauts on Twitter, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/collaborate
For more information about space shuttle Atlantis' STS-132 mission, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle
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Roscosmos Head Anatoly Perminov will Attend Atlantis/MRM-1 Launch and Visit NASA’s Premises
12.05.2010
After the activities at Soyuz launch site in French Guiana, Roscosmos delegation heads to Houston. Tomorrow, Roscosmos Head will visit MCC, ISS integrated simulator, buoyancy lab, and meet the managers of Johnson Space Center.
Then, the delegation will witness the launch of space shuttle Atlantis with Russian scientific module Rassvet aboard in Kennedy Space Center, Florida.
Perminov is escorted by Roscosmos officials, including Roscosmos Deputy Head- Stats-Secretary Vitaly Davydov, Head of Human Spaceflight Directorate Alexey Krasnov and others.
Roscosmos PAO
http://www.roscosmos.ru
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ESA giving a spare arm to Space Station
12 May 2010
Space Shuttle Atlantis, ready for liftoff on Friday, will deliver important hardware from Europe to the International Space Station: spare portions of the European Robotic Arm and the first Russian payloads to use the arm.
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMHXC19Y8G_index_0.html
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RELEASE: 10-113
NASA'S SPACE SHUTTLE ATLANTIS LIFTS OFF TO PUT FINISHING TOUCHES ON THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- One of the final space shuttle visits to the
International Space Station began at 2:20 p.m. Friday with the launch
of Atlantis and six astronauts from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in
Florida. The mission will deliver cargo, critical spare parts and a
Russian laboratory to the station.
The third of five shuttle missions planned for 2010, this was the last
planned launch for Atlantis. The Russian-built Mini Research Module-1
is inside the shuttle's cargo bay. Also known as Rassvet (dawn in
Russian), it will provide additional storage space and a new docking
port for Russian Soyuz and Progress spacecraft. The laboratory will
be attached to the bottom port of the station's Zarya module.
Commander Ken Ham is joined on the STS-132 mission by Pilot Tony
Antonelli and Mission Specialists Garrett Reisman, Michael Good,
Steve Bowen, and Piers Sellers, all veteran space fliers. Good and
Sellers rode Atlantis into orbit on their first space missions in
2009 and 2002, respectively.
The shuttle crew is scheduled to dock to the station at 10:27 a.m. EDT
on Sunday, May 16. The mission's three spacewalks will focus on
storing spare components outside the station, including six
batteries, a communications antenna and parts for the Canadian Dextre
robotic arm.
After completing the 12-day STS-132 mission, the shuttle's first
landing opportunity at Kennedy is scheduled for 8:44 a.m. on
Wednesday, May 26. STS-132 is the 132nd shuttle flight, the 32nd
flight for Atlantis and the 34th shuttle mission dedicated to station
assembly and maintenance.
NASA's Web coverage of STS-132 includes mission information, a press
kit, interactive features, news conference images, graphics and
videos. Mission coverage, including the latest NASA Television
schedule, is available on the main space shuttle website at:
http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle
NASA is providing continuous television and Internet coverage of the
mission. NASA TV features live mission events, daily status news
conferences and 24-hour commentary. For NASA TV streaming video,
downlink and schedule information, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/ntv
Daily news conferences with STS-132 mission managers will take place
at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. Johnson will operate a
telephone bridge for media briefings outside of normal business
hours. To use this service, reporters must have valid media
credentials issued by a NASA center or issued specifically for the
STS-132 mission.
Journalists planning to use the service must contact the Johnson
newsroom at 281-483-5111 no later than 15 minutes prior to the start
of a briefing. Newsroom personnel will verify credentials and
transfer reporters to the phone bridge. Phone bridge capacity is
limited, so it will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Live updates to the NASA News Twitter feed will be added throughout
the mission and landing. To access the feed, go to the NASA.gov
homepage or visit:
http://www.twitter.com/nasa
For more information about the space station, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/station
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STS-132 MCC Status Report #01
HOUSTON –With a mission emblem featuring a sunset and a new International Space Station module named Dawn in its cargo bay, Atlantis launched under an almost clear Florida sky Friday afternoon on its final planned mission.
The shuttle and its crew of six launched from the Kennedy Space Center at 1:20 p.m. CDT with a cargo of replacement batteries and the small Russian module, as well as equipment and supplies for the station.
Commander Ken Ham, Pilot Tony Antonelli and Mission Specialists Garrett Reisman, Michael Good, Steve Bowen and Piers Sellers are scheduled to spend more than seven days at the station. During that time Reisman, Bowen and Good will perform a total of three spacewalks.
The focus of the first of the three 6.5-hour spacewalks, by Reisman and Bowen, is installation of a spare space-to-ground antenna and a spare parts platform on Dextre, the robot-like Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator. They also will loosen battery bolts on the port-6 truss in preparation for the other spacewalks.
The second spacewalk, by Good and Bowen, will be devoted to replacement of three of six batteries on the port truss with new ones brought up by Atlantis. The third spacewalk by Reisman and Good will swap out the final three batteries.
The Russian station component, the Mini-Research Module-1 (named Rassvet, the Russian word for dawn) is to be installed on the Earth-facing port of the station’s Zarya module by Reisman and Sellers, using the station’s Canadarm2.
Aboard the station waiting to welcome Atlantis after its scheduled 9:27 a.m. Sunday docking are Expedition 23 Commander Oleg Kotov and Russian Flight Engineers Alexander Skvortsov and Mikhail Kornienko, Soichi Noguchi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, and NASA Flight Engineers T.J. Creamer and Tracy Caldwell Dyson.
The next shuttle status report will be issued after crew wakeup or earlier if warranted.
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STS-132 MCC Status Report #02
HOUSTON – Space shuttle Atlantis’ crew of six are awake and ready to embark on their first full day in space for the mission. Today, the crew will focus on a routine inspection of the orbiter and preparations for their docking to the International Space Station.
The crew awoke at 3:20 a.m. CDT to “You’re My Home” performed by Billy Joel. The song was played for Commander Ken Ham, who is on his second spaceflight.
The main focus of the day will be the six-hour-long inspection of Atlantis’ wing leading edges and nose cap. Ham, Pilot Tony Antonelli and Mission Specialists Garrett Reisman and Piers Sellers will use the shuttle’s robotic arm and specialized cameras to downlink the detailed views of the thermal protection system for analysis by specialists on the ground.
Meanwhile, Michael Good and Steve Bowen are scheduled to unpack and ready the spacesuits that will be used for the three planned spacewalks. Later in the day, Bowen will join Reisman will perform a checkout of the tools needed for the rendezvous and docking to the station, which is planned for 9:27 a.m. Sunday.
The Expedition 23 Commander Oleg Kotov and Russian Flight Engineers Alexander Skvortsov and Mikhail Kornienko, Flight Engineer Soichi Noguchi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, and NASA Flight Engineers T.J. Creamer and Tracy Caldwell Dyson are likewise making preparations for the arrival of the shuttle crew.
As part of the Daily Planning Conference, the station crew was informed of a possible debris avoidance maneuver. The team is still assessing if a maneuver will be required, but if so, they could implement it remotely during crew sleep Saturday evening. A final decision is expected to be made by 4 p.m. If a maneuver is executed, it would be a 0.5 meter-per-second retrograde burn at 8:08 p.m., and would not affect rendezvous with Atlantis on Sunday.
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STS-132 MCC Status Report #03
HOUSTON – Atlantis astronauts checked out spacesuits and rendezvous tools in preparation for Sunday’s docking with the International Space Station, scheduled for 9:27 a.m. CDT. They also did a modified thermal protection system inspection.
The shuttle and its crew of six, Commander Ken Ham, Pilot Tony Antonelli and Mission Specialists Garrett Reisman, Michael Good, Steve Bowen and Piers Sellers are bringing six new 375-pound batteries to the station, along with the Russian Mini-Research Module and other equipment, supplies and experiments. They will spend about seven days at the station. Reisman, Bowen and Good will perform a total of three spacewalks.
Good and Bowen spent several hours Saturday checking out spacesuits and preparing them for transfer to the station’s Quest airlock, where the spacewalks will originate. Reisman, who spent much of his day working with Antonelli and Ham on the thermal protection system survey, did manage to spend some time helping with the suit and spacewalk equipment checkouts.
