Connector installed: Tests verify soldering fix

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A pass-through connector has been re-installed at Pad 39A, and tests in Alabama indicate that engineers were correct in their estimation of a proper fix for intermittent signals from low-fuel sensors that delayed Atlantis' launch by two months.

"It is installed and retested and we are into installing the re-application of the foam insulation," NASA spokesman George Diller said.

"It's a several-day process," said Diller. "We're not going to be reprocessing (the orbiter) for launch until they get the foam in."

Diller said cryogenic testing at Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama produced evidence that the original connector, with friction pins and sockets, failed due to being cooled by liquid Hydrogen to 423 degrees below zero.

"It's a continuation for being able to repeat what we saw during the tanking test and two scrubbed launches," he said.

To make the fix, technicians soldered leads on the outside of the connector, where a diagnostic test showed the circuit was interrupted.

"The testing still has a while to go," added Diller. "It's encouraging so far that everything they're seeing supports what we've done to fix the connector."

Atlantis is expected to launch Feb. 7 on a mission to the International Space Station to deliver the European Columbus module.

Meanwhile, in the Vehicle Assembly Building, the solid rocket boosters and external tank have been mated for the next mission, STS-123. The orbiter Endeavour will be ready to roll over to the VAB about Feb. 12.

Built to replace Challenger, Endeavour will be making its 21st flight, hauling up the first of three sections that ultimately will make up the Japanese Kibo science research facility at the International Space Station.

Also flying aboard the orbiter will be a two-armed robot that will perform space station assembly and maintenance work that otherwise would have to be done by spacewalking astronauts. The Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator, also known as Dexter, is part of the Canadian Space Agency's contribution to the 15-nation construction project.

The Canadians also provided the Space Station Remote Manipulator System, a 57.5-foot robot arm that serves as a construction crane at the outpost. The Mobile Transporter system that enables the crane to be moved to different work sites on the station's central truss also was built by the Canadians.

IMAGE NOTE: Click to enlarge the NASA photo of an external tank being lowered between twin solid rocket boosters in High Bay 1 of the Vehicle Assembly Building. The orbiter Endeavour will be attached to the stack for the STS-123 mission, which NASA hopes to launch in mid-March. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett.