Atlantis 'to Launch to Station on Nov. 16

At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the cargo for space shuttle Atlantis' mission to the International Space Station was moved to Launch Pad 39A overnight and will be installed into the shuttle's payload bay.

Technicians will finish testing Atlantis' waste collection system, or toilet, this weekend and ground teams are getting ready for the final part of launch dress rehearsal known as the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test, or TCDT.

Today, the STS-129 mission's six astronauts are involved in their final bench review of flight hardware at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, and they will conduct contingency abort simulation training in the motion base simulator.

The crew will fly to Kennedy Monday afternoon for the completion of TCDT. During their two-days at Kennedy they will participate in a simulated launch countdown where they practice liftoff procedures inside the shuttle. Before returning to Johnson on Tuesday, crew members will practice emergency pad evacuation.

On Oct. 29, NASA managers announced the official launch date and time of Nov. 16 at 2:28 p.m. EST for Atlantis' flight to the space station. The only deviation to this date would be if the planned Nov. 14 launch of an Atlas V rocket from nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station is delayed. Since the Atlas team has reserved the Eastern Range for Nov. 14 and 15, this means the shuttle's liftoff will move to no earlier than 2:02 p.m. on Nov. 17.

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NASA UPDATES SHUTTLE ATLANTIS TARGET LAUNCH DATE

NASA is targeting Nov. 16 for the launch of space shuttle Atlantis' STS-129 mission from the agency's Kennedy Space
Center in Florida.

Managers for NASA's Space Operations Mission Directorate and Exploration Systems Mission Directorate met Monday and decided to adjust Atlantis' target launch date to optimize the agency's ability to launch both Ares I-X and Atlantis before the end of the year. The same launch team at Kennedy is supporting both the shuttle and the flight test of the Ares I-X rocket, which is targeted to lift off on Oct. 27. Ares I-X is scheduled to roll out to its launch pad at 12:01 a.m. EDT Tuesday.

Atlantis' new target launch date will give Ares I-X launch opportunities Oct. 27, 28 and 29. NASA has yet to schedule Atlantis'
new target liftoff date on the Eastern Range.

The change to Atlantis' targeted launch will affect the launch countdown dress rehearsal for the shuttle's six astronauts. The
astronauts arrived at Kennedy on Monday for the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test and related training. The simulated countdown has been rescheduled to Nov. 3. The astronauts will practice emergency escape and other related training while they are at Kennedy this week and return there Nov. 2 to conclude their rehearsal work.

The agency's Flight Readiness Review meeting for STS-129 is set for Oct. 29. NASA will schedule an official launch date for Atlantis
following that meeting.

For more information about the STS-129 mission and its crew, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle

[SOURCE: NASA]

NASA Opens Space Shuttle Launch to Twitter Fans

Here's something to tweet about: NASA has invited some Twitter followers to view the November launch of space shuttle Atlantis in person during a NASA "tweetup."

The tweetup, or meeting of twitterers, will be open to the first 100 people who sign up on a NASA Web site to attend the planned Nov. 12 liftoff of Atlantis from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla.

"This will be NASA's fifth tweetup for our Twitter community," said Michael Cabbage, director of the News Services division at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. "Each event has provided our followers with inside access to NASA personnel, including astronauts. The goal of this particular tweetup is to share the excitement of a shuttle launch with a new audience."

NASA has embraced the microblogging service, and a growing cadre of astronauts is now keeping in touch with the public through Twitter. Two spaceflyers currently onboard the International Space Station - NASA astronauts Jeff Williams ("Astro_Jeff") and Nicole Stott ("Astro_Nicole") - post updates to the site.

Atlantis was rolled out to Launch Pad 39A today in preparation for next month's launch, even though NASA is still unsure of exactly when the spacecraft will fly due to scheduling constraints. Despite the uncertainty, the agency is forging ahead with plans for the tweetup, scheduled to run on Nov. 11 and 12.

During the event NASA Twitter followers will take a tour of Kennedy Space Center, view the space shuttle launch and speak with shuttle technicians, engineers, astronauts and managers. There will also be a meet-and-greet session where participants can mingle with fellow "tweeps" and the staff behind the tweets on @NASA.

