NASASpaceFlight.com Forum
NASA Shuttle Specific Sections => Atlantis (Post STS-135, T&R) => Topic started by: Zachstar on 09/17/2006 05:02 am
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STS-115 Atlantis Flight Day 9 & Soyuz TMA-9 Launch/Day 1
Links to actively track the shuttle and ISS http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/tracking/ http://www.lizard-tail.com/isana/lab/googlesat/googlesat2.php
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Chris and Heidy on the flightdeck preparing for the undocking of Atlantis.
Farewells and hatch closure at the top of the hour.
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A lot of pictures are taken just before the farewell.
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Farewells and departure of the Atlantis crew.
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Heidy preparing the hatch closure.
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Jeff and Thomas securing the hatch from the station side.
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Shift change in the shuttle MCC in progress...Orbit 1 to Orbit 2...
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Kenny Loggins "Dangerzone" the wake up call? Superb!
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It looked like the ISS crew has the lab hatch closed up, too...couple of recent stills from the port side of the truss:
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I hope we get a view of the undock from the truss, in orbital daylight..
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Now back in 'standard' level XVV orientation (orbiter first, Soyuz at rear).
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Looks like they're ready for undocking...given they're going into orbital darkness and undocking is only about 20 minutes away, sunrise would be after undocking...
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15 minutes to undocking.
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will there be a flyaround and pictures from the whole complex after undocking? I'd like to see the station with the new panels!
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Thats the plan..
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Will they do the one and a quarter lap around ISS or will they just do the quarter lap over the top like STS-121 did? I'd like to think they'll do the entire fly-around to document the complex.
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Wisi - 17/9/2006 8:42 AM
will there be a flyaround and pictures from the whole complex after undocking?
PAO was expecting good live TV, but we'll have to see.
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nathan.moeller - 17/9/2006 8:43 AM
Will they do the one and a quarter lap around ISS or will they just do the quarter lap over the top like STS-121 did? I'd like to think they'll do the entire fly-around to document the complex.
Yes, this was covered yesterday in briefings and press conferences; they have enough "gas" to do a full lap-plus.
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9 minutes to separation.
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Orbiter in free-drift, 3 minutes to undock.
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psloss - 17/9/2006 7:44 AM
nathan.moeller - 17/9/2006 8:43 AM
Will they do the one and a quarter lap around ISS or will they just do the quarter lap over the top like STS-121 did? I'd like to think they'll do the entire fly-around to document the complex.
Yes, this was covered yesterday in briefings and press conferences; they have enough "gas" to do a full lap-plus.
Very good! Shuttle now it free drift for separation in two minutes.
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ODS hooks open...
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We have separation!
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Station back to attitude control...orbiter verniers selected...
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I hope we get some KU soon...
TCS2 vs Filt.. any ideas?
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now 200 feet away, 30 minutes after undocking. waiting for the station to come into daylight..
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Wisi - 17/9/2006 3:08 PM
now 200 feet away, 30 minutes after undocking. waiting for the station to come into daylight..
13 minutes, not 30.
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yeah your right. I should stop believing in NASA TV without thinking... ;-)
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Wisi - 17/9/2006 9:10 AM
yeah your right. I should stop believing in NASA TV without thinking... ;-)
Yip they just said that stations arm will be used to check the heat shield... good luck at a range of 70 miles...
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Flyaround has started...getting orbiter TV.
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At last
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Nice wide shot...
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New arrays look great..
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That is just beautiful...
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Agreed
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Plan view..
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time to change desktop wallpaper. can't wait for high res photos.
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This entire week the shuttle has been at the 'aft' end of movement, now they turned the entire complex around with the shuttle seperating 'forward'
2 questions:
1) When did they do that?
2) Why did they do that?
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R bar
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paulhbell07 - 17/9/2006 3:27 PM
time to change desktop wallpaper. can't wait for high res photos.
Yes, it's been a very long time since the station's shape has changed...
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Brilliant views. Amazing how those arrays expand the view of the ISS.
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Not bad from the other side of the velocity vector, either...
