NASA Space Shuttle Processing Status Report 26 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: July 1, 2006, 3:49 p.m. EDT
Launch Pad: 39B
Crew: Lindsey, Kelly, Sellers, Fossum, Nowak, Wilson and Reiter
Inclination/Orbit Altitude: 51.6 degrees/122 nautical miles

Discovery’s aft is closed for flight, and workers have successfully completed the aft confidence test. This involves powering up and testing all aft systems, such as the main propulsion system circuits. Workers began flight pressurization of the orbital maneuvering system and main propulsion system this weekend, and those operations continue today. Workers also continue preparing for the launch countdown, which will begin at the T-43 hour mark on Wednesday at 5 p.m.

The STS-121 crew is scheduled to arrive at the Shuttle Landing Facility Tuesday afternoon from the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

External Tank

The water that was discovered last week in one of the stringers of the intertank on ET-118 has been removed. Stringers are reinforcing channel structures located on the outside of the intertank skin. Preliminary water analysis indicates that corrosion and salinity levels are low and will not affect the launch-on-need support for STS-121 or the STS-115 mission.