Category: Space Shuttle

NASA announced the official launch time of the Space Shuttle Columbia on Wednesday, as part of its new policy of keeping the time secret until 24 hours before launch. If all goes well, the shuttle will lift off from Florida’s Cape Canaveral at 1539 GMT (10:39 am EST). The shuttle won’t dock with the International Space Station this mission, so there is a long launch window of 2.5 hours. The weather looks excellent for launch.

Under a cloak of high security, NASA began the launch countdown for the Space Shuttle Columbia on Monday. If all goes well, the shuttle will launch on Thursday at a secret time – the actual launch time will only be announced 24 hours beforehand. The 16-day microgravity science mission was supposed to launch last year, but cracks discovered in shuttle fuel lines kept the whole fleet grounded while a solution was found. Isreal’s first astronaut, Ilan Ramon, is also due to take part in this mission.

The launch of the space shuttle Endeavour was pushed back at least a week when engineers discovered an oxygen leak in the cabin ? only a few hours before the shuttle was scheduled to launch. The leaking oxygen transfer line is going to be hard to fix as it?s located in a hard to reach area under the payload bay. Once the shuttle does launch (now scheduled for some time between 0 and 0400 GMT on Tuesday, November 19), it will carry a replacement crew to the International Space Station.

Image credit: NASA

Thanks in part to perfect weather, the space shuttle Atlantis touched down safely on Friday at the Kennedy Space Center. During their 11 days in space, the astronaut crew performed three spacewalks to successfully install the S1 truss to the International Space Station. The next mission to the ISS will be a Soyuz taxi flight, followed shortly by the space shuttle Endeavour; tentatively scheduled to launch November 10th.

Space Shuttle Atlantis glided to a noontime landing at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida completing a 4.5 million mile journey to outfit the International Space Station with a new section of truss and supplies for the Expedition crew onboard.

With weather of little concern today, Commander Jeff Ashby piloted the shuttle to its 60th landing at KSC at 10:44 a.m. CDT. The deorbit burn occurred an hour earlier as Atlantis flew high above the southwestern Indian Ocean, dropping the shuttle out of orbit for the high-speed reentry and landing.

Atlantis’ ground track carried it above Central America and western Cuba before crossing the west coast of Florida south of Tampa. Ashby took over manual control of Atlantis at an altitude of 50,000 feet, guiding the 200,000 pound shuttle through a 290-degree right turn to line up with Runway 33.

Meanwhile, aboard the International Space Station, the Expedition Five crew was able to watch Atlantis’ safe landing while the three crewmembers continue to unpack and stow supplies delivered by the shuttle crew. Commander Valery Korzun, NASA ISS Science Officer Peggy Whitson and Cosmonaut Sergei Treschev are in their 135th day in space (133rd aboard the station).

Their next visitors are the three members of a Soyuz Taxi Crew scheduled to deliver a fresh rescue spacecraft to the station later this month. Expedition Five’s ride home will be aboard Endeavour scheduled to launch no earlier than Nov. 10 bringing another truss segment and the Expedition Six crew.

Atlantis will be hauled into its hangar later today to begin preparations for its next mission to the station in March 2003 on the STS-114 mission.

Atlantis’ six crewmembers are expected to hold a news conference at about 4 p.m. today on NASA Television and plan to return to the Johnson Space Center in Houston Saturday at about 5:30 p.m. That time is subject to change.

The next ISS status report will be issued next Friday, Oct. 25, or as events warrant.

Original Source: NASA News Release

The space shuttle Atlantis blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center today after four months of repairs and delays. The shuttle and its 6-astronaut crew lifted off at 1945 GMT (3:45pm EDT), and reached orbit shortly after; by Wednesday it will link up with the International Space Station. A new camera, mounted on the external fuel tank pointed down at the shuttle, and showed the whole launch until separation.

Because of Hurricane Lili bearing down on the Gulf Coast of the US, NASA flight controllers decided to delay the launch of the space shuttle Atlantis until Monday. At agency headquarters in Houston, the agency began precautions to shut down computers and evacuate the area if the weather conditions worsen ? they also transferred control of the International Space Station to Moscow. Ironically, the weather at the launch pad in Florida was perfectly clear.

NASA is now offering the most innovative new point of view to television viewers since the Astronaut-Cam. They’ve attached a camera onto the top of the space shuttle Atlantis’ external fuel tank. The camera points down at the shuttle orbiter’s front and belly as well as one of the solid booster rockets. The feed from the camera will be broadcast on NASA television during the launch.

The countdown for the launch of the space shuttle Atlantis began over the weekend, keeping it on track for launch Wednesday morning some time between 1800 and 2200 GMT. Weather forecasters are calling for a 60% chance of favourable weather; although, Hurricane Lili is heading towards the US coast. Atlantis will dock with the International Space Station, and the six-astronaut crew will perform three spacewalks to attach the S-1 Truss. This will also be an opportunity for NASA to test out how well they repaired the tiny cracks recently discovered in the shuttle fleet fuel lines.

The Space Shuttle Atlantis made the four-hour journey to its launch pad today, demonstrating that the shuttle fleet is ready to fly again. Atlantis and the rest of the fleet were grounded for the last few months so that technicians could weld tiny cracks that had formed along the shuttle’s fuel lines. NASA also had to repair cracked bearings on the 37-year old transporter. Atlantis may launch as soon as October 2nd.

NASA announced on Friday that they’re very close to deciding how they’ll fix the tiny cracks discovered in fuel lines of the entire space shuttle fleet. If the plan is approved, workers could begin welding the cracks as early as next week. Although the cracks apparently formed quite a while ago, NASA engineers are concerned that bits of metal could break off from the fuel lines and cause catastrophic damage to the shuttle’s engines. If all goes well, the first shuttle could launch as early as September 26.