Before the thermal protection checkout began, the crew encountered a problem with a cable snagging the pan-tilt unit on the end of the 50-foot orbiter boom sensor system. It is the mount for senor package 1, the Laser Dynamic Range Imager and the intensified video camera.
As a result, mission control decided to switch to sensor package 2, a laser camera and a digital camera mounted near the end of the boom. That system, which requires daylight or another light source, has a resolution of a few millimeters and can scan at about 2.5 inches per second. Its images of the right wing, the nose cap and much of the left wing were sent to the ground for detailed analysis. Additional images will be available after the rendezvous pitch maneuver and from station assets. The change is not expected to affect Sunday’s rendezvous and docking or otherwise impact the mission.
Managers in mission control decided not to perform a debris avoidance maneuver that would have taken place Saturday a little after 8 p.m. Flight controllers had been carefully monitoring a piece of orbital debris that had threatened to come near the station Sunday, but updated tracking information showed the object will remain a safe distance away and the maneuver is not needed.
The station crew, Commander Oleg Kotov and Russian Flight Engineers Alexander Skvortsov and Mikhail Kornienko, Soichi Noguchi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, and NASA Flight Engineers T.J. Creamer and Tracy Caldwell Dyson, are shifting their sleep schedule in preparation for welcoming Atlantis' astronauts.
The next shuttle status report will be issued after crew wakeup, scheduled for 2:20 a.m., or earlier if warranted.
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STS-132 MCC Status Report #04
HOUSTON – Atlantis astronauts prepare to dock with the International Space Station today. Once the two spacecraft are mated, crew members will also start the first of many robotic operations and prepare for the mission’s first spacewalk.
The crew, Commander Ken Ham, Pilot Tony Antonelli and Mission Specialists Garrett Reisman, Michael Good, Steve Bowen and Piers Sellers woke at 2:20 a.m. CDT. “Sweet Home Alabama” performed by Lynyrd Skynyrd, was the wake up song played for Antonelli.
Approximately four hours after wake up, Ham will perform the final burn, called the terminal initiation (TI) burn, to put Atlantis on trajectory to meet the orbiting complex. By 8:26 a.m. Atlantis should be positioned beneath the station to begin the rendezvous pitch maneuver. Station crew members will use two digital cameras to capture detailed images of the shuttle’s underside to ensure it has not been damaged.
Docking to the station is scheduled for 9:27 a.m. with hatch opening about two hours later. Expedition 23 Commander Oleg Kotov, and Flight Engineers Alexander Skvortsov, Mikhail Kornienko, Soichi Noguchi, T.J. Creamer and Tracy Caldwell Dyson, will welcome the shuttle crew onboard and provide them with a station safety briefing before beginning the first tasks of the joint mission.
Caldwell Dyson and Sellers will use the station’s robotic arm to move the Integrated Cargo Carrier from the payload bay to the station’s mobile transporter. This will enable the carrier and its attached hardware to be prepositioned for use throughout the mission.
Good, Bowen and Reisman will transfer the spacesuits and spacewalk equipment over to the station’s Quest airlock and begin setting up for the first extravehicular activity (EVA). The day will end with most crew members gathering for a review of the spacewalk.
The station crew is scheduled for sleep at 5:50 p.m. and the shuttle crew thirty minutes later.
The next shuttle status report will be issued after crew sleep or earlier if warranted.
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Boeing Provides New Antenna, Batteries for Shuttle Mission to Space Station
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla., May 14, 2010 --
Boeing [NYSE: BA] has provided critical parts that Space Shuttle Atlantis will carry to the International Space Station (ISS) when the orbiter launches today on the 32nd and final flight of its quarter-century career. The parts include six replacement batteries and a space-to-ground antenna (SGANT) with accompanying boom assembly.
The six batteries will be installed on the ISS' port truss to replace old batteries that Atlantis will bring back to Earth. The batteries provide power while the ISS is in the Earth's shadow for approximately 30 minutes of each 90-minute orbit. The SGANT will increase the ISS's ability to conduct two-way data, voice, and video communications.
"The added SGANT will eventually more than double the station's existing ability to support and monitor activities such as experiments, robotic operations and spacewalks," said Stephen Long, Boeing ISS Communication and Tracking engineer. "This new antenna will allow for the creation of two audio-only channels and an increase in video channels from four to six, and also include a new interface to the station's Large Area Network."
These additional capabilities are important to the station's future operations as crews move from assembling the ISS to fully making use of it for earth sciences and space-based science experiments.
Boeing's Checkout, Assembly and Payload Processing Services (CAPPS) team also prepared Atlantis' entire mission payload for launch, including the Russian Mini-Research Module 1 and spare parts for the ISS' Canadian Dextre robotic arm.
The services and support Boeing provides under its CAPPS contract include planning for and receiving payloads, maintaining associated ground support systems, integrating payloads with the space shuttle, launch support, and space shuttle post-landing payload activities.
Boeing is the prime contractor to NASA for the ISS. In addition to designing and building all the major U.S. elements, Boeing also is responsible for ensuring the successful integration of new hardware and software -- including components from international partners -- as well as for providing sustaining engineering work.
A unit of The Boeing Company, Boeing Defense, Space & Security is one of the world's largest defense, space and security businesses specializing in innovative and capabilities-driven customer solutions, and the world's largest and most versatile manufacturer of military aircraft. Headquartered in St. Louis, Boeing Defense, Space & Security is a $34 billion business with 68,000 employees worldwide.
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STS-132 MCC Status Report #05
HOUSTON – Atlantis docked with the International Space Station at 9:28 a.m. Sunday about 220 miles above the far South Pacific Ocean to begin more than seven days together. Hatches between the two were opened at 11:18 a.m.
The shuttle approach and docking went smoothly. Commander Ken Ham flew the shuttle through the rendezvous pitch maneuver, the backflip to enable three station crew members in the Zvezda service module to take 398 photos of Atlantis’ thermal protection system. Flight Engineers Tracy Caldwell Dyson, T.J. Creamer, both U.S. astronauts, and Russian station Commander Oleg Kotov used cameras with 400- and 800-mm lenses.
The photo session was more intense than usual because an equipment malfunction had altered the standard inspection process Saturday. A backup procedure was used, but time prevented completion of the port wing survey. Additional inspections are being considered.
Ham, helped by Pilot Tony Antonelli and other crew members, maneuvered Atlantis to a point ahead of the station and then back toward the docking port.
After a brief welcoming ceremony by the station crew, Atlantis’ astronauts got the standard station safety briefing. Then the crew, Ham, Antonelli and Mission Specialists Garrett Reisman, Michael Good, Steve Bowen and Piers Sellers, promptly got to work with initial transfers of equipment and supplies. Spacesuits were among the first items to go to the station.
Monday, Reisman and Bowen are scheduled to do the first of three 6.5-hour spacewalks scheduled for the week. In preparation, all Atlantis’ crew members gathered for an hour-long spacewalk procedure review before their Sunday bedtime. Reisman and Bowen will spend the night “camped out” in the Quest airlock, with pressure reduced to 10.5 psi to avoid formation of nitrogen bubbles in their blood in the vacuum of space.
During the spacewalk they will install a second station space-to-ground Ku-band antenna and a spare parts platform on Dextre, the two-armed robotic Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator. They also will loosen battery bolts on the port-6 truss segment in preparation for the other spacewalks. Atlantis brought to the station six new 375-pound batteries, to be installed there during the second and third spacewalks.
Sellers and Caldwell Dyson used the station’s robotic arm to transfer a cargo carrier from Atlantis to the arm’s mobile base system to prepare for the spacewalks.
A piece of orbital debris that had been followed closely by flight controllers passed the station at a distance of more than 10 miles just over an hour after docking.
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STS-132 MCC Status Report #06
HOUSTON – Two astronauts will venture outside their spacecraft today in the first of three planned spacewalks for the mission. They will install back-up communications equipment onto the station and a work platform onto a station robot.
The station and shuttle crews awoke at 2:20 a.m. CDT. Matt Maher’s “Alive Again” was the featured wake-up song, played for Mike Good.