Registration for the event opens at 12:00 p.m. EDT (1600 GMT) on Friday, Oct. 16 at http://www.nasa.gov/tweetup. The first 100 people to sign up will be given tickets, and an additional 50 people will be put on a wait-list.

[SOURCE: SPACE.COM]

DISCOVERY LIFTS OFF

With seven astronauts and a host of experiments and equipment on board, space shuttle Discovery completed a flawless ascent into orbit Friday night to begin a two-day chase of the International Space Station. With Commander Rick "C.J. " Sturckow at the controls, the
shuttle lifted off on-time at 11:59 p.m. EDT from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The crew will rendezvous and dock with the station Sunday and the crew will begin transferring equipment to the outpost during the 13-day mission.

After flying up on Discovery, Nicole Stott will trade places with station resident Tim Kopra, who went into space last month aboard Endeavour. Equipment and science racks for the orbiting laboratory are riding inside the Leonardo cargo module, which is secured tightly
inside Discovery's payload bay. The module will be lifted out of Discovery and locked onto the station so the crew can transfer the gear efficiently. The treadmill named for comedian Stephen Colbert also is aboard Discovery and destined for the station.

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[SOURCE: NASA.GOV]

Broken Valve Prompts Second Launch Delay for Shuttle Discovery

A broken valve on the space shuttle Discovery forced NASA to call off the spacecraft's second launch attempt in a row late Tuesday as engineers troubleshoot the glitch.

Discovery was slated to blast off at 1:10 a.m. EDT (0510 GMT) Wednesday morning, but a broken fill-and-drain valve associated with the shuttle's liquid hydrogen propellant system foiled the attempted launch.

NASA engineers are discussing the malfunction, which cropped up during Discovery's fueling operations at 5:52 p.m. EDT (2122 GMT), just under seven hours before launch time. Stormy weather delayed Discovery's first launch attempt earlier today.

NASA has until Aug. 30 to launch the shuttle before standing down due to restrictions on the launch range it shares with the nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Engineers are discussing how to best solve the valve malfunction and when Discovery may be ready to launch again.

NASA wants to launch Discovery by the end of August to avoid a traffic conflict with an unmanned Japanese cargo ship also due at the space station this month. If the mission is unable to launch by then, NASA can try again on Oct. 17.

Commanded by veteran shuttle flyer Rick Sturckow, Discovery's STS-128 mission is slated to fly to the International Space Station to deliver nearly 8 tons of cargo, including new science gear and a treadmill named after comedian Stephen Colbert. The 13-day mission was also planned to ferry astronaut Nicole Stott to the station to replace NASA astronaut Tim Kopra, who has lived aboard the orbiting lab since mid-July.

Set to launch aboard Discovery with Sturckow and Stott were STS-128 mission specialists Chris Patrick Forrester, Jose Hernandez, Danny Olivas and Swedish astronaut Christer Fuglesang. Fuglesang represents the European Space Agency, while the rest are NASA astronauts. Three spacewalks are planned for the mission. Read More

Check out the Shuttle Page at NASA.gov for more News

[SOURCE: SPACE.COM]

Storms Force NASA to Aim for Wednesday Shuttle Launch

NASA will take another shot at launching the space shuttle Discovery on Wednesday after unexpected thunderstorms foiled an attempted liftoff earlier today.

Discovery and its seven-astronaut crew are now slated to blast off at 1:10 a.m. EDT (0510 GMT) to begin a 13-day trek to the International Space Station. The astronauts were already aboard the shuttle when NASA called off their launch early this morning.

Thunderstorms, rain and lightning were all concerns at different times during the attempted launch.

Fuglesang, who represents the European Space Agency, has been posting Twitter updates in English and Swedish under the moniker @CFuglesang during his mission training to reach out to the Swedish public. Likewise, his fellow crewmate Jose Hernandez of NASA is also "tweeting" in English and Spanish as @Astro_Jose. His first post after the delayed launch was also optimistic for Wednesday's launch chances.

Discovery has a 70 percent chance of good weather at launch time Wednesday morning, as well as for fueling later this afternoon, said Air Force Lt. Col. Patrick Barrett of the 45th Weather Squadron that watches over shuttle flight weather for NASA. Engineers plan to begin fueling Discovery's 15-story external tank at about 3:30 p.m. EDT (1930 GMT).

