STS-119 - Discovery - Kennedy - 15.03.2009 23:43 UTC

[Salo]

http://www.floridatoday.com/content/blogs/space/2009/01/discovery-readied-for-launch-platform.shtml

Monday, January 05, 2009
Discovery Readied for Launch Platform
 The first of six planned space shuttle missions in 2009 kicks off in earnest this week with Discovery's placement on a launch platform.

Kennedy Space Center workers early Wednesday are scheduled to roll the orbiter a quarter mile from its processing hangar to the 52-story Vehicle Assembly Building.

During a weeklong stay there, the spaceship will be connected to an external tank and twin solid rocket boosters already stacked on a mobile launcher platform.

"This is the starting point for all of our shuttle launches," said KSC spokesman Allard Beutel. "That means the orbiter is a step away from the launch pad."

Discovery is slated to blast off Feb. 12 on a 14-day mission to install the International Space Station's final pair of power-generating solar wings.

The shuttle will haul the 11th and final piece of the station's central backbone, a 31,000-pound truss segment from which two 115-foot solar arrays will be unfurled.

In addition to the shuttle's move Wednesday, the truss is expected to be loaded in a canister for transportation to launch pad 39A on Sunday.

Discovery is expected to roll from the assembly building out to the seaside launch pad Jan. 14.

The shuttle will use the external tank and boosters from which Atlantis was removed after its mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope was postponed last fall.

That mission, the year's second, is tentatively targeted for mid-May.

Discovery's flight will be the orbiter's 36th, the 125th by a space shuttle and the 28th shuttle mission to the space station.

Discovery's last mission was STS-124, launching to the space station last May 31 and landing June 13.

posted by James Dean at 5:51 PM

[Salo]

http://www.floridatoday.com/content/blogs/space/2009/01/live-at-ksc-discovery-rollover-complete.shtml

Wednesday, January 07, 2009
Live at KSC: Discovery Rollover Complete
 After a delay of about eight hours because of technical issues and weather, space shuttle Discovery today was rolled from its processing hangar to the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center.

The move sets up the spacecraft to be mated with an external tank and solid rocket boosters on Thursday.

Then, mounted on an mobile launcher platform, the shuttle is expected to ride to launch pad 39A next Wednesday in advance of a targeted Feb. 12 launch to the International Space Station.

 A 76-wheeled, 107-foot long transporter carried Discovery less than a quarter mile, a trip that began just before 2:30 p.m. and ended about 50 minutes later.

The move, which was originally scheduled to start at 6:30 a.m., was delayed first when workers overnight replaced Discovery's left outboard tire, which had lost some air pressure.

Later, technicians examined landing gear on the orbiter's right side to make sure a cable was positioned properly.

By early afternoon, rain showers swept over Cape Canaveral, preventing a move.

But after the rain stopped, workers rolled the 25-year-old spaceship into position.

Discovery's 14-day mission will carry the last pair of American solar wings to the space station.

Earlier today, workers in the Space Station Processing Facility loaded the truss segment holding the packed solar arrays into a canister for transportation to the launch pad, planned over the weekend.

IMAGE NOTES: Click on the images to enlarge them. The shuttle Discovery this afternoon was moved from Orbiter Processing Facility No. 3 to the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center. Photo credit: Mike Brown, Florida Today.

posted by James Dean at 3:27 PM

[Salo]

08.01.2008 / 00:05    "Дискавери" доставлен в здание вертикальной сборки
 
     Корабль многоразового использования Discovery, которому в феврале предстоит отправиться в полет по программе STS-119, перевезен из ангара в здание вертикальной сборки Космического центра имени Кеннеди. В здании корабль будет соединен с внешним топливным баком и твердотопливными ускорителями. Старт шаттла запланирован на 12 февраля 2009 года.

          - К.И.

[malkin]

Зачем летим?

[Salo]

http://www.floridatoday.com/content/blogs/space/

Discovery is slated to blast off Feb. 12 on a 14-day mission to install the International Space Station's final pair of power-generating solar wings.

The shuttle will haul the 11th and final piece of the station's central backbone, a 31,000-pound truss segment from which two 115-foot solar arrays will be unfurled.

Летим к МКС, чтобы доставить последнюю 11 секцию с двумя 115 футовыми солнечными батареями.

[malkin]

А кто  летит?

[Leroy]

А кто  летит?

[malkin]

А сколько раз гулять будут?

[Leroy]

А сколько раз гулять будут?

16.02.2009 Выход из ШО Quest (STS-119) Свонсон/Арнольд
18.02.2009 Выход из ШО Quest (STS-119) Свонсон/Акаба
20.02.2009 Выход из ШО Quest (STS-119) Арнольд/Акаба
22.02.2009 Выход из ШО Quest (STS-119) Свонсон/Арнольд

http://epizodsspace.airbase.ru/statistika/plan-vkd.html

[malkin]

А чем занимаются пилот с командиром пока орбитер пристыкован к станции?

