TLAM Strike
05-19-06, 05:01 PM
Discovery Begins Slow Trek to Launch Pad (http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20060519/sc_space/discoveryshuttlebeginsslowtrektolaunchpad)
Tariq Malik
Staff Writer
SPACE.com
Fri May 19, 2:00 PM ET
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – The space shuttle Discovery is slowing crawling toward its launch pad at NASA's Kennedy Space Center spaceport, with each inch and mile bringing the spaceplane closer to a planned July liftoff.
Moving at a top speed of about one mile per hour (1.6 kilometers per hour), Discovery is riding one of NASA's massive crawler vehicles across the 4.2 miles (6.7 kilometers) between NASA's Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) and Launch Pad 39B. The slow-motion trip is expected to take about seven hours.
The orbiter's move will mark a major milestone for NASA's STS-121 mission – the agency's second shuttle test flight since the 2003 Columbia accident. Discovery is currently slated to launch its astronaut crew, commanded by shuttle veteran Steven Lindsey, on July 1. The shuttle's payload – a cargo pod dubbed Leonardo, spare space station parts and other items – arrived at the launch pad Wednesday, NASA officials said.
NASA KSC spokesperson Jessica Rye told SPACE.com that the need for final checks and platform removal pushed the start of Discovery's rollout from 2:00 a.m. (0600 GMT) to noon.
Engineers at KSC have spent the last week mating Discovery to the external tank and solid rocket boosters – known as the launch stack – that will push the 100-ton spaceplane into orbit. During that time, shuttle workers also took detailed photographs of the orbiter's heat shield to be compared to images from in-orbit inspections during the STS-121 mission, integration engineers told SPACE.com, adding that they took similar photos while preparing Discovery for NASA's first post-Columbia mission STS-114.
"Everyone was excited for STS-114 and they're doubly so for STS-121 because it's our opportunity to get into regular launch mode again," said Tim Riley, the shuttle's integrated operations chief for NASA contractor United Space Alliance, in a recent interview. "Hopefully, we'll get a couple more [shuttle flights] in this year.
Discovery's STS-121 mission is the last of two post-Columbia accident test flights to shakedown new shuttle safety and repair methods before NASA can resumeconstruction on the International Space Station (ISS) later this year. While NASA is currently targeting July 1 to launch Discovery's STS-121 mission, the orbiter has a flight window that extends through July 19. Additional shuttle launch opportunities open in late August and mid-December.
"We're looking very good," Discovery's vehicle manager Stephanie Stilson said of Friday's planned rollout last week, when the orbiter arrived at the VAB to be joined to its boosters and fuel tank.
Discovery and its launch stack are being hauled into place atop their Mobile Launch Platform by NASA's massive crawler carrier, its huge tracks slowly traversing toward Pad 39B. NASA's 5.5 million-pound (2.5 million-kilogram) crawler vehicles have transported NASA spacecraft to and from their launch pads since they first became operations in 1966.
Hopfuly she will be launched July 1.
http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/6374/750pxsts121crewportrait3cp.jpg
(L-R) Stephanie Wilson (Mission Specialist), Michael E. Fossum (Mission Specialist ), Steven W. Lindsey (Commander), Piers Sellers (Mission Specialist), Mark E. Kelly (Pilot), Thomas Reiter (Flight Engineer, ESA Germany, to join ISS crew), and Lisa Nowak (Mission Specialist).
Go kick some @$$! :rock:
Tariq Malik
Staff Writer
SPACE.com
Fri May 19, 2:00 PM ET
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – The space shuttle Discovery is slowing crawling toward its launch pad at NASA's Kennedy Space Center spaceport, with each inch and mile bringing the spaceplane closer to a planned July liftoff.
Moving at a top speed of about one mile per hour (1.6 kilometers per hour), Discovery is riding one of NASA's massive crawler vehicles across the 4.2 miles (6.7 kilometers) between NASA's Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) and Launch Pad 39B. The slow-motion trip is expected to take about seven hours.
The orbiter's move will mark a major milestone for NASA's STS-121 mission – the agency's second shuttle test flight since the 2003 Columbia accident. Discovery is currently slated to launch its astronaut crew, commanded by shuttle veteran Steven Lindsey, on July 1. The shuttle's payload – a cargo pod dubbed Leonardo, spare space station parts and other items – arrived at the launch pad Wednesday, NASA officials said.
NASA KSC spokesperson Jessica Rye told SPACE.com that the need for final checks and platform removal pushed the start of Discovery's rollout from 2:00 a.m. (0600 GMT) to noon.
Engineers at KSC have spent the last week mating Discovery to the external tank and solid rocket boosters – known as the launch stack – that will push the 100-ton spaceplane into orbit. During that time, shuttle workers also took detailed photographs of the orbiter's heat shield to be compared to images from in-orbit inspections during the STS-121 mission, integration engineers told SPACE.com, adding that they took similar photos while preparing Discovery for NASA's first post-Columbia mission STS-114.
"Everyone was excited for STS-114 and they're doubly so for STS-121 because it's our opportunity to get into regular launch mode again," said Tim Riley, the shuttle's integrated operations chief for NASA contractor United Space Alliance, in a recent interview. "Hopefully, we'll get a couple more [shuttle flights] in this year.
Discovery's STS-121 mission is the last of two post-Columbia accident test flights to shakedown new shuttle safety and repair methods before NASA can resumeconstruction on the International Space Station (ISS) later this year. While NASA is currently targeting July 1 to launch Discovery's STS-121 mission, the orbiter has a flight window that extends through July 19. Additional shuttle launch opportunities open in late August and mid-December.
"We're looking very good," Discovery's vehicle manager Stephanie Stilson said of Friday's planned rollout last week, when the orbiter arrived at the VAB to be joined to its boosters and fuel tank.
Discovery and its launch stack are being hauled into place atop their Mobile Launch Platform by NASA's massive crawler carrier, its huge tracks slowly traversing toward Pad 39B. NASA's 5.5 million-pound (2.5 million-kilogram) crawler vehicles have transported NASA spacecraft to and from their launch pads since they first became operations in 1966.
Hopfuly she will be launched July 1.
http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/6374/750pxsts121crewportrait3cp.jpg
(L-R) Stephanie Wilson (Mission Specialist), Michael E. Fossum (Mission Specialist ), Steven W. Lindsey (Commander), Piers Sellers (Mission Specialist), Mark E. Kelly (Pilot), Thomas Reiter (Flight Engineer, ESA Germany, to join ISS crew), and Lisa Nowak (Mission Specialist).
Go kick some @$$! :rock: