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Waspie_Dwarf

Aug 9 2007, 01:01 AM

The MCC Status Reports issued by NASA are similar to the Shuttle Processing Status Reports except that they are updates on a mission in progress rather than shuttle ground activities.

MCC status reports for previous mission can be found here: STS-121, STS-115, STS-116 & STS-117.

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08.08.07

7:30 p.m. CDT, Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2007
Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas

STATUS REPORT: STS-118-01

STS-118 MCC Status Report #01

The Space Shuttle Endeavour roared into a summer Florida sky on time today at 5:36 p.m. CDT, carrying to the International Space Station a crew of seven, among them teacher-turned-astronaut Barbara Morgan.

Endeavour's crew includes Commander Scott Kelly, Pilot Charles Hobaugh, Mission Specialists Tracy Caldwell, Rick Mastracchio, Dave Williams of the Canadian Space Agency, Alvin Drew and Morgan. The astronauts will attach a new piece to the station's backbone and replace a failed gyroscope. The mission will include up to four spacewalks.

The flawless climb to orbit realized a two-decade-old dream for Morgan, who was first selected by NASA in 1985 as the backup to Teacher in Space Christa McAuliffe. Following the Challenger accident in 1986, Morgan continued to work with NASA on educational activities and returned to teaching elementary school in Idaho. In 1998, she was selected as an astronaut. During this mission, her primary duties are to oversee the transfer of cargo to and from the shuttle and station and assist with robotics operations. She also will take part in several education-related activities.

As Endeavour launched, the station flew 212 miles above the Atlantic Ocean, southeast of Halifax, Nova Scotia. Onboard, Expedition 15 Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and Flight Engineers Oleg Kotov and Clayton Anderson heard that Endeavour had launched and their visitors were on the way.

Endeavour will dock to the station on Friday. The shuttle and station crews will work together to install the new car-sized segment of the station truss and the new Control Moment Gyroscope. The shuttle also will test a system that can allow Endeavour to draw electrical power from the station. If the system operates well, Endeavour's mission may be extended to 14 days.

The shuttle crew begins a sleep period at 11:36 p.m. CDT and will awaken for their first full day in space at 7:36 a.m. CDT Thursday.

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Source: NASA - STS-118 MCC Status Report #01

Waspie_Dwarf

Aug 9 2007, 02:52 PM

08.09.07

8 a.m. CDT, Thursday, Aug. 9, 2007
Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas

STATUS REPORT: STS-118-02

STS-118 MCC Status Report #02

The crew of the Space Shuttle Endeavour was awakened for its first full day in orbit at 7:37 a.m. CDT for a day that will see the spacecraft continue its pursuit of the International Space Station.

Endeavour's crew, Commander Scott Kelly, Pilot Charles Hobaugh, Mission Specialists Tracy Caldwell, Rick Mastracchio, Dave Williams of the Canadian Space Agency, Barbara Morgan and Alvin Drew, was awakened by “Where My Heart Will Take Me,” performed by Russell Watson. It was played for Mastracchio.

Hobaugh, Caldwell and Mastracchio will use the shuttle’s robotic arm to unberth the Orbiter Boom Sensor System (OBSS) to take an extensive and detailed look at the orbiter’s thermal protection system. Williams and Morgan join Mastracchio for the latter part of the survey. The grapple and unberth of the OBSS is scheduled for about 10:20 a.m. After the survey, it is to be reberthed at about 4:30 p.m.

Other activities include preparation for Endeavour’s rendezvous and docking with the space station. Crew members will install a centerline camera. It will help Kelly pilot the orbiter during its slow, careful approach to the station docking port. Crew members also will check out rendezvous tools and extend the Orbiter Docking System ring.

Endeavour is scheduled to dock at 12:53 p.m. Friday. It brings to the station the 4,000-pound Starboard 5 truss segment, a replacement for a Control Moment Gyroscope and a 6,900-pound External Stowage Platform, to stow replacement parts outside the station. Three spacewalks are scheduled, and a fourth could be done if the Station-to-Shuttle Power Transfer System functions as expected, allowing Endeavour to extend its stay at the station.

