Space Shuttle Info & Space News

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Managers officially have scheduled space shuttle Endeavour's next launch attempt for Monday, Feb. 8 at 4:14 a.m. EST.

The Mission Management Team will meet at 6:15 p.m. Sunday to give the "go" to fill Endeavour's external fuel tank with propellants. Tank loading would begin at 6:45 p.m

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Can NASA's space shuttle program be extended?


Some NASA-backers in Congress are trying to push back the retirement of the space shuttles from 2010 until 2015, flying two missions per year to the International Space Station.

Many in NASA say it could be done, and safely. Others note there are political, practical and financial questions to consider.

"From a technical, engineering standpoint, there would be nothing stopping the vehicles from being able to fly. They have a lot of life in them," said Mike Moses, NASA's shuttle launch integration manager at Kennedy Space Center.

"I'm confident we could fly at a rate and the risk level we have been flying, and it wouldn't be hard to do," he said. "But it becomes a political question: Is that the right thing to do? And from a budgetary standpoint, can you commit the resources of NASA to continue to fly those vehicles?"

Here's a look at some of the big questions about extending the shuttle, along with the answers:

QUESTION: How much would it cost and where would the money come from?

ANSWER: Billions of dollars, likely siphoned from other NASA programs. In 2008, at Congress' behest, NASA completed a study of the financial and other implications of extending flights past 2010.

Two cases were examined.

# Flying three additional missions through 2012 would cost $4.7 billion.

# Flying three missions per year through 2015 would cost $14 billion.

The study assumed NASA's Project Constellation would continue. President Barack Obama now plans to cancel Constellation, which aimed to develop rockets and spaceships to replace the shuttles and return astronauts to the moon by 2020.

In tough economic times, it is unlikely NASA's budget would be increased to pay for more shuttle flights.

NASA could use money previously budgeted for the moon program to keep the shuttles flying. But that money is now targeted for other programs, such as the White House's proposed $6 billion investment to develop commercial space taxi services to take astronauts to and from the space station. Spending on new technology development programs, science projects and aeronautics research could be hurt as well.

QUESTION: Is flying the shuttles longer feasible?

ANSWER: Yes, but it would be problematic. NASA has been shutting down the shuttle program since 2004. Production work at an external tank factory in New Orleans, a solid rocket booster plant in Utah and main engine facilities in West Palm Beach have been winding down. Hundreds of workers have been laid off at each site.

NASA's booster contractor has cast the solid rocket motors for all remaining shuttle flights. External tanks for the last three shuttle flights scheduled -- and one extra one to provide rescue capability for the final shuttle flight -- are nearing completion. NASA has two more partially built tanks. But contracts with specialty parts suppliers already have been cancelled. It's unclear how quickly those tanks could be completed. If new vendors had to be certified, that process could take anywhere from six to 18 months.

"I think we're pretty far down the path of starting to wind down the shuttle program," NASA space operations chief Bill Gerstenmaier said last fall. "To reinvigorate and restart all that again will not be easy. So, I think, unfortunately, the time to make this decision was a couple of years ago."

QUESTION: Would there be a gap between the scheduled flights and any new ones?

ANSWER: If NASA got the go-ahead today, and maintained its current schedule, there would still be a gap between the last scheduled flight in September and any newly-added missions. The biggest schedule hurdle: building a new external tank from scratch can take two to three years.

NASA could stretch out the remaining four shuttle flights, keeping its shuttle team employed. But that might be cost-prohibitive, driving the cost of single missions up into the billion-dollar ballpark.

Manufacturing lines would have to be restarted. Vendors would have to be persuaded to resume small production runs, likely at premium prices, or new suppliers would have to be found. Then, those parts would have to be certified for flight.

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Can NASA's space shuttle program be extended?


QUESTION: Is it safe?

ANSWER: Opinions differ among experts inside and outside the agency.NASA's shuttle is an inherently dangerous vehicle, with a limited crew escape that wouldn't work in most failure scenarios.
The Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel, created by Congress to oversee NASA programs after the 1967 Apollo 1 fire, strongly recommends against flying the shuttles past 2010.
Former NASA Administrator Mike Griffin said there's a 1 in 8 chance of a catastrophe if the agency flies two more missions per year through 2015.
NASA shuttle program managers, however, say the shuttle could be flown safely.
Recent flights have been remarkably problem-free. The latest NASA risk assessment estimates a 98.7 percent chance any given mission would be executed safely. The single mission risk of losing a shuttle and its astronauts is 1 in 77, that analysis says.
"My opinion is it is acceptably safe, and I think it's much better than the alternative of not flying anyone on U.S. spacecraft for the period we're talking about," NASA shuttle program manager John Shannon said.


QUESTION: Could the shuttle be recertified for flight beyond 2010?


