The ISS, as seen from space shuttle Endeavour on the STS-130 mission. Credit: NASA
Since this perhaps the fourth-to-the-last space shuttle flight, right now is a great opportunity to see the marvelous sights of International Space Station and space shuttle Discovery flying close in tandem. Depending on where you live, Tuesday evening or early Wednesday morning should provide a wonderful opportunity to see the two as the shuttle prepares to dock at 7:44 GMT (3:44 a.m EDT) on April 7, 2010.
Before docking, the two spacecraft will be seen as separate but closely-spaced points of light. The ISS is bigger, so will appear as the brighter object leading the smaller Discovery as they move across the sky. After docking, the ISS will be brighter yet with the additional surface area provided by the docked shuttle. Of course, your viewing ability will depend on cloud cover.
"Beans Are Go" means a space shuttle has successfully launched. Credit: Kennedy Space Center
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Even though today’s space shuttle launch took place during the early morning hours (Kennedy Space Center local time) the post-launch celebration meal for the launch control team consisted of hearty helpings of beans and cornbread. But that’s nothing new. Every single successful space shuttle launch since the very beginning of the shuttle program has been followed by beans and cornbread. It’s a tradition.
Even though the the Launch Control Center at Kennedy Space Center is one of the most unique “offices” in the world, like many other places of work, people bring in food to share with their co-workers. The story goes that when the launch teams were preparing for the very first shuttle flight in 1981, people would bring in covered dishes so the teams would have food during the long hours of tests and simulations. Norm Carlson, one of the test directors brought in a crockpot of beans along with some cornbread, and after the flawless STS-1 lift-off, the hungry team members rapidly consumed the delicious beans and cornbread. Norm Carlson serving up his beans. Credit: Kennedy Space Center
So, for the next flight, Carlson brought in two crockpots of beans and additional cornbread. Again, the beans and cornbread disappeared after STS-2.
“On each subsequent launch, Mr. Carlson kept bringing more crock pots filled with beans, and on each subsequent launch the beans would disappear in short order.
Finally, sensing that it was getting too difficult to bring in enough crock pots to feed everyone, Mr. Carlson switched to an 18 quart cooker, and set up shop on the fourth floor of the LCC, just above the firing rooms. The call “Beans are Go!” came to signal that the shuttle had successfully launched, and it was time to relax and unwind.”
The tradition continued, even after Carlson retired and now 60 gallons of beans are prepared for every launch as an official NASA function.
Since the phrase “full of beans” means having lots of energy and enthusiasm, it seems fitting that beans are part of the space shuttle tradition at KSC, and that tradition will undoubtedly live on along with the amazing legacy that the shuttle program encompasses. It seems almost unbelievable that perhaps only three more space shuttles will take flight.
The Inside KSC Blog provides what is thought to be the original recipe for Carlson’s beans:
Norm Carlson’s Space Beans Recipe
6 pounds Great Northern dried beans
10 pounds ham cut into cubes, plus ham bones
3 pounds chopped onions
2 stalks celery
1/2 shaker lemon pepper
1 teaspoon Liquid Smoke
Cover with water in an 18-quart electric cooker and cook 8-12 hours.
Another spectacular space shuttle launch, as space shuttle Discovery is now on her way to the International Space Station. Watch the video here. Ken Kremer and photographer Alan Walters were on the scene at Kennedy Space Center for this morning’s launch, so stay tuned for more from them.
This is home movies at their finest. Astronaut Mike Massimino takes us inside the garage of space shuttle Discovery — also known as the Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF)– for a behind the scenes look at the work that is done on the orbiters, as well as seeing some of the training for the astronauts on the upcoming STS-131 mission. This is part of a series of “behind the scenes for STS-131” videos that Massimino hosts, which you can find on the NASA TV You Tube channel. Mass brings humor and sense of wonder to these videos, and is great at doing public outreach for NASA.
