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#180
by
jmjawors
on 28 Feb, 2007 17:41
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gbiguy - 28/2/2007 12:32 PM
Dave,
I know how to read. The area in question is on the right front of the tank, just in front of the wing. TJL was speaking of the area on the botton rear of the tank. Two different things. Yes, the bird was real. There were 3 of us photographing the same bird.
James
I think you're referring to me. The only dings I saw were on the back, so I thought that was what you were referring to. Otherwise, I can only imagine that if Atlantis rolled out with the area in question that it must have been acceptable.
I figured that was the answer regarding the bird, I asked only because I remembered the other photo so I thought it wouldn't hurt.
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#181
by
gbiguy
on 28 Feb, 2007 17:53
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No problem, glad you asked. We all waited for just the right moment. It paid off.
James
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#182
by
Chris Bergin
on 28 Feb, 2007 18:20
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Welcome to the site James. Great pictures.
Currently, all further evaluation - and thus work to repair - will proceed once the stack is back in the VAB. The main areas of concern are the top of the LOX tank, Atlantis' left wing (nothing serious) and the top of the SRBs (as per NASA report today).
Today is about getting the payload out, then disconnects ahead of rollout will proceed.
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#183
by
Chris Bergin
on 28 Feb, 2007 18:28
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STS117 / OV104 / PadA
S00024 hazardous operations and tank preps continue
Pad expected to be open mid to late 2nd shift tonight
Payload removal scheduled to begin 24:00 tonight
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#184
by
C5C6
on 28 Feb, 2007 19:41
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small question: i read '7000 areas of foam damage'. Maybe i never knew, is the tank totally covered with foam? wikipedia says 'The ET thermal protection system consists of sprayed-on foam insulation...'. I thought the only foam were the pieces who fell from those orbiter-ET joints to columbia in STS-107
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#185
by
DaveS
on 28 Feb, 2007 19:50
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C5C6 - 28/2/2007 9:41 PM
small question: i read '7000 areas of foam damage'. Maybe i never knew, is the tank totally covered with foam? wikipedia says 'The ET thermal protection system consists of sprayed-on foam insulation...'. I thought the only foam were the pieces who fell from those orbiter-ET joints to columbia in STS-107
The entire ET is covered with Spray On Foam Insulation(SOFI). The main basic SOFI is robotically applied to the ET while anything that has geometric shape is shaped by hand(PAL ramps, bipod ramps etc).
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#186
by
C5C6
on 28 Feb, 2007 20:08
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so the damage is in this foam and not in the 'steel' structure? (I know nothing about materials)
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#187
by
shuttlepilot
on 28 Feb, 2007 20:08
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Any informations about launch time for April 22nd launch?
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#188
by
DaveS
on 28 Feb, 2007 20:15
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C5C6 - 28/2/2007 10:08 PM
so the damage is in this foam and not in the 'steel' structure? (I know nothing about materials)
No steel in the ET. Would be too heavy. The SLWT is made of a Aluminium-Lithium alloy(Al-Li).
And yes, the damage is in the foam only.
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#189
by
paulhbell07
on 28 Feb, 2007 22:32
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Will this delay, stop the stacking of the next set of solids. Or is there time to get Atlantis back out of the VAB before stacking for Endeavour begins.
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#190
by
ysl007
on 28 Feb, 2007 23:14
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Just a question though , considering the damage done to the ET by these hails , will this ET be demated from Atlantis and replaced with a new one from MAF or they are gonna repair the damaged spots on it and go on ahead using the current ET ?
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#191
by
jmjawors
on 28 Feb, 2007 23:20
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ysl007 - 28/2/2007 6:14 PM
Just a question though , considering the damage done to the ET by these hails , will this ET be demated from Atlantis and replaced with a new one from MAF or they are gonna repair the damaged spots on it and go on ahead using the current ET ?
They are first going to try and assess the tank and see if it can be salvaged. The key, though, is that they need to get it inside so they have the proper access to inspect it.
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#192
by
jmjawors
on 28 Feb, 2007 23:21
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I wouldn't normally do two posts back-to-back like this, but this appeared on nasa.gov a short while ago, and I don't think it's been reported yet:
NASA officials have decided to remove propellants that were loaded this week on Space Shuttle Atlantis before returning the spacecraft to the Vehicle Assembly Building. This work results in additional time at the pad, and rollback is now expected to occur Sunday or Monday.
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#193
by
Chris Bergin
on 28 Feb, 2007 23:35
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I'm writing up a new article, based on two really good pdfs on this on L2.
I'll copy a couple of the images into here later, as they are the best images we've seen to date.
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#194
by
Chris Bergin
on 01 Mar, 2007 00:45
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Let's hope this won't become relevant for STS-117, but here is a recent ET-117 situation from L2:
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#195
by
Chris Bergin
on 01 Mar, 2007 04:00
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#196
by
Chris Bergin
on 01 Mar, 2007 04:00
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#197
by
Concorde
on 01 Mar, 2007 11:07
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alan w - 28/2/2007 12:30 PM
Concorde - 28/2/2007 3:52 AM
Jumping the gun a little but if we're talking late April/early May would this be a day or night launch ?
Yeah does any one know
To answer my own question, I have found an article from last year which suggested that if they wanted a daylight launch, then they would have to wait until the April 20 window.
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#198
by
shuttlefan
on 01 Mar, 2007 12:30
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Chris, can you confirm that they've decided to rollback with the hypergolic propellants still onboard, therefore rollback would begin around midnight Saturday?
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#199
by
voyager
on 01 Mar, 2007 12:30
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Look at today's forecast for potential hazardous weather in Central Florida!!
...THUNDERSTORM IMPACT...
GUSTY SOUTHEAST WINDS WILL TRANSPORT AN INCREASINGLY MOIST AND
MODERATELY UNSTABLE AIRMASS INTO CENTRAL FLORIDA TODAY. DAYTIME
HEATING ALONG WITH CONVERGING WINDS WILL LEAD TO DEVELOPMENT OF
SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE WESTERN AND INTERIOR
PORTION OF THE PENINSULA BY EARLY AFTERNOON. THE SHOWERS AND
STORMS WILL MOVE QUICKLY EAST AT 20 TO 25 MPH. A FEW OF THESE
STORMS MAY BECOME SEVERE AND PRODUCE DAMAGING WINDS GUSTS ABOVE
50 MPH...AN ISOLATED TORNADO...AND HAIL. LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND
EVENING...WIND SHEAR IN THE LOWER ATMOSPHERE WILL BE FURTHER
ENHANCED AND ANY STORMS WHICH FROM AT THIS TIME WILL HAVE A
MODERATE POTENTIAL TO ACQUIRE ROTATION AND BECOME SUPERCELLS.
SUPERCELLS OFTEN PRODUCE TORNADOES. PLAN AHEAD TODAY FOR THE
POSSIBILITY OF SEVERE WEATHER AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND
POSSIBLE SEVERE WEATHER WATCHES OR WARNINGS. BE READY TO ACTIVATE
YOUR PLAN FOR MOVING QUICKLY TO A STRONG SHELTER IF IT BECOMES
NECESSARY. HAVE A NOAA WEATHER RADIO NEARBY.
