Shuttle STS-117 - Atlantis

SpaceNut · 2006-11-11 20:47:49

According to the revised schedule, STS-117 will be delayed from February 22 to March 16, 2007; STS-118 from June 11 to June 28; and STS-120 from August 9 to September 7.

Officials said that external tank processing problems caused the delays.

NASA to implement new External Tank design

The Ice Frost Ramps (IFRs) have completed wind tunnel testing, with the new design set to be incorporated next week on ET-124 (STS-117 - Atlantis) - and on all future tanks.
Each External Tank has 34 ramps, which house two pressurization lines that run alongside the tank. However, only the top four ramps on the Liquid Hydrogen area of the tank are deemed at risk of causing damage to an orbiter's TPS (Thermal Protection System) from foam liberating off the ramps during ascent.

SpaceNut · 2007-01-02 13:01:46

Shuttle ET has arrived.

STS- 117 Atlantis Mission information

Mission goals:
Second starboard truss segment (ITS S3/S4) with Photovoltaic Radiator (PVR)
Third set of solar arrays and batteries

Consolidated Launch Manifest

What I find odd is the timelines for relaunch turn around from last use in that they are not consistent.

Also What is the real cost of the shuttle and how to account for the 3.5 billion a year that goes for its use.

SpaceNut · 2007-01-10 22:56:49

First Nasa was reducing the flight count from 6 planned for 2007 and now NASA: 5 shuttle flights may be tough it would seem for them to handle.

Former shuttle program manager Bill Parsons, who last week took over as head of the space center, said the logistical hurdles may be too high to make the schedule of shuttle launches set for March, June, September, October and December.
"I know that we have three (flights) that we believe we can really make right now," said Parsons. "The other two are going to be a little tougher at the end of the year.

cIclops · 2007-01-11 03:34:46

NASA to implement new External Tank design
The Ice Frost Ramps (IFRs) have completed wind tunnel testing, with the new design set to be incorporated next week on ET-124 (STS-117 - Atlantis) - and on all future tanks.
Each External Tank has 34 ramps, which house two pressurization lines that run alongside the tank. However, only the top four ramps on the Liquid Hydrogen area of the tank are deemed at risk of causing damage to an orbiter's TPS (Thermal Protection System) from foam liberating off the ramps during ascent.

AFAIK the ice frost ramps will not be changed on this mission. IIRC this was said at a STS-116 briefing just before launch.

(Re: 2007 flight schedule)
Slipping one flight over into 2008 is really no big deal as Parsons said. The program has recovered well and they seem to be doing it right. Of course that doesn't sell well in the media, they just have to find a problem, any problem will do.

BTW NASA Watch have made available the latest complete flight planning manifest - it shows the 5th flight (STS-123) of 2007 in December.

SpaceNut · 2007-01-11 07:32:47

Yup Nasa web site Manifest has been updated as of the 9th.

A item to note is the ATV

NET July 25, 2007
ATV1 Ariane 5 European Automated Transfer Vehicle

I wonder how well this is going.

SpaceNut · 2007-02-09 07:28:38

While we wait for liftoff the work continues to get Discovery ready. It has just one more SSME (Space Shuttle Main Engine) to be removed from her aft, after is last use designated STS-116 in the Orbiter Processing Facility location OPF-2. Opposite to that operation is Endeavour, as her pre-flight processing for STS-118 has suffered no major issues during her 'awakening' from a Major Modification Period which is a good thing after spending all that money to up grade the cockpit.

In the technology there is this new thread "NASA testing RFID chips for trip to Mars"

First testing will be on the ISS:

Fred Schramm, administrator for the internal research and development program at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., said a variety of paper and plastic RFID tags will be on board the U.S. space shuttle Endeavour, which is slated to launch in July on a voyage to the International Space Station.

SpaceNut · 2007-02-15 13:33:56

More changes on the launch scheduel ????
Looks like 16 is the final number remaining.

cIclops · 2007-02-15 14:54:08

STS-131 and STS-133 are contingency flights - if all goes well only 14 left to fly.

SpaceNut · 2007-02-15 20:25:35

Maybe less contingent than one might think:

Space station's hull to heave with spare parts

With the number of space shuttle flights limited to no more than 15 before the vehicles retire in 2010, NASA is facing the problem of getting broken gear on the ISS back to Earth for repair. So the agency is trying a new tactic they are stashing as many spare parts as they can on the ISS now.

