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Sunday, January 20, 2008
Shuttle Atlantis set for Feb 7 launch to Space Station
NASA has announced Feb. 7 as the target launch date for the shuttle Atlantis' STS-122 mission to the International Space Station and mid-March for the launch of Endeavour on STS-123. Liftoff of Atlantis from NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Florida, USA will be at 2:47 p.m. EST (19:47 GMT)
According to NASA, a decision by the Russian Federal Space Agency to move up its Progress launch from Feb. 7 to Feb. 5 enables both STS-122 and STS-123 to launch before the next Russian Soyuz mission in early April. This will allow astronauts assigned to the space station's Expedition 16 crew to complete the tasks they have trained for, including support of the launch and docking of Jules Verne, the first European Space Agency Automated Transfer Vehicle. Targeting Feb. 7 also allows time to complete modifications to the engine cutoff sensor system that postponed two shuttle launch attempts in December.
Atlantis' main objective during its STS-122 mission to the station will be to install and activate the European Space Agency's Columbus laboratory. The Columbus Lab will provide scientists around the world with the ability to conduct a variety of experiments in life, physical, and materials science, Earth observation and solar physics.
This is the next phase of the international mission,” said Michael Sarafin, lead shuttle flight director for STS-122. “We’re finally going to use a lot of that new capability that we’ve delivered. It really will be true utilization of the station by international partners.”
That utilization comes in the form of Columbus, a 23-by-15-feet research laboratory and the future center of the European Space Agency’s activities in space. It will be followed over the next two missions by components of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s module, called Kibo. But for now the focus is on Europe. In addition to the Columbus module itself, Atlantis will deliver experiments to be performed in orbit and two astronauts to perform them – one to visit and one to stay. And to oversee all of this, the European Space Agency’s Columbus Control Center in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany, will come online for the first time.
“This is history,” said Mission Specialist Léopold Eyharts, the ESA astronaut from France who will remain on the station after his shuttle crewmates leave. “Europe is doing today things that we never did before. This is really a first step into permanent operations in space.”
Getting the laboratory out of Atlantis’ cargo bay will be a challenge, however. Columbus was designed before NASA’s Return to Flight after the Columbia accident. One of the modifications made to the shuttle was the addition of a 50-foot boom used by the shuttle’s robotic arm to inspect the shuttle’s heat shield. There’s not quite room for it and all of Columbus.
The grapple fixture – or handle – that the robotic arm uses to pick Columbus up and out of the cargo bay gets in the way of the boom, so the laboratory is being launched without the handle attached. During the mission’s first spacewalk, mission specialists Rex Walheim and Hans Schlegel – an ESA astronaut from Germany– will put it back on.
“That has to go exactly as planned,” Sarafin said. “Otherwise we can’t get Columbus out of the payload bay.”
Once it’s out, however, the installation should be pretty straightforward, according to Lead Station Flight Director Sally Davis. Once connections are made on the shuttle’s fourth day in space and a few preparations are completed, Eyharts will be able to take a quick peek inside Columbus on the following day.
“I think it will be very emotional,” Eyharts said. “If we think of all the work that has been done, being the last part in the chain is something that is really nice and fills you with pride. I think that will be very visible.”
When the crew is not doing a spacewalk, they’ll be working inside Columbus to get it up and running. In fact, Frick said much of the transformation will take place while the shuttle is still there. The goal is to get as much of Columbus’ outfitting done as possible. That way, after the shuttle leaves, Eyharts can devote more time to science.
“I think it’s great, because we have been focused so much on basically assembling the infrastructure of the station – the trusses that provide power and cooling and data and communications,” Frick said. “So once we get this up and running, because they’ve got all those trusses up there to provide electrical power, they’ll be able to activate these experiments and start doing excellent science.”
Davis said her European counterparts are eagerly anticipating doing just that, and she can understand why. Her first flight as a flight director was in 1998, when the Unity Node – the first major U.S. component – was added, and she remembers the excitement.