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Click for the larger image on the above posts
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V- bar
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Is it me or are the angles of the Beta gimbles of 2A and 4A different?
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dutch courage - 17/9/2006 9:46 AM
Is it me or are the angles of the Beta gimbles of 2A and 4A different?
No.. they are different
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600 ft below...
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dutch courage - 17/9/2006 8:46 AM
Is it me or are the angles of the Beta gimbles of 2A and 4A different?
I noticed that yesterday. I kept thinking: rotate one of those a few degrees so they'll be even and look better in the fly around. But I guess its not important.
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Click... http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/forums/get-attachment-big.asp?action=view&attachmentid=12728
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No more Ku for TV - using it for radar now.
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RedSky - 17/9/2006 3:51 PM
dutch courage - 17/9/2006 8:46 AM
Is it me or are the angles of the Beta gimbles of 2A and 4A different?
I noticed that yesterday. I kept thinking: rotate one of those a few degrees so they'll be even and look better in the fly around. But I guess its not important.
I'm not sure if the solar arrays track the sun with BG only or not at all.
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MKremer - 17/9/2006 9:55 AM
No more Ku for TV - using it for radar now.
Think we are done for the fly around?
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No more TV for the flyaround, though I bet they're still busily snapping photos.
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Avron - 17/9/2006 3:57 PM
Think we are done for the fly around?
Nope. On the right screen in mission controll you can follow the progress of the flyaround
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Shuttle crew has executed first sep burn...Brent Jett and Jeff Williams exchanged farewells...
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I'm also looking forward to seeing photos of Atlantis with some station hardware in the foreground... they should be pretty spectacular! Hope Jeff, Pavel and Thomas have good photo skills :)
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when can we expect hi-res imagery from flyaround? still today?
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Wisi - 17/9/2006 10:14 AM
when can we expect hi-res imagery from flyaround? still today?
There's no deadline -- we'll see them when we see them.
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What was that Alarm!?
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Davie OPF - 17/9/2006 4:21 PM
What was that Alarm!?
I don't know, but sounded like a klaxon alarm. Isn't that type of alarm that makes the Master Alarm light up?
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Sounded almost like a big phone :)
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DaveS - 17/9/2006 9:25 AM
Davie OPF - 17/9/2006 4:21 PM
What was that Alarm!?
I don't know, but sounded like a klaxon alarm. Isn't that type of alarm that makes the Master Alarm light up?
It did sound like a master alarm, but I was in the yard and only heard it out of context.
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Press conference on.
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Undocking, as viewed from inside the ISS! :)
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These are keepers! :)
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You can hear people in the background gasping and cheering when the loop is open. These are amazing images.
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That video is being shot with a HD camera (note the widescreen 16:9 aspect ratio). Too bad we can't see it in HD from ISS, but that will change shortly as I understand.
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RedSky - 17/9/2006 9:51 AM
dutch courage - 17/9/2006 8:46 AM
Is it me or are the angles of the Beta gimbles of 2A and 4A different?
I noticed that yesterday. I kept thinking: rotate one of those a few degrees so they'll be even and look better in the fly around. But I guess its not important.
At the status briefing, Phil Engelauf said they are feathered for the different approaches (orbiter on the U.S side, Soyuz and Progress on the Russian side). (Until the SARJ can be used for tracking after 12A.1.)
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Will the undocking be uploaded high res like the launch?
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astrobrian - 17/9/2006 10:57 AM
Will the undocking be uploaded high res like the launch?
That's what I'm trying to find out. There was supposed to be some HD streaming capability added to the ISS on this mission:
http://www.crystalpc.com/news_details.asp?News_Id=47
I have noticed that occasionally the ISS crew shoots onboard video with a widescreen camera which I assume is an HD camera. It sounded this morning as if they might have been seeing the video in HD on the ground.
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Replaying a bit more undocking video from the ISS...from the port side of the truss.
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Another replay...
