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STS-135: NASA managers discuss mission outline ahead of approval decision
by
Chris Bergin
on 10 Jul, 2010 04:25
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#1
by
sdsds
on 10 Jul, 2010 05:09
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The really good news: agreement that Soyuz providing contingency crew return is "an acceptable solution" if Atlantis were stranded at ISS. The capability is obviously there, and there's little chance it would be needed (knock wood). But apparently STS-135 wouldn't fly without international agreement. Wow!
Also, if June 28, 2011 were the launch date and if the first successful commercial resupply flight were also in 2011, it would at least look like the "up-mass gap" had been filled.
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#2
by
Sparky
on 10 Jul, 2010 05:22
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Amazing work as usual, Chris!
It would be great to see VASIMR on ISS earlier than planned. It will give the US segment reboost capability (albeit limited).
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#3
by
MP99
on 10 Jul, 2010 13:06
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According to
this, VASIMR is not expected to be ready to fly until 2014.
cheers, Martin
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#4
by
psloss
on 10 Jul, 2010 14:20
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The really good news: agreement that Soyuz providing contingency crew return is "an acceptable solution" if Atlantis were stranded at ISS.
That's the NASA assessment; no agreement yet. As the article quotes: "The exact agreement and timing for their return
is still being negotiated between the partners."
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#5
by
Chris Bergin
on 10 Jul, 2010 14:32
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Thanks Sparky! And Martin - we'll check the VASIMR schedule (I was told 2011 was viable last night) but used it only as an example, not a specifically targetted payment. The GSFC tech demos element was the big deal with that potential payload addition.
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#6
by
TJL
on 10 Jul, 2010 16:04
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With a possible STS 135 mission taking place in late June 2011, and a decision on wether or not it will fly at all coming in August, does anyone here feel that the crew for this mission was already selected and in training...with an official announcement coming when the flight is definate?
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#7
by
Jorge
on 10 Jul, 2010 17:25
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With a possible STS 135 mission taking place in late June 2011, and a decision on wether or not it will fly at all coming in August, does anyone here feel that the crew for this mission was already selected and in training...with an official announcement coming when the flight is definate?
No. I can 100% assure you there's no 135 crew in training.
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#8
by
TJL
on 10 Jul, 2010 17:34
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Thanks, Jorge.
I always thought a shuttle crew needed at least a year to a year and a half to train prior to flying.
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#9
by
Chris Bergin
on 10 Jul, 2010 17:37
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Accidential delete, when I went to quote Commander Keen's post (argh!), on a question about a cross-country tour for the final flight.
We had heard that:
http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2009/10/nasa-evaluate-sts-335-sts-133-cross-country-farewell/But Philip's media trip to Dryden did not reveal any plans. We'll see about updating it when we see documentation......but so far all PRCB level documentation points to no plan to alter the pri site of KSC.......for STS-133 or STS-134 (now last) at least. We'll see what STS-135 brings if approved.
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#10
by
Ben the Space Brit
on 10 Jul, 2010 17:50
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With a possible STS 135 mission taking place in late June 2011, and a decision on wether or not it will fly at all coming in August, does anyone here feel that the crew for this mission was already selected and in training...with an official announcement coming when the flight is definate?
No. I can 100% assure you there's no 135 crew in training.
I assume that there is an LON-335 crew in training. How difficult would it be to transition them to a new mission profile and a few extra crew members?
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#11
by
Jorge
on 10 Jul, 2010 18:04
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With a possible STS 135 mission taking place in late June 2011, and a decision on wether or not it will fly at all coming in August, does anyone here feel that the crew for this mission was already selected and in training...with an official announcement coming when the flight is definate?
No. I can 100% assure you there's no 135 crew in training.
I assume that there is an LON-335 crew in training.
No. The 335 crew has not yet been named. If 135 is not approved in August, a 335 crew will be named and will begin training in January 2011.
How difficult would it be to transition them to a new mission profile and a few extra crew members?
Impossible with a June launch date for 135, because the 335 training flow starts too late to accommodate it. There will be no extra crewmembers; both 135 and 335 have a crew of four.
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#12
by
Jorge
on 10 Jul, 2010 18:06
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Thanks, Jorge.
I always thought a shuttle crew needed at least a year to a year and a half to train prior to flying.