Mission specialists Garrett Reisman and Stephen Bowen spent the night in the Quest Airlock to prepare for the planned six-and-a-half-hour spacewalk. They are expected to egress from the airlock at 7:15 a.m. Good and Expedition 23 Flight Engineer T.J. Creamer will help with the suit-up preparations and Good will join Pilot Tony Antonelli, the intravehicular officer, to assist during the spacewalk. Mission Specialist Piers Sellers and Flight Engineer Tracy Caldwell Dyson will support robotic arm operations throughout.
The first task of the spacewalk will be the installation of a back-up Ku-band antenna known as the SGAnt or Space-to-Ground Antenna. The task will start at the mobile transporter to remove the SGAnt, then Reisman will hand carry the boom and antenna to its installation point on the Z1 truss. Bowen will meet Reisman there to attach the antenna, connect power and data cables and remove protective insulation. During that time, Reisman will travel on the arm to retrieve the antenna dish and bring it to the worksite for installation. Time permitting, Bowen will install a heat shield and remove position locks on the antenna.
Reisman will again return to the pallet to collect Dextre’s storage platform. He and Bowen will meet at Dextre’s worksite atop the Destiny laboratory to attach the platform to the robot. If possible, they will also install a maintenance tether and connect two electrical fuses.
The final task will have Bowen at the end of the left or port truss, to loosen bolts on the six batteries that will be replaced in the later spacewalks.
Throughout the extravehicular activity, shuttle Commander Ken Ham will oversee the activities and work on transfer of supplies to the station. Expedition 23 Commander Oleg Kotov and Flight Engineers Alexander Skvortsov and Mikhail Kornienko will support station operations and maintenance. Soichi Noguchi will also assist with transfer.
The station crew is scheduled for sleep at 5:50 p.m. and the shuttle crew thirty minutes later.
The next shuttle status report will be issued near the end of the crew’s workday, or earlier if warranted.
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STS-132 MCC Status Report #07
HOUSTON – Atlantis astronauts completed a 7-hour, 25-minute spacewalk Monday, installing a second antenna for high-speed Ku band transmissions and adding a spare parts platform to Dextre, a two-armed extension for the station’s robotic arm.
Mission Specialists Garrett Reisman and Steve Bowen also loosened bolts holding six replacement batteries. The 375-pound batteries are to be installed during the mission’s second and third spacewalks, on Wednesday and Friday. The antenna and the batteries came to the station on Atlantis on a cargo carrier, which was moved to the station’s main truss on Sunday.
Monday’s spacewalk began at 6:54 a.m. CDT when Reisman and Bowen switched their suits to battery power. After setup they removed the antenna’s nearly nine-foot-long boom from the cargo carrier and Reisman, on the end of station’s Canadarm2, carried it high above the station and then to the Z1 truss.
Intravehicular officer and Atlantis Pilot Tony Antonelli coached them through their activities. Mission Specialist Piers Sellers and station Flight Engineer Tracy Caldwell Dyson operated the arm.
After the spacewalkers attached and connected the boom, Reisman made a return trip to the cargo carrier on the end of the arm sometimes fully extended in a windshield-wiper-like maneuver. He removed the six-foot-diameter dish antenna, then held it as the arm took him back to the Z1 truss. There he and Bowen installed it, then refastened bolts and hooked up balky connections.
Because of a gap that remained between the dish and the boom, spacewalkers did not remove dish launch locks, to keep it from rotating. They also used a tether to strap the spare antenna’s dish and boom together.
While Bowen recharged his suit’s oxygen supply, Reisman removed the spare-parts platform from the cargo carrier, took it to Dextre atop the U.S. laboratory Destiny, and installed it.
More than six hours after the start of the spacewalk, Reisman and Bowen both said they were willing to work beyond the 6.5 hours planned for the activity. Bowen moved on the cargo carrier to loosen bolts on the six 375-pound batteries while Reisman did cleanup work on Canadarm2, removing a foot restraint and retrieving an adapter from the arm’s latching end effector.
As the spacewalkers were wrapping up their work, Mission Control reported that the shuttle’s arm had successfully grappled the Russian Mini-Research Module-1 in Atlantis’ cargo bay. The 19.7-foot module, named Rassvet, is scheduled to be installed Tuesday on the Zarya service module.
Today’s spacewalk was the second for Reisman and the fourth for Bowen. It was the 144th spacewalk for station assembly and maintenance. Those spacewalks total 900 hours, 58 minutes.
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STS-132 MCC Status Report #08
HOUSTON – With a new day comes a new dawn as Atlantis and International Space Station astronauts continue with robotics activities today to add a new module to the orbiting complex.
The crew members woke at 1:50 a.m. CDT to the tunes of The Village People. “Macho Man” was the featured song played for Mission Specialist Garrett Reisman.
Today, the crew will be focused on the addition of the Russian Mini-Research Module-1 (MRM-1) to the station. The module, named Rassvet, Russian for “dawn,” will be docked to the Earth-facing port on the Zarya module.
Shuttle Commander Ken Ham and Pilot Tony Antonelli will maneuver the shuttle robotic arm to unberth the module from Atlantis’ payload bay and position it for handoff to the station robotic arm. Reisman and Mission Specialist Piers Sellers will be at the station arm controls to maneuver MRM-1 to its new position on the Russian segment. Expedition 23 Commander Oleg Kotov will monitor the activities from the Russian segment as the MRM-1 engages into its automated docking sequence for the final attachment to station.
Meanwhile, Mission Specialists Michael Good and Steve Bowen will prepare for the mission’s next spacewalk. They will prepare the suits and gather tools needed for their extravehicular excursion on Wednesday.
Their Expedition crew counterparts, Flight Engineer Alexander Skvortsov, Tracy Caldwell Dyson, Mikhail Kornienko, Soichi Noguchi and T.J. Creamer will work on station maintenance activities and experiments.
At 1:20 p.m., Ham, Reisman, Sellers, Kotov, Skvortsov and Caldwell Dyson will gather in the Harmony module to talk with reporters from MSNBC, Fox News and CNN.
The next shuttle status report will be issued at the end of the crew’s workday or earlier if warranted.
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RELEASE: 10-114
NASA'S SHUTTLE ATLANTIS BRINGING A NEW "DAWN" FOR SPACE STATION SCIENCE
WASHINGTON -- NASA's space shuttle Atlantis is delivering science
experiments and a new Russian laboratory to the International Space
Station, continuing the transition from station assembly to
continuous scientific research through the end of the decade.
The Russian-built Mini Research Module-1, also known as Rassvet (dawn
in Russian), will host a variety of biotechnology, biological
science, fluid physics and educational research experiments. Rassvet
was attached Tuesday morning to the bottom port of the station's
Zarya module.
The shuttle crew will conduct nine short-duration experiments during
the STS-132 mission and return samples from 16 space station
experiments. They will help enable nearly 130 long-duration station
experiments in biology, physical and materials sciences, technology
development, Earth and space science.
"The Mini Research Module-1 provides important new real estate for
experiments to be conducted on the space station and will be a
cornerstone of Russian laboratory facilities for years to come," said
Julie Robinson, International Space Station program scientist at
NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. "This new module enhances the
station's research capabilities and enables new investigations to be
performed."
The laboratory contains a pressurized compartment with eight
workstations equipped with facilities such as a glove box to keep
experiments separated from the in-cabin environment; two incubators
to accommodate high- and low-temperature experiments and a vibration
isolation platform to protect payloads and experiments. It also will
be used for cargo storage.
The module contains four other workstations, complete with mechanical
adapters, to install payloads into roll-out racks and shelves. On its
exterior, Rassvet will piggy-back an experiment airlock destined for
use outside the final Russian module, named the Multipurpose
Laboratory Module, which is planned for launch in 2012.
The 2005 NASA Authorization Act designated a portion of the station as
a National Laboratory, accessible to other government agencies,
commercial entities and academic researchers.
Among the studies the STS-132 astronauts will conduct is the ninth in
a series of U.S. National Laboratory Pathfinder experiments aimed at
developing vaccines to fight disease-causing bacteria. The commercial
payload will study how several different pathogenic organisms react
to the microgravity environment. Previous similar experiments led to
development of a potential vaccine for Salmonella bacteria that cause
food poisoning. Approval from the Food and Drug Administration is
being sought for this as an investigational new drug.
