Jacques van Oene
August 3rd 05, 04:09 AM
Tuesday, August 2, 2005 - 6 p.m. CDT
Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas
STS-114 MCC Status Report #15
Space Shuttle mission managers Tuesday cleared Discovery's wing leading edge
heat shield for re-entry as they methodically deal with concerns over the
protruding tile gap fillers. The mission management team also discussed a
"puffed out" insulating blanket outside the commander's cockpit window and
has decided it poses no risk of overheating during entry. Engineers will
continue to analyze whether it could pose a debris problem if it came loose
during aerodynamic flight.
Discovery's astronauts worked much of today on preparations for Wednesday's
gap filler repair spacewalk. Transfer of materials to and from the
International Space Station continued with crewmembers of both spacecraft
making good progress.
Spacewalkers Soichi Noguchi and Steve Robinson spent an hour this morning
beginning about 2:40 a.m. CDT with Mission Specialists Andy Thomas and Wendy
Lawrence, and Pilot Jim Kelly on a review of spacewalk procedures. Thomas,
as the intravehicular crewmember, will coach and monitor the spacewalkers,
while Lawrence and Kelly will operate the Station's Canadarm2.
That robotic arm will carry Robinson to the repair sites on the underside of
the forward part of Discovery where he will either gently pull out the
protruding gap fillers with his hand or with forceps, or remove the
protrusions with a hacksaw.
After the procedure review, Lawrence and Kelly spent the subsequent 45
minutes in computer training for the arm tasks, using the Dynamic Onboard
Ubiquitous Graphics program, or DOUG. Meanwhile, the spacewalkers and Thomas
worked on assembly of the hacksaw that would be used if other methods do not
work.
About 7:40 a.m. Lawrence and Kelly, using Canadarm2, unberthed External
Stowage Platform 2 from Discovery's cargo bay. Noguchi and Robinson
installed the platform's attachment device on the mission's first spacewalk
on Saturday, and the platform itself is to be installed on the attachment
device during Wednesday's spacewalk.
After lunch on board, Noguchi, Robinson and Thomas worked on spacewalk tool
configuration. Near the end of their work day, all nine crewmembers on
board, including Discovery Commander Eileen Collins and Station crewmembers,
Commander Sergei Krikalev and NASA Science Officer John Phillips, did a
spacewalk review.
The spacewalkers began a prebreathe of pure oxygen about 10:50 a.m., a
little more than an hour before hatches linking Discovery and the Station
were closed so the Shuttle could be depressurized to 10.2 psi. Both the
prebreathe and the depressurization were aimed at reducing the nitrogen
content of the spacewalkers' blood to reduce the possibility of nitrogen
bubble formation in their bloodstreams during the spacewalk. Wednesday's
spacewalk is scheduled to begin at about 3:14 a.m. CDT.
Late in the crew day Tuesday, astronauts received a phone call from
President George Bush. The President thanked the crew for taking risks for
the sake of exploration and wished them well in the remainder of their
mission.
The next STS-114 mission status report will be issued Wednesday morning or
earlier if events warrant.
- end -
--
--------------
Jacques :-)
www.spacepatches.info
Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas
STS-114 MCC Status Report #15
Space Shuttle mission managers Tuesday cleared Discovery's wing leading edge
heat shield for re-entry as they methodically deal with concerns over the
protruding tile gap fillers. The mission management team also discussed a
"puffed out" insulating blanket outside the commander's cockpit window and
has decided it poses no risk of overheating during entry. Engineers will
continue to analyze whether it could pose a debris problem if it came loose
during aerodynamic flight.
Discovery's astronauts worked much of today on preparations for Wednesday's
gap filler repair spacewalk. Transfer of materials to and from the
International Space Station continued with crewmembers of both spacecraft
making good progress.
Spacewalkers Soichi Noguchi and Steve Robinson spent an hour this morning
beginning about 2:40 a.m. CDT with Mission Specialists Andy Thomas and Wendy
Lawrence, and Pilot Jim Kelly on a review of spacewalk procedures. Thomas,
as the intravehicular crewmember, will coach and monitor the spacewalkers,
while Lawrence and Kelly will operate the Station's Canadarm2.
That robotic arm will carry Robinson to the repair sites on the underside of
the forward part of Discovery where he will either gently pull out the
protruding gap fillers with his hand or with forceps, or remove the
protrusions with a hacksaw.
After the procedure review, Lawrence and Kelly spent the subsequent 45
minutes in computer training for the arm tasks, using the Dynamic Onboard
Ubiquitous Graphics program, or DOUG. Meanwhile, the spacewalkers and Thomas
worked on assembly of the hacksaw that would be used if other methods do not
work.
About 7:40 a.m. Lawrence and Kelly, using Canadarm2, unberthed External
Stowage Platform 2 from Discovery's cargo bay. Noguchi and Robinson
installed the platform's attachment device on the mission's first spacewalk
on Saturday, and the platform itself is to be installed on the attachment
device during Wednesday's spacewalk.
After lunch on board, Noguchi, Robinson and Thomas worked on spacewalk tool
configuration. Near the end of their work day, all nine crewmembers on
board, including Discovery Commander Eileen Collins and Station crewmembers,
Commander Sergei Krikalev and NASA Science Officer John Phillips, did a
spacewalk review.
The spacewalkers began a prebreathe of pure oxygen about 10:50 a.m., a
little more than an hour before hatches linking Discovery and the Station
were closed so the Shuttle could be depressurized to 10.2 psi. Both the
prebreathe and the depressurization were aimed at reducing the nitrogen
content of the spacewalkers' blood to reduce the possibility of nitrogen
bubble formation in their bloodstreams during the spacewalk. Wednesday's
spacewalk is scheduled to begin at about 3:14 a.m. CDT.
Late in the crew day Tuesday, astronauts received a phone call from
President George Bush. The President thanked the crew for taking risks for
the sake of exploration and wished them well in the remainder of their
mission.
The next STS-114 mission status report will be issued Wednesday morning or
earlier if events warrant.
- end -
--
--------------
Jacques :-)
www.spacepatches.info