Discovery had an encouraging 80 percent chance of good conditions before thunderstorms rolled in to spoil Tuesday's launch attempt. Barrett told SPACE.com after the scrubbed launch try that some of the same weather patterns that led up to the storm delay today could arise for Wednesday's attempted liftoff.

Commanded by veteran shuttle flyer Rick Sturckow, Discovery's six-man, one-woman crew plans to deliver a cargo pod packed with new science gear and supplies to the space station, as well as a new treadmill named after comedian Stephen Colbert.

NASA has until the end of August to launch Discovery before running into potential space traffic conflicts with Japan's first unmanned cargo ship and a Russian crew-carrying Soyuz spacecraft, both of which are due to launch toward the station in September.

If Discovery does not liftoff by Aug. 30, NASA may have to stand down to wait out the September flights, delaying its own mission to Oct. 17, mission managers have said. Read More

Check out the Shuttle Page at NASA.gov for more News

[SOURCE: SPACE.COM]

NASA Budget Too Slim to Reach Moon by 2020, Panel Says

A White House panel charged with reviewing NASA's exploration plans has dropped any hope of sending astronauts directly to Mars and found the space agency's budget too slim to accomplish its goal of returning humans to the moon by 2020.

After more than six hours of public deliberation on Wednesday, the 10-member committee overseeing the Review for U.S. Human Space Flight Plans decided not to include a plan to send astronauts straight to Mars - called Mars Direct - on its list of options to be considered by President Barack Obama because of its daunting challenges and cost.

"We think Mars Direct is a mission that we're really not prepared to take on technically or financially, and it would likely not succeed," said the committee's chairman Norman Augustine, a former Lockheed Martin CEO, late Wednesday after the televised meeting in Washington, D.C. "I really want to emphasize that we're not giving up on Mars at all."

A manned Mars mission is the ultimate goal, but shifting all of NASA's focus on getting there as soon as possible is not feasible, he added.

The committee is expected to present its initial report to NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden and White House science adviser John Holdren on Friday and file a final version for President Obama's review by the end of the month.

Augustine's committee is reviewing NASA's plan to retire its aging space shuttle fleet and replace it with a capsule-based Orion spacecraft as part of a larger effort to return astronauts to the moon by 2020. But NASA's current budget for human spaceflight through 2020 is not enough to cover the costs of achieving its baseline lunar goal, let alone other alternative options, the committee found.

NASA has a budget of about $80 billion for human spaceflight through 2020, about $28 billion less than projected when it first chose the Orion spacecraft and its Ares rockets to succeed the space shuttle fleet. Orion spacecraft are not expected to begin operational flights until 2015, the committee said.

Augustine said that NASA's exploration budget has been cut repeatedly since announcing the new space exploration plan in 2005, hindering its progress. Technical and other delays have also led to the current shortfall, he added. Still he and his committee were surprised none of their options fit in NASA's current budget.

Last week, the committee culled a list of 3,000 options for human spaceflight down to about seven different scenarios.

On Wednesday, committee members refined that list down to four general scenarios that include more funding. They include building Orion spacecraft for eventual manned mission to the moon, as well as options for sending astronauts farther out into deep space to visit near-Earth asteroids or the stable Lagrange points around Earth by the mid- to late-2020s or 2030.

Only one of the four scenarios includes NASA's planned Ares I rocket, the booster designed to launch Orion capsules into space. Some included extending the International Space Station's lifetime beyond 2016 to 2020.

The committee strongly favored encouraging commercial vehicles for launching astronauts into orbit and suggested setting $2.5 billion aside between 2011 and 2014 to spur development in those spacecraft.

It also included options that included spacecraft more heavily derived from current space shuttles, as well as current unmanned heavy-lift rockets like the Delta 4 Heavy and variants of NASA's giant Ares V rocket envisioned to launch lunar landers into orbit.

The potential for in-orbit refueling was cited as a key technological goal for some committee members. But adequate funding is key if NASA is to tackle an innovative, inspiring program that can capture the attention of the American public, committee members said.