Another commercial National Lab pathfinder, Cells-4, will examine
cellular replication to determine the use of spaceflight to enhance
or improve cellular growth processes used in ground-based research.
The shuttle astronauts also will participate in a first-of-its-kind
Canadian experiment called Hypersole that aims to determine how the
sensitivity of the sole of the foot affects balance control.
The shuttle crew delivered 10 experiments to the space station. These
include: Genara-A, a European experiment that looks at how plants
grow without gravity; Ferulate, a Japanese experiment to study the
strength of cell walls in microgravity; Cube Lab, a low-cost, 1
kilogram platform for commercial and educational projects; an
experiment that studies the properties of colloids, which are tiny
solid particles suspended in liquid, in microgravity; and the Smoke
and Aerosol Measurement experiment, which is a follow-on
investigation to previous tests of smoke detection technology.
Several experiments will return to Earth aboard Atlantis. Among these
are an European Space Agency experiment that will document the nature
and distribution of radiation inside the station and create a method
to measure absorption rates in biological samples; the first samples
of ceramic glasses produced in Space Dynamically Responding
Ultrasonic Matrix System, or SpaceDRUMS, which enables samples of
materials to be processed without ever touching a container wall;
samples of pharmaceutical quality intravenous fluid produced for the
first time in space; and the Canadian Space Agency's Advanced Plant
Experiment-CSA2, which compares the genes and tissue of white spruce
(Picea glauca) grown in space with those grown on Earth to help
forestry researchers understand the influence of gravity on plant
physiology, growth and wood formation.
For more information about the science performed aboard the
International Space Station, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/science
For more information about the STS-132 mission, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle
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MEDIA ADVISORY: M27-11
GOOD SPACE SHUTTLE AND SPACE STATION SIGHTING CHANCES THIS WEEK
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Central Florida will have two good
opportunities May 18, and May 20, to see the International Space
Station with shuttle Atlantis docked to it, weather permitting.
The space station with its six-person Expedition 23 crew and Atlantis
with its six astronauts are orbiting Earth about 220 miles up. The
spacecraft will pass almost directly overhead on Tuesday night and
Thursday night.
On Tuesday, the station and Atlantis will travel for two minutes from
the northwest toward the southeast at 9:16 p.m. EDT.
On Thursday, the spacecraft will travel for three minutes, again from
the northwest toward the southeast at 8:30 p.m.
For sighting opportunities from specific cities in Florida, visit:
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/sightings/cities/region.cgi?country=United_States®ion=Florida
For the latest information about the International Space Station, its
crews and scientific research taking place on board, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/station
For information on NASA's Kennedy Space Center, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/kennedy
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STS-132 MCC Status Report #09
HOUSTON – The International Space Station has a new module named Rassvet, the Russian word for dawn. Atlantis astronauts used the station’s Canadarm2 to connect the module just after sunrise over Argentina.
Mission Specialist Garrett Reisman guided the docking probe of Rassvet, at the end of the 58-foot robotic arm, into the receptacle on the Earth-facing port on the Zarya module. There was about 1 millimeter of clearance on either side of the probe. Capcom Steve Swanson in the station flight control room radioed up that Reisman had made “a hole in one.”
Mission Specialist Piers Sellers operated a computer linked to the module, also known as Mini-Research Module 1, and the Russian part of the station. The interface between the 19.7-foot Rassvet, weighing with its cargo a total of 17,760 pounds, and Zarya was sealed at 7:50 a.m. CDT, about three hours after the module had been lifted from Atlantis’ cargo bay.
Atlantis Commander Ken Ham and Pilot Tony Antonelli used the shuttle’s robotic arm to lift Rassvet from the cargo bay to hand it off to the station arm. Then they moved that arm into position for its cameras to monitor the move.
The new module will host a variety of biotechnology and biological science experiments and fluid physics and educational research. Rassvet contains a pressurized compartment with eight workstations, including a glove box to keep experiments separated from the in-cabin environment; two incubators to accommodate high- and low-temperature experiments; and a special platform to protect experiments from onboard vibrations.
Attached to its exterior is an experiment airlock that will be used on another Russian laboratory module set for delivery in 2012.
After the midday meal, Reisman and Sellers used Canadarm2 to unberth the orbiter boom sensor system from the sill of Atlantis’ cargo bay. They handed it off to the shuttle arm, again operated by Ham and Antonelli, which itself could not reach the arm extension’s grapple fixture while docked. The OBSS will be used to monitor activities during the mission’s second spacewalk on Wednesday.
The spacewalkers, Mission Specialists Michael Good and Steve Bowen, configured tools and prepared spacesuits for the spacewalk. Plans call for them to change out three batteries on the station’s port-side truss segment with three of the six new ones brought up by Atlantis. The remaining three of the 375-pound batteries are to be changed out on the Friday spacewalk by Reisman and Good.
Good and Bowen will spend tonight in the Quest airlock with pressure reduced to 10.2 psi, to reduce the possibility of developing the bends in the low pressure of the suits, which will be under 5 psi. At the end of the workday, the Atlantis crew along with three station crew members met for an hour-long spacewalk procedures review.
As part of that review, crew members will talk about a task added to their spacewalk to resolve a problem encountered during the heat shield survey the day after launch. They will put a tie wrap on two cables to relieve a snag that is preventing full use of a laser range imager and an intensified video camera on the extension’s pan-tilt assembly.
The task is to be performed early in the spacewalk. As a result, the crew’s bedtime was moved up 30 minutes. They’ll get an early wakeup call and an early start on the spacewalk, now scheduled to begin at 6:15 a.m.
At 1:20 p.m., Ham, Reisman, Sellers, station Commander Oleg Kotov, and Flight Engineers Alexander Skvortsov and Tracy Caldwell Dyson took a break to field questions of reporters from MSNBC, FOX News and CNN.
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STS-132 MCC Status Report #10
HOUSTON – The flight control team and on-orbit crew prepare for another excursion into space today. Astronauts will replace station batteries and fix a camera cable on today’s spacewalk, the second of the mission.
The wake up music was “Start Me Up” by the Rolling Stones. The song, played at 1:20 a.m. CDT, was dedicated to Piers Sellers, who is on his third spaceflight.
Astronauts Stephen Bowen and Michael Good are expected to egress from the Quest Airlock at 6:15 a.m. to get an early start on the spacewalk. First, Bowen will adjust a cable on the end of the orbiter boom. This brief task was added after discovering early in the flight that the cable was inhibiting a camera from maneuvering correctly. Bowen will adjust the cable and use a plastic tie to hold it in position.
Next, the two spacewalkers will replace three batteries on the station port solar array. Each of the batteries weighs more than 360 pounds and will require an intricate choreography between the spacewalkers to swap out safely. The spacewalk is expected to last six and a half hours.
Throughout the spacewalk, shuttle Commander Ken Ham will provide photo and television support, Pilot Tony Antonelli will serve as the intravehicular officer and Mission Specialists Garrett Reisman and Sellers will again operate the station robotic arm. Expedition 23 Flight Engineer Tracy Caldwell Dyson will assist with spacewalk preparations as well.
Her station crew counterparts, Commander Oleg Kotov, Flight Engineers Alexander Skvortsov, Mikhail Kornienko, Soichi Noguchi and T.J. Creamer will work on varied space station activities, including packing unneeded supplies into the Progress and Soyuz spacecraft.
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STS-132 MCC Status Report #11
HOUSTON – Atlantis astronauts Steve Bowen and Michael Good changed out four of the six 375-pound batteries on the International Space Station’s port 6 truss during a 7-hour, 9-minute spacewalk Wednesday, getting a leg up on a major mission priority.
Plans called for three of the batteries to be replaced today, and mission managers hoped the fourth could be changed out. Remaining batteries are to be swapped during a Friday spacewalk by Good and Garrett Reisman.
The spacewalk, the fifth for Bowen and the third for Good, got under way at 5:38 a.m. CDT, more than 25 minutes ahead of the scheduled start that already had been moved up 30 minutes. One reason for the early scheduled start was the addition of a task to remove a cable snag in the orbiter boom sensor system’s pan and tilt mechanism. Bowen accomplished that task in less than 30 minutes, while Good began work with the batteries.
After testing, Mission Control declared the heat shield inspection mechanism fully functional.