By bring up the extra parts to the stations though its mass will grow and with that the orbit will decay faster needing more service than we would normally need in reboost. Not to mention more things will go unfound and the clutter will increase leaving less room to do work or to move around in.

Cargo trips
In addition to the problem of getting stuff down to Earth, NASA also has far more equipment on the ground waiting to be taken to the station than they have room to carry on the remaining space shuttles.
Between 2007 and 2009, there are 13 metric tonnes of gear that currently has no assigned way of getting to the station. From 2010 through 2015, after the shuttles retire, that figure rises to 62.4 metric tonnes.

Seems we are already behind the eight ball on this issue...

GCNRevenger · 2007-02-15 20:38:22

Mir 2.0 here we come!

Unless Kistlers' rocket somehow works, theres' no way this kind of mass will be launched. The ISS will decay faster than its orbit will, and desperately needed parts will supplant science experiments on cargo launches.

SpaceNut · 2007-02-15 21:02:40

One of the biggest things that still remains unresolved is how to get stuff back down gently once the shuttle is no more.

cIclops · 2007-02-15 22:53:22

STS-117 Press Kit (5.9MB PDF)

SpaceNut · 2007-02-27 13:13:25

Shuttle tank damaged; rollback possible external tank was extensively damaged during a hailstorm Monday evening.

Engineers were called in to examine camera recordings and preliminary evaluations uncovered about 700 damage spots. But the number now is said to be much higher -- as many as 7,000 -- and some reports indicate the orbiter's left wing was hit, also.

NASA is facing a March 25 deadline to launch Atlantis and six astronauts on an International Space Station construction mission. After that, the agency would be unable to complete the 11-day mission in time to clear the way for the previously scheduled launch of a Russian Soyuz rocket with a new station crew. That mission is scheduled for launch April 7, and NASA managers prefer a 72-hour gap between a shuttle's departure from the station and the arrival of a Soyuz spacecraft. In that case, the shuttle launch would slip back to about April 20.

cIclops · 2007-02-27 13:48:55

Easy to say now of course, but some covers overs those areas would have prevented that damage. I see it happened before several years ago. There's a news conference on NASA TV about 16:00 ET,

SpaceNut · 2007-02-28 06:41:58

There is an underlying issue thou with the shuttle not launching and that is retirement will most likely not happen in 2010. This also gives more credence IMO that the closer Nasa gets to the end days and that the ISS is not complete that they will need to keep the shuttles in a standby mode much longer than we would want further causing budget crunching on CEV orion developement.

cIclops · 2007-02-28 07:29:02

Why should NASA want to do that? The quicker NASA ends the Shuttle program the sooner that part of the budget (annually STS costs about $4 billion) can be used for Constellation and science. Anyhow, there won't be any ETs available after STS-133, the program is already winding down.

Tom Kalbfus · 2007-02-28 09:07:14

Maybe they should get another external tank, they're supposed to de disposable aren't they? Theu burn up in the atmosphere and NASA has to keep making more. Why don't they just use the external tank for the next mission rather than this one?

Why are we building a space station with a country that threatened to nuke Poland and the Czech Republic anyway?

cIclops · 2007-02-28 09:35:11

It takes about three years to build an ET. IIRC the last one is in production now.

The next tank isn't available until April 10, too late for the original March 15 launch date.

Tom Kalbfus · 2007-03-01 09:41:46

It takes about three years to build an ET. IIRC the last one is in production now.
The next tank isn't available until April 10, too late for the original March 15 launch date.

And the ET was supposedly the cheapest part of the whole shuttle transportation system. You'd think they'd be smart enough to keep a spare, rather than do this just in time manufacturing system. In all the years NASA has operated, have they never encountered a hailstorm before?. Maybe the launch site ought to be relocated to Hawaii, where the weather isn't so variable or unpredictable as it is in Florida. I think a site on the equator should be obtained, hurricanes and icey whether don't occur there. Florida just isn't far enough south. I can't tell you how many times Floridian weather has delayed a shuttle launch. Maybe that reduces its value as a launch site.

SpaceNut · 2007-03-01 12:24:37

yes hail has damaged another tank in the past. The just in time manufacturing systemare not just part of the contract issues for shuttle parts. It is away of keeping less money on the books as inventory that is unpaid for which really should not be a problem unless the payout is after full forfillment of the contract rather than by pieces.
While 4 years is the shelf life on an SRB, I sort of wonder what the ET's life is before they figure that they can not use them.