"Our view is that it will be difficult with the current budget to do anything that's terribly inspiring in the human spaceflight area," Augustine said.

[SOURCE: SPACE.COM]

STS 127 Astronauts Set to Leave Space Station

The Japanese Experiment Module - This Module was Installed during the Mission

The 13 people aboard the International Space Station will say their farewells and split up Tuesday when the crew of the shuttle Endeavour undocks from the orbiting laboratory.

Endeavour's seven-astronaut crew is due to cast off from the space station at 1:26 p.m. EDT (1726 GMT), marking an end to nearly a week and a half of construction work alongside the outpost's six residents.

The joint crew has been the highest population ever for the station and the largest single gathering in space by humans in history. All 13 astronauts, who represent each of the five major international partners building the station, plan to hold a brief farewell ceremony at about 10:23 a.m. EDT (1423 GMT).

Smooth mission
The shuttle launched toward the space station July 15 on a marathon 16-day mission to the orbiting laboratory.

Its six-man, one-woman crew delivered a new member of the station's Expedition 20 crew, vital spare parts and the last piece, an external experiment porch, for the outpost's massive Kibo laboratory. Five challenging spacewalks - including two tricky excursions to replace old solar array batteries - were performed.

Built by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the $1 billion Kibo is made up of three segments: the new porch, a giant laboratory the size of a tour bus, and a smaller storage attic, each of which had to be launched to the station separately on NASA shuttle flights over the last two years. Astronauts put the final touches on the Kibo lab during their fifth and final spacewalk on Monday.

Endeavour will return Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata back to Earth when it lands in Florida on Friday.

Before departing the space station for good, Endeavour will fly around the orbital laboratory in a sort of victory lap. Shuttle pilot Doug Hurley will be at Endeavour's helm during the maneuver while his crewmates snap photographs of the outpost's new look with its brand new porch. Read More

[SOURCE: SPACE.COM]

Japanese science platform attached to space station

The Japanese Exposed Facility, grappled by the space station's robot arm, is moved into position for attachment to the Kibo lab module

Combining robotics with a five-hour 32-minute spacewalk, the Endeavour astronauts accomplished the primary goal of their space station assembly mission Saturday, successfully attaching a sophisticated experiment platform to the Japanese Kibo laboratory module.

In the first of five planned spacewalks, astronauts Dave Wolf and Tim Kopra prepped the Japanese Exposed Facility, or JEF, for removal from the shuttle's cargo bay and then went on to other tasks, including the successful deployment of a jammed external storage system.

Koichi Wakata and Douglas Hurley, meanwhile, operating the space station's robot arm, pulled the JEF platform out of the shuttle's payload bay and handed it off to Julie Payette, operating Endeavour's robot arm. After repositioning the station crane, Wakata re-grappled the JEF and moved it into position for attachment to the Kibo module.

The Kibo complex is made up of two modules, a roomy central lab and an attached logistics module. The main Japanese lab module is equipped with its own airlock and its own robot arm to move experiments out to the exposed facility and back inside as needed. Experiment packages launched aboard Endeavour will be attached to the JEF later in the mission.

The exposed facility was locked onto the Kibo lab module at 6:29 p.m. CDT, about an hour and a half after Wolf and Kopra completed their spacewalk.

NASA's Debris Analysis Team, meanwhile, is in the final stages of reviewing launch and on-orbit photography of the shuttle Endeavour's heat shield.

The ship's nose cap and wing leading edge panels have been cleared for entry as is and while 16 areas have been identified with minor tile damage, engineers have not seen anything that warrants repairs or additional inspections

Mike Moses, acting as chairman of NASA's Mission Management Team, said the debris team recommended Friday evening to forgo any additional "focused" inspections after examining hundreds of photos shot during Endeavour's approach to the station Friday.

"After the review they decided they did not need that additional data, which is a very good sign," Moses said. "We have not yet officially cleared the vehicle for entry, but having no focused inspection is a step down the path of saying we are going to be in really good shape."

Video from cameras mounted in the shuttle's twin-solid fuel boosters should be available for analysis by Sunday. Engineers are eager to examine the footage to better understand what caused an unusual amount of foam insulation to peel away from the central "intertank" area of the external tank during Endeavour's launch.

The major concern during ascent is debris that comes off in the first two minutes and 15 seconds of flight, when the shuttle is still in the dense lower atmosphere. During that period, lightweight pieces of foam can slow down so fast in the airstream that the shuttle can run into them at a high enough relative velocity to cause heat shield damage.

During Endeavour's launching, most of the intertank foam that fell away was released after the period of aerodynamic vulnerability. But Moses said the mechanism is unknown and until engineers get a better understanding, they can't rule out the possibility the next tank in the sequence could shed foam earlier. Read More

[SOURCE: CNET]

Shuttle Astronauts Gear Up for First Spacewalk

Astronauts are gearing up for a spacewalk Saturday to prepare a new Japanese research porch to be installed on the space station.

In the first spacewalk of the shuttle Endeavour's STS-127 mission, NASA astronauts Dave Wolf and Tim Kopra are due to step out into space at 11:58 a.m. EDT (1558 GMT). During the planned six-and-a-half hour activity, the two spacewalkers will unberth the porch - a platform to expose science experiments to the space environment - from the shuttle's cargo bay and prepare its attachment site at the station's massive Japanese Kibo laboratory.

The two spacewalkers began preparing for today's event by camping out in the station's Quest airlock overnight, where the pressure was lowered to prepare their bodies for wearing the spacesuits today.

Wolf, a veteran astronaut with four spacewalks under his belt, will wear a spacesuit marked with a red stripe. Kopra, making his spacewalking debut, will wear an all-white suit.

While those two are working outside, shuttle commander Mark Polansky, pilot Doug Hurley and mission specialists Julie Payette and Koichi Wakata will operate the shuttle and station robotic arms to transfer the Japanese Exposed Facility to its new home on Kibo.

The two spacewalkers will also work to deploy two spare part platforms on the station's backbone-like truss. The platforms serve as a sort of exposed storage shed for vital station spare parts.

One of the platforms was previously attached during the STS-119 shuttle mission in March, but a jammed pin kept the platform from unfolding as it was meant to. Wolf and Kopra will give it another try today.

Endeavour astronauts plan to perform five tricky spacewalks during their mission. This trip is only the second time that so many spacewalks will be conducted on a space station shuttle mission.

The space shuttle docked at the International Space Station Friday to begin a two-week visit, boosting the population onboard the orbital outpost to a record high of 13. Endeavour launched July 15 after more than a month of delays on the ground. Read More

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[SOURCE: SPACE.COM]

Endeavour Mission (STS 127) Delayed

Space shuttle Endeavour on Launch Pad at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida

The launch of space shuttle Endeavour's STS-127 mission to the International Space Station is on hold due to a leak associated with the gaseous hydrogen venting system outside the external fuel tank. The system is used to carry excess hydrogen safely away from the launch pad at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. At 12:26 a.m. EDT Saturday, managers officially scrubbed the launch for at least 96 hours.

The earliest the shuttle could be ready for liftoff is June 17, however there is a range conflict on that date with the scheduled launch of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter/Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.

Mission STS-127 is the 32nd flight dedicated to station construction, and the final of a series of three flights dedicated to the assembly of the Japanese Kibo laboratory complex.The STS-127 payload is the Kibo Japanese Experiment Module Exposed Facility and Experiment Logistics Module Exposed Section.

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Astronauts Gear Up for Space Construction Marathon

Seven astronauts are gearing up for what they expect to be a grueling orbital construction mission to the International Space Station this week aboard the shuttle Endeavour.

Veteran shuttle commander Mark Polansky and six crewmates will blast off aboard Endeavour early Saturday on an ambitious mission to complete the space station's massive Japanese Kibo laboratory. Liftoff is set for 7:17 a.m. EDT (1117 GMT) from NASA's seaside spaceport in Cape Canaveral, Fla.

Endeavour is poised to fly a marathon 16-day flight packed with five spacewalks and complicated robotic arm work to install a porch-like external experiment platform, spare space station parts and perform maintenance work.

"It's complex, it's challenging, it's long," Polansky said of the mission. "It's going to be a really complicated choreography."

