Author Topic: LIVE: STS-124 Flight Day 2 - Inspection Day (Read 48298 times)

Ford Mustang · « **Reply #120 on:** 06/01/2008 07:42 pm »

Setting up for the PAO event:

Ford Mustang · « **Reply #121 on:** 06/01/2008 07:48 pm »

Discovery is ready for the event!

Ford Mustang · « **Reply #122 on:** 06/01/2008 07:51 pm »

Questioner: Karen, is Space everything you expected it to be?
Karen: It's more than that. Launch was amazing.

Questioner: How is training compared to the real thing?
Karen: Very like the real thing. Post insertion was almost the same as training.

Questioner: Tell us about launch, Karen.
Karen: Once the SRB's lit, you really feel it.. It's a kick in the pants, and you feel the G's. Once you hit MECO, you're floating.. It's pretty darn cool.

Questioner: What is the most important thing to remember about running the RMS?
Karen: The most important thing is to watch clearances, you really don't want to hit something with it.

Questioner: What do you expect to be the hardest part of the mission for you and the crew?
Karen: Taking enough time to get a good look at the Earth.

Questioner: What has been your role to inspect Discovery for damage to the heat shield?
Karen: Today we used just the camera on the end of the End Effector, did as much as we could without the OBSS. We did as much survey as we could without the OBSS, and it went great.

Questioner: How's the view?
Karen: Indescribable. It's beautiful. Seen a couple sunrises and sunsets, very cool.

Questioner: Is there time to relax.. down time?
Karen: We do get some off time towards the end of the mission.

Questioner: What do you want to say to those who came to the launch (family and friends)?
Karen: Thanks for coming, hope you enjoied the launch.

Questioner: Tell us what Kibo will do.
Karen: Kibo will be the biggest module that will be on the Space Station. It will have an exposed facility, so some experiments can spend time in the vacuum of space.

Questioner: Tell us about this plumbing work.
Karen: Not much I can say about it except the toilet is broken. I know about as much as you do.

Ford Mustang · « **Reply #123 on:** 06/01/2008 08:02 pm »

Questioner: Tell us, you're about half way to your destination, right?
Mark: Obviously our destination is the ISS. In time, we're about half-way to reaching, yes. We launched real close behind it, and will dock tomorrow.

Questioner: Karen, this has been a dream of yours since you were little. How much of you turned back to that little kid and how much is in mission mode?
Karen: Earlier today I came up to the flight deck, and I said "I want to be an astronaut when I grow up, everyone."

Questioner: What was it like taking off yesterday?
Karen: It was a little surreal. Sitting on the pad was like being in a simulator, but once the SRB's lit up, it was an incredible ride.

Questioner: Can you compare it to anything, anything at all?
Karen: Nothing that I've experienced compares.

Questioner: Karen, tell us your role in this mission.
Karen: This will be the first time we have three robotic arms in orbit. Therefore, since it's the first time, I just happen to be lucky enough to operate all three of them. I'll also be helping Akih getting the JEM module outfitted.

Questioner: What's the main focus of this mission?
Karen: The Kibo module. It's gonna be a great addition to the Space Station. Greg Chamitoff is going to stay at the ISS, as well.

Questioner: Launch was beautiful. What do you guys know about the debris?
Karen: We don't know a lot about the debris, but the ground crew is looking at it, and we will find out soon enough.

Questioner: You've been able to work with the arms a little bit to make sure they are working properly?
Karen: We have worked with the Shuttle arm, and the Station arm will come tomorrow. The Japanese arm will come when we go into the Kibo module.

Questioner: What's the next goal for you, Karen?
Karen: Being able to do this again.

Questioner: Anything you want to say to anyone back at home?
Karen: Hello everybody, thanks for making it down to the launch. Hello to my family and friends.

Ford Mustang · « **Reply #124 on:** 06/01/2008 08:09 pm »

Questioner: We thank you for joining us. Mike, how was the trip into orbit this time in regards to your last time?
Mike: A flawless countdown, the vehicle was really clean. We walked out and launched, and we're in orbit.

Questioner: How did your first ride in Discovery help you for this trip?
Mike: There are differences in the missions, yes, but the ride up was nothing different. Generally prepared, and got a great crew, and everyone is working together.

Questioner: How complex is the Kibo installation?
Mike: There's some steps... The first are our installation steps.. A lot of robotic maneuvers to install it on the station, then we'll go back outside and finish outfitting it. It's a beautiful piece of engineering.

Questioner: Everyone wants to know if you guys can fix the toilet on the station...?
Mike: We're bringing up parts from Russia, and they're gonna fix it, unless they need help twisting wrenches.

FROM ELEMENTARY STUDENTS:

Questioner: What kind of food do you take to space?
Mike: I had some granola with blueberries and a bagle for breakfast, and I had an apple and Tuna Salad on Tortillas for lunch. Not like home, but the hungrier you get, the better it tastes.

Questioner: What wanted to make you become an astronaut?
Mike: Being a kid, first off. I've always wanted to do this crazy thing. Never game up.