The Atlantis crew (pictured) for the STS-122 mission include Commander Stephen Frick; European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Leopold Eyharts; Pilot Alan Poindexter; mission specialists Leland Melvin, Rex Walheim, Stanley Love; and European Space Agency's (ESA) Hans Schlegel.
Created in 1958 and celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is America’s focal point for research, development and exploration of outer space. In 2005, the US President and Congress committed the United States to exploring the solar system and beyond: completing assembly of the International Space Station, flying the new Crew Exploration Vehicle no later than 2014, returning astronauts to the moon by the end of the next decade, and sending human missions to Mars and beyond. For 50 years, NASA has been leading the world in the development and usage of advanced program and project management. Additional information about NASA can be found at www.nasa.gov. For the latest shuttle information, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle.
Atlantis' main objective during its STS-122 mission to the station will be to install and activate the European Space Agency's Columbus laboratory. The Columbus Lab will provide scientists around the world with the ability to conduct a variety of experiments in life, physical, and materials science, Earth observation and solar physics.
This is the next phase of the international mission,” said Michael Sarafin, lead shuttle flight director for STS-122. “We’re finally going to use a lot of that new capability that we’ve delivered. It really will be true utilization of the station by international partners.”
“This is history,” said Mission Specialist Léopold Eyharts, the ESA astronaut from France who will remain on the station after his shuttle crewmates leave. “Europe is doing today things that we never did before. This is really a first step into permanent operations in space.”
Getting the laboratory out of Atlantis’ cargo bay will be a challenge, however. Columbus was designed before NASA’s Return to Flight after the Columbia accident. One of the modifications made to the shuttle was the addition of a 50-foot boom used by the shuttle’s robotic arm to inspect the shuttle’s heat shield. There’s not quite room for it and all of Columbus.
The grapple fixture – or handle – that the robotic arm uses to pick Columbus up and out of the cargo bay gets in the way of the boom, so the laboratory is being launched without the handle attached. During the mission’s first spacewalk, mission specialists Rex Walheim and Hans Schlegel – an ESA astronaut from Germany– will put it back on.
“That has to go exactly as planned,” Sarafin said. “Otherwise we can’t get Columbus out of the payload bay.”
Once it’s out, however, the installation should be pretty straightforward, according to Lead Station Flight Director Sally Davis. Once connections are made on the shuttle’s fourth day in space and a few preparations are completed, Eyharts will be able to take a quick peek inside Columbus on the following day.
“I think it will be very emotional,” Eyharts said. “If we think of all the work that has been done, being the last part in the chain is something that is really nice and fills you with pride. I think that will be very visible.”
When the crew is not doing a spacewalk, they’ll be working inside Columbus to get it up and running. In fact, Frick said much of the transformation will take place while the shuttle is still there. The goal is to get as much of Columbus’ outfitting done as possible. That way, after the shuttle leaves, Eyharts can devote more time to science.
Davis said her European counterparts are eagerly anticipating doing just that, and she can understand why. Her first flight as a flight director was in 1998, when the Unity Node – the first major U.S. component – was added, and she remembers the excitement.
The Atlantis crew (pictured) for the STS-122 mission include Commander Stephen Frick; European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Leopold Eyharts; Pilot Alan Poindexter; mission specialists Leland Melvin, Rex Walheim, Stanley Love; and European Space Agency's (ESA) Hans Schlegel.
Created in 1958 and celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is America’s focal point for research, development and exploration of outer space. In 2005, the US President and Congress committed the United States to exploring the solar system and beyond: completing assembly of the International Space Station, flying the new Crew Exploration Vehicle no later than 2014, returning astronauts to the moon by the end of the next decade, and sending human missions to Mars and beyond. For 50 years, NASA has been leading the world in the development and usage of advanced program and project management. Additional information about NASA can be found at www.nasa.gov. For the latest shuttle information, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle.