A wide angle view of Discovery and the payload canister on the rolled back Rotating Service Structure. Credit: Alan Walters (awaltersphoto.com) for Universe Today
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Over the weekend, NASA engineers will conduct additional tests to determine if Discovery can launch “as is” or have to be rolled back for repairs — which would mean a three-month delay for the STS-131 mission. Helium regulator assemblies downstream from a failed isolation valve in the shuttle’s right rear maneuvering engine pod must work perfectly to provide a system redundancy that would justify proceeding with the flight. If they don’t, then the regulator assemblies and the valve would need to be repaired or replaced, and neither can be done at the launchpad – meaning Discovery would have to be rolled back to the Vehicle Assembly Building, de-mated from the SRBs and external tank, and sent to the Orbiter Processing Facility for repairs. But if the regulators check out, and no other problems arise, mission managers could give the ‘go’ to launch Discovery as is on April 5, 2010.
Today on the launchpad, said NASA Payload Manager Joe Delai was optimistic about the tests. “It’s looking good,” he said. “They will do a test on Saturday to make sure the two valves farther down the line work, and if that looks good, we’ll put the payload on board.”
Close-up of Discovery. Image Credit: Alan Walters (awaltersphoto.com) for Universe Today
Engineers will evaluate the data and discuss options at a readiness review Tuesday morning.
Nancy on the launchpad. Credit: Alan Walters (awaltersphoto.com) for Universe Today.
In anticipation of a good report on the regulator tests, the canister carrying the payload for Discovery’s STS-131 mission to the International Space Station was brought to Launch Pad 39A early on March 19. Later, reporters were allowed an unusual visit right on the pad and close to Discovery to see the work in progress and talk with Delai and Boeing payload flow manager, Mike Kinslow.
Enjoy these great close-up images by Universe Today photographer Alan Walters of Discovery on the on launchpad, with the Rotating Service Structure rolled back, allowing a view of the payload canister. Discovery ready to receive the payload for the STS-131 mission. Image Credit: Alan Walters (awaltersphoto.com) for Universe Today.
Discovery on the pad. Note the bird soaring overhead. Credit: Alan Walters (awaltersphoto.com) for Universe Today.On Feb. 18, 2010, workers in the Space Station Processing Facility at KSC finished packing the Leonardo module for the STS-131 mission. Credit: Nancy Atkinson
STS-131 will be a three-spacewalk space station assembly and resupply mission. The Leonard Multi-purpose Logistics Module that will be installed in Discovery’s payload bay will bring up 5,000 kg (11,000 lbs) of food, water, clothes, parts, science experiments, supply units for the oxygen generation system, and five science utilization racks.
New crew quarters for the ISS.
Other very interesting additions to the ISS on this flight include: , the fourth crew sleep station (CQ4)– which is a phone booth-like small crew quarters, the MARES (Muscle Atrophy Research and Exercise System) – which Delai compared to a Bowflex for the ISS crew, a new Minus Eighty-degree Laboratory Freezer for ISS (MELFI) which will be used to support science experiments, and a “dark room” for photography called WORF – Window Observational Research Facility, allowing for better images to be taken from the observation window in the US lab Destiny.
Look familiar? Crew poster for STS-134. Credit: NASA
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I love the crew posters that NASA has been creating lately, and this one is especially cool. If you are a Star Trek fan, you likely will recognize the pose that Commander Mark Kelly and his crew are assuming. If not, take a look below.
Star Trek movie poster. Credit: Paramount
Find all the crew posters at the NASA Spaceflight Awareness product page. And try not to download too many! They’re all great.
Right now, STS-134 has a targeted launch date of July 29, 2010. But STS-131, -132 and -133 are in line first, and right now we’re waiting to hear word on whether Discovery for STS-131 will have to be rolled back off the launchpad to fix a faulty helium valve in the right Reaction Control System. Additionally, one of STS-134’s payloads is scheduled to be the $2-billion Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, but possible design problems could delay the launch of this much-anticipated instrument which could help find antimatter and test the Big Bang theory. Stay tuned!
Discovery rolls out of the VAB. Image: Alan Walters (awaltersphoto.com) for Universe Today.
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It was a dark and windy night. But then the Xenon spotlights hit space shuttle Discovery as it inched out of the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center, lighting up the darkness. The lights didn’t help the wind any, but the gleaming shuttle stack on top of the crawler/transporter was a beautiful sight to behold. I was told that first motion of the shuttle out of the VAB hasn’t been open to the press for many years, (since the return to flight mission in 1988) and so I felt privileged to witness the event. Especially stunning was a unique silhouette shadow of the shuttle stack that formed against the clouds as the spotlights glared (see below). Photographer Alan Walters and I both snapped some shots, and I’ve now updated this post to include daylight photos of Discovery at the pad.
