A few foam pieces liberated
Perhaps one sensitive piece
Weather wasn't an issue @ KSC
Tiny bit of TAL weather discussion
Stress relief crack on horizontal umbilical strut (7") never seen before in this location but have seen it in other locations
The Ball bearing that was found is used in 1000's of places, quick way to secure items
Team couldn't find where it came from last week so decided it was from ground equipment
But didn't stop looking and realised it could be from a PLB camera
Even if it was from a PLB camera it wouldn't be an issue
Good ride to orbit
Inspections tomorrow
FD3 - Docking
Only two issues today were the crack in the foam and ball bearing that was found
Questions from audience:
Would you be confident to send a crew on Atlantis after Endeavour without a support shuttle ?
Wont short cut anything, will just process Atlantis for LON
If it was to become a mission we need to know by June / July to prepare for it
What would be the nature of the cargo and crew for 135 ?
MPLM, spare components (have laid manifiest out for contingency flight) could bring back some items
Would have crew of 4
How much money do you need to launch 135 ?
Dont want to say roughly $100m a month beyond December (600 - 1bn $ to fly Atlantis again in June)
First EVA is really tough contains some unique activities
What additional components do Russia intend to add to the station after US section is complete ?
Russia will continue with station after at least 2020 looking at technical issues with older modules
Russia will launch MPLM (I think couldnt quite understand him)
Have a problem with lack of power, Russia planned on having science power module
Russia and USA are talking about adding extra power in roughly 2013 -2014
Russia wants to add science and research capabilities
Who decidies if 135 will fly ?
Administrators, Congress
Are you only looking at June for 135 ? Would another orbiter that is not Atlantis be considered ?
June is the right time in terms of station requirements
Will most likely be Atlantis if any
What was IPR count ? (from NSF !!)
46
How can a fault at Edwards be a IPR for 132 at Kennedy ?
Going to fix that problem today, its a IPR for 132 so they can tie loose ends together
Was a conservative move
Did you do anything special to commemorate the last launch of Atlantis ?
New display on wall of firing room
Will a shuttle be kept around just incase a flight is needed in the future ?
No all are going to be retired
Its not just the orbiter you need, you need a tank and SRM
Will museums still learn if they are getting a orbiter in July ?
Yes no earlier than that
Estimate of cost of MRM 1 ?
Hardware - $200m
Volume 18 cubic M
weighs 7.9 tons
8 additional working spaces
Its not big but an interesting module
A member of Russian team will be in Houston for docking of the module
What upgrades are Russia making to the Soyuz capsule and talk about your other planetary mission plans ?
Soyuz is going to change a lot, new command and control system
Russia are planning to explore, by themselves and with partners
Are building a vehicle capable of departing from ISS to non LEO destination
New vehicle will be similar to Orion in terms of overall concept
Will use ISS to test it
Something about a change to phobos mission
Do you have enough spares to go to 2020 with ISS ?
Challenge with stretching ISS to 2020 is structural
First modules could be proved to be operable further on
Spares will be a challenge due to no shuttle
he wishes space shuttle would continue to fly is risky to only have one transportation system to the station
Should be good through to 2020 in terms of spares though
Failure rates are lower than predictions
Want to maximise research on ISS
What do you attribute being able to launch shuttles on schedule for the past 18 months to ?
1) Maturity of hardware, have seen most problems before
2) Maturity of teams
Will the possibility of STS 135 affect crew rotation ?
Too early to say
Want to know if 135 will fly by June 2010
Would fly in June 2011
You reported there is a piece of debris headed to station can you explain further ?
Teams have calculated 2 -3 manoeuvres they could do to avoid debris
How can you encourage people that there is a future in space after shuttle ?
Future is the station not as glamorous as a launch but research is relevant to life on earth
MIR was up for long time why is ISS only going to be up for 10 more years ?
Will look at going to 2028 if the structure can last that long
MIR lasted 3x longer than originally designed
Each ISS module was designed to last 15 years
Are you planning to leave large items like the OBSS on the ISS ?
Yes the boom will be left on orbit
Gyros are already on station
Will ISS manoeuvre to avoid debris be before shuttle arrives and will Atlantis need to manoeuvre also ? (NSF !!)
Station will be moved then the shuttle will move
How are Russia's plans for the future coordinated with the USA ?
ISS provided good lessons on how to work with other nations
New shuttle landing time
8:46 am May 26th eastern time
Sorry for any mistakes it was moving quickly and I had trouble understand Krasnov