As planned, the mission will tie the record for longest shuttle flight to the station. It will also mark the first time 13 people have lived aboard the outpost at the same time since the station doubled its population to full six-person crew earlier this month.

Read More about the Mission and its Astronauts

NASA Gives 'Go' for June 13 Launch of Space Shuttle Endeavour

NASA managers completed a review Wednesday of space shuttle Endeavour's readiness for flight and selected June 13 as the official launch date for the STS-127 mission to the International Space Station.

Commander Mark Polansky and his six crewmates are scheduled to lift off at 7:17 a.m. EDT from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Endeavour's launch date was announced following a daylong Flight Readiness Review at Kennedy. During the meeting, top NASA and contractor managers assessed the risks associated with the mission and determined the shuttle's equipment, support systems and procedures are
ready for flight.

The 16-day mission will feature five spacewalks and complete construction of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo laboratory.

Astronauts will attach a platform to the outside of the Japanese module that will allow experiments to be exposed to space.

The STS-127 crew members are Polansky, Pilot Doug Hurley and Mission Specialists Dave Wolf, Christopher Cassidy, Tom Marshburn, Tim Kopra and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Julie Payette.

Kopra will join the space station crew and replace Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata.
Wakata will return to Earth on Endeavour to conclude a three-month
stay at the station.

Polansky, who has a Twitter account named Astro_127, can be followed online at:

http://www.twitter.com/Astro_127

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ATLANTIS CREW READY FOR FIRST SPACE WALK

Space shuttle Atlantis' crew awoke today to “Stick Shifts and Safety Belts” by Cake at 4:31 a.m. EDT. The song was played for Mission Specialist Drew Feustel.

During the STS-125 mission's fourth day, astronauts Grunsfeld and Feustel are set to make the first of five Hubble servicing spacewalks. Scheduled to begin work at 8:16 a.m. EDT.

The spacewalkers will remove Hubble's Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 and replace it with the new Wide Field Camera 3, which will allow Hubble to capture a wide range of images from ultraviolet to near-infrared wavelengths. They also will replace a failed science data processing computer that delayed Atlantis' launch last October and install a mechanism for a spacecraft to capture Hubble for de-orbit at the end of its life. The spacewalk is set to last six and a half hours.

HUBBLE CAPTURED
Using the shuttle's robotic arm STS-125 Mission Specialist Megan McArthur grappled the Hubble Space Telescope at 12:14 p.m. CDT Wednesday. McArthur then maneuvered the telescope onto a Flight Support System maintenance platform in Atlantis’ payload bay.

The stage is set for five spacewalks in as many days to repair and update instruments, extending Hubble's lifespan through 2014.

Astronauts John Grunsfeld and Drew Feustel conducted a final review of plans for the first spacewalk with the help of fellow spacewalkers Mike Good and Mike Massimino, and the rest of the crew. They also checked out all of the tools necessary for the mission’s spacewalks.

Mission managers declared Atlantis’ thermal protection tiles safe for reentry, but continue to examine the imagery from Tuesday’s inspection of the reinforced carbon carbon on the shuttle’s nose cap and wing leading edges.

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Check out The Mission Summary

HUBBLE SERVICING MISSION FOR MAY 11th

The Hubble Telescope

The space shuttle Atlantis and a crew of seven astronauts are officially set for a planned May 11 launch to give the Hubble Space Telescope one last upgrade.

After more than half a year of delays, top shuttle mission managers found that Atlantis and its crew are ready to overhaul the 19-year-old Hubble for the final time. Liftoff is set for 2:01 p.m. EDT (1801 GMT) on launch day at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla.

Commanded by veteran spaceflyer Scott Altman, Atlantis and its crew are slated to launch on an 11-day mission to Hubble. Five back-to-back spacewalks are scheduled to add new instruments, replace broken gyroscopes and old batteries, as well as attach a docking mechanism for a future robotic vehicle. The astronauts will also attempt unprecedented repairs on equipment never designed to be fixed in space.

If all goes well, the mission will extend Hubble's mission life through at least 2014, mission managers said. Astronauts have not visited Hubble since 2002 and Atlantis' mission is NASA's first since adding routine heat shield inspections following the 2003 Columbia tragedy.