The shuttle stack was silhouetted in shadow against the clouds. Image: Nancy Atkinson
I’m feeling pretty smug about this shot! I talked to some other photographers who weren’t able to capture the shadow effect in the clouds. For once, my dinky little camera out-performs the big guys! But the shadow/silhouette was a very cool thing to see, indeed. One of the people at the press site, a veteran of over 60 rollouts, said he had never seen anything like that before!
Discovery just emerging from the VAB. Image: Alan Walters (awaltersphoto.com) for Universe Today.Xenon lights bathe the shuttle stack. Image: Alan Walters (awaltersphoto.com) for Universe Today
Proof that Nancy was there! Image credit: Larry from NASASpaceflight.com (thanks Larry!) Close-up of the shuttle stack. Image: Alan Walters (awaltersphoto.com) for Universe Today.
Discovery heading out the launchpad 39A. Image: Nancy Atkinson
As I drove out of the KSC press site, Discovery rolling out to the pad was visible in my rear view mirror! No rest for the sleepy (it is 3 am local time as I post this) — will get about 2 hours sleep, then head back out to KSC to see Discovery at the pad in daylight.
UPDATE: Here are the daylight photos!
With the crawlerway in the foreground, Discovery sits on pad 39A early 3/3/2010. Image: Alan Walters (awaltersphoto.com) for Universe TodayThe view of Discovery on 39A from a different location. Image: Alan Walters (awaltersphoto.com) for Universe TodayA view from the flame trench. Image: Alan Walters (awaltersphoto.com) for Universe TodayThe crawler sits just outside Pad 39A after depositing Discovery. Image: Alan Walters (awaltersphoto.com) for Universe Today
About a half an hour later, we returned to the launchpad to do some interviews, and just as we finished the sun came out! So here is a “sunshine” photo of Discovery. Sunshine! Image: Nancy Atkinson
The STS-131 crew: (L-R) Clay Anderson, Naoko Yamazaki (JAXA), Stephanie Wilson, Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger, Rick Mastracchio, Jim Dutton, Alan Poindexter. Image credit: Alan Walters (awaltersphoto.com) for Universe Today.
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The astronauts are getting ready; space shuttle Discovery is getting ready. Are you ready for this fourth-to-the-last flight? Preparations have begun in earnest for the next shuttle mission, STS-131. The astronauts arrived at Kennedy Space Center Monday evening and will be here for several days of the standard prelaunch training called the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test. They arrived at the Shuttle Landing Facility airstrip, and all expressed their excitement for the mission and their thanks to the people at KSC who prepare the shuttle for flight.
Astronauts arrive at KSC. Credit: Alan Walters (awaltersphoto.com) for Universe Today.
“We are really happy to be here at Kennedy Space Center,” said Alan Poindexter, Commander of STS-131. “It’s a beautiful day to be here and we’re really looking forward to our dress rehearsal for launch, and are looking forward to seeing Discovery rollout to the pad. We’ve been training really hard, and just got out of simulations (in Houston) this morning. We’re all working hard getting ready for this flight.”
Making her first flight, Educator-astronaut Dottie Metcalf-Lindenberger, said “Thanks to those at KSC who do many hours of hard work to so we can fly. This is my first flight and I’ve always looked forward to this week.” Astronaut Clay Anderson. Image credit: Alan Walters (awaltersphoto.com) for Universe Today.
Clay Anderson, who spent 5 months on the ISS in 2007, will be staying for only the short duration of the mission this time. “I’m looking forward to going back home to the space station,” he said. I’ve had great time training with this crew.”
Discovery is scheduled to begin rollout from the Vehicle Assembly Building to Pad 39A, with first motion is targeted for 12:01 a.m. EST Wednesday. Live coverage of the move will be shown on NASA TV beginning at 6:30 a.m EST (1130 GMT) .
Discovery will carry a multi-purpose logistics module filled with science racks for the laboratories aboard the station. The mission has three planned spacewalks, with work to include replacing an ammonia tank assembly, retrieving a Japanese experiment from the station’s exterior, and switching out a rate gyro assembly on the S0 segment of the station’s truss structure.
