Saturday, November 15, 2008

Live: Endeavour Completes Orbital Burn

Endeavour has completed a burn intended to adjust its path toward the International Space Station, in preparation for Sunday evening's docking.

The move, called the NC-2 burn, changed the shuttle's velocity by just over 5 mph, using one Orbital Maneuvering System engine on the shuttle's right side.

The crew is now preparing for heat shield inspections that will begin in about an hour.

Ground controllers say a problem down-linking laser imagery captured by the shuttle's boom via digital television is now functioning properly. The issue was not expected to delay the inspection.

Controllers in Houston want Endeavour's crew to take pictures of a spot where the Orbital Maneuvering System meets the left side of shuttle, where a small piece of insulation may have been stripped during launch.

Mission commander Chris Ferguson said the crew had sent the ground pictures yesterday that possibly showed ice in an unspecified location.

"We did send some pictures down yesterday of something that we saw. We weren't sure if it was ice or not, but I'm assuming you looked at those," he told ground controllers in Houston.

"Yep, those images are being analyzed now," flight controller Steve Robinson replied.

Engineers are also looking into an antenna issue that could affect communication during docking with the station.

You can watch live coverage of the shuttle inspection process here at The Flame Trench, starting at 2:15 p.m. Click on the NASA TV image on the right side of the page to launch a viewer.

IMAGE NOTE: In Endeavour's aft flight deck, at center is pilot Eric Boe; mission specialist Steve Bowen is to his right. At left, the back of commander Chris Ferguson's head can be seen.



290726main_EP_FD02%5B1%5D%5B1%5D.pdf

No comments: