NASA Space Shuttle Processing Status 9 June 2006
Mission: STS-121 – 18th International Space Station Flight (ULF1.1) – Multi-Purpose Logistics Module
Vehicle: Discovery (OV-103)
Location: Launch Pad 39B
Launch Date: Launch Processing Window July 1-19, 2006
Launch Pad: 39B
Crew: Lindsey, Kelly, Sellers, Fossum, Nowak, Wilson and Reiter
Inclination/Orbit Altitude: 51.6 degrees/122 nautical miles
Work continued at the pad this week to support electrical testing and payload vertical operations on Discovery. On Thursday, the payload bay doors were closed in preparation for fuel loading of the solid rocket boosters. The doors will be reopened on Monday. In the payload bay, the installation of sensors and cameras in the shuttle robotic arm and boom was completed.
Following replacement of a faulty integrated electrical assembly box in the left solid rocket booster, hypergolic fuel loading began today into the solid rocket booster hydraulic power units.
Next week the crew will be at KSC for the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test. This is a launch dress rehearsal that occurs prior to each shuttle mission.
Mission: STS-115 – 19th International Space Station Flight (12A) – P3/P4 Solar Arrays
Vehicle: Atlantis (OV-104)
Location: Orbiter Processing Facility Bay 1
Launch Date: No earlier than Aug. 28, 2006
Launch Pad: 39B
Crew: Jett, Ferguson, Tanner, Burbank, MacLean and Stefanyshyn-Piper
Inclination/Orbit Altitude: 51.6 degrees/122 nautical miles
In Orbiter Processing Facility bay 1, engine #3 was installed in Atlantis and leak checks of the system are under way. Testing and checkout of the orbiter boom sensor system is complete. Window #2 was replaced, with plans to replace window #5 next week.
In the Vehicle Assembly Building, stacking of the STS-115 solid rocket boosters continues. The right forward center section was lifted into high bay 3 and onto mobile launcher platform no. 2 on Wednesday.
The external fuel tank for STS-115, ET-118, is scheduled to arrive via barge at the KSC turn basin late this afternoon and will be transported to the Vehicle Assembly Building this evening. It will be lifted into a checkout cell in the VAB this weekend, so that technicians can begin processing the tank for launch.
Endeavour (OV-105)
Powered-up system testing continues on Endeavour in Orbiter Processing Facility bay 2 following an extensive modification period. This work includes main propulsion system leak and functional testing and potable water leak checks. The flash evaporator functional testing was completed. The flash evaporator provides supplemental cooling to the orbiter in flight. Technicians began test and checkout of the docking mechanism this week.
Work continues on the orbiter’s thermal protection system, with tee seal installation between the reinforced carbon carbon panels on the wing leading edges and replacement of gap fillers on the underside of Endeavour. To date, approximately 500 new gap fillers have been installed.