STS-131 will be the 33rd shuttle mission to the station. Launch is currently set for April 5, 2010. Only four more shuttle missions are currently on the manifest.
Thanks to Alan Walters (awaltersphoto.com) for the great images of today’s crew arrival.
STS-131 crew gets ready to board a bus to head to crew quarters at KSC. Image credit: Alan Walters (awaltersphoto.com) for Universe Today
Final test firing of reusable solid rocket motor FSM-17 on Feb. 25 in Promontory, Utah. Image Credit: NASA
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Yesterday, NASA’s Space Shuttle Program conducted the final test firing of a reusable solid rocket motor, in Utah. Look to see the words “final” and “last” frequently over the next few months in regards to the space shuttle. “There is a whole series of lasts coming up,” said space shuttle launch director Mike Leinbach at Endeavour’s landing earlier this week, who talked about the “majesty of this ship” and “people who have fallen in love with this machine.” It’s going to be hard to let them go,” he said, “but we’ve been given a new direction and we’ll process that last shuttle and fly that last mission and move on.”
Here’s a few notes and recent news items on the end of the shuttle program:
Smoke curls into the Utah skies as FSM-17 completes its successful test firing. Image Credit: NASA
Some spectacular pictures from the final SRB test. FSM-17, (that’s flight support motor, not Flying Spaghetti Monster) burned for approximately 123 seconds — the same time each reusable solid rocket motor burns during an actual space shuttle launch.
The final test was conducted to ensure the safe flight of the four remaining space shuttle missions. A total of 43 design objectives were measured through 258 instrument channels during the two-minute static firing.
The first test was in July 1977. The motors, built by ATK motors have successfully launched the space shuttle into orbit 129 times – out of 130 attempts.
You can watch the entire test firing video below.
And speaking of the end of the shuttle program, NASA held an in-house competition to design a shuttle commemorative patch, and last week, the winners were announced. They are beautiful designs, so I’ll post the 3 winners. Blake Dumesnil's winning design will become NASA's official space shuttle commemorative emblem. (NASA)
Blake Dumesnil, a Hamilton Sundstrand camera engineer from Johnson Space Center, designed the patch, above, which was chosen by judges out of the 85 designs submitted by the agency’s past and present workforce.
It shows a launching space shuttle bordered by a US flag and stars to commemorate both NASA’s orbiter fleet and the astronauts whose lives were lost while flying aboard them.
Second place went to Jennifer Franzo from the Michoud Assembly Facility, New Orleans. Her “Mission Complete” logo shows a shuttle in orbit “tipping its wing to the world, as a way to say ‘thank you’ and ‘farewell’ just as a cowboy would wave goodbye into the sunset.” Tim Gagnon's third place design will fly with the other 84 contest entries on a CD aboard shuttle Atlantis. (NASA)
Third place went to Tim Gagnon, a former subcontractor employee at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, whose patch designs have been worn by the astronaut crews on shuttle and International Space Station flights. His contest entry focused on the “orbiter coming home for a safe landing at the conclusion of its final mission.”
Leonardo in the SSPF. Image: Nancy Atkinson
One other news item for one of the final shuttle flights. On STS-133, the second-to-last scheduled shuttle flight, the Leonardo Multi Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM) will be brought up to the ISS to become a Permanent Multipurpose Module (PMM).
Leonardo is currently undergoing processing to bring supplies to the ISS on the STS-131 mission, and I visited the Space Station Processing Facility last week to view the module up close. After returning home from this mission, Leoardo will undergo modifications to ensure safe, long-term operation as the PMM, and to increase the amount of mass it can carry to orbit.
Inside the PMM, experiments in fluid physics, materials science, biology, biotechnology and other microgravity experiments may be conducted.
MPLM’s have been flown inside the payload bays of the shuttles, successfully delivering vital hardware and supplies to the station. The new use for this proven carrier will provide more room and enhance the use of the station.
