Jacques van Oene
July 26th 05, 07:57 PM
Tuesday, July 26, 2005 - 11 a.m. CDT
Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas
STS-114 MCC Status Report #01
Discovery launched into a clear Florida sky this morning, returning the
Shuttle fleet to space and beginning a journey of exploration to the Moon,
Mars and beyond.
Discovery lifted off at 9:39 a.m. central time today following a flawless
countdown. Over the next 11 days, Discovery's seven person crew will
demonstrate techniques for inspecting and protecting the Shuttle's thermal
protection system and continue assembly of the International Space Station.
Today's launch was the first for a Shuttle since the loss of Columbia and
its crew in February 2003.
Discovery's climb to orbit was extensively documented through a system of
new and upgraded ground-based cameras, radar systems and airborne cameras
aboard high altitude aircraft. The imagery captured of Discovery's launch,
and additional imagery from laser systems on a new boom extension for the
Shuttle's robot arm as well as data from sensors embedded in the Shuttle's
wings, will help mission managers determine the health of Discovery's
thermal protection system over the next several days prior to its scheduled
Aug. 7 landing.
Less than nine minutes after launch, Commander Eileen Collins, Pilot Jim
Kelly and Mission Specialists Soichi Noguchi (Japanese Aerospace Exploration
Agency), Steve Robinson, Andy Thomas, Wendy Lawrence and Charlie Camarda
were in orbit and ready to open the payload bay doors and unstow their gear
in the crew compartment. Moments after main engine cutoff, Noguchi and
Thomas used handheld video and digital still cameras to document the
external tank after it separated from the Shuttle. That imagery, and imagery
from cameras in the Shuttle's umbilical well where the tank was connected,
will also be downlinked for review by mission managers and engineers in the
ongoing analysis of the tank's condition following ascent.
The crew plans to unberth and test Discovery's robot arm today before
beginning an eight-hour sleep period at shortly before 4 p.m. CDT. The arm
will be used today to collect imagery of the clearances between the Shuttle'
s Ku-band dish antenna that provides high data rate telemetry and
television, and the end of a new 50-foot boom moored to the starboard sill
of the spaceship that will be used tomorrow while grappled to the robot arm
for a day-long inspection of the leading edges of Discovery's wings. That
survey will help to insure that the wings did not incur any damage during
launch.
At the time of launch, the International Space Station was 225 miles above
the southern Indian Ocean west of Australia as Discovery began its chase for
a docking at 6:18 a.m. CDT Thursday. Aboard the Station, Expedition 11
Commander Sergei Krikalev and Flight Engineer John Phillips were completing
preparations for the arrival of the first Shuttle since Nov. 25, 2002.
When Discovery nears the Station early Thursday morning, Krikalev and
Phillips will use digital cameras and high-powered 800MM and 400MM lenses to
photograph Discovery's thermal protective tiles and key areas around its
main and nose landing gear doors.
Housed in the Raffaello Multi-Purpose Logistics Module in Discovery's cargo
bay is 15 tons of hardware and supplies that will be transferred to the
Station after the Shuttle docks to the complex.
The astronauts will be awakened late tonight at 11:39 p.m. CDT to begin
their first full day in orbit.
The next STS-114 status report will be issued shortly after crew wakeup, or
earlier, if events warrant.
--
--------------
Jacques :-)
www.spacepatches.info
Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas
STS-114 MCC Status Report #01
Discovery launched into a clear Florida sky this morning, returning the
Shuttle fleet to space and beginning a journey of exploration to the Moon,
Mars and beyond.
Discovery lifted off at 9:39 a.m. central time today following a flawless
countdown. Over the next 11 days, Discovery's seven person crew will
demonstrate techniques for inspecting and protecting the Shuttle's thermal
protection system and continue assembly of the International Space Station.
Today's launch was the first for a Shuttle since the loss of Columbia and
its crew in February 2003.
Discovery's climb to orbit was extensively documented through a system of
new and upgraded ground-based cameras, radar systems and airborne cameras
aboard high altitude aircraft. The imagery captured of Discovery's launch,
and additional imagery from laser systems on a new boom extension for the
Shuttle's robot arm as well as data from sensors embedded in the Shuttle's
wings, will help mission managers determine the health of Discovery's
thermal protection system over the next several days prior to its scheduled
Aug. 7 landing.
Less than nine minutes after launch, Commander Eileen Collins, Pilot Jim
Kelly and Mission Specialists Soichi Noguchi (Japanese Aerospace Exploration
Agency), Steve Robinson, Andy Thomas, Wendy Lawrence and Charlie Camarda
were in orbit and ready to open the payload bay doors and unstow their gear
in the crew compartment. Moments after main engine cutoff, Noguchi and
Thomas used handheld video and digital still cameras to document the
external tank after it separated from the Shuttle. That imagery, and imagery
from cameras in the Shuttle's umbilical well where the tank was connected,
will also be downlinked for review by mission managers and engineers in the
ongoing analysis of the tank's condition following ascent.
The crew plans to unberth and test Discovery's robot arm today before
beginning an eight-hour sleep period at shortly before 4 p.m. CDT. The arm
will be used today to collect imagery of the clearances between the Shuttle'
s Ku-band dish antenna that provides high data rate telemetry and
television, and the end of a new 50-foot boom moored to the starboard sill
of the spaceship that will be used tomorrow while grappled to the robot arm
for a day-long inspection of the leading edges of Discovery's wings. That
survey will help to insure that the wings did not incur any damage during
launch.
At the time of launch, the International Space Station was 225 miles above
the southern Indian Ocean west of Australia as Discovery began its chase for
a docking at 6:18 a.m. CDT Thursday. Aboard the Station, Expedition 11
Commander Sergei Krikalev and Flight Engineer John Phillips were completing
preparations for the arrival of the first Shuttle since Nov. 25, 2002.
When Discovery nears the Station early Thursday morning, Krikalev and
Phillips will use digital cameras and high-powered 800MM and 400MM lenses to
photograph Discovery's thermal protective tiles and key areas around its
main and nose landing gear doors.
Housed in the Raffaello Multi-Purpose Logistics Module in Discovery's cargo
bay is 15 tons of hardware and supplies that will be transferred to the
Station after the Shuttle docks to the complex.
The astronauts will be awakened late tonight at 11:39 p.m. CDT to begin
their first full day in orbit.
The next STS-114 status report will be issued shortly after crew wakeup, or
earlier, if events warrant.
--
--------------
Jacques :-)
www.spacepatches.info