Updates STS-134 Updates

[agentgonzo]

Give it two years or so until people start asking 'why aren't we seeing any shuttle flights' and things like 'When are the new shuttles going to be launched?'

I think you give the public too much credit. I would imagine that after two years most of them won't realise that they aren't flying and when asked if we have a working shuttle fleet they would say "of course we do"

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

Oh. My. Word. Check out this mind-blowing wind-angle image of the ISS, taken today during EVA-4 by Greg Chamitoff atop ELC-3. :jawdrops:

Totally awesome!!! :10sign:

(From Ron Garan via Twitter.)

 

[C3PO]

Give it two years or so until people start asking 'why aren't we seeing any shuttle flights' and things like 'When are the new shuttles going to be launched?'

I think you give the public too much credit. I would imagine that after two years most of them won't realise that they aren't flying and when asked if we have a working shuttle fleet they would say "of course we do"

I'm afraid more people would answer "I don't care"
I think the they will need a bigger shock, like a chinese station with more traffic, or a chinese or russian Moon mission.

Oh. My. Word. Check out this mind-blowing wind-angle image of the ISS, taken today during EVA-4 by Greg Chamitoff atop ELC-3.
Totally awesome!!! :10sign:

(From Ron Garan via Twitter.)

That's a real jaw-dropper! :11signIf there ever was an 11, that's it!!!)

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

NASA have released some more hi-res, wide-angle images! These are real stunners, and are already among my all-time favourite Shuttle images (I know I say that about every photo on every mission, but these really are - at least until the Soyuz images are released)! :thumbup:

Hi-res version.

Hi-res version.

Hi-res version.

Hi-res version.

Hi-res version.

More wide-angle images are available in the FD-12 image gallery.

 

[N_Molson]

Looks like orbiter at FOV 90°

 

[Eli13]

Man. Thats enough to make one jealous of astronauts just being there.
Then again, i always am.

 

[IronRain]

Daily Mission Recap - FD12

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hh4-B91mTWg&feature=feedu[/ame]

EVA4 Caps Flight Day Highlights

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=176-oUVZD4E&feature=feedu[/ame]

 

[ElPelado]

Two questions:
1) i can't find the RPM images where we can see the small damage to the tiles. where are them? it seems they didn't uploaded them on porpouse.....
2) did the astronauts in EVA4 removed the sensors and cameras from the end of the OBSS, or did they leave them there for future use also?

Thanks!

 

[garyw]

Two questions:
1) i can't find the RPM images where we can see the small damage to the tiles. where are them? it seems they didn't uploaded them on porpouse.....

Yeah right. NASA have released the RPM imagery including the ones with the damage but they are in a lower res so you can't see the minor damage. I've seen the damage and it's hard to detect even on the high-res.

Here is a fairly high res image of the entire underside:

The area of most concern is the small ding on the elevon. You can see it on the top right hand side of the above image.

2) did the astronauts in EVA4 removed the sensors and cameras from the end of the OBSS, or did they leave them there for future use also?

Thanks!

The sensors were left on the OBSS. Without the shuttle the sensors will probably fail due to the cold of space. The idea is that a future EVA may well install a dedicated ISS sensor package but as the ISS team don't know if there is a need for one this option is just a possible option.

 

[ElPelado]

Thank!
where did you get the images?

 

[garyw]

L2 on NASA Spaceflight has the best imagery including some real close ups of the damage but I can't post from there to here as the imagery isn't in the public domain and it would be unfair to the L2 subscribers.

The image I posted was found via google for the terms 'STS-134 RPM photos stitch' and clicking on images. You'll see it' also been posted on a few other sites so is very much in the public domain. I hope that puts to rest any question about NASA 'withholding imagery'

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

Posting this here since it's more relevant to STS-134 operations than it is to ISS/Expedition 28. A nice update on STS-134 science payloads was given in today's Weekly Science Update.


From ISS On-Orbit Status Report for 28/05/2011.

In a somewhat unusual twist of timelines, Shuttle crewmembers MS-4 Greg "Taz" Chamitoff & MS-1 Mike "Spanky" Fincke performed major IFM (Inflight Maintenance) in the ISS by working in Node 3 on restoring the CDRA (Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly) to full service. [After FE-3 Ron Garan had removed the failed Desiccant/Sorbent Bed 2 from the rear of the CDRA rack at Bay Aft 4 on 24/05, Spanky & Taz had a hard time today completing the installation of the new Bed 201 frame delivered on STS-134/ULF-6 due to fit check problems. The installation took longer than anticipated but was completed. Work continues and is expected to be finished to allow the Shuttle reboost and undocking remain on schedule as planned. Interesting: a Shuttle crew doing an ISS installation of a Russian component.

Oxygen Transfer Update:
The planned O2 transfer was completed using the backup hose with no issues, with about 10 lbs of O2 transferred from the Shuttle to the A/L (Airlock) tanks. Teardown of the transfer equipment will be completed tomorrow by Ron Garan & Mark Kelly.

Reboost Update:
The ISS reboost by Shuttle pilot Greg Johnson using the VCRS (Vernier Reaction Control System, Config. 3/Auto Reboost) is scheduled for early tomorrow morning at ~5:01 AM GMT.

Weekly Science Update (Expedition Twenty-Seven/Twenty-Eight -- Week 10)

AMS-02 (Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer): Each day, AMS continues to collect about 100 Gigabytes of data from 40 million cosmic rays. All nominal except for 23/05, when we needed to reboot via the AMS Laptop. Many thanks to the STS-134 crew for the early HCOR RPCM R&R as we were completely blind during the outage.