Space shuttle Endeavour lands in darkness on Runway 15 at the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Photo credit: NASA/Sandra Joseph and Kevin O'Connell
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Congressional legislators in Florida are mounting a campaign to extend space shuttle operations to 2015, adding two flights each year. U.S. Rep. Suzanne Kosmas said a bipartisan plan is in the works, which would require adding another $200 million to the NASA budget for 2010 and between $1.5 – $2 billion a year starting in the 2011-12 budget year. “We’re not going to do anything that’s not safe,” Kosmas was quoted in Florida Today, adding that securing the funding would be difficult in tight budget times, but “we’re going to go for it,” she said.
At Kennedy Space Center early Monday morning after Endeavour returned home safely following the STS-130 mission, space shuttle program managers confirmed that while the shuttles are in good shape to continue flying, extending the program is not the direction their teams have been headed.
“From a technical, engineering standpoint, there would be nothing stopping the vehicles from being able to fly,” said space shuttle integration manager Mike Moses. “They have a lot of life in them. We talk about the risks and hazards of flying, and that’s a two edged sword. Anytime you’re launching into space is a risky proposition, but this is a vehicle that we understand its risks very well, and we’ve learned how to work around the pieces that can cause us problems – the foam from Columbia is a good example. We’ve come a long way, if you look at the performance of the external tank since then, we have put a set of controls in place that have been paying off and really driving our risk numbers down.” Shuttle Program Integration Manager Mike Moses. Image: Nancy Atkinson
“So we could continue fly,” Moses continued,” and I’m confident we could fly at the rate and the risk level we have been flying and it wouldn’t be hard to do. But it becomes a political question: Is that the right thing to do? And from a budgetary standpoint can you commit the resources of NASA to go continue to fly those vehicles? The direction that we’re getting from (NASA) Headquarters is that we are going off to do bigger things and explore more. Unfortunately the budgetary realities are we can’t continue to do everything and fly the shuttles as well. So while it’s hard to let go and shut down a program, that’s the way the budget works out. But if you want to turn it around you certainly could there is nothing technically that is stopping you from doing it.”
Kosmas said the budget proposed by President Barack Obama’s is not acceptable as is because it would cede the United States’ leadership position in spaceflight in the short term — and possibly the long term. The plan being drafted would direct NASA to examine ways to build a heavy-left rocket by salvaging work done in the Constellation program. Obama’s budget called for the end of Constellation, the architecture that would return astronauts to the moon.
Additionally, another part of the plan being drafted by Florida representatives would require NASA to report to Congress in several months with specific safety requirements for manned commercial rockets. “Congress is responding to the president’s lack of specificity, lack of an action plan, lack of vision and direction,” Kosmas said.
During my time at Kennedy Space Center the past few weeks, the feeling among NASA workers and contractors is that the space shuttles are now in the best shape they have ever been, and the risks and quirks of the vehicles are understood better than ever. The cloud of job losses and a deteriorating economy now hangs over the workforce at KSC and the mood of the entire Space Coast is tentative at best.
The Augustine Commission recommended the shuttles would have to be recertified if they were to fly after 2010, and Moses said that effectively, the work to recertify them has already been done, and if production on External Tanks and other the shuttles could possibly fly until 2020. Shuttle launch director Mike Leinbach. Image credit: Nancy Atkinson
It should be noted that Moses’ and shuttle launch director Mike Leinbach did not bring up the issue of extending the shuttle program, but only were responding to questions asked by several journalists about the possibility of keeping the shuttle program going.
“You guys are really fishing for me to say I want to keep flying the shuttles!” Moses said, while Leinbach expounded more on the reality staring in the face of the workers at KSC, and warned against giving people any false hope.
“We have been very consistent as an agency over the past several years about 2010 being the end of the shuttle program,” Leinbach said. “We have not wavered from that. There were people in the system that didn’t want to believe that. But here we are in 2010 and the reality is starting to hit us. Our direction to shut down the shuttle program after we finish the station is clear. What is not clear is exactly what we are going on to next. You guys are the ones who asked about extending the shuttle program, we didn’t sit up here and mention that. We’ve been very clear with the workforce. It hurts, but they know it is coming. Any talk of extension or anything like that is just … talk.”
What are your views? Should the shuttle program be extended to avoid the lack of US access to space, as well as the loss of aerospace jobs and institutional knowledge? Or is it time to move on?
