Space Shuttle Processing Status 2 Oct 2002

MISSION STS-112 — 15TH ISS FLIGHT (9A) – S1 Truss Segment

• VEHICLE: Atlantis/OV-104
• TARGET LAUNCH DATE: No earlier than Oct. 7, 2002
• TARGET LAUNCH PERIOD: 2 – 6 p.m. EDT
• TARGET LANDING DATE: NET Oct. 19, 2002
• MISSION DURATION: 11 days
• CREW: Ashby, Melroy, Wolf, Sellers, Magnus, Yurchikhin
• ORBITAL ALTITUDE AND INCLINATION:122 nautical miles, 51.6 degrees

With Hurricane Lili expected to make landfall along the Louisiana coast Thursday afternoon, the launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis has been postponed to no earlier than Monday, Oct. 7 so that the Mission Control Center (MCC) in Houston can be secured and protected from potential storm impacts.

Currently, forecasters predict the storm will take a northerly turn later today. However, one usually reliable prediction model shows a slightly more westerly landfall. This could increase the probability of winds in excess 50 knots in the Houston vicinity that would require a precautionary closure of the Johnson Space Center.

Power down of the MCC began Tuesday evening and was completed earlier this morning. Command and Control on the International Space Station was transferred to the Mission Control Center in Moscow at about 5 a.m. today.

Following the passage of the storm, controllers in Houston will begin the process of bringing up and verifying all the control systems needed to support the STS-112 mission.

During the next few days at the Kennedy Space Center, the Launch Control Team will continue to monitor the vehicle and maintain its readiness to support launch attempts next week. At Launch Pad 39-B, the liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen reactants of Atlantis’ power reactant and storage distribution system will be drained tonight and reloaded on Saturday. The countdown will resume at T-30 hours on Sunday, Oct. 6, when the launch control team begins activating communications systems.

The STS-112 crew will be staying in Florida. Crewmembers will spend their time relaxing, reviewing flight plans and practicing entry procedures in the Shuttle Training Aircraft.

MISSION: STS-113 – 16th ISS Flight (11A) – P1 Truss Segment

• VEHICLE: Endeavour/OV-105
• TARGET LAUNCH DATE: Nov. 10, 2002 NET
• TARGET LANDING DATE: Nov. 20, 2002
• MISSION DURATION: 11 days
• CREW: Wetherbee, Lockhart, Lopez-Alegria, Herrington; (ISS up) Bowersox, Budarin, Pettit; (ISS down) Korzun, Whitson, Treschev
• ORBITAL INSERTION ALTITUDE AND INCLINATION:122 nautical miles/51.6 degrees

Preparations for the last scheduled mission of the year are progressing smoothly. Earlier this week Endeavour was mated to its external tank and solid rocket boosters. Plans are now in work for rollout to the launch pad.