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NASA's Space Shuttle Processing Status Report
Note: NASA's Kennedy Space Center issues Space Shuttle Processing Status Reports periodically and is the source for information regarding processing activities associated with the vehicles and payloads. If you are a member of the media and would like further information, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/news/index.html
Mission: STS-120 - 23rd International Space Station Flight - U.S. Node 2 (Harmony)
Vehicle: Discovery (OV-103)
Location: Orbiter Processing Facility Bay 3
Launch Date: Oct. 23, 2007
KSC Landing Date: Nov. 7, 2007
Crew: Melroy, Zamka, Parazynski, Wheelock, Wilson, Nespoli and Anderson
Inclination/Orbit Altitude: 51.6 degrees/122 nautical miles
The STS-120 mission ended on Nov. 7 when Discovery touched down at Kennedy Space Center’s runway 33 at 1:01 p.m. The mission lasted 15 days and Discovery completed 238 revolutions around the Earth and traveled 6.25 million miles. Discovery delivered the Harmony Node with its 2,600 cubic feet of pressurized volume. Harmony was placed in a temporary location and will be relocated by the Expedition 16 crew over the next three weeks, before the next shuttle mission arrives. The STS-120 crew also moved the Port 6 truss segment and its accompanying solar arrays to its permanent home at the end of the station’s truss, and repaired damage done to the solar array as it was being redeployed.
Discovery is now back in its hangar at Orbiter Processing Facility bay 3. Preparations are under way for offloading the residual cryogenic reactants this weekend, followed by opening the payload bay doors and the start of detailed post-flight inspections. At this time, Discovery appears to have few issues.
Mission: STS-122 - 24th International Space Station Flight - Columbus Module
Vehicle: Atlantis (OV-104)
Location: Vehicle Assembly Building
Launch Date: Targeted for Dec. 6, 2007
Launch Pad: 39A
Crew: Frick, Poindexter, Schlegel, Eyharts, Love, Melvin and Walheim
Inclination/Orbit Altitude: 51.6 degrees/122 nautical miles
On Nov. 3, Atlantis rolled from Orbiter Processing Facility bay 1 to the Vehicle Assembly Building, where it was lifted up and into high bay 3 to be connected to the external fuel tank on the mobile launch platform. Workers spent the week closing out connections between the solid rocket boosters, tank and orbiter, and performing interface tests to verify that all the space shuttle elements are working as a fully integrated launch vehicle. Rollout from the assembly building to Launch Pad 39A is scheduled for 4 a.m. Saturday. The Columbus laboratory module will be installed into the orbiter’s payload bay on Sunday. The terminal countdown demonstration test with the STS-122 astronauts is scheduled for Nov. 18–20.
Mission: STS-123 - 25th International Space Station Flight - Kibo, Dextre
Vehicle: Endeavour (OV-105)
Location: Orbiter Processing Facility Bay 2
Launch Date: Targeted for Feb. 14, 2008
Launch Pad: 39A
Crew: Gorie, Johnson, Linnehan, Doi, Behnken, Foreman and Reisman
Inclination/Orbit Altitude: 51.6 degrees/122 nautical miles
In Orbiter Processing Facility bay 2, installation of replacement overhead window No. 8 is in progress. Installation of a new reinforced carbon-carbon panel, RCC No. 10 right (10R), is under way. Technicians are preparing the orbiter for installation of the engines, scheduled for next week. The crew module hatch functional test is nearing completion. Thermal protection system work continues on the main landing gear doors, wings, elevons and orbital maneuvering system pods. Payload pre-mate testing is under way. Liquid oxygen tank No. 1 is installed and is undergoing leak checks.
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