Re: STS-120 Rollout and Pad Processing Latest

Is this going to cause a roll back?

[DaveS]

Justin Wheat - 5/10/2007  7:27 PM
Is this going to cause a roll back?

No. No damage at all.

[nathan.moeller]

DaveS - 5/10/2007  12:06 PM

nathan.moeller - 5/10/2007  6:53 PM

It really is amazing what age does to the color of the foam.  It's so much darker on ET-120 than on any of the other tanks I've seen.  Is it the light that does that?

No. It's the fact that ET-120 is a fully recycled ET.

ET-120 was to be used for STS-114 but with the ECO sensor and LH2 tank diffuser problems, coupled with the fact that ET-120 was the only RTF modded tank at the time that didn't have the LOX feedline bellows heaters NASA decided to perform a very rare "stack-swap" following rollback to the VAB leading to Discovery launching with ET-121 which would have been used for STS-121.

So after the PAL ramp fiasco on STS-114 ET-120 along with ET-119 and ET-117 got sent back to Michoud for further RTF modifications prior to STS-121. At the time of STS-121, ET-120 was a mere test article with all of it's LH2 tank IFRs+4 of the LOX tank IFRs removed for foam inspections along with it's LH2 ECO sensors.

Then when it was seen that ET-120 was needed to maintain the manifest, Michoud initiated an agressive effort of restoring ET-120 to flight-status. That is why the IFRs are alot whiter than on other tanks.

That is the story of ET-120 so far. It's a bit ironic that Discovery ended up with ET-120!

Yeah I knew the story.  They would have used ET-120 for Atlantis on STS-121 that September if STS-114 hadn't run into foam trouble with the PAL ramp.  They hacked up ET-120s PAL ramp at MAF and found a lot of cracks in it and used it for study to make modifications to the other upcoming tanks.  But I didn't know what caused the foam to darken so much.

[MKremer]

The more total UV exposure any of the existing foam has gone thru the darker it gets.

[nathan.moeller]

MKremer - 5/10/2007  1:30 PM

The more total UV exposure any of the existing foam has gone thru the darker it gets.

Thought so.  Thanks Mike.

[jacqmans]

Mission: STS-120 - 23rd International Space Station Flight - U.S. Node
2 (Harmony)
Vehicle: Discovery (OV-103)
Location: Launch Pad 39A
Launch Date: Targeted for Oct. 23, 2007
Crew: Melroy, Zamka, Parazynski, Wheelock, Wilson, Nespoli and Tani
Inclination/Orbit Altitude: 51.6 degrees/122 nautical miles

On Sunday, STS-120 was transported via the crawler transporter to
Launch Pad 39A. The rotating service structure, which protects and
provides access to the orbiter at the pad, was rolled into position
on Monday. During the week, workers performed shuttle interface
testing, orbiter/external tank leak checks and launch pad
validations. The payload was installed in the orbiter on Thursday,
and the sensor packs were installed on the orbiter boom sensor
system.

Loading of hypergolic propellants aboard Discovery is scheduled for
this weekend. Next week, the terminal countdown demonstration test is
scheduled with the STS-120 astronauts and the launch team. This
routine series of events includes emergency training procedures and a
launch countdown dress rehearsal.

After the hail monitoring system at the pad showed possible hail in
the predawn hours of Wednesday, engineers fully inspected the space
shuttle but found no damage. There were no radar indications of hail,
though wind-driven rain may have been possible. The calibration of
the hail monitoring system sensors and associated instrumentation is
being assessed.

[MKremer]

DaveS - 3/10/2007  2:35 PM

rgerhards - 3/10/2007  9:32 PM

I've seen the crawler image on the webcams a few minutes ago, too. I wonder if it really is heading back right now. Was it parked at the pad or are some tasks to do before it can head back?

Rainer

Just parked. It was parked there just as it usually is following a rollout.

BTW, what happened to the crawler? It's been missing from its normal parked location since early this morning.

[DaveS]

MKremer - 5/10/2007  10:40 PM
BTW, what happened to the crawler? It's been missing from its normal parked location since early this morning.

It was driven away from the pad. Probably went back to the old Apollo MSS parking site where it will wait until it's needed again, either in the VAB area or at the pads.

[MKremer]

That's a bit of a change from previous launches, then - sitting just outside the gate until around the time the official countdown begins.

[DaveS]

MKremer - 5/10/2007  10:53 PM

That's a bit of a change from previous launches, then - sitting just outside the gate until around the time the official countdown begins.

That's a bit unusual. It all depends on when they find a slot to move it in.

[Edgecrusher]

Not sure if this is the right thread for this; if it isn't, please move it to the appropriate one... thanks!

In support of STS-120, I created a cover for my cell phone, based on the STS-120 mission patch:

[psloss]

nathan.moeller - 5/10/2007  1:54 PM

But I didn't know what caused the foam to darken so much.

I'm piling on with a post from an earlier processing thread to show ET-120 at various times in 2005 during STS-114 processing:
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=5955&start=211#M168499

(It got most of its "tan" during that pad flow 2 1/2 years ago, of course.)

[shuttlefan]

Any times yet as to when the RSS will be retracted for the APU hotfire Thursday and the actual hotfire itself? Also how long will the APUs run for?

[Chris Bergin]

Update, relating to the EVAs too:
http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/content/?cid=5247

[Orbiter Obvious]

Chris Bergin - 7/10/2007  1:59 PM

Update, relating to the EVAs too:
http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/content/?cid=5247

Thanks, that was interesting!

[lsullivan411]

Has the crew made it in for the TCDT?  Thought they were to arrive this afternoon.

[jimmiemac]

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

"The seven STS-120 astronauts arrived at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Sunday in their T-38 training jets between 6:15 and 6:55 p.m. EDT, in advance of next week's launch dress rehearsal activities."

[Ford Mustang]

STS-120 Crew has arrived at KSC (as mentioned earlier)!  Pictures now up at the KSC Hot Pics gallery:

http://mediaarchive.ksc.nasa.gov/search.cfm?cat=4

[Chris Bergin]

We're still checking into this on L2, but there may be a problem relating to RCC panels and the need to replace them. Standby for more later.

[shuttlefan]

Chris Bergin - 8/10/2007  9:12 PM

We're still checking into this on L2, but there may be a problem relating to RCC panels and the need to replace them. Standby for more later.

Not meaning to jump on the bandwagon too early, but, could an RCC panel replacement be done at the pad or would that cause a rollback and demate?