Normally, yes. The long-pole item is typically EVA training. An August start for 135 with a June 2011 launch date is feasible only assuming 135 has no EVAs (and that is the current plan).
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#13
by
Jorge
on 11 Jul, 2010 00:49
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Thanks, Jorge.
I always thought a shuttle crew needed at least a year to a year and a half to train prior to flying.
Normally, yes. The long-pole item is typically EVA training. An August start for 135 with a June 2011 launch date is feasible only assuming 135 has no EVAs (and that is the current plan).
Back when they were talking STS-134 in July and STS-133 in September, I always figures the STS-335 crew would be perhaps four of a recent crew already trained for an MPLM mission. Would they need an entire year to train if they had already flown a similar mission in the last year?
Depends on whether you're talking 135 or 335. The latter would be trained purely as a rescue mission; it would carry an MPLM but anything accomplished other than rescue would be considered pure gravy.
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#14
by
steveS
on 11 Jul, 2010 02:26
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STS 135 crew selection? Chris Ferguson (CDR), Barry Wilmore/Doug Hurley (pilot) , Mike Massimino / Patrick Forrester (STS-128 MPLM experience), Stephanie Wilson (STS 131 MPLM), Timothy Creamer (recent ISS experience) ?
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#15
by
KEdward5
on 11 Jul, 2010 02:57
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STS 135 crew selection? Chris Ferguson (CDR), Barry Wilmore/Doug Hurley (pilot) , Mike Massimino / Patrick Forrester (STS-128 MPLM experience), Stephanie Wilson (STS 131 MPLM), Timothy Creamer (recent ISS experience) ?
Maybe we should discuss the article, which is a really good one with lots of information, than play a completely pointless game of guess the crew. Doesn't matter who they send up, they are all trained as good as each other. The mission is more important, as is getting it approved.
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#16
by
Jorge
on 11 Jul, 2010 03:10
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STS 135 crew selection? Chris Ferguson (CDR), Barry Wilmore/Doug Hurley (pilot) , Mike Massimino / Patrick Forrester (STS-128 MPLM experience), Stephanie Wilson (STS 131 MPLM), Timothy Creamer (recent ISS experience) ?
Maybe we should discuss the article, which is a really good one with lots of information, than pay a completely pointless game of guess the crew. Doesn't matter who they send up, they are all the same. The mission is more important, as is getting it approved.
Right. There is already a crew assignment thread. Keep the speculation there.
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=740.0
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#17
by
ChrisGebhardt
on 11 Jul, 2010 04:44
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Accidential delete, when I went to quote Commander Keen's post (argh!), on a question about a cross-country tour for the final flight.
We had heard that:
http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2009/10/nasa-evaluate-sts-335-sts-133-cross-country-farewell/
But Philip's media trip to Dryden did not reveal any plans. We'll see about updating it when we see documentation......but so far all PRCB level documentation points to no plan to alter the pri site of KSC.......for STS-133 or STS-134 (now last) at least. We'll see what STS-135 brings if approved.
According to Stephanie Stilson (Discovery's flow director) during a pre-STS-131 press gathering there is no plan for a cross country ferry tour after the final mission. The final mission is planned for a KSC landing as confirmed by the mission's baselines, Launch Site Flow Review, and Delta Launch Site Review. If the vehicle happens to divert to Edwards or White Sands because of weather concerns at Kennedy that would be another story. But there is no plan to purposefully land the final mission anywhere other than Kennedy. I kind of took that as confirmation that the idea of the cross-country farewell had been looked at and dismissed.
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#18
by
steveS
on 11 Jul, 2010 11:23
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There have been 10 MPLM missions so far (up to STS-131) with Leonardo used 7 times. (including last 4 consecutive MPLM flights). Is it an indication that NASA has preferred to fly Leonardo compared to Raffaello? If so any reasons for that?
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#19
by
FlightOne
on 11 Jul, 2010 16:09
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Does anyone know if there are any Beta Angle Cutout's next summer and when? The last one that showed on the revised launch manifest document that was posted on this site was April 7-19.
Starting some advance vacation planning for summer 2011 and want to try to avoid scheduling a family vacation that winds up conflicting with any potential STS-135 launch date. I don't want to rely too much on the current stated June 28 target since we know that can change. I figured a beta period would be the safest if there is one.