[Alex_II]

Joseph M. Acaba Master of geology
Опа... А как собрат-геолог туда затесался?

[Salo]

http://cybersecurity.ru/space/62081.html

14 января шаттл "Дискавери" установлят на стартовом комплексе
 
(21:05) 08.01.2009
В пресс-службе НАСА сегодня сообщили, что шаттл "Дискавери", стартующий к МКС в рамках миссии STS-119, будет установлен на стартовом комплексе 39а космодрома им Кеннеди во Флориде 14 января. Традиционно, шаттлы устанавливают на стартовом столе примерно за две недели до старта, но сейчас было решено увеличить это окно.

Сейчас "Дискавери" находится в ангаре вертикальной сборки, откуда 14 января в 13 часов по московскому времени он начнет на специальной платформе движение к месту запуска. За 6 часов движения платформы шаттлу предстоит преодолеть около 7,5 км.

Основным заданием предстоящего полета станет продолжение сборки Международной космической станции, доставка и монтаж последней (четвёртой) секции S6 панелей солнечных батарей. В процессе полета астронавтам предстоит 4 раза выйти в открытый космос.

В рамках STS-119 на орбиту отправятся 7 человек, включая японского космонавта Коичи Вакату. После выполнения всех заданий вместе с командой "Дискавери" на Землю вернется Сандра Магнус, которая в данный момент находится на МКС в составе 18 основной экспедиции.

Первоначально старт миссии STS-119 планировался на 6 ноября 2008 года. Начало миссии переносилось на 4 декабря 2008 года, затем на 12 февраля 2009 года.

[Salo]

http://www.floridatoday.com/content/blogs/space/2009/01/discovery-secured-on-launch-platform.shtml

Thursday, January 08, 2009
Discovery Secured On Launch Platform
 Shuttle Discovery this morning is being attached to an external fuel tank, a day after rolling from a Kennedy Space Center processing hangar into the 52-story Vehicle Assembly Building.

In the assembly building's High Bay 3, the tank and twin solid rocket boosters are mounted on a mobile launcher platform that NASA plans to deliver to launch pad 39A on Wednesday, starting at 4 a.m.

It will be the second trip to the pad for the external tank and boosters, which were attached to Atlantis when it rolled out Sept. 4. Atlantis was rolled back Oct. 20 and disconnected from the stack after a technical problem with the Hubble Space Telescope forced the servicing mission's postponement.

The launch of Discovery's 14-day mission to the International Space Station is targeted for Feb. 12.

 Overnight, cranes hoisted the 100-ton orbiter from the VAB's transfer aisle over a 16th floor transom and lowered it toward the launcher platform.

Discovery is expected to be "soft" mated with three external tank attachment points by this afternoon. Mechanical and electrical connections will continue to be made and tested before the vehicle is ready to depart the assembly building next week.

The shuttle's payload, a 45-foot truss segment weighing 31,000 pounds, on Wednesday was loaded into a canister for transportation to the launch pad this weekend.

The canister today will be rotated into a vertical position for its ride to the launch complex.

The truss segment is the 11th and last piece of the station's backbone. It carries a final pair of American solar arrays that will boost the outpost's power supply by 25 percent.

Left: the orbiter Discovery on Wednesday rolled out of Orbiter Processing Facility 3 at Kennedy Space Center to head to the Vehicle Assembly Building. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann. Right: In the transfer aisle of the Vehicle Assembly Building on March 17, 2000, the orbiter Atlantis was suspended vertically from an overhead crane before being mated with its external tank and solid rocket boosters for the STS-101 mission. The 122-foot high orbiter is easily accommodated inside the 525-foot-tall, 518-foot-wide VAB.

posted by James Dean at 10:08 AM

[Salo]

http://www.floridatoday.com/content/blogs/space/2009/01/watch-sts-119-mission-briefings-live.shtml

Friday, January 09, 2009
Watch STS-119 Mission Briefings Live
 Today space shuttle Discovery's crew of seven astronauts and NASA managers will participate a day of media briefings on the next shuttle mission, targeted for launch Feb. 12 from Kennedy Space Center.

You can watch the briefings live here on The Flame Trench starting at 9 a.m. Just click on the image at left to launch a NASA TV viewer.

The STS-119 mission will install the final piece of the International Space Station's skeletal backbone, a 31,000 pound girder that holds a final set of American solar wings.

Click "Read more" to see a full schedule of briefings, which will be hosted at Johnson Space Center in Houston.

