By TonyF on 21 September 2006 at 6:22AM
Atlantis has landed! NASA reports:
Atlantis, STS-115 Crew Return to Earth
Space Shuttle Atlantis glided to a landing this morning at Kennedy Space Center, Fla., concluding a successful mission to resume construction of the International Space Station. Atlantis and the six-member STS-115 crew spent a busy 12 days in space.
Touchdown occurred at 6:21 a.m. EDT at the Shuttle Landing Facility. It was the 21st night landing for a space shuttle and the 15th night landing at the Florida spaceport.
Atlantis launched Sept. 9 and arrived at the station on the 11th. The crew delivered the P3/P4 integrated truss segment to the station and conducted three successful spacewalks primarily devoted to preparing the truss and its solar arrays for operation. The 17.5-ton truss will provide power and data services for the station. The solar arrays, which were unfurled on Sept. 14, span 240 feet and will double the station’s power generation capability once they become operational.
STS-115 was the 116th shuttle flight and the 19th mission to visit the space station. Atlantis has now flown 27 times and made six trips to the station.
The next shuttle scheduled to fly is Discovery on mission STS-116, which will launch no earlier than December. STS-116 will continue station assembly.
By TonyF on 21 September 2006 at 6:11AM
DEORBIT BURN - Atlantis is heading home! NASA reports:
Atlantis Begins Descent to Florida
STS-115 Commander Brent Jett and Pilot Chris Ferguson fired Space Shuttle Atlantis’ engines at 5:14 a.m. EDT, beginning the descent to Kennedy Space Center, Fla. Atlantis and its six astronauts are on track to touch down at the Shuttle Landing Facility at 6:21 a.m.
Landing will bring to a close STS-115’s successful mission to resume construction of the International Space Station. Atlantis launched Sept. 9 and arrived at the station on the 11th. The crew delivered the P3/P4 integrated truss segment and conducted three successful spacewalks primarily devoted to preparing the truss and its solar arrays for operation.
Ground Tracks here. Check the links at right for play-by-play and NASA TV.
By TonyF on 21 September 2006 at 2:47AM
LANDING DAY! Flight Day 13 will see Atlantis and her six-person crew end mission STS-115 at Kennedy Space Center, after being cleared for landing yesterday evening. NASA reports:
Atlantis Set to Return Home Today
The six STS-115 astronauts are scheduled to end their orbital construction mission today with a landing at 6:21 a.m. EDT at Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
The crew will prepare for re-entry and landing this morning. The payload bay doors are scheduled to close at 2:44 a.m.
Commander Brent Jett and Pilot Chris Ferguson are slated to fire the shuttle’s engines at 5:14 a.m. to begin the descent to Florida. If flight controllers decide to delay landing, a second opportunity is available today. It would begin with a de-orbit burn at 6:51 a.m. and end with a 7:57 a.m. landing.
Forecasts call for acceptable landing weather in Florida.
The STS-115 crew members have been in orbit since Sept. 9. They resumed the construction of the International Space Station with the delivery of the P3/P4 integrated truss segment. They conducted successful spacewalks primarily devoted to preparing the truss and its solar arrays for operation.
For the latest information on space station activities, please visit: http://www.nasa.gov/station
Atlantis Set to Land on Thursday
Atlantis will glide in for landing, guided by Commander Brent Jett and Pilot Chris Ferguson, as the ship makes its steep descent from space into the pre-dawn darkness. Pulled back to Earth by gravity alone, Atlantis' approach to the coastal Florida runway is at a prescribed steep, nose-down dive. The spacecraft flares to a shallow nose-up, tail-down position for landing -- similar to a commercial jet aircraft -- about a mile before reaching the Shuttle Landing Facility's runway.The orbiter's main landing gear touches down at a speed of about 215 mph, followed seconds later by nose gear touchdown. As the drag chute deploys, the orbiter coasts to a stop after rolling over a mile down the runway.
The orbiter landing convoy is then sent to "safe" the vehicle before the six crew member take their first steps back on Earth as they exit Atlantis through the Crew Hatch Access Vehicle. After receiving a quick check by doctors, the entire crew can do a walk-around visual inspection of the vehicle.
The astronauts are awake and preparing for landing. Check the links at right for play-by-play and NASA TV.
By TonyF on 19 September 2006 at 11:35PM
Landing Delayed By Mystery Object
By TonyF on 19 September 2006 at 12:21PM
CNN BREAKING NEWS -- NASA has delayed tomorrow's landing of the space shuttle Atlantis after engineers spotted a mystery object outside the shuttle; weather at the Florida landing site also is a concern.
By TonyF on 7 September 2006 at 12:10PM
The launch has been pushed back to at least Friday. NASA reports:
Launch Decision Today
At a 6 p.m. briefing yesterday, NASA's STS-115 Mission Management Team announced that because of the fuel cell anomaly it would be prudent to spend another 24 hours to research the issue. The management team will meet again at 1 p.m. today to assess the data gathered about the fuel cell issue and decide whether the launch will take place on Friday.
"We want to fly a good mission, we want to fly a safe mission, we want to have a successful mission," said Wayne Hale, space shuttle program director.
Hale reported that more tests and analysis would be necessary because there has been no previous failure of this nature in the history of the program.
Deputy Orbiter Project Manager, Ed Mango said "We put together a huge amount of data, but it's not complete yet. We have to put all the data on the table and look at it." Mango also reported that the signature reading on the fuel cell cooling pump had never been seen before. "We'll need more time to understand what this signature really means," he said.
Weather Officer Lt. Col. Patrick Barrett reported that for a Friday launch day, Kennedy will experience much the same weather conditions as earlier this week. There may be some upper level clouds coming into the area during the early morning hours and a 30 percent chance of weather prohibiting launch continues over the next few days.
Space Shuttle Fuel Cells
The space shuttle's fuel cell system is made up of three cells, which are located under the payload bay liner in the forward portion of the orbiter's midfuselage. Each 255-pound reusable cell is 14 inches high, 15 inches wide and 40 inches long. The three cells operate as independent electrical power sources that generate heat and water as by-products of the power generation. The water is stored and used for the environmental control and life support system.
+ Learn More
Check the links at right for play-by-play and NASA TV.
By TonyF on 5 September 2006 at 1:51AM
The clock keeps ticking towards Atlantis' Wednesday launch, with an 80% chance of good weather. NASA reports:
Ready to Fly
At the launch readiness news conference on Monday afternoon, Wayne Hale, shuttle program manager, said that even though the tropical weather put them behind earlier in the week, thanks to hard work by the launch team, the vehicle is ready for liftoff and "we are looking forward to a really good mission."
LeRoy Cain, launch integration manager, reported that after reviews by the mission management team, "At the end of the day we did our readiness poll to continue from here toward launch and we got a "go" from all the elements and we feel like we're in very good shape."
Shuttle Launch Director Mike Leinbach said the countdown is going smoothly and they are looking for a good, on-time liftoff on Wednesday.
U.S. Air Force First Lt. Kaleb Nordgren of the 45th Weather Squadron at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station provided an update on the prospects for launch-day weather issues. Conditions continue to look favorable, with only a 20 percent chance of a "no go" due to weather at the liftoff time of 12:29 p.m.
The countdown officially began at 8 a.m. Sunday, at the T-43 hour mark, which includes over 30 hours of built-in hold time prior to a targeted 12:29 p.m. launch on Wednesday. The launch time is the middle point in the launch window that extends for 10 minutes.
NASA mission managers agreed to make 3 launch attempts this week.
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