Questioner: What's your job on this mission?
Mike: My main job is taking care of the Space Walks, and fixing a few things on the Space Station. Other than that, my main job is staying around the food locker.

BACK TO REGULAR QUESTIONER:

Questioner: Has Mike kept you guys in line, helped you out in this mission?
Mark: You have no idea.

Questioner: Once you look down at Aggieland(?) from space, what goes through your mind?
Mike: It's just like home. Just a few days before we went into quarantine, I took a drive up there.

Questioner: What is your message to young people who want to be an astronaut?
Mike: There's no dream that's too crazy to reach for. If you can dream it, you can achieve it, and you will make it one day.

EVENT OVER!

Ford Mustang · « **Reply #125 on:** 06/01/2008 08:10 pm »

Nice shots from the RMS, still.

_{Boy, these transcriptions are rough}

Chris Bergin · « **Reply #126 on:** 06/01/2008 08:11 pm »

Great work with that Ford.

kneecaps · « **Reply #127 on:** 06/01/2008 08:11 pm »

Hehe..finally some Aggie talk!

Ronsmytheiii · « **Reply #128 on:** 06/01/2008 08:13 pm »

So, anyone hear when the water dump will happen? Should be interesting with the SRMS watching.

Ford Mustang · « **Reply #129 on:** 06/01/2008 08:14 pm »

Quote from: Ronsmytheiii on 06/01/2008 08:13 pm

So, anyone hear when the water dump will happen? Should be interesting with the SRMS watching.

Getting ready to happen.

rocketguy101 · « **Reply #130 on:** 06/01/2008 08:16 pm »

Quote from: kneecaps on 06/01/2008 08:11 pm

Hehe..finally some Aggie talk!

whoop! gosh, who put an Aggie and a longhorn on the same crew?

Ford Mustang · « **Reply #131 on:** 06/01/2008 08:17 pm »

Discovery enters a LOS... MCC-H enters break mode.

brueyh1976 · « **Reply #132 on:** 06/01/2008 08:19 pm »

Forgive my being a limey but what is a longhorn? I what an Aggie is due to watching STS-121.

jmjawors · « **Reply #133 on:** 06/01/2008 08:22 pm »

Quote from: brueyh1976 on 06/01/2008 08:19 pm

Forgive my being a limey but what is a longhorn? I what an Aggie is due to watching STS-121.

'Longhorn' is the symbol/mascot for the University of Texas (named after the cattle). Texas A&M and UT are rivals in sports.

Ford Mustang · « **Reply #134 on:** 06/01/2008 08:32 pm »

Ford Mustang · « **Reply #135 on:** 06/01/2008 08:36 pm »

Abbot: Ascent was flawless. No significant anomalies yet. The only problem is the L OMS, and that's not a problem. Don't need it until the Deorbit Burn. Expect to use it nominally for the DOB. Pulled some of the afternoon activities forward in the timeline. Docking mechanism checked out and ready to go. RMS scan went very very well. That, combined with our WLE Instrumentation, the umbilical cameras, the still photos from ET Sep, and tomorrow's R-Bar Pitch Maneuver will give us a good state of health on the TPS. The orbiter is a little over 600 miles behind the ISS, closing around 40 or 45 miles an hour. Things going very well.

Ford Mustang · « **Reply #136 on:** 06/01/2008 08:42 pm »

Cain: Did look at a little bit of data from the ascent.. Some Tyvek covers (F3D and F4D), a small piece of those were left remaining on those two thrusters for a few seconds. Had a case on STS-118 where a Tyvek cover held on longer than we wanted. We don't have any concerns, just an item of interest. Crew completed the RMS inspection today, we'll get the boom in a few days, folks off looking at that already. Engineers looking at this data for any Focused Inspections, and will know on Tuesday or Wednesday. Focused Inspection will be FD7 if needed. Both boosters on their way back to the hanger. Should be back on Tuesday, and will get our open assessment in about the Wednesday timeframe. Video camera data should be here on Thursday or Friday.

ET-128 is our first in-line tank. Tank included all modifications to fit the Post-Columbia data. Some pictures below, will be re-edited. Ice-foam ramps and the LOX Feedline Brackets were great. Just wanted to show you how good the tank looks, and let you know that there are some areas we will be looking at, but it preformed magnificently.

Did lose a little piece under the footprint area of the forward bipod. We'll get a lot of data from our R-Bar pitch maneuver tomorrow, as normal.

All-in-all, the missions is going very well. Everything is ready for docking tomorrow.

kneecaps · « **Reply #137 on:** 06/01/2008 08:49 pm »

Enter Marcia Dunn...

Ford Mustang · « **Reply #138 on:** 06/01/2008 08:52 pm »

Marcia Dunn is asking about the 5 pieces of foam loss. How many impacted the shuttle?

Cain: The number hasn't changed yet to my knowledge. They were after the 'critical' part in launch. There was one and possibly two, we think, that hit the orbiter. What's really important is looking at the orbiter at the R-Bar pitch maneuver.

Ford Mustang · « **Reply #139 on:** 06/01/2008 09:02 pm »

Presser over.

Waste Water Dump upcoming.