The crew also will review robotics procedures today and review spacewalk timelines at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
#Nasa space shuttle mission schedule install#
This weeks mission includes plans to install new gyroscopes, circuit. “We felt with a very few additional training runs, he could pick up the timeline, and be able to pull them off with only an additional two runs in the NBL (Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory for each of those two activities.” This will be the shuttles last trip to Hubble though, since the NASA space shuttles are scheduled to be retired next year. Whitson said Bowen is a very experienced spacewalker, with five previous spacewalks and very capable in terms of qualifications in the EMU (NASA’s spacesuit). “He understands that we have to be prepared to fly.” “Its was obviously a disappointment for Tim to not be available for this upcoming launch window,” said chief astronaut Peggy Whitson.
“We’ve been working hard on this since Tim had his accident and we think we’ve got a good plan in place,” he said. He will be the first astronaut to fly on consecutive missions.Īt a press conference on Wednesday, Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA’s Associate Administrator for Space Operations said the astronaut office worked together to figure out who should replace Kopra and figure out the logistics so that the flight would not be delayed even further. With a bicycle injury to crewmember Tim Kopra, the crew is now joined by Steve Bowen, who flew on the on STS-132 in May 2010, as a replacement. Discovery and its six astronauts are targeted to launch on Feb. There is sure to be a battle, however, from congressional districts in Texas and Florida who worked hard to get the 2010 Authorization Act passed.Īfter the Act was signed last fall, in late December the agency’s Space Operations Mission Directorate requested the shuttle and International Space Station programs take the necessary steps to maintain the capability to fly Atlantis on the STS-135 mission.Īs far as the next scheduled shuttle flight, STS-133, engineers continue to work on Discovery in the Vehicle Assembly Building Kennedy Space Center to modify the stringers on the external fuel tank. But NASA needs to begin preparing in case the flight is approved.Īccording to Jeff Foust’s Space Politics, the House is expected to vote next week on a resolution to cut discretionary spending back to 2008 levels, a move that, if backed up by later appropriations legislation, would cut NASA spending from the $18.7 billion in FY2010 (and $19 billion in the FY11 proposal) to $17.4 billion. There has been rumors that NASA’s budget could be on the chopping block. Whether the mission actually flies, however, depends on if Congress decides to approve NASA’s proposed budget for 2011. The STS-135 mission – if not required as a “Launch on Need” rescue flight for STS-133 or STS-134 - would have the shuttle Atlantis and a 4-member crew carry a fully-loaded Raffaello multipurpose logistics module to deliver supplies, logistics and spare parts to the International Space Station.
On Thursday, the Space Shuttle Program set a target launch date of Jfor the STS-135 mission, the “extra” shuttle flight that was approved in the 2010 NASA Authorization Act.
0 kommentar(er)
