Posted on 06/07/2007 6:37:21 PM PDT by KevinDavis
It's only annoying because we fly so rarely. If we had a system capable of flying weekly, or daily, you could put up a huge station very quickly, without the need for heavy-lift vehicles. And it would be much more affordable as well.
It will just come back in 11 days.
spaceflightnow.com
1420 GMT (10:20 a.m. EDT)
Engineers at the Kennedy Space Center began pumping a half-million gallons of supercold liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen rocket fuel into the shuttle Atlantis’ repaired external tank today at 9:55 a.m., setting the stage for launch at 7:38 p.m. on a space assembly mission. This will be NASA’s first shuttle flight of 2007, thanks to a three-month delay to fix hail damage.
The three-hour fueling process, carried out by remote control from the firing room 3.2 miles from launch pad 39A, should be complete around 1 p.m. NASA television coverage is scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m. followed by a traditional dining room photo opportunity with the crew.
Wearing bright orange pressure suits, commander Rick Sturckow, pilot Lee Archambault, flight engineer Steve Swanson, Patrick Forrester, Danny Olivas, Jim Reilly and space station astronaut Clay Anderson are scheduled to depart crew quarters at 3:47 p.m. and head for the pad.
Only a few missions remain for each of the shuttles. They are nearly done, although since the launches are so infrequent it will take a couple years to finish up.
spaceflightnow.com
1642 GMT (12:42 p.m. EDT)
T-minus 3 hours and holding. The countdown has gone into the next planned hold in the timeline. This hold is scheduled to last three hours.
1630 GMT (12:30 p.m. EDT)
Loading of the external tank is nearing completion under cloudy skies. Weather conditions are “red” at the moment due to violations of the cumulus and anvil cloud rules. The weather team continuously monitors the conditions and marks the launch rules “green” or “red” throughout the countdown. South of the Kennedy Space Center, it has been raining lightly throughout the morning.
Sorry to interrupt the Paris coverage.
spaceflightnow.com
1730 GMT (1:30 p.m. EDT)
The launch team is not tracking any technical issues in the countdown. Weather conditions are the only worry right now.
1710 GMT (1:10 p.m. EDT)
Filling of Atlantis’ external fuel tank was called complete at 12:57 p.m. EDT. The tank has been pumped full with a half-million gallons of supercold liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen. The three-hour fueling process started at 9:55 a.m. with the chilldown conditioning.
But given the cryogenic nature of the oxidizer and propellant, the supplies naturally boil away. So the tanks are continuously topped off until the final minutes of the countdown in a procedure called “stable replenishment.”
With the hazardous tanking operation completed, the Orbiter Closeout Crew and Final Inspection Team have been given the OK to go out to the pad to perform their jobs. The closeout crew will ready Atlantis’ crew module for the astronauts’ ingress in a couple of hours; and the inspection team will give the entire vehicle a check for any ice formation following fueling.
If you have HDNet on Dish, they’ll be covering the launch in HD starting around 6PM
Does anyone know how much of the initial thrust is used to carry the fuel? I seem to recall it being something like 80%.
spaceflightnow.com
1800 GMT (2:00 p.m. EDT)
The Final Inspection Team is performing its observations of Atlantis this afternoon.
The team is responsible for checking the shuttle and launch pad one last time prior to liftoff. The team is comprised of engineers and safety officials from NASA, United Space Alliance and tank-builder Lockheed Martin. At the conclusion of their two-hour tour-of-duty, the team will have walked up and down the entire fixed service structure and mobile launcher platform.
The team is on the lookout for any abnormal ice or frost build-up on the vehicle and integrity of the external tank foam insulation.
The team uses a portable infrared scanner that gathers temperature measurements on the surface area of the shuttle and can spot leaks. The scanner will be used to obtain temperature data on the external tank, solid rocket boosters, space shuttle orbiter, main engines and launch pad structures. The scanner can also spot leaks of the cryogenic propellants, and due to its ability to detect distinct temperature differences, can spot any dangerous hydrogen fuel that is burning. The team member also is responsible for photo documentation.
The team wears the highly visible day-glow orange coveralls that are anti-static and flame resistant. Each member also has a self-contained emergency breathing unit that holds about 10 minutes of air.
1742 GMT (1:42 p.m. EDT)
The astronauts have been seated in the crew quarters’ dining room for the traditional launch morning photo. They will be moving into the suitup room shortly to begin donning the launch and entry spacesuits before heading to the launch pad later this afternoon.
It’s over 80%. The solid boosters are recovered empty and the big tank is thrown away. That plus the payload, which is the shuttle and contents is what remains after fuel/oxidizer is burnt off.
spaceflightnow.com
1835 GMT (2:35 p.m. EDT)
Launch weather officer Kathy Winters says the showers experienced earlier have dissipated with the setup of the daily seabreeze. The view out of the window toward launch pad 39A definitely shows clearer skies now.
5 hours to go?
spaceflightnow.com
2004 GMT (4:04 p.m. EDT)
Atlantis’ crew arrived at launch pad 39A at 4:03 p.m. The AstroVan came to a stop on the pad surface near the Fixed Service Structure tower elevator that will take the seven-man crew to the 195-foot level to begin boarding the shuttle.
3-1/2 hours
spaceflightnow.com
2019 GMT (4:19 p.m. EDT)
Veteran astronaut Jim Reilly, the lead spacewalker and mission specialist No. 4 for STS-117 has boarded Atlantis to take the middeck’s right seat. He considers Mesquite, Texas to be his hometown.
This is STS-117 Atlantis
spaceflightnow.com
2030 GMT (4:30 p.m. EDT)
Air Force Colonel Lee Archambault, the pilot of Atlantis, is making his way to the flight deck’s front-right seat. The rookie astronaut is from Illinois.
Pilot is rookie although he may have flown something before.
spaceflightnow.com
2032 GMT (4:32 p.m. EDT)
Rookie Danny Olivas, who was raised in El Paso, Texas serves as mission specialist No. 3 on Atlantis’ STS-117 flight. He just entered the orbiter to take the middeck’s left seat.
More rookies
spaceflightnow.com
2142 GMT (5:42 p.m. EDT)
Now passing the T-minus 1 hour mark in the countdown. Two scheduled holds are planned at T-minus 20 minutes and T-minus 9 minutes, leading to the target liftoff time of 7:38 p.m.
The final pre-flight alignment of Atlantis’ guidance system inertial measurement units is underway.
Weather conditions remain “go” for launch at this time. Skies have cleared over Kennedy Space Center and things look good right now.
2140 GMT (5:40 p.m. EDT)
The “go” was just given to close Atlantis’ crew module hatch for launch.
two hours to go
spaceflightnow.com
2155 GMT (5:55 p.m. EDT)
The shuttle’s crew compartment hatch is confirmed to be closed and latched for flight.
1.6 hours
bumpmark
Others are starting their own launch threads and ought to come over to the LIVE THREAD here.
I’ll do a post with a link
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