Initially slated to launch in October 2008, the Hubble servicing mission has been delayed for months after a data handling unit aboard the space telescope failed unexpectedly last year. The added chore of fixing that broken part was added to the flight.

NASA launched the Hubble Space Telescope in April 1990 and has sent astronauts to repair or upgrade the observatory four times. With the space shuttle fleet set to retire in 2010, Atlantis' mission will be the fifth and last service call, NASA has said.

NASA is also prepared if the mission goes substantially awry. While Atlantis is in orbit, a second space shuttle - the Endeavour orbiter - will be on standby to launch a rescue mission in case of an emergency.

Unlike recent shuttle missions to the International Space Station, where astronauts can seek refuge if their orbiter suffers critical damage, Atlantis astronauts have no such safe haven.

Endeavour would rendezvous with Atlantis, where the stricken shuttle's astronauts would perform three spacewalks to abandon ship and return home. Atlantis would then be disposed of during re-entry over the Pacific Ocean, NASA officials have said.

NASA official said that there's "a very low probability" that Atlantis would suffer any damage just after launch or during the mission that would warrant launching a rescue flight.

Atlantis is currently scheduled to land on Friday, May 22 at the end of the Hubble mission. Once the shuttle returns, NASA would begin preparing Endeavour for a planned June mission to continue construction of the International Space Station.

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[SOURCE:SPACE.COM]

DISCOVERY RETURNS HOME

Discovery Lands in Florida

Space shuttle Discovery and its crew of seven safely touched down at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 3:14 p.m. EDT on Saturday, March 28.

The weather cooperated enough to allow the spacecraft to land on the second opportunity.

Mission Specialist Sandra Magnus also returned to Earth with the STS-119 crew.

Magnus spent 129 days aboard the International Space Station as flight engineer for Expedition 18. Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata took her place on the orbiting laboratory and will return to Earth with the STS-127 crew.

The 13-day mission included three spacewalks, about 6-hours a piece, to install the S6 truss and enormous starboard-side solar arrays. They also unfurled the arrays and performed other get-ahead tasks.

Mission STS-119's crew of seven completed a successful mission aboard the International Space Station -- increasing the orbiting laboratory's power capacity and giving it the ability to accommodate additional crew members in the future.

[SOURCE: NASA.GOV]

DISCOVERY UNDOCKS WITH ISS

A video camera aboard space shuttle Discovery captured this image of the International Space Station shortly after undocking

Space shuttle Discovery undocked from the International Space Station at 3:53 p.m. EDT Wednesday.

At 5:09 p.m., the first of two separation burns was performed to move Discovery away from the station to start the journey home. The final separation burn occurred at 5:37 p.m.The STS-119 crew is scheduled to go to sleep at 10:13 p.m. EDT. They will wake at 6:13 a.m. Thursday and perform a late inspection of Discovery’s thermal protection system using the shuttle robotic arm and the Orbital Boom Sensor System around 10:28 a.m.

Discovery's first landing opportunity at Kennedy Space Center, Fla., will be Saturday at 1:43 p.m.

Commander Lee Archambault leads Discovery's crew of seven, along with Pilot Tony Antonelli, and Mission Specialists Joseph Acaba, John Phillips, Steve Swanson, Richard Arnold and Sandy Magnus on mission STS-119.

The STS-119 crew members flew the S6 truss segment and installed the final set of power-generating solar arrays to the International Space Station. The S6 truss completes the backbone of the station and provides one-fourth of the total power needed to support a crew of six.

[SOURCE: NASA.GOV]

Get all Space Shuttle Updates

DISCOVERY TO LAUNCH NO EARLIER THAN FEB. 22nd

Pilot Tony Antonelli uses the virtual reality lab in the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility at NASA's Johnson Space Center to train for some of his duties aboard the space shuttle and space station.

NASA's Space Shuttle Program managers will hold a special meeting Feb. 13 to review flow control valve data and determine whether to proceed with the Joint Flight Readiness Review, or FRR, for space shuttle Discovery's STS-119 mission to the International Space Station.