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Spiff - 17/9/2006 8:28 AM
This entire week the shuttle has been at the 'aft' end of movement, now they turned the entire complex around with the shuttle seperating 'forward'
2 questions:
1) When did they do that?
2) Why did they do that?
1) Don't have the flight plan in front of me, but probably between the Group B powerup and the entry into the undocking timeline.
2) The undocking/flyaround trajectory and procedures were designed with the orbiter separating along the +Vbar (orbiter 'forward'). The 'orbiter aft' attitude during the week of docked ops was done to reduce orbital debris risk to the orbiter.
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JRF
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Flight Day 9 MMT presentation on L2 notes no problems in works (bar silly things like camcorders)
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Chris Bergin - 17/9/2006 7:40 PM
Flight Day 9 MMT presentation on L2 notes no problems in works (bar silly things like camcorders)
This has to be the cleanest STS flight on record.
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Avron - 17/9/2006 8:36 PM
This has to be the cleanest STS flight on record.
Maybe. It's been a clean flight, but I don't know that there's enough historical documentation on the site to say by which measure(s), though.
How has this mission been cleaner than the last one?
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psloss - 17/9/2006 8:49 PM
Avron - 17/9/2006 8:36 PM
This has to be the cleanest STS flight on record.
Maybe. It's been a clean flight, but I don't know that there's enough historical documentation on the site to say by which measure(s), though.
How has this mission been cleaner than the last one?
Granted.. by measure no.. but just based on what is been present by the MMT/ press confs. We hear.. there really is nothing to report in terms of issues ... no issues with APU's, as an example vs the fun and games of the last mission i.r.t. leaks .. mmt presentation is one page.. looks great.. really well done by all who have made it happen with an approx 30 year old vehicle design.
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Avron - 17/9/2006 9:24 PM
Granted.. by measure no.. but just based on what is been present by the MMT/ press confs. We hear.. there really is nothing to report in terms of issues ... no issues with APU's, as an example vs the fun and games of the last mission i.r.t. leaks .. mmt presentation is one page.. looks great.. really well done by all who have made it happen with an approx 30 year old vehicle design.
Up to this point, both flights have been clean, which speaks to the preparation by the program. This flight had bigger challenges during countdown...perhaps comparable work done on the fuel cell coolant pump motor.
On-orbit, it does seem like the ops/support teams have some momentum coming off the last flight so recently.
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I think it's due to the building of lessons-learned and experience processes over the last 3 years or so - the lessons learned from Columbia, as well as more attention to detail and preparations from OPF through pre-launch processing; more attention to troubleshooting, and an overall conservative analysis for mission management; and the willingness to not only listen to and take heed of dissenting viewpoints, but to have the top management (up to the administrator himself) acknowledge their responsibility to make the final decisions with full knowledge of what the consequences might be.
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MKremer - 17/9/2006 10:35 PM
I think it's due to the building of lessons-learned and experience processes over the last 3 years or so - the lessons learned from Columbia, as well as more attention to detail and preparations from OPF through pre-launch processing; more attention to troubleshooting, and an overall conservative analysis for mission management; and the willingness to not only listen to and take heed of dissenting viewpoints, but to have the top management (up to the administrator himself) acknowledge their responsibility to make the final decisions with full knowledge of what the consequences might be.
Some of it is also due to lessons-learned over the life of the program...that's why I wondered 'by which measure(s)' -- by some measures, perhaps even some of the same measures, there were "clean" flights pre-51L and pre-107, too...
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psloss - 17/9/2006 9:41 PM
Some of it is also due to lessons-learned over the life of the program...that's why I wondered 'by which measure(s)' -- by some measures, perhaps even some of the same measures, there were "clean" flights pre-51L and pre-107, too...
I have no doubt that the OPF and pad techs, and even lots of management, back then did their level best to give each orbiter, ET, and SRB as much TLC as possible, to the best of their ability procedurally, all the way to launch. But, compared with what is known now that they didn't know or pay a lot of attention to then, I do think many of the clean flights (or flights considered 'clean' in those times) were due more to fortunate happenstance than to all the preparation and inspection details they know are critically important now.