Atlantis Pilot Tony Antonelli was the intravehicular officer, providing guidance and advice to the spacewalkers. Mission Specialists Reisman and Piers Sellers operated the station’s Canadarm2. Spacewalkers took each battery from the cargo carrier held by the station arm, installed it in a space from which they had removed an old battery, then bolted the old battery into the cargo carrier for return to Earth.
The fourth old battery was stowed temporarily on the truss. It will be taken to the cargo carrier during the Friday spacewalk.
After the battery work and cleanup of the area, the spacewalkers moved on to the new backup Ku band antenna on the Z1 truss. They tightened bolts holding its dish to its boom, closing a gap left there after Monday’s spacewalk. They removed launch latches, leaving the antenna ready to operate.
That done, they cleaned up the area and returned to the Quest airlock. The spacewalk officially ended at 12:47 p.m., when Quest repressurization began.
Today’s spacewalk was the 145th for station assembly and maintenance. Those spacewalks total 908 hours, 7 minutes.
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STS-132 MCC Status Report #12
HOUSTON – The space shuttle crew gets a little break from the busy pace of the last several days. Today they will open the hatches on the new module Rassvet and prepare for a third spacewalk, but the shuttle astronauts will have some off-duty time as well.
The crews woke to Elvis Costello’s “Welcome to the Working Week” at 12:59 a.m. CDT. The song was played for Mission Specialist Stephen Bowen.
The first tasks of the day will focus on the new module, Mini-Research Module-1, which was attached to the International Space Station Tuesday. Expedition 23 Commander Oleg Kotov and Flight Engineer Alexander Skvortsov will perform leak checks in the Russian segment before opening hatches around 5:30 a.m.
Their station counterparts, Flight Engineers Tracy Caldwell Dyson, Mikhail Kornienko, Soichi Noguchi and T.J. Creamer will have a routine day of science work, maintenance and exercise sessions.
The shuttle crew will have a few hours of off duty time in the afternoon, but otherwise, the day will largely focus on preparations for the third and final spacewalk. Mission Specialists Garrett Reisman, Mike Good and Bowen will gather and prepare the tools needed and configure the airlock. Commander Ken Ham, Pilot Tony Antonelli and Mission Specialist Piers Sellers will join them to review the procedures before Reisman and Good settle in to spend the night in the Quest module as part of the “camp out” for their excursion.
Ham, Antonelli, Sellers and Caldwell Dyson will talk with media representatives at 7:25 a.m. The event, with media from the Associated Press, FOX News Radio and CBS News, will air live on NASA television.
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STS-132 MCC Status Report #13
HOUSTON – Spacefarers opened hatches between the International Space Station and its new Russian Rassvet module for the first time at 5:52 a.m. CDT today.
Also known as Mini-Research Module 1, Rassvet was transported to the station by Atlantis and installed by Mission Specialists Garrett Reisman and Piers Sellers using the station’s Canadarm2. The module is almost 20 feet long, 7.7 feet wide and weighs 11,188 pounds. Carrying almost 6,500 pounds of internal and external cargo to the station, Rassvet has eight science work stations and will be used both as a docking and stowage compartment.
Crew members wore eye and breathing protection as a standard precaution when entering a new module. Station Commander Oleg Kotov initially reported that the inside of the module looked clean, but as unpacking activities ramped up reported some metal filings drifting inside the new module. Flight controllers in Houston and Moscow were working with the crew to develop a technique for safely removing the floating debris.
Atlantis Commander Ken Ham, Pilot Tony Antonelli and Sellers transferred equipment, supplies and experiments between the shuttle and station. Mike Good and Reisman prepared for their Friday spacewalk, configuring tools and preparing suits and the airlock. Intravehicular officer Antonelli , who choreographed the flight’s first two spacewalks, and Steve Bowen, who participated in the second spacewalk, helped with preparations.
The major task of the spacewalk is to replace the final two of the six batteries being changed out on the Port 6 truss. Four were replaced Wednesday. Spacewalkers also will install an ammonia jumper and take a power and data grapple fixture from Atlantis’ cargo bay into the station. It will be installed later on the Zarya module, to provide a base for the station arm to work in that area.
Ham, Antonelli, Sellers and station Flight Engineer Tracy Caldwell Dyson answered questions from representatives of Associated Press, FOX News Radio and CBS News.
Just before lunch, the crew talked with spacewalk experts on the ground. The crew got about four hours of afternoon free time, until the spacewalk procedure review near the end of their workday. The spacewalkers will spend the night in the Quest airlock with its pressure reduced to 10.2 to psi.
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STS-132 MCC Status Report #14
HOUSTON – Today, the shuttle and station crews will focus on the third spacewalk of the mission. Astronauts will install a jumper, swap out batteries and retrieve a grapple fixture during the excursion.
The crew woke at 12:50 a.m. CDT to “Traveling Light” performed by JJ Cale. The song was played for Mission Specialist Piers Sellers.
The shuttle crew of Commander Ken Ham, Pilot Tony Antonelli, and Mission Specialists Michael Good, Garrett Reisman, Steve Bowen and Sellers will focus on the spacewalk. Reisman and Good will perform the extravehicular activity that will finish the last of the battery exchanges and a few additional tasks.
The two are expected to egress from the Quest airlock at 5:45 a.m. Their first task will be the installation of an ammonia jumper on the port 4 and 5 truss. Next, they will finish the last of the battery replacement work, swapping the remaining two batteries and installing a battery that was left in a temporary stow position from the last spacewalk.
The final planned task is the retrieval of a Power and Data Grapple Fixture (PDGF) from the orbiter’s payload bay to bring inside the station at the end of the spacewalk. The PDGF will be installed to the Zarya module’s exterior on a spacewalk later this summer.
Antonelli and Bowen will assist from inside the complex throughout the spacewalk. Sellers and Expedition 23 Flight Engineer Tracy Caldwell Dyson will provide robotics support. Ham will oversee the activities and assist with orbiter activities and transfer work.
On the International Space Station, Expedition 23 Commander Oleg Kotov and Flight Engineers Alexander Skvortsov, Mikhail Kornienko, Soichi Noguchi and T.J. Creamer will continue station science work and departure preparations for the upcoming Soyuz TMA-17 undocking.
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MEDIA ADVISORY: M10-079
NASA SETS NEWS CONFERENCE WITH SHUTTLE AND SPACE STATION CREWS
HOUSTON -- The 12 crew members aboard space shuttle Atlantis and the
International Space Station will hold a news conference at 5:25 a.m.
CDT on Sunday, May 23.
U.S. reporters may ask questions in person from NASA's Johnson Space
Center in Houston, NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and the
agency's headquarters in Washington. A portion of the news conference
will be set aside for Japanese reporters.
To participate in the news conference, U.S. journalists must call the
public affairs office at one of the three participating NASA venues
by 5 p.m. Friday. Reporters not already credentialed for the STS-132
mission also must request access badges by 5 p.m. Friday. Reporters
must be in place at least 20 minutes prior to the start of the news
conference.
NASA Television will provide live coverage of the 40-minute news
conference. For NASA TV downlink, schedule and streaming video
information, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/ntv
Atlantis' STS-132 mission includes three spacewalks, the delivery of
equipment, supplies and a new Russian module to the station. For more
information about the mission and its crew, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle
For more information about the space station and its crew, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/station
-end-
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MEDIA ADVISORY: M10-080
NASA'S HIGH-FLYING SPACE SHUTTLE CREW TO ANSWER STUDENT QUESTIONS
WASHINGTON -- NASA's space shuttle astronauts will answer elementary
and middle school students' questions Saturday while orbiting
approximately 220 miles above Earth on the International Space
Station. The event is scheduled from 7:40 to 8 a.m. EDT, Saturday,
May 22.
Students from 12 NASA Explorer Schools submitted their questions
earlier by video. Space shuttle Commander Ken Ham, Pilot Tony
Antonelli, Mission Specialists Garret Reisman, Michael Good, Steve
Bowen, Piers Sellers, and Expedition 23 Flight Engineer Tracy
Caldwell Dyson will give answers live on NASA Television.
