Updates STS-133 Updates

[orb]

Florida Today - The Flame Trench: No decision yet on Discovery launch:

Shuttle program managers made no decisions today about whether Discovery will attempt to launch this year.

Analysis of the shuttle's repaired external tank continues.

Program managers on Friday plan to brief Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA's associate administrator for Space Operations, on the status of the engineering analysis.

It was not clear that a decision would result from that meeting either.

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[Orbinaut Pete]

Spaceflight Now: "Special fueling test could be ordered for Discovery's tank".

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

NASA: "NASA Schedules News Conference About Next Space Shuttle Launch".

NASA managers will hold a news conference at 11 a.m. CST today at the agency's Johnson Space Center in Houston to discuss the next space shuttle mission, STS-133, and the progress of repairs since Discovery's original launch delay Nov. 5.

The news conference follows Thursday's Space Shuttle Program Requirements Control Board meeting. Program officials reviewed repairs and engineering evaluations associated with cracks on two 21-foot-long, U-shaped aluminum brackets called stringers on the shuttle's external tank.

The briefing participants are:

-- Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for Space Operations
-- John Shannon, Space Shuttle Program manager
-- Mike Suffredini, International Space Station Program manager

The news conference will air live on NASA Television and the agency's website. Reporters may ask questions from participating NASA centers or by calling into a phone bridge.

 

[orb]

STS-133 launch now rescheduled for not earlier than February 3, 2011.

 

[IronRain]

Although I understand NASA with their safety regulations, I still think it sucks...

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

New launch & landing dates/times:

Launch:
Thursday 3rd February 2011 at 1:34:28 AM EST / 6:34:28 AM GMT (Night launch).

Landing:
Monday 14th February 2011 @ TBD.

 

[N_Molson]

From SpaceflightNow :

A rollback to the Vehicle Assembly Building for tank inspections is not part of the current testing scenario being planned.

Interesting, I guess it would be risky to disassemble the whole stack...

 

[DaveS]

From SpaceflightNow :



Interesting, I guess it would be risky to disassemble the whole stack...

No, it wouldn't be too risky. It has been done numerous times before. There just isn't a need. An orbiter can stay mated to the ET/SRBs for months without any concerns. The main concern is usually landing gear tire pressure as it slowly leaks out. But that is usually 6 months or more. They usually top-off the pressure just before leaving the OPF.

So they won't rollback/destack unless they have to.

 

[SiberianTiger]

If they aren't going to replace the tank, then why wait till February?

 

[DaveS]

If they aren't going to replace the tank, then why wait till February?

Lots of other ISS traffic (Progress M-08M, HTV-2, ATV-2). That places alot of constraints on shuttle visits, so next available window for the shuttle is in early Feb. There's also beta angle cut-out for pretty much all of January.

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

NASA: "NASA Targets Shuttle Discovery's Launch For No Earlier Than Feb. 3".

NASA managers have targeted space shuttle Discovery's launch for no earlier than Feb. 3 at 1:34 a.m. EST. Shuttle managers determined more tests and analysis are needed before proceeding with the launch of the STS-133 mission to the International Space Station.

The Program Requirements Control Board met Thursday and reviewed engineering evaluations associated with cracks on two 21-foot-long, U-shaped aluminum brackets, called stringers, on the shuttle's external tank. NASA repaired the cracks and reapplied foam to the exterior of the stringers.

Managers decided the analysis and tests required to launch Discovery safely are not complete. They are planning to conduct an instrumented test on the external fuel tank and structural evaluations on stringer test articles to determine if the analysis is correct. Details and timelines for the tanking test are in work, but plans call for temperature and strain gauge measurements in the intertank region near the top of the tank during the test.

The test also will verify the integrity of repairs made earlier when two cracked stringer sections and foam were replaced. A team of engineers and technicians will inspect the tank for evidence of any foam cracking as it would on an actual launch day. The test also will verify the integrity of repairs to the Ground Umbilical Carrier Plate, which leaked an unsafe amount of gaseous hydrogen during Discovery's Nov. 5 launch attempt. The date of the test is under evaluation, but likely will occur this month.