The valves under assessment channel gaseous hydrogen from the shuttle's main engines to the external fuel tank. One of these valves in shuttle Endeavour was found to be damaged after its STS-126 mission in November. As a precaution, Discovery's three gaseous hydrogen valves were removed, inspected and reinstalled.

In light of a positive outcome from the special meeting, the official launch date will be set at the FRR, although for planning purposes, the liftoff currently is scheduled for no earlier than Feb. 22.

Meanwhile, STS-119 Commander Lee Archambault and Pilot Tony Antonelli will fly to White Sands Space Harbor in Las Cruces, N.M., in T-38 training jets late today for night landing practice in NASA's shuttle training aircraft.

Space shuttle Discovery's STS-119 crew is set to fly the S6 truss segment and install the final set of power-generating solar arrays to the International Space Station.

The S6 truss, with its set of large U.S. solar arrays, will complete the backbone of the station and provide one-fourth of the total power needed to support a crew of six.

The two solar array wings each have 115-foot-long arrays, for a total wing span of 240 feet. They will generate 66 kilowatts of electricity -- enough to provide about 30 2,800-square-foot homes with power.

Commander Lee Archambault will lead Discovery's crew of seven, along with Pilot Tony Antonelli, and Mission Specialists Joseph Acaba, John Phillips, Steve Swanson, Richard Arnold and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Koichi Wakata.

Wakata will replace Expedition 18 Flight Engineer Sandra Magnus, who will return to Earth with the STS-119 crew. Wakata will serve as a flight engineer for Expeditions 18 and 19, and return to Earth with the STS-127 crew.

Discovery's STS-119 mission to the International Space Station is targeted to lift off no earlier than Feb. 22.

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DISCOVERY AT LAUNCH PAD

Space Shuttle Discovery on Launch Pad

NASA has moved space shuttle Discovery to its launch pad for a February supply run to the international space station.

Discovery moved out to the pad Wednesday. Seven astronauts are scheduled to blast off around sunrise Feb. 12 with the space station's final set of solar wings. The crew will conduct four spacewalks to hook up the new equipment and perform maintenance.

The space shuttle also will deliver, if it's ready, a machine designed to turn astronauts' urine into safe drinking water. A similar processor that went up in November is not working, and bringing it home could help engineers understand what's wrong.

Commander Lee Archambault will lead a crew of seven, along with Pilot Tony Antonelli, and Mission Specialists Joseph Acaba, John Phillips, Steve Swanson, Richard Arnold and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Koichi Wakata.

One of Discovery's crew — Koichi Wakata — will replace an astronaut on the orbiting outpost and become the first Japanese to live up there.

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DISCOVERY SHUTTLE MOVING TO LAUNCH PAD ON WEDNESDAY

STS 119 Crew

Space shuttle Discovery is scheduled to roll out to Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday, Jan. 14, as preparations for the STS-119 mission move forward. Discovery is targeted to lift off Feb. 12 to the International Space Station.

The first motion of the shuttle out of Kennedy's Vehicle Assembly Building is scheduled for 4 a.m. EST. The fully assembled space shuttle, consisting of the orbiter, external fuel tank and twin solid rocket boosters, will be delivered to the pad atop a crawler transporter that will travel slower than 1 mph during the 3.4-mile journey. The process is expected to take approximately six hours.

NASA Television will provide live coverage of Discovery's rollout to the launch pad beginning at 6:30 a.m. Video highlights of the rollout will air on NASA TV's Video File.

News media are invited to photograph the shuttle's move to the pad and interview Discovery Flow Director Stephanie Stilson at 8:30 a.m., Wednesday. Dates and times of this event are subject to change. Updates are available by calling 321-867-2525.

News media must arrive at Kennedy's news center by 6 a.m., Wednesday, for transportation to the viewing area. Foreign news media accreditation for the event is closed. Foreign media with credentials must arrive at the Pass and I-D Building on State Road 3 by 6 a.m. for transportation to the news center.

During Discovery's 14-day mission, the crew will install the S6 truss segment and its solar arrays to the starboard side of the station, completing the station's backbone, or truss. Discovery's crew members are Commander Lee Archambault, Pilot Tony Antonelli and Mission Specialists Joseph Acaba, Steve Swanson, Richard Arnold, John Phillips and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Koichi Wakata.

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