Tuesday, May 04, 2010

NASA Faces Tight Schedule For Upcoming Atlantis Launch

NASA is gearing up for the start of the countdown to launch of shuttle Atlantis' final flight and the agency faces a tight time schedule between now and a planned liftoff a week from Friday.

Atlantis and six astronauts are slated to blast off from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center at 2:20 p.m. May 14, the middle of a 10-minute opportunity to put the spaceship and its crew on course for a ground-up rendezvous and docking with the International Space Station.

NASA and contractor engineers today are preparing to pick up a three-day launch countdown at 4 p.m. next Tuesday. Engineers plan to respond to a Call-To-Stations in the Firing Room 4 of the Launch Control Center at 3:30 p.m. that day.

NASA Shuttle Program Manager John Shannon told reporters Monday that the agency has only one day of contingency time between now and May 14. NASA pads its processing schedule, building in time to work any problems that might crop up in pre-launch preparations.

An example: Technicians today completed repairs to a critical seal on one of the shuttle's clamshell-like payload bay doors. The repair requires 72 hours to cure. That will delay the closure of the 60-foot-long doors but it does not threaten the May 14 launch date.

Also today: NASA contractor technicians completed the installation of small pyrotechnic devices on the shuttle and its mobile launcher platform. The ordnance will be used to separate the shuttle from its launcher platform, solid rocket boosters and external tank in flight. The boosters also are outfitted with destruct system explosives that would be activated if the shuttle careened out of control and threatened populated communities surrounding NASA's shuttle homeport.

Veteran astronaut Ken Ham leads a crew that includes pilot Tony Antonelli and mission specialists Garrett Reisman, Michael Good, Stephen Bowen and Piers Sellers. The crew will arrive at KSC early next week.

IMAGE NOTE: Click to enlarge the NASA image of Atlantis at launch pad 39A after its move from the KSC Vehicle Assembly Building. You can also click the enlarged version to get a bigger, more detailed view. Photo Credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann.

1 comment:

Mark Lopa said...

I guess I'm in denial, but I cannot accept the fact this is the final flight of the great space shuttle Atlantis.