Status Report

NASA Space Shuttle Processing Status Report 27 August 2004

By SpaceRef Editor
August 28, 2004
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NASA Space Shuttle Processing Status Report 27 August 2004
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The Space Shuttle fleet is housed and processed at
NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Fla. The order the Space
Shuttles are listed in this report does not necessarily
reflect the chronological order of future missions.

Discovery (OV-103)

Steady progress continues on Discovery for its Return to
Flight mission to the International Space Station, currently
planned for the March timeframe of next year. Following the
installation of the right-hand Orbiter Maneuvering System
pod, interface verifications and electrical connector work
will begin this weekend.

The vehicle will be powered down with the payload bay doors
closed for technicians to perform the optical alignment of
the heads up display. The display provides visual alignment
cues to Space Shuttle commanders and pilots during approach
and landing. The right-hand main landing gear wheels are
installed.

Atlantis (OV-104)

Atlantis is in a four-month power-down period, and the
critical path wiring inspections and Return to Flight
electrical modifications continue on schedule. Critical wire
separation modifications continue and flight deck switch
panel installations are under way for the scheduled power up
in early October.

The Reinforced Carbon-Carbon nose cap was installed on the
vehicle on Tuesday. Removed from the vehicle in October, the
nose cap was sent back to the vendor for thorough non-
destructive evaluation and recoating. Thermography was also
performed at KSC to check for internal flaws. This procedure
uses high-intensity light to heat areas that are immediately
scanned with an infrared camera for temperature variations,
which would indicate flaws.

Endeavour (OV-105)

Space Shuttle Endeavour is in its Orbiter Major Modification
period that began in December. Electrical modifications
continue in the crew module. Three-string Global Positioning
System wire routing in the avionics bay and flight deck
continues.

The right outboard elevon actuator installation and right
inboard elevon actuator removal is scheduled for next week.
Dome Mounted Heat Shield (DMHS) tile bonds continue. The DMHS
is made of two semi-circle sections of Thermal Protection
System tiles that surround each of the three Space Shuttle
main engines.

SpaceRef staff editor.