Viewers should consult the NASA TV schedule to confirm the timing, as
the session could shift by several minutes. For NASA TV downlink,
schedule and streaming video information, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/ntv
The NASA Explorer Schools that submitted video questions are:
-John B. Cary Elementary in Richmond, Va
-Cumberland Middle School in Cumberland, Wisc.
-Rodriguez Elementary in Harlingen, Texas
-Hobgood Elementary in Murfreesboro, Tenn.
-Lebanon Middle School in Lebanon, Ky.
-Ellen Ochoa Learning Center in Cudahy, Calif.
-Orleans Elementary in Orleans, Vt.
-Wendover High School in Wendover, Utah
-Harding Middle School in Des Moines, Iowa
-Conyers Middle School in Conyers, Ga.
-Forest Lake Elementary School in Columbia, S.C.
-Arapahoe School in Arapahoe, Wyo.
The NASA Explorer Schools project establishes a three-year partnership
between the agency and schools in diverse communities to address
local challenges in science, technology and mathematics education.
The goal is to bring educators, administrators, students and families
together in sustained involvement with NASA's education programs. For
information about the programs, visit:
http://explorerschools.nasa.gov
For information about NASA's education programs, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/education
Atlantis' STS-132 mission includes three spacewalks, and the delivery
of equipment, supplies and a new Russian module to the station.
For more information about the mission, crew and shuttle, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle
-end-
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STS-132 MCC Status Report #15
HOUSTON – Atlantis astronauts completed the second of two high-priority tasks today, installing the final two 375-pound batteries of the six the shuttle brought to the International Space Station. Their 6-hour, 46-minute spacewalk wrapped up at 12:13 p.m. CDT.
Spacewalkers Mike Good and Garrett Reisman also installed an ammonia jumper and brought a power and data grapple fixture from Atlantis’ cargo bay into the station. Those tasks were added to the spacewalk after Good and Mission Specialist Steve Bowen were able to replace four batteries, one more than planned, during their Wednesday spacewalk.
The other high-priority task, installation of the Russian Mini-Research Module 1 named Rassvet was accomplished Tuesday. Hatches between it and the Zarya module were opened on Thursday. Today, after fans and filters were used overnight, station crew members reported a significant decrease in the amount of the metal shavings they had seen Thursday.
The first spacewalk task was installation of a backup ammonia coolant jumper between the Port 4 and Port 5 truss segments. It provides a readily available path for an ammonia recharge should one become necessary.
The spacewalkers moved farther out the port truss to turn their attention to the batteries. They removed and replaced the fifth and sixth old batteries and returned each to the nearby cargo carrier at the end of the station arm. Finally they took the last battery removed Wednesday from its temporary stowage position on the truss and moved it to the cargo carrier.
The station arm moved the cargo carrier with the old batteries to a temporary stowage position, to await its return to Atlantis’ cargo bay on Saturday. The batteries, on the Port 6 truss, store power from the station’s solar arrays for use during the 16 nights the station experiences each 24 hours.
Good and Reisman moved to the cargo bay where they removed the grapple fixture. Once it was free, both spacewalkers moved with it back to the airlock where it was stowed. It will provide a base for the station’s Canadarm2 on the Zarya module, where it is to be installed during a spacewalk scheduled for July.
From there the two moved into a get-ahead task, stowing and retrieving tools at Z1 truss tool boxes – basically a cleanup task after previous spacewalks. That was the final job before they moved back to the airlock to end the spacewalk.
As during the first two spacewalks, Atlantis Pilot Tony Antonelli was the intravehicular officer, choreographing activities. Mission Specialist Piers Sellers and station Flight Engineer Tracy Caldwell Dyson operated Canadarm2. Bowen, who participated in the Monday and Wednesday spacewalks, worked on photo and TV coverage.
Today’s spacewalk, the fourth for Good and the third for Reisman, was the 146th for station assembly and maintenance. Those spacewalks total 914 hours, 53 minutes.
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STS-132 MCC Status Report #16
HOUSTON – Space shuttle Atlantis' crew will begin the day by moving the cargo carrier, temporarily stowed Friday on the International Space Station’s mobile base system, into the shuttle’s payload bay, answer questions submitted by 12 NASA Explorer Schools and then wrap up the final transfer of items between vehicles.
The crews woke to Matt Redman’s “Lord We Have Seen the Rising Sun” at 12:20 a.m. CDT. The song was played for Mission Specialist Mike Good, who completed his fourth spacewalk Friday.
At 2:35 a.m. Mission Specialists Garrett Reisman and Piers Sellers will use the station’s robotic arm to move the cargo carrier, loaded with six 375-pound used batteries, into Atlantis’ payload bay for the return trip home.
At 6:40 a.m. the shuttle crew will answer questions submitted by video from elementary and middle school students from 12 NASA Explorer Schools. The NASA Explorer Schools project establishes a three-year partnership between NASA and schools in diverse communities to increase awareness of science, technology and mathematics education.
Schools participating include John B. Cary Elementary in Richmond, Va., Cumberland Middle School in Cumberland, Wisc., Rodriguez Elementary in Harlingen, Texas, Hobgood Elementary in Murfreesboro, Tenn., Lebanon Middle School in Lebanon, Ky., Ellen Ochoa Learning Center in Cudahy, Calif., Orleans Elementary in Orleans, Vt., Wendover High School in Wendover, Utah, Harding Middle School in Des Moines, Iowa, Conyers Middle School in Conyers, Ga., Forest Lake Elementary School in Columbia, S.C., and Arapahoe School in Arapahoe, Wyo.
Their station counterparts, Flight Engineers Tracy Caldwell Dyson, Mikhail Kornienko, Soichi Noguchi and T.J. Creamer will have a routine day of science work, maintenance and exercise sessions.
The shuttle crew also will have a few well-deserved hours of off duty time before sleep at 3:50 p.m. The next status report will be issued after the end of the crew workday or earlier if events warrant.
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STS-132 MCC Status Report #17
HOUSTON – Atlantis astronauts transferred equipment and supplies between the shuttle and the International Space Station on Saturday in preparation for their departure Sunday, after more than seven days of docked operations.
The cargo carrier that brought six new 375-pound batteries to the station was returned to the shuttle with the old station batteries. They were replaced during the mission’s second and third spacewalks on Wednesday and Friday. Cargo bay latches securing the carrier were closed at about 4:50 a.m. CDT.
Moments later Mission Specialists Piers Sellers and Garrett Reisman, at the controls of Canadarm2 in the station’s new cupola, released the arm’s grip on the carrier. They put the robotic arm in a parking position, completing its work for the STS-132 mission of Atlantis.
Beginning about 6:40 a.m. the Atlantis crew and station Flight Engineer Tracy Caldwell Dyson spent about 20 minutes answering videotaped questions from students at 12 NASA Explorer Schools around the country. The schools’ three-year partnerships with NASA are aimed at increasing students’ interest in science, technology and mathematics.
Departure preparations and transfer activities occupied some of the crew’s morning. Much of the transfer work focused on moving items between the station and Atlantis’ middeck. After the hour-long break for the midday meal and a couple of hours of early afternoon work, the crew was given almost three hours of off-duty time.
On Sunday crew farewells and hatch closure are to begin a little after 7 a.m. Undocking is set for 10:22 a.m.
The next status report will be issued after crew wakeup or earlier if events warrant.
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STS-132 MCC Status Report #18
HOUSTON – After more than seven days of working together, including three spacewalks and the installation of a new module, the International Space Station and shuttle crews part ways today.
The Atlantis crew woke at 11:50 p.m. Saturday to “These Are Days” performed by 10,000 Maniacs. The song was played for Pilot Tony Antonelli.
Before they part, the combined crews of shuttle Commander Ken Ham, Antonelli, Mission Specialists Michael Good, Garrett Reisman, Steve Bowen and Piers Sellers, and Expedition 23 Commander Oleg Kotov and Flight Engineers Alexander Skovortsov, Tracy Caldwell Dyson, Mikhail Kornienko, Soichi Noguchi, and T.J. Creamer, will gather one last time in the space station for a joint news conference. They will take questions from reporters in the United States and in Tokyo, Japan. The event will air on NASA TV at 5:25 a.m.
The crews will then gather the last items for transfer, and then gather for their farewells and close the hatches between the two spacecraft. Undocking is planned for 10:22 a.m.