Tom Kalbfus · 2007-03-01 13:02:36

yes hail has damaged another tank in the past. The just in time manufacturing systemare not just part of the contract issues for shuttle parts. It is away of keeping less money on the books as inventory that is unpaid for which really should not be a problem unless the payout is after full forfillment of the contract rather than by pieces.
While 4 years is the shelf life on an SRB, I sort of wonder what the ET's life is before they figure that they can not use them.

It all depends on the cost of the delay vs the cost of the ET. NASA has to pay all the shuttle workers whether the Shuttle gets launched or not. A delay in the shuttle means NASA still pays its workers, but the shuttle gets launched fewer times per year. If it costs extra to build a spare ET, and keep it ready, I think it may be worth it.

SpaceNut · 2007-03-02 07:22:00

I had forgot about the ripple effect that delaying shuttle until late april or may would cause to ISS resupply.
The partner nations will be asked to fill the void if supplies become critical IMO but can or is a resupply ship close to being complete and ready to fly.

The next Russian ship would be these ;
April 9 - Soyuz TMA-10 (14S)
May 12 - Progress M-60 (25P)

But a soyuz is not a cargo vehicle? This could be a problem... Houston

cIclops · 2007-03-02 07:32:47

No problem right now. Since Shuttle has returned to flight, ISS is well stocked. Yes Soyuz is not a cargo carrier but Progress is and it will deliver a few tons of cargo. Five Shuttles missions are planned this year as well as an ATV and more Progress flights.

dicktice · 2007-03-02 12:25:26

After all the trouble they've had to protect the Space Shuttle from re-entry at 17,000 mph, you wouldn't think such a routine event as a hail-storm would do enough damage as to cause a return to the shed! Will the latest mod to the programme turn out now to be a tent-shelter over the whole sheebang?

Palomar · 2007-03-02 14:21:28

After all the trouble they've had to protect the Space Shuttle from re-entry at 17,000 mph, you wouldn't think such a routine event as a hail-storm would do enough damage as to cause a return to the shed! Will the latest mod to the programme turn out now to be a tent-shelter over the whole sheebang?

Sad, isn't it? All my taxpayer's dollars going to waste ... yet again.

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#1 2006-11-11 20:47:49

Re: Shuttle STS-117 - Atlantis

#2 2007-01-02 13:01:46

Re: Shuttle STS-117 - Atlantis

#3 2007-01-10 22:56:49

Re: Shuttle STS-117 - Atlantis

#4 2007-01-11 03:34:46

Re: Shuttle STS-117 - Atlantis

#5 2007-01-11 07:32:47

Re: Shuttle STS-117 - Atlantis

#6 2007-02-09 07:28:38

Re: Shuttle STS-117 - Atlantis

#7 2007-02-15 13:33:56

Re: Shuttle STS-117 - Atlantis

#8 2007-02-15 14:54:08

Re: Shuttle STS-117 - Atlantis

#9 2007-02-15 20:25:35

Re: Shuttle STS-117 - Atlantis

#10 2007-02-15 20:38:22

Re: Shuttle STS-117 - Atlantis

#11 2007-02-15 21:02:40

Re: Shuttle STS-117 - Atlantis

#12 2007-02-15 22:53:22

Re: Shuttle STS-117 - Atlantis

#13 2007-02-27 13:13:25

Re: Shuttle STS-117 - Atlantis

#14 2007-02-27 13:48:55

Re: Shuttle STS-117 - Atlantis

#15 2007-02-28 06:41:58

Re: Shuttle STS-117 - Atlantis

#16 2007-02-28 07:29:02

Re: Shuttle STS-117 - Atlantis

#17 2007-02-28 09:07:14

Re: Shuttle STS-117 - Atlantis

#18 2007-02-28 09:35:11

Re: Shuttle STS-117 - Atlantis

#19 2007-03-01 09:41:46

Re: Shuttle STS-117 - Atlantis

#20 2007-03-01 12:24:37

Re: Shuttle STS-117 - Atlantis

#21 2007-03-01 13:02:36

Re: Shuttle STS-117 - Atlantis

#22 2007-03-02 07:22:00

Re: Shuttle STS-117 - Atlantis

#23 2007-03-02 07:32:47

Re: Shuttle STS-117 - Atlantis

#24 2007-03-02 12:25:26

Re: Shuttle STS-117 - Atlantis

#25 2007-03-02 14:21:28

Re: Shuttle STS-117 - Atlantis

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