The next status report will be issued Thursday afternoon or earlier if events warrant.

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Source: NASA - STS-118 MCC Status Report #02

Waspie_Dwarf

Aug 10 2007, 10:04 PM

08.09.07

7 p.m. CDT, Thursday, Aug. 9, 2007
Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas

STATUS REPORT: STS-118-03

STS-118 MCC Status Report #03

The Space Shuttle Endeavour’s crew spent much of its first full day in space making sure the shuttle will be safe to return home.

Using the shuttle’s robotic arm and orbiter boom sensor system, the crew took a close look at the heat shielding on the ship’s wing leading edges. The data was sent to engineers on the ground, who will analyze it to make sure the heat shield came through Wednesday’s launch in good condition.

Commander Scott Kelly, Pilot Charlie Hobaugh and Mission Specialists Tracy Caldwell, Rick Mastracchio, Dave Williams, Barbara Morgan and Alvin Drew also prepared for the planned 12:53 p.m. Friday docking with the International Space Station.

Just before that docking, Kelly will guide Endeavour through a back flip that will allow the station crew to take digital photos of the vehicle's underside, providing more data for analysis by the ground. The rendezvous pitch maneuver, as the back flip is called, provides one more way to ensure the shuttle's heat shielding is healthy.

While the robotic arm survey was under way, Kelly, Williams and Drew checked the spacesuits that will be used during the mission’s spacewalks. Williams and Mastracchio will install the fifth starboard segment (S5) of the station’s main truss during the first spacewalk Saturday. The subsequent spacewalks will replace a failed gyroscope, prepare for the future relocation of another truss segment and, if time permits, install a bracket for storing the shuttle’s orbiter boom sensory system outside the station.

The crew also checked rendezvous tools, installed a centerline camera in Endeavour’s docking system window and extended the docking system's outer ring.

Immediately after Friday’s docking, Caldwell and Mastracchio will lift the 4,000-pound truss segment using the shuttle’s robotic arm and hand it to the waiting station arm, operated by Hobaugh and station flight engineer Clay Anderson. The aluminum spacer will remain in the station arm’s grip until it’s installed Saturday.

Endeavour's crew is scheduled to go to sleep at 10:36 p.m. and awaken at 6:36 a.m. Friday.

The next STS-118 status report will be issued Friday morning or earlier if events warrant.

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Source: NASA - STS-118 MCC Status Report #03

Waspie_Dwarf

Aug 10 2007, 10:12 PM

08.10.07

7 a.m. CDT, Thursday, Friday, Aug. 10, 2007
Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas

STATUS REPORT: STS-118-04

STS-118 MCC Status Report #04

The crew of the space shuttle Endeavour will begin its visit to the International Space Station this afternoon. Rendezvous operations start at 7:30 a.m.

The crew, Commander Scott Kelly, Pilot Charles Hobaugh, and Mission Specialists Tracy Caldwell, Rick Mastracchio, Dave Williams, Barbara Morgan and Alvin Drew, was awakened at 6:36 a.m. by “Mr. Blue Sky,” performed by Electric Light Orchestra. It was played for Kelly.

The final phase of the rendezvous is to begin at 10:14 a.m. with the terminal initiation burn. A little before noon, Kelly will pilot Endeavour through a backflip about 600 feet below the station to enable its crewmembers to photograph the thermal protection tiles on the shuttle’s belly.

Next Kelly will fly the orbiter to a point about 400 feet ahead of the station, then slowly to a docking at about 12:53 p.m. Even before hatches are opened between the two vehicles, the shuttle’s robotic arm will grapple the S5 truss in preparation for its handoff to the station arm and installation on Saturday.

Hatch opening is scheduled for 2:21 p.m. The station crew, Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and Flight Engineers Oleg Kotov and Clay Anderson, will formally welcome their seven guests at a ceremony just after 3 p.m.

