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Atlantis avoids early retirement - will keep flying to 2010
by
Chris Bergin
on 24 Jun, 2007 04:43
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#1
by
Chris SF
on 24 Jun, 2007 05:00
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Great news!
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#2
by
STS-500Cmdr
on 24 Jun, 2007 05:14
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She gets a reprieve!!!!! I love this ship--shes far too young to die shes still got alot of flying to do!
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#3
by
Thorny
on 24 Jun, 2007 05:27
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Very interesting news! That seems to give them a sporting chance to fly out the manifest before FY11.
But there is something wrong with that manifest... STS-119 (July 08) is missing. And if STS-119 is still on Endeavour, how the devil will they turn around Endeavour to be the Atlantis/Hubble rescue Shuttle by September 17? I think you've got Endeavour where Discovery should be on STS-326/STS-126.
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#4
by
James Lowe1
on 24 Jun, 2007 05:38
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STS-119 isn't listed, but there's a lot of TBDs on the post 125 missions.
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#5
by
Jorge
on 24 Jun, 2007 05:38
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Thorny - 24/6/2007 12:27 AM
Very interesting news! That seems to give them a sporting chance to fly out the manifest before FY11.
But there is something wrong with that manifest... STS-119 (July 08) is missing.
It's not missing. It has slipped after 126 into 2009 and is now TBD along with the other post-126 flights.
And if STS-119 is still on Endeavour, how the devil will they turn around Endeavour to be the Atlantis/Hubble rescue Shuttle by September 17? I think you've got Endeavour where Discovery should be on STS-326/STS-126.
All the orbiter assignments are shuffled - don't judge that manifest based on what you thought you knew before. Endeavour is now the HST LON shuttle.
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#6
by
Bubbinski
on 24 Jun, 2007 06:01
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Why fly the S6 truss after the STS-126 ULF flight? Maybe the supplies are needed sooner? And only 4 flights in 2008, that's kind of a bummer. Oh well.
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#7
by
Space101
on 24 Jun, 2007 06:38
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Thorny - 24/6/2007 12:27 AM
Very interesting news! That seems to give them a sporting chance to fly out the manifest before FY11.
Really agree. A great move.
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#8
by
Ben E
on 24 Jun, 2007 06:49
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Also, why does Discovery require her next OMDP in March 2008 and Atlantis in July 2008? Discovery has only just (well, at the time of STS-114) come out of an OMDP, whereas Atlantis has been flying since 2000.
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#9
by
fdasun
on 24 Jun, 2007 07:08
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Ben E - 24/6/2007 3:49 PM
Also, why does Discovery require her next OMDP in March 2008 and Atlantis in July 2008? Discovery has only just (well, at the time of STS-114) come out of an OMDP, whereas Atlantis has been flying since 2000.
I assume it's due to "current 3 year/8 flight OMDP interval requirement". But, I'm also wondering how they equalize these two factors (year vs. flight). Can anyone give an explanation ?
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#10
by
whitewatcher
on 24 Jun, 2007 09:31
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Bubbinski - 24/6/2007 8:01 AM
Why fly the S6 truss after the STS-126 ULF flight? Maybe the supplies are needed sooner? And only 4 flights in 2008, that's kind of a bummer. Oh well.
They've removed some modules from the original ISS plans (CAM, HM, ...). So they won't need that much electricity on board the station. With P4/P6/S4 they should have enough power to operate the US-core and at least one lab. So, STS-119 with S6 has no top-priority to "completing the ISS".
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#11
by
ShuttleDiscovery
on 24 Jun, 2007 10:14
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Is Atlantis' extended lifetime going to affect NASA's budget in any way?
It's just that that was one of the reasons to retire her early, because it would be cheaper...
Thanks.
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#12
by
ShuttleDiscovery
on 24 Jun, 2007 10:37
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Another question on Atlantis. As she is going to 'live' a little longer, what is going to be done about the Composite Overwrap Pressure Vessels? They are way past their lifetime and are already a concern...
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#13
by
Ben E
on 24 Jun, 2007 10:42
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If STS-119 is being moved to 2009, what will happen to the Garrett Reisman/Sandra Magnus crew swap in mid-2008?
STS-124 in April already has a crew of seven assigned and the next ISS mission (ULF-2) is not due until October.
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#14
by
kimmern123
on 24 Jun, 2007 10:48
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I guess Reisman down won't be a problem as the shuttle has flown with 8 crewmembers before, and I don't think that it will be that much of a weight increase to the orbiter for landing. So I guess he can go up on STS-123 and come down again on STS-124. The problem will be getting Sandy Magnus up, as was noted previously by Ben E, 119 is moved and 124 already has 7 crewmembers.
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#15
by
ShuttleDiscovery
on 24 Jun, 2007 11:14
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Yeah, you'll have an empty shuttle coming back on STS-124...
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#16
by
psloss
on 24 Jun, 2007 12:09
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Thorny - 24/6/2007 1:27 AM
But there is something wrong with that manifest... STS-119 (July 08) is missing. And if STS-119 is still on Endeavour, how the devil will they turn around Endeavour to be the Atlantis/Hubble rescue Shuttle by September 17? I think you've got Endeavour where Discovery should be on STS-326/STS-126.
An additional note -- following the schedule hit from the hail damage to ET-124, NSF already reported that the program was reviewing different schedules for next year; flying ISS-15A/STS-119 before HST SM-4/STS-125 was only one of the options:
http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/content/?cid=5087
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#17
by
Rocket Ronnie
on 24 Jun, 2007 13:58
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This is fantastic news. Keep the fleet at full strength!!
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#18
by
Thorny
on 24 Jun, 2007 15:15
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Jorge - 24/6/2007 12:38 AM
It's not missing. It has slipped after 126 into 2009 and is now TBD along with the other post-126 flights.
That raises the question, "then why bother with STS-118 now?" Why didn't they just move on to Node 2 / Columbus / Kibo and push back S5 until it's really needed... right before S6?
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#19
by
Namechange User
on 24 Jun, 2007 15:51
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By the way in regards to the manifest, TBD does not really mean to be determined in the conventional sense. For the most part the program knows exactly what is the primary payload and goal of the flight. I just has not been baselined into the manifest as such and historically does not happen until we move closer in time to the actual flight of that mission.