Once backed safely away from the complex, Antonelli will perform a flyaround of the station. The shuttle crew will record views of the station during the planned 1.5 revolutions of the station. The shuttle will slowly increase its distance, but stay within range that it is able to redock to the orbiting laboratory if needed.
The next status report will be issued after crew the end of the crew workday or earlier if events warrant.
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STS-132 MCC Status Report #19
HOUSTON – Atlantis undocked from the International Space Station at 10:22 a.m. CDT Sunday, ending a seven-day stay that saw the addition of a new station module, replacement of batteries and resupply of the orbiting outpost.
During three spacewalks astronauts added a backup high-data-rate antenna to the station and a tool platform to Dextre, the robot-like special purpose dexterous manipulator. They removed and replaced six 375-pound batteries on the station’s P6 truss segment. The six old batteries are headed back to Earth in Atlantis’ cargo bay.
Rassvet, the Russian Mini-Research Module 1 brought to the station by Atlantis, was installed on the Zarya module by Mission Specialists Piers Sellers and Garrett Reisman. The delicate installation involved working in Russian on a computer linked to Rassvet and the station’s Russian segment and exacting control of the 58-foot Canadarm2. Both astronauts were in the new cupola, enjoying the luxury of window views to aid arm operation for the first time.
The joint operations were a good example of friendship and professionalism, station Commander Oleg Kotov said after summarizing the week’s accomplishments in the farewell ceremony. Atlantis Commander Ken Ham responded: “We are one happy shuttle crew … happy because of all of your efforts too. We were a 12-person crew that operated together.”
After undocking, Pilot Tony Antonelli flew Atlantis around the station at a distance ranging from about 400 to 600 feet. Crew members took photographs and video of the station with its new module to document its condition. Atlantis did the first separation burn, taking Atlantis away from the station, at 11:37 a.m.
Atlantis crew members, Ham, Antonelli and Mission Specialists Reisman, Michael Good, Steve Bowen and Sellers, spent their morning transferring final items from the station and preparing rendezvous tools and other items for their departure.
They and the station crew, Kotov and Flight Engineers Alexander Skvortsov, Tracy Caldwell Dyson, Mikhail Kornienko, Soichi Noguchi, and T.J. Creamer, gathered for a crew photo a little after 5 a.m. They subsequently fielded questions from media representatives at NASA centers and in Tokyo. The crews enjoyed a final midday meal together.
The farewell ceremony and subsequent departure of the Atlantis crew followed. Hatches between the two spacecraft were closed at 7:43 a.m., ending 6 days, 20 hours, 25 minutes of joint crew operations. At undocking, the two spacecraft had been together for 7 days, 54 minutes.
Monday shuttle crew members will do the standard late inspection of the heat resistant reinforced carbon carbon surfaces using the robotic arm and its 50-foot orbiter boom sensor system extension. A cable snag at the end of the OBSS had prevented a full inspection after launch. Spacewalkers cleared the snag, so the arm should be fully operational Monday. Other imagery and engineering data was used to fill in the gaps in the post-launch inspection.
Tuesday will focus on cabin stowage and checkout of Atlantis’ reaction control system and its flight control surfaces. Landing at Kennedy Space Center is scheduled for 7:48 a.m. Wednesday.
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STS-132 MCC Status Report #20
HOUSTON – Today, the shuttle crew performs a final inspection of Atlantis’ heat shield. The crew of six will also pack up spacesuits and have some time off.
Atlantis’ crew was awakened at 11:50 p.m. CDT. The music was the theme to “Wallace and Gromit” played for Mission Specialist Steve Bowen.
Bowen and fellow spacewalker Mission Specialist Mike Good will start their day by cleaning up the spacesuits and stowing them.
Commander Ken Ham, Pilot Tony Antonelli and Mission Specialists Garrett Reisman and Piers Sellers will work on inspection activities. They will again use the shuttle robotic arm and the 50-foot-long orbiter boom and its camera’s to scan Atlantis’ nose and starboard, or right, wing. They will break for lunch and then finish the task by scanning the port wing.
Exercise sessions will be interspersed throughout the day for each of the crewmembers in order to help prepare them for their return to Earth’s gravity Wednesday.
They will also have some off-duty time. Crew sleep is scheduled for 3:20 p.m.
The next status report will be issued after the end of the crew workday or earlier if events warrant.
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STS-132 MCC Status Report #21
HOUSTON – Atlantis astronauts stowed spacesuits, wrapped up the standard late inspection of the shuttle’s thermal protection system ahead of schedule and enjoyed some time off Monday.
Commander Ken Ham, Pilot Tony Antonelli and Mission Specialists Garrett Reisman and Piers Sellers began the inspection well ahead of scheduled start. By 4:50 a.m. they had finished their look at the right wing, by 5:52 a.m. the nose cap survey was complete and the left wing survey was finished at 7:17 a.m., about 2.5 hours ahead of the timeline.
The survey was done using the shuttle arm and its 50-foot extension, the orbiter boom sensor system. Early in the mission, a pan-tilt assembly at the boom’s end supporting a laser dynamic range imager and an intensified video camera had been partly disabled by a snagged cable.
A secondary system on the boom was used for the day-after-launch survey, and spacewalkers cleared the cable snag on Wednesday. The pan-tilt assembly and its instruments functioned flawlessly today. The results will be analyzed on the ground before Atlantis is formally cleared to land.
Spacewalkers Mike Good and Steve Bowen finished working with the spacesuits and put them away while the survey was being done. After the survey, the boom and the arm were stowed on opposite sides of the cargo bay sill, their work done for the mission.
Tuesday, crew members will stow items in the cabin and check out Atlantis’ reaction control system and its flight control surfaces. Landing at Kennedy Space Center is scheduled for 7:48 a.m. Wednesday.
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STS-132 MCC Status Report #22
HOUSTON – The space shuttle crew prepares for its return to Earth today. Landing opportunities for Atlantis’ planned final mission start on Wednesday.
The crew was awakened at 11:20 p.m. CDT. “Empire State of Mind” performed by Jay Z and Alicia Keys was the wake up song. It was played for Mission Specialist Garrett Reisman.
Commander Ken Ham, Pilot Tony Antonelli and Mission Specialist Mike Good will perform a test of the flight control system and a “hot fire” of the reaction control system in preparation for landing opportunities.
Reisman and Mission Specialists Steve Bowen and Piers Sellers will work on final packing and stowage activities in the morning and be joined by their crewmates to continue that work throughout the day. Each of the crew members also has exercise planned and they will all participate in a briefing to review the deorbit plans.
The entire Atlantis crew will gather in the shuttle flight deck to talk with representatives from the Colbert Report, ABC Radio Network and WEWS-TV of Cleveland. That event will air on NASA TV at 7:10 a.m.
Crew sleep is scheduled for 3:20 p.m.
The next status report will be issued after the end of the crew workday or earlier if events warrant.
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MEDIA ADVISORY: M10-082
SPACE SHUTTLE CREW SET TO RETURN TO EARTH WEDNESDAY
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Space shuttle Atlantis and its six-member crew
are expected to return to Earth on Wednesday, May 26, after a 12-day
mission. NASA managers will evaluate weather conditions at the
agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida before permitting Atlantis
to land.
Wednesday landing opportunities at Kennedy are at 8:48 a.m. and 10:22
a.m. EDT. If Atlantis is unable to land Wednesday, additional
opportunities are available at Kennedy on Thursday at 9:13 a.m. and
10:48 a.m. There are opportunities Friday at Kennedy and backup
landing site Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. For recorded updates
about landing, call 321-867-2525.
Approximately two hours after Atlantis lands, NASA officials will hold
a media briefing to discuss the mission. The participants will be:
- Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for Space Operations
- Mike Moses, space shuttle launch integration manager
- Mike Leinbach, space shuttle launch director
After touchdown, the astronauts will undergo routine physical
examinations and meet with their families. The crew will participate
in a post-landing news conference approximately four and a half hours
after landing. The news events will be broadcast live on NASA
Television and streamed on the agency's website.
The Kennedy news center will open for landing activities from 4:30
a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday. The STS-132 media badges are in effect
through landing. The media accreditation building on State Road 3
will open at 4 a.m. Wednesday. The last bus will depart from the news
center for the Shuttle Landing Facility one hour before landing.