ANSWER: The Columbia Accident Investigation Board said that if NASA flew the shuttles past 2010, the fleet needed to be re-certified.
Re-certification is an exhaustive review common in the aviation business to make sure that older aircraft remain flight-worthy and safe.
In 2006, NASA started an "Aging Vehicle Assessment" aimed at qualifying the shuttle to fly through 2010 by making sure its systems were being processed and operated within the original specifications. NASA engineers found and addressed more than 1,800 issues that required extra tests, re-qualification or redesign. Inspection requirements were increased in two-dozen areas.
The additional work required to re-certify the shuttle for flight through 2015 could be done in less than a year, Shannon said.


QUESTION: Is there political will in Congress to reverse the decision of two presidents and extend shuttle flights?

ANSWER: While lawmakers representing districts with thousands of shuttle jobs on the line want an extension, Congressional leaders in influential decision-making posts say that's unlikely because of cost and safety.

"I think we need to stick to our schedule," said Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., a NASA backer who heads a subcommittee that sets space agency funding. "We're concerned that extending it much longer could become a very thin line in terms of safety. We're very mindful of the job dislocations. But extending the shuttle for another flight or two doesn't solve the systemic problem that places our astronauts at risk. I won't do anything to place our astronauts at risk."
Reps. Suzanne Kosmas, D-New Smyrna Beach, and Bill Posey, R-Rockledge, have proposed to extend the shuttle with additional flights, in part because the shutdown is predicted to cost the region 7,000 shuttle jobs that will create a ripple effect through the rest of the Space Coast's economy.
Posey said 1 percent of the federal stimulus spending could keep the shuttles flying for five years, at $1.5 billion per year. He said Endeavor has flown less than 30 times, but was engineered for 100 missions.
"The only reason not to do it is because you don't want to do it," Posey said. "I'm not quitting until the fat lady sings."
NASA inspector general Paul Martin has said it would cost $200 million per month to maintain the program.
Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Melbourne, said there is an external tank for one extra flight, but a longer extension is unrealistic because of supply line shutdowns. He also worried about diverting funds now dedicated to other NASA projects.
"We'd have to start up the whole thing," said Nelson, who has flown aboard a shuttle. "It's a question of the budget. How do you start up new rockets and still be flying that?"


Contact Halvorson at 639-0576 or thalvorson@floridatoday.com Bart Jansen of Gannett contributed to this report, from Washington

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February 22nd, 2010
Could the Space Shuttle Program Be Extended to 2015?




Congressional legislators in Florida are mounting a campaign to extend space shuttle operations to 2015, adding two flights each year. U.S. Rep. Suzanne Kosmas said a bipartisan plan is in the works, which would require adding another $200 million to the NASA budget for 2010 and between $1.5 – $2 billion a year starting in the 2011-12 budget year. "We're not going to do anything that's not safe," Kosmas was quoted in Florida Today, adding that securing the funding would be difficult in tight budget times, but "we're going to go for it," she said.
At Kennedy Space Center early Monday morning after Endeavour returned home safely following the STS-130 mission, space shuttle program managers confirmed that while the shuttles are in good shape to continue flying, extending the program is not the direction their teams have been headed.

"From a technical, engineering standpoint, there would be nothing stopping the vehicles from being able to fly," said space shuttle integration manager Mike Moses. "They have a lot of life in them. We talk about the risks and hazards of flying, and that's a two edged sword. Anytime you're launching into space is a risky proposition, but this is a vehicle that we understand its risks very well, and we've learned how to work around the pieces that can cause us problems – the foam from Columbia is a good example. We've come a long way, if you look at the performance of the external tank since then, we have put a set of controls in place that have been paying off and really driving our risk numbers down."

"So we could continue fly," Moses continued," and I'm confident we could fly at the rate and the risk level we have been flying and it wouldn't be hard to do. But it becomes a political question: Is that the right thing to do? And from a budgetary standpoint can you commit the resources of NASA to go continue to fly those vehicles? The direction that we're getting from (NASA) Headquarters is that we are going off to do bigger things and explore more. Unfortunately the budgetary realities are we can't continue to do everything and fly the shuttles as well. So while it's hard to let go and shut down a program, that's the way the budget works out. But if you want to turn it around you certainly could there is nothing technically that is stopping you from doing it." Kosmas said the budget proposed by President Barack Obama's is not acceptable as is because it would cede the United States' leadership position in spaceflight in the short term — and possibly the long term. The plan being drafted would direct NASA to examine ways to build a heavy-left rocket by salvaging work done in the Constellation program. Obama's budget called for the end of Constellation, the architecture that would return astronauts to the moon.
Additionally, another part of the plan being drafted by Florida representatives would require NASA to report to Congress in several months with specific safety requirements for manned commercial rockets. "Congress is responding to the president's lack of specificity, lack of an action plan, lack of vision and direction," Kosmas said.
During my time at Kennedy Space Center the past few weeks, the feeling among NASA workers and contractors is that the space shuttles are now in the best shape they have ever been, and the risks and quirks of the vehicles are understood better than ever. The cloud of job losses and a deteriorating economy now hangs over the workforce at KSC and the mood of the entire Space Coast is tentative at best.
The Augustine Commission recommended the shuttles would have to be recertified if they were to fly after 2010, and Moses said that effectively, the work to recertify them has already been done, and if production on External Tanks and other the shuttles could possibly fly until 2020.