8 a.m. - STS-119 Video B-Roll Feed
9 a.m. - STS-119 Program Overview Briefing
10:30 a.m. - STS-119 Mission Overview Briefing
12:30 p.m. - STS-119 Spacewalk Overview Briefing
2 p.m. - STS-119 Crew News Conference

Discovery's crew is led by mission commander Lee Archambault, who is making his second flight in less than two years after piloting Atlantis on STS-117 in June 2007.

Joining Archambault are pilot Tony Antonelli and mission specialists Richard Arnold, Joseph Acaba, John Phillips, Steve Swanson and Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.

Wakata, the first Japanese astronaut to make an extended visit to the space station, will replace Sandra Magnus as a member of the outpost's Expedition 18 crew. Magnus will return home on Discovery.

Four spacewalks are planned during the 14-day mission.

posted by James Dean at 12:01 AM

[Dude]

Заметьте, что Филлипс и Лончаков уже летали вместе на STS-100.  

[Agasfer]

Третий выход выполнят Арнольд и Акаба-оба вроде астронавты-учителя...Вопрос, неужели в НАСА не нашлось для сложнейшей работы в открытом космосе профессиональных астронавтов. И зачем было назначать в экипаж сразу двух учителей???

[Leroy]

Третий выход выполнят Арнольд и Акаба-оба вроде астронавты-учителя...Вопрос, неужели в НАСА не нашлось для сложнейшей работы в открытом космосе профессиональных астронавтов. И зачем было назначать в экипаж сразу двух учителей???

По квалификации они не отличаются от обычных MS.

[Salo]

STS-119 Flight Plan
STS-119 Launch Windows

[Salo]

http://www.floridatoday.com/content/blogs/space/2009/01/discovery-payload-at-launch-pad.shtml

Monday, January 12, 2009

Discovery Payload at the Launch Pad
 Preparations continue to roll shuttle Discovery to Kennedy Space Center's launch pad 39A on Wednesday, where it will meet a payload delivered Sunday evening.

Space center workers are now loading a canister holding the 31,000-pound payload into the pad's changeout room, shown at left before Discovery's Return to Flight mission in 2005.

The 45-foot girder is the last piece of the International Space Station's central truss, and holds a final pair of Boeing Co.-built solar arrays.

It will take up most of Discovery's payload bay when it is installed, expected Jan. 17.

The payload left a processing facility at 5 p.m. Sunday and arrived at the pad three hours later.

A device called the payload ground handling mechanism lifted the canister from its 48-wheeled transporter in preparation for transfer into the changeout room, a secure, environmentally controlled facility at the launch pad.

Meanwhile, workers on Sunday finished attaching Discovery to its external fuel tank in the Vehicle Assembly Building.

The shuttle's 3.4-mile trip to the launch pad aboard a giant crawler-transporter is scheduled to begin at 4 a.m. Wednesday and take five to seven hours.

IMAGE NOTE: Click on the image to enlarge it. At launch pad 39B, the canister carrying payloads launched aboard space shuttle Discovery's Return to Flight mission STS-114 was lifted up to the Payload Changeout Room. Photo credit: NASA/KSC.

posted by James Dean at 10:01 AM

[Salo]

http://www.floridatoday.com/content/blogs/space/2009/01/live-at-ksc-shuttle-heads-to-launch-pad.shtml

Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Live at KSC: Shuttle Heads To Launch Pad
 Shuttle Discovery is making its way to Kennedy Space Center's launch pad 39A today in advance of a planned Feb. 12 launch on an International Space Station construction mission.

With the shuttle mounted atop a mobile launcher platform, a giant tracked transporter is hauling the 11-million-pound load down the river-rock crawlerway that links the launch pad with the KSC Vehicle Assembly Building.

The 3.5-mile mile trip began with a first motion in the VAB at 5:17 a.m. EST -- about 77 minutes later than originally planned.

The slight delay was prompted by a little additional work with the purge on the shuttle solid rocket booster aft skirts and heaters on the launcher platform that must be operating if temperatures dip below 45 degrees Fahrenheit.

You can watch the rollout live here in The Flame Trench. Simply click the NASA TV box on the righthand side of the page to see live coverage or refresh this page for the latest still images from live video feeds in the Launch Complex 39 area.

The shuttle should be out to the pad around 11:15 a.m.

Discovery and seven astronauts are slated to fly a mission to deliver the last segment of the station's central truss to the outpost. The so-called S6 truss is equipped with the last of four massive American solar wings that will provide electrical power to the station.

The 31,000-pound truss will be moved from the Space Station Processing Facility to the launch pad later this week. The payload is to be installed in the orbiter's cargo bay over the weekend.

posted by Todd Halvorson at 7:52 AM