Engineers will continue to search for the root cause of the stringer cracks through data analysis and tests, including placement of manufacturing defects in separate stringers to demonstrate structural integrity in an effort to duplicate the same type of failure that occurred in November.

NASA will review and analyze the data from the tests before setting a launch date. Because of Discovery's delayed launch, the earliest opportunity for the liftoff of the final scheduled shuttle mission, STS-134 on Endeavour, is April 1.

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

Spaceflight Now:
• Discovery's final launch postponed until February.
• STS-133 Flight Plan (Updated).

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

NASA TV Video: Discovery launch no earlier than Feb. 3.​

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

Includes a section by me on the HTV-2 impacts.

NASASpaceFlight: "NASA managers realigning ISS manifest following STS-133 slip to February".

 

[orb]

Florida Today - The Flame Trench: Discovery tanking test planned next Wednesday:

NASA is targeting next Wednesday, Dec. 15, to perform a tanking test on shuttle Discovery at Kennedy Space Center.

The test is part of an ongoing investigation into what caused cracks in two brackets called "stringers" on the tank's mid-section.

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[orb]

NASASpaceFlight: STS-133: Pad work progressing for next week’s instrumented Tanking Test:

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The main focus for STS-133 continues on the preparations to conduct an instrumented Tanking Test next week. Known as S0037 operations, the current schedule points towards a Call To Stations (CTS) on Monday evening, ahead of the Wednesday test.

“S0037 ET Tanking Test: The team is working towards a tentative tanking test date of December 15. Call to Stations is planned for 2030 EST on Monday, December 13,” noted the NTD, referencing the decision taken by managers at a Noon Board meeting this week – which approved a plan laid out by the Engineering Review Board (ERB).

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[orb]

Florida Today - The Flame Trench: Cold weather poses challenges for Discovery tanking test preps:

Unusually cold weather is challenging Kennedy Space Center teams to prepare shuttle Discovery for a tanking test planned Wednesday morning.

Technicians are installing roughly 90 gauges and sensors on the shuttle's external tank to collect data that could help explain what caused cracks in two external tank support brackets.

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Workers have erected a special environmental enclosure to help control temperature conditions. But temperatures need to be about 75 degrees for sensors to bond properly to the tank's metal sub-surface.

Shuttle program managers are meeting today to finalize procedures for the tanking test, and waiting to see how weekend work progresses before setting the schedule.

Cold conditions at times next week could even violate temperature constraints for fueling, which will be the same as on a launch day.

 

[orb]

NASA has postponed shuttle Discovery's fueling test by two days (the test has been rescheduled for Friday, Dec. 17, 2010) because of the cold and windy weather.

 

[orb]

Spaceflight Now: Discovery will return to assembly building next week / CBS News Space: NASA gears up for instrumented shuttle tanking test:

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Hoping for the best, NASA managers and engineers met Monday and agreed that after the test, whenever it takes place, the shuttle "stack" will be hauled back to the Vehicle Assembly Building for additional inspections, and possible repairs, before returning to pad 39A in mid January for work to ready the ship for launch.

To make the fueling test as realistic as possible, the tank will be fully loaded with a half-million gallons of liquid oxygen, at minus 298 degrees Fahrenheit, and hydrogen rocket fuel, at minus 423 degrees, starting at 7 a.m. EST (GMT-5). The fueling timeline will be similar to the one used for an actual launch, including several built-in holds and an on-pad inspection. As the countdown ticks into its final minutes, the tanks will be pressurized as they would for a real launch, subjecting the hardware to additional stress.

The countdown clock will hold at the T-minus 31-second mark for five minutes before cutoff and detanking operations.

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[N_Molson]

So there will be a rollback after all...