If the shuttle landing is diverted to Edwards, news media should call
the public affairs office at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at
661-276-3449 for access. Dryden has limited facilities available for
previously accredited journalists.
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STS-132 MCC Status Report #23
HOUSTON – Atlantis astronauts spent Tuesday getting ready to come home. Their first landing opportunity is Wednesday at 7:48 a.m. CDT at Kennedy Space Center.
The crew, Commander Ken Ham, Pilot Tony Antonelli and Mission Specialists Garrett Reisman, Michael Good, Steve Bowen and Piers Sellers started standard day-before-landing activities early in their workday.
Ham, Antonelli and Good began the flight control system checkout at about 2:40 a.m., operating the rudder and flaps that will control Atlantis’ flight through the atmosphere to the Florida runway. That complete, Ham and Antonelli fired each of the shuttle’s 44 attitude control thrusters that orient Atlantis in space as it descends from orbit and through the upper atmosphere. Both those tests were completed successfully.
All crew members worked at various times throughout the day to stow items in the cabin to prepare for landing. The crew gathered for a 30-minute deorbit briefing at 6:40 a.m. Immediately afterward they talked with representatives of The Colbert Report, ABC Radio Network and WEWS-TV of Cleveland.
Late in their day, Reisman and Sellers stowed the Ku-band antenna in Atlantis’ cargo bay. The high-data-rate antenna transmits, among other things, television from the shuttle.
Wednesday weather forecasts for Kennedy Space Center were generally favorable, though there was a chance of showers within 30 miles of the runway. There is a second opportunity Wednesday at KSC at 9:23 a.m. Thursday has two KSC landing opportunities, at 8:13 a.m. and 9:48 a.m. Atlantis’ thermal protection system was cleared Tuesday for re-entry.
The next status report will be issued before after crew wakeup, or earlier if warranted.
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STS-132 MCC Status Report #24
HOUSTON – All eyes turn to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, as the Atlantis crew and mission control team prepare for a possible landing Wednesday morning.
The crew awoke at 11:20 p.m. CDT Tuesday to “Supermassive Black Hole” performed by Muse. The song was played for Commander Ken Ham.
Ham, Pilot Tony Antonelli and Mission Specialists Mike Good, Garrett Reisman, Steve Bowen and Piers Sellers will start the day with final stowage activities and deorbit preparations.
There are two landing opportunities under consideration for Wednesday, both at Kennedy. The first is on orbit 186 with a deorbit burn at 6:41 a.m. and touchdown at 7:48 a.m. The second is on the following orbit, with deorbit burn at 8:17 a.m. and touchdown at 9:22 a.m.
Landing weather was forecast as favorable but with a slight chance of showers within 30 miles of the shuttle landing facility.
If needed, there are two additional landing opportunities for Florida on Thursday, and landing opportunities at all three landing sites, including Dryden Space Flight Center in California and White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico, Friday and Saturday.
The next status report will be issued after landing or earlier if events warrant.
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RELEASE: 10-124
SPACE SHUTTLE ATLANTIS RETURNS HOME AFTER ITS FINAL PLANNED MISSION
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Space shuttle Atlantis and six astronauts
ended a 12-day journey of more than 4.8 million miles with an 8:48
a.m. EDT landing Wednesday at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The third of five shuttle missions planned for 2010, this was the last
scheduled flight for Atlantis. The mission, designated STS-132,
delivered the Russian-built Mini Research Module-1 to the
International Space Station. Also known as Rassvet ("dawn" in
Russian), the module provides additional storage space and a new
docking port for Russian Soyuz and Progress spacecraft.
Ken Ham commanded the flight and was joined by Pilot Tony Antonelli
and Mission Specialists Garrett Reisman, Michael Good, Steve Bowen
and Piers Sellers.
The mission's three spacewalks focused on replacing and installing
components outside the station, including replacing six batteries,
installing a communications antenna and adding parts to the Canadian
Dextre robotic arm.
A welcome ceremony for the astronauts will be held Thursday, May 27,
in Houston. The public is invited to attend the 4 p.m. CDT event at
Ellington Field's NASA Hangar 990.
Highlights from the ceremony will be broadcast on NASA Television's
Video File. For NASA TV downlink information, schedules and links to
streaming video, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/ntv
STS-132 was the 132nd shuttle flight, the 32nd flight for Atlantis and
the 34th shuttle mission dedicated to station assembly and
maintenance.
With Atlantis and its crew safely home, the stage is set for the
launch of shuttle Discovery on its STS-133 mission, targeted to lift
off in September 2010. Discovery's flight will deliver the Leonardo
Permanent Multipurpose Module to house experiments. STS-133 also will
bring critical spare components and a cargo carrier to the station.
Robonaut 2, or R2, will be the first human-like robot in space when
it flies on Discovery to become a permanent resident of the station.
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STS-132 MCC Status Report #25
HOUSTON -- Space shuttle Atlantis made its last planned landing Wednesday morning at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, completing a flight that delivered a new Russian module, batteries and other equipment and supplies to the International Space Station.
Atlantis’ wheels touched down on KSC’s three-mile concrete runway at 7:48 a.m. CDT, winding up a flight of 11 days, 18 hours and 28 minutes. Atlantis traveled almost 4.9 million miles during 186 orbits. Atlantis has flown 32 missions and travelled a total of more than 120 million miles.
“We’re glad to have you back,” Capcom Charlie Hobaugh told the crew just after wheel stop. “You guys executed flawlessly and you had a great time doing it.”
Commander Ken Ham, Pilot Tony Antonelli and Mission Specialists Garrett Reisman, Michael Good, Steve Bowen and Piers Sellers spent just over seven days at the station. During that time Reisman, Bowen and Good each did two of the flight’s three spacewalks.
The first included installation of a spare space-to-ground antenna and a spare parts platform on Dextre, the robot-like Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator. The second and third were dedicated mostly to installation of the six 375-pound batteries on the station’s P6 truss. The old batteries returned to Earth in Atlantis’ cargo bay, in the same carrier that took their replacements into space.
The 19.7-foot Russian Rassvet (Dawn) Mini-Research Module-1 was installed on the Earth-facing port of the station’s Zarya module. For the delicate and complex operation, Reisman and Sellers used the station’s 58-foot Canadarm2 and a Russian-language computer.
Atlantis also took equipment, supplies and experiments to and from the station, and augmented its supplies of water, oxygen and nitrogen.
The crew is scheduled to return to Houston for a welcome at Ellington Field’s Hangar 276 about 4 p.m. Thursday. The public is invited.
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MEDIA ADVISORY: M10-099
NASA, GEORGETOWN INVITE PUBLIC TO ASTRONAUTS' DISCUSSION OF RECENT SPACE SHUTTLE MISSION
WASHINGTON -- NASA and Georgetown University's McDonough School of
Business invite the public to a discussion with the most recent space
shuttle crew to fly in space at 6:30 p.m. EDT on Monday, July 26. The
McDonough School of Business will host the six astronauts in the
Lohrfink Auditorium of the Rafik B. Hariri Building. The crew members
will give a video presentation about their mission and answer
questions from the audience.
Those interested in attending the astronauts' talk can sign up online.
Each individual must register separately at:
http://georgetownnasa.eventbrite.com
Reporters interested in covering the event should contact Teresa
Mannix at 202-687-4080 or [email protected].
Ken Ham commanded the flight and was joined by Pilot Tony Antonelli
and Mission Specialists Garrett Reisman, Michael Good, Steve Bowen
and Piers Sellers. The six astronauts completed a 12-day mission
aboard space shuttle Atlantis in May.
It was the third shuttle mission of 2010 and the last scheduled flight
for Atlantis. The mission, designated STS-132, delivered the
Russian-built Mini Research Module-1 to the International Space
Station. Also known as Rassvet (the Russian word for "dawn"), the
module provides additional storage space and a new docking port for
Russian Soyuz and Progress spacecraft.
The mission's three spacewalks focused on replacing and installing
components outside the station, including replacing six batteries,
installing a communications antenna and adding parts to the Canadian
Dextre robotic arm.
For more information about the STS-132 crew members and their mission,
visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts132/main
Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business will stream the
event online. For more information about the school and a link to the
live webstream, visit:
http://www.msb.georgetown.edu
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