MISSE-7 (Materials ISS Experiment 7): The 7th Materials on International Space Station Experiment (MISSE-7) reached a successful mission completion on 10/05. During EVA-1, PEC 7A and PEC 7B were retrieved and transferred to the STS-134 Shuttle payload bay for return to Earth. MISSE-7 was launched to the ISS aboard the STS-129 Shuttle mission in November 2009, and operated continuously since that time. During its 1.5 year on-orbit mission, MISSE-7 tested a variety of next-generation solar cells and electronic devices and provided real-time downlink of science data. MISSE-7 also continuously exposed cutting-edge material samples that will be analyzed in ground laboratories to determine how well they survived the space exposure effects of atomic oxygen, ultraviolet exposure, particle irradiation, and extreme temperature cycles.

MISSE-8 (Materials ISS Experiment 8): After MISSE-7 was retrieved from the ISS, the 8th Materials on International Space Station Experiment (MISSE-8) was deployed to ISS and successfully began its mission. A few minutes after the MISSE-8 PEC was installed on the ISS, ground operators at both the DoD Space Test Program Houston Office and the Naval Research Laboratory were able to downlink health and status data, as well as science data from the active experiments on MISSE-8. This was followed by successful commanding of the MISSE-8 Forward Technology Solar Cell Experiment. All MISSE-8 systems are performing as expected. MISSE-8 supports a dozen active experiments with real-time data downlink, as well as hundreds of passive material experiments that will be returned to Earth for post-flight characterization. MISSE-8 will operate on the ISS for approximately two years, with a return to Earth scheduled inside the Dragon Capsule of the SpaceX-5 flight in early 2013.

STP-H3 (Space Test Program – Houston 3): MHTEX was successfully activated and the priming successfully completed. The Capillary Pumped Loops startup was successfully performed as well as demonstration of the Advanced Evaporator. The system is being put into steady state mode for heat load performance characterization that will continue for approximately 2 months before continuing on to the next test objective. The DISC experiment is a star field imager and was successfully activated. It has demonstrated its basic capability to acquire time tagged images and the PIs are currently working to process the raw data into a useable star tracking image. Canary, an ion spectrometer, is alive and operating nominally. Data has been taken and downlinked during several special command windows. The VADER activation and aliveness test went well. The VADER sample performance is degraded as expected due to the prolonged humidity exposure pre-flight. During EVA-3, Drew used an IR camera to take an 8 minute video of the VADER while the variable emissivity devices were in transition. This video has been received and currently being analyzed. This has the potential to return up to 70% of the Science by characterizing the degradation, effectively saving the VADER mission. The STP-H3 team would like to send a huge thanks to the crew for performing this task on such short notice.

 

[astrosammy]

 

[Krikkit]

L2 on NASA Spaceflight has the best imagery including some real close ups of the damage but I can't post from there to here as the imagery isn't in the public domain and it would be unfair to the L2 subscribers.

The image I posted was found via google for the terms 'STS-134 RPM photos stitch' and clicking on images. You'll see it' also been posted on a few other sites so is very much in the public domain. I hope that puts to rest any question about NASA 'withholding imagery'

I guess you can give the guys at nasaspaceflight credit for digging up the pictures but they have no right to them. All nasa images are free for public use, except in advertising. Or at least everything I read on NASA imagery says so.

After all it is my tax money paying for those pictures to be taken. The government can't go around distributing them only to the elite.

Or can they? I wouldn't put it past the US government.

 

[IronRain]

Daily Mission Recap - FD13

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhHJRwBcr1M&feature=feedu[/ame]

 

[IronRain]

Astronauts Greg Johnson and Andrew Feustel send a Memorial Day message from the International Space Station

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sf0j3oHKBZ8&feature=feedu[/ame]

 

[garyw]

I guess you can give the guys at nasaspaceflight credit for digging up the pictures but they have no right to them. All nasa images are free for public use, except in advertising. Or at least everything I read on NASA imagery says so.

After all it is my tax money paying for those pictures to be taken. The government can't go around distributing them only to the elite.

Or can they? I wouldn't put it past the US government.

Please note, this is the L2 area of NASASpaceflight and not the rest of it. The images and documentation that L2 obtains are held there because it's a privately run server and not part of NASA. It's run by Chris Bergin a British journalist. Posting images that were in that section would not only cause problems for them it would mean they would have less subscriptions and not be able to host this wonderful resoruce. It is not your tax money that Chris gets to host these things.

If you want NASA to host them you need to speak to NASA PAO.

 

[IronRain]

SpaceFlight Now: Shuttle crew bids farewell to International Space Station

The Endeavour astronauts wrapped up last-minute experiment transfers early Sunday, bid farewell to the crew of the International Space Station and moved back aboard the shuttle to prepare the ship for undocking Sunday night.

Commander Mark Kelly thanked the three-man station crew for its hospitality, saying "we had a very successful mission."

"We got the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer installed, which is really a remarkable thing for physics and for science," he said. "That sensor's already collecting massive amounts of data and we're looking forward to hearing what those discoveries are."

Kelly, pilot Gregory H. Johnson, Michael Fincke, Gregory Chamitoff, Andrew Feustel and European Space Agency astronaut Roberto Vittori also delivered a pallet of spare parts, staged four spacewalks and helped service one of the station's oxygen generators and a carbon dioxide removal assembly.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32zm5J5NkTc&feature=feedu[/ame]

 

[diogom]

Already?!! Man, I lost track of this mission. Landing still aimed at June 1st, 2am, right?

 

[IronRain]

Landing is targeted for June 1st 2:32 a.m. EDT (6:32 UTC)