It should be noted that Moses' and shuttle launch director Mike Leinbach did not bring up the issue of extending the shuttle program, but only were responding to questions asked by several journalists about the possibility of keeping the shuttle program going. "You guys are really fishing for me to say I want to keep flying the shuttles!" Moses said, while Leinbach expounded more on the reality staring in the face of the workers at KSC, and warned against giving people any false hope.
"We have been very consistent as an agency over the past several years about 2010 being the end of the shuttle program," Leinbach said. "We have not wavered from that. There were people in the system that didn't want to believe that. But here we are in 2010 and the reality is starting to hit us. Our direction to shut down the shuttle program after we finish the station is clear. What is not clear is exactly what we are going on to next. You guys are the ones who asked about extending the shuttle program, we didn't sit up here and mention that. We've been very clear with the workforce. It hurts, but they know it is coming. Any talk of extension or anything like that is just … talk."
What are your views? Should the shuttle program be extended to avoid the lack of US access to space, as well as the loss of aerospace jobs and institutional knowledge? Or is it time to move on?

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Hopefully our Congress will understand we need Space

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See how the Space Station History up to date

http://i.usatoday.net/tech/graphics/...line/flash.htm

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NASA's recently launched Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO, is returning early images that confirm an unprecedented new capability for scientists to better understand our sun’s dynamic processes. These solar activities affect everything on Earth.

Some of the images from the spacecraft show never-before-seen detail of material streaming outward and away from sunspots. Others show extreme close-ups of activity on the sun’s surface. The spacecraft also has made the first high-resolution measurements of solar flares in a broad range of extreme ultraviolet wavelengths.

"These initial images show a dynamic sun that I had never seen in more than 40 years of solar research,” said Richard Fisher, director of the Heliophysics Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "SDO will change our understanding of the sun and its processes, which affect our lives and society. This mission will have a huge impact on science, similar to the impact of the Hubble Space Telescope on modern astrophysics.”


http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sd...rst-light.html

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STS-132 Overview

Space shuttle Atlantis is embarking on its final planned mission. During the 12-day flight, Atlantis and six astronauts will fly to the International Space Station, leaving behind a Russian Mini Research Module, a set of batteries for the station's truss and dish antenna, along with other replacement parts.

NASA astronaut Ken Ham will command an all-veteran flight crew: Pilot Tony Antonelli, and Mission Specialists Michael Good, Garrett Reisman, Piers Sellers and Steve Bowen.

After the final STS-132 Flight Readiness Review, John Shannon, Space Shuttle Program manager, pointed out that Atlantis' last planned mission will be an exciting one.

"Twelve days, three [spacewalks], tons of robotics... We're putting on spares that make us feel good about the long-term sustainability of the ISS, replacing batteries that have been up there for a while, and docking a Russian-built ISS module," Shannon said. "This flight has a little bit of everything, and it's been a great preparation for the team."

Additional Resources
› STS-132 Mission Summary (710 Kb PDF)
› STS-132 Press Kit (9.8 Mb PDF)

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History of Shuttle Missions

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sh...list_main.html



Not many know the Shuttle was engineered to fly 100 Missions and Atlantis is on it's 32nd mission.

Atlantis is on its last Flight 5/14/2010

Construction of the orbiter Atlantis began on March 3, 1980. Thanks to lessons learned in the construction and testing of orbiters Enterprise, Columbia and Challenger, Atlantis was completed in about half the time in man-hours spent on Columbia. This is largely attributed to the use of large thermal protection blankets on the orbiter's upper body, rather than individual tiles requiring more attention.

Construction Milestones - OV-104

Jan. 29, 1979 Contract Award
March 30, 1980 Start structural assembly of crew module
Nov. 23, 1981 Start structural assembly of aft-fuselage
June 13, 1983 Wings arrive at Palmdale from Grumman
Dec. 2, 1983 Start of Final Assembly
April 10, 1984 Completed final assembly
March 6, 1985 Rollout from Palmdale
April 3, 1985 Overland transport from Palmdale to Edwards
April 13, 1985 Delivery to Kennedy Space Center
Sept. 12, 1985 Flight Readiness Firing
Oct. 3, 1985 First Flight (STS 51-J)

By early 2005, Atlantis had undergone two overhauls known as Orbiter Maintenance Down Periods. Some of the most significant upgrades and new features included:

* Installation of the drag chute
* New plumbing lines and electrical connections configuring the orbiter for extended duration missions
* New insulation for the main landing gear doors
* Improved nosewheel steering
* Preparations for the Mir Orbiter Docking System unit later installed at Kennedy
* Installation of the International Space Station airlock and Orbiter Docking System
* Installation of the Multifunction Electronic Display System, or "glass cockpit"