Transfer of equipment and supplies to the station will begin a little after 5 p.m. A review of procedures for the mission’s first spacewalk starts about 6:20 p.m. Spacewalkers Mastracchio and Williams will begin a campout in the Quest airlock about 9 p.m. to prepare for the Saturday spacewalk to install S5.

Three spacewalks are scheduled. A fourth could be done if the Station-to-Shuttle Power Transfer System, to be activated a little before 5 p.m., functions as expected, allowing Endeavour to extend its stay at the station.

The next status report will be issued Friday afternoon or earlier if events warrant.

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Source: NASA - STS-118 MCC Status Report #04

Waspie_Dwarf

Aug 11 2007, 01:44 AM

08.10.07

6 p.m. CDT, Thursday, Friday, Aug. 10, 2007
Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas

STATUS REPORT: STS-118-05

STS-118 MCC Status Report #05
The crew of Space Shuttle Endeavour joined forces with the International Space Station crew this afternoon at 3:04 p.m. CDT when STS-118 Commander Scott Kelly floated into the Destiny Laboratory followed by the rest of his crew.

The shuttle and space station docked at 1:02 p.m. CDT while traveling 214 miles above the South Pacific Ocean, northeast of Sydney, Australia.

Prior to docking, Kelly flew Endeavour through an orbital back flip while about 600 feet below the space station, allowing Expedition 15 Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and Flight Engineer Oleg Kotov to take a series of high-resolution photographs of the orbiter’s heat shield.

Mission managers today decided to have the crew perform focused inspections Sunday of Endeavour’s heat-protection tiles after launch videos and pre-docking photography showed a three-inch-round ding on the shuttle’s starboard underside. The inspections will be carried out using the Orbiter Boom Sensor System, which is capable of collecting three-dimensional laser images and high-resolution digital photography of the area.

After a brief welcoming ceremony and safety briefing, the joint crew got right to work on its first job – transfer of the newest piece of station structure from the shuttle’s payload bay to the station’s robotic arm. Pilot Charles Hobaugh joined Expedition 15 Flight Engineer Clay Anderson at the Destiny Laboratory robotics workstation to manipulate the station’s Canadarm2 while Tracy Caldwell and Rick Mastracchio operated the shuttle’s arm from Endeavour’s aft flight deck.

The 4,010 pound, compact-car sized Starboard 5 (S5) truss spacer will remain on the end of the station’s arm overnight before being installed Saturday during the mission’s first spacewalk. Connecting the S5 spacer to the end of the starboard truss will set the stage for installation of the Starboard 6 truss and its solar arrays next year.

At 4:17 p.m. CDT, the crew activated the Station-to-Shuttle Power Transfer System (SSPTS). The SSPTS routes power from the station to a visiting shuttle. If it continues to operate well, mission managers could elect to extend STS-118 from 11 to 14 days and increase the number of spacewalks to four.

Mastracchio and Mission Specialist Dave Williams will spend tonight "camped out" inside the Quest airlock, with air pressure lowered to help purge nitrogen from their bodies in preparation for the excursion. Their spacewalk is scheduled to begin just after 7 a.m. CDT Saturday. The spacewalkers will monitor Hobaugh and Anderson’s initial installation of the S5 truss using Canadarm2, then complete structural, power and data connections to the stations’ newest asset.

The next STS-118 mission status report will be issued Saturday morning or earlier if events warrant.

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Source: NASA - STS-118 MCC Status Report #05

Waspie_Dwarf

Aug 11 2007, 09:19 PM

08.10.07

7 a.m. CDT, Saturday, Aug. 11, 2007
Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas

STATUS REPORT: STS-118-06

STS-118 MCC Status Report #06

The day after they entered the International Space Station, two members of the Space Shuttle Endeavour crew will go out again, this time for a spacewalk.

The crew, Commander Scott Kelly, Pilot Charles Hobaugh, and Mission Specialists Tracy Caldwell, Rick Mastracchio, Dave Williams, Barbara Morgan and Alvin Drew, was awakened at 6:38 a.m. CDT by “Gravity,” performed by John Mayer. It was played for Hobaugh.

The spacewalk by Mastracchio and Williams, a Canadian Space Agency astronaut, is to begin at 11:31 a.m. Major tasks are installation of the Starboard 5 (S5) truss and to help with retraction of the forward radiator of the Port 6 (P6) truss. Intravehicular officer Caldwell will advise and guide spacewalkers.

The spacewalkers will help guide Canadarm2 operator Hobaugh as he carefully moves the S5, sometimes with less than three inches of clearance, to its new home. Then Mastracchio and Williams will bolt it into place and hook it up. Then, they will move to the P6 truss to secure the radiator after its retraction. The spacewalk is scheduled to end at 6:01 p.m.

The new Station-Shuttle Power Transfer System will be shut down during the spacewalk as a precaution. It functioned well through the crew’s night and will be turned on again after the spacewalk. By providing station power to Endeavour, the system may enable a longer stay by the shuttle and permit a fourth spacewalk.

The transfer of thousands of pounds of equipment and supplies from Endeavour to the station began shortly after docking. The pressurized Spacehab module in the cargo bay has a capacity of about 6,000 pounds. It will return about 3,000 pounds of science samples, equipment and unneeded items to Earth. Morgan oversees the transfer operations.

The next status report will be issued Saturday evening or earlier if events warrant.

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Source: NASA - STS-118 MCC Status Report #06

Waspie_Dwarf

Aug 12 2007, 12:43 AM

08.11.07

7 p.m. CDT, Saturday, Aug. 11, 2007
Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas

STATUS REPORT: STS-118-07

STS-118 MCC Status Report #07
First-time spacewalkers Rick Mastracchio and Dave Williams added a two-ton, 11-foot-long spacer to the International Space Station’s backbone today during the mission’s inaugural spacewalk.

With the addition of the new spacer, nicknamed “Stubby” by the STS-118 crew, the station’s truss is now 246 feet long.

The two Endeavour mission specialists ventured outside the station to attach the Starboard 5 (S5) segment of the station’s truss and to retract the forward heat-rejecting radiator from the station’s Port 6 (P6) truss. The retraction was the final step needed before the P6 truss can be relocated to its permanent place at the end of the port truss during the STS-120 mission in October.

The spacewalk began at 11:28 a.m. CDT, and Mastracchio and Williams were back inside by 5:45 p.m. The truss was officially installed by 1:26 p.m. Total duration of the spacewalk was 6 hours, 17 minutes. The spacewalkers stayed ahead of schedule, and after finishing the planned tasks completed some extra jobs that advanced the station’s assembly.

Mission Specialist Tracy Caldwell guided the spacewalkers as they eyed clearances for station arm operators Charlie Hobaugh and Clay Anderson. The shuttle pilot and station flight engineer moved the truss segment into place and engaged automatic latches, and then the spacewalkers fastened the primary structural bolts that will hold it in place.

With the new starboard truss section in place, the crew is ready to move on to the next spacewalk. On Monday, Mastracchio and Williams will venture outside again to replace a faulty control moment gyroscope. At least two more spacewalks are scheduled, and a fourth may be added if mission managers decide to extend the mission to 14 days.

While the spacewalk was under way, the station’s primary U.S. Command and Control computer shut down unexpectedly at 2:52 p.m. The redundant system reacted as designed and the primary backup computer took over, and the third computer moved into the backup slot. The shutdown did not affect the spacewalk. With two computers working normally, station flight controllers are troubleshooting the cause of the third’s shutdown.

Meanwhile, mission managers continued to evaluate imagery gathered on the first three days of the flight as they awaited additional information from a focused inspection of the shuttle’s underbelly that is planned for Sunday.

The crew is scheduled to go to sleep at 10:06 p.m. tonight and awaken Sunday for flight day five at 6:06 a.m.

The next STS-118 status report will be issued Sunday morning or earlier if events warrant.

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Source: NASA - STS-118 MCC Status Report #07

Waspie_Dwarf

Aug 12 2007, 08:25 PM

08.12.07

6:30 a.m. CDT, Sunday, Aug. 12, 2007
Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas

STATUS REPORT: STS-118-08

STS-118 MCC Status Report #08

Space shuttle Endeavour crew members will take a close look at areas of apparent damage to the orbiter’s thermal protection system in a focused inspection today.

The crew, Commander Scott Kelly, Pilot Charles Hobaugh, and Mission Specialists Tracy Caldwell, Rick Mastracchio, Dave Williams, Barbara Morgan and Alvin Drew, was awakened for focused inspection day at 6:07 a.m. CDT by “Up!” performed by Shania Twain. It was played for Williams.

The International Space Station’s Canadarm2 will unberth the Orbiter Boom Sensor System and hand it off to the shuttle’s robotic arm a little after 8:45 a.m. The OBSS is an extension of the shuttle’s arm and has sophisticated electronic and visual sensors at its end.

Caldwell, Morgan and Kelly will do most of the focused inspection, with Hobaugh and station Flight Engineer Clay Anderson at the controls of the station arm. Other crew members will work to transfer equipment and supplies between the two spacecraft.

The day after successful completion of the first spacewalk of Endeavour’s STS-118 mission to the station, preparations will begin for the second. Mastracchio and Williams will prepare spacewalking tools during two sessions, one this morning and another this afternoon. All crew members will do an hour-long spacewalk procedure review starting about 5:45 p.m.

Just after 8 p.m. Mastracchio and Williams will begin another campout in the Quest airlock. Their Monday spacewalk is devoted to replacement of a malfunctioning control moment gyroscope, one of four in the Z1 truss that control the orientation of the station, with a spare brought by Endeavour.

The next status report will be issued Sunday evening or earlier if events warrant.

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Source: NASA - STS-118 MCC Status Report #08

Waspie_Dwarf

Aug 13 2007, 03:06 AM

08.12.07

6 p.m. CDT, Sunday, Aug. 12, 2007
Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas

STATUS REPORT: STS-118-09

STS-118 MCC Status Report #09

With five days of pilfering power from the International Space Station under their belt, mission managers today decided to extend space shuttle Endeavour’s flight from 11 to 14 days.

The crew is now scheduled for undocking on Aug. 20 for an Aug. 22 landing. The three extra days are made possible by the new Station-to-Shuttle Power Transfer System, which allows the shuttle to draw power from the station while docked. The crew members will use the extra time to add a fourth spacewalk, during which Mission Specialist Dave Williams and space station Flight Engineer Clay Anderson will install equipment used to stow the Orbiter Boom Sensor System at the station between shuttle flights.

Commander Scott Kelly and mission specialists Tracy Caldwell and Barbara R. Morgan spent three hours performing a focused inspection of heat protection tiles on the shuttle’s underside. Using an infrared laser to take 3-D video images of the five identified areas of concern, the crew transmitted the images down to be examined by engineers on the ground.

Initial images from the inspection indicate that four of the damaged areas are not an issue for reentry. Engineers will do thermal analyses and build models of the fifth area to test at NASA’s Johnson Space Center’s arc jet facility. The results will help them decide whether a repair is necessary before the shuttle lands.

In conjunction with the inspection, Williams, Pilot Charlie Hobaugh and mission specialists Rick Mastracchio and Alvin Drew worked on transferring supplies and equipment from the shuttle to the International Space Station.

Mastracchio and Williams also prepared the tools they will use in the mission’s second spacewalk. The two men will spend the night camped out in the station’s Quest Airlock, where the air pressure will be lowered to help purge nitrogen from their bodies before the spacewalk.

The spacewalk is scheduled to start at 10:31 a.m. CDT Monday. Mastracchio and Williams will be replacing a control moment gyroscope that failed and was shut down last October.

The shuttle crew is scheduled to go to sleep at 9:36 p.m. and wake up at 5:36 a.m.

The next status report will be issued Monday morning or earlier if events warrant.

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Source: NASA - STS-118 MCC Status Report #09

Waspie_Dwarf

Aug 13 2007, 01:28 PM

08.13.07

6 a.m. CDT, Monday, Aug. 13, 2007
Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas

STATUS REPORT: STS-118-10

STS-118 MCC Status Report #10

The International Space Station will get a new control moment gyroscope today, courtesy of the space shuttle Endeavour and spacewalking astronauts Rick Mastracchio and Dave Williams.

The second spacewalk of Endeavour’s flight to the station is scheduled to begin just after 10:30 a.m. CDT.

The Endeavour crew, Commander Scott Kelly, Pilot Charles Hobaugh, and Mission Specialists Tracy Caldwell, Mastracchio, Williams, Barbara Morgan and Alvin Drew, and station crew members, Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and Flight Engineers Oleg Kotov and Clay Anderson, were awakened for spacewalk day at 5:46 a.m. CDT by “Outta Space” performed by Billy Preston. It was played for Drew.

The four control moment gyroscopes (CMGs) in the station’s Z1 truss control the station’s attitude, or orientation, in space. Each weighs 600 pounds and spins at 6,600 revolutions per minute. CMG 3 failed last October.

With help from the station’s Canadarm2, operated by Hobaugh and Anderson, Mastracchio and Williams will remove the failed CMG and temporarily stow it. Then they’ll bring the new one to Z1 and install it. Finally they’ll take the failed CMG to External Stowage Platform 2 and attach it there. Total spacewalk time should be about 6½ hours.

Crew members will continue transfer activities, moving equipment and supplies between Endeavour and the station. With three days added yesterday to Endeavour’s stay at the station, that work should be finished with time to spare.

This afternoon Yurchikhin and Kotov will do a computer panel inspection after considerable work on Russian computers in the Zvezda service module.

The next status report will be issued Monday evening or earlier if events warrant.

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Source: NASA - STS-118 MCC Status Report #10

Waspie_Dwarf

Aug 14 2007, 01:07 AM

08.13.07

8 p.m. CDT, Monday, Aug. 13, 2007
Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas

STATUS REPORT: STS-118-11

STS-118 MCC Status Report #11

The International Space Station has a new control moment gyroscope, which is in the process of being checked out by Mission Control.

Mission Specialists Dave Williams and Rick Mastracchio completed a spacewalk that has been in the works since one of the station’s four gyroscopes – which control orientation – failed in October. Williams carried the 600-pound replacement to its new home on the Z1 segment of the station truss, and stored the failed equipment on the outside of the station. It will be returned home on a future shuttle mission.

The second of four spacewalks scheduled for Endeavour’s mission, this was the 90th spacewalk devoted to station maintenance and construction. Williams and Mastracchio left the station at 10:32 a.m. and spent 6 hours and 28 minutes outside.

Inside, Commander Scott Kelly, Pilot Charles Hobaugh, and Mission Specialists Tracy Caldwell and Barbara Morgan, as well as station Flight Engineer Clay Anderson, supported the spacewalk by operating the station and shuttle’s robotic arms and coordinating the activities with Mission Control. Meanwhile, Mission Specialist Alvin Drew worked on transferring equipment and supplies brought up by the shuttle to the station.

On the ground, mission managers are still reviewing tests and analysis of a small section of the shuttle’s thermal protection system that was damaged during launch. The tests will include subjecting intentionally damaged tiles to heat and pressure comparable to shuttle reentry conditions. Depending on the results of the tests, spacewalkers could be called upon to repair the damage no earlier than the mission’s fourth spacewalk, planned for Friday.

The crew is scheduled to go to sleep at 9:06 p.m., and awaken at 5:06 a.m. Their schedule for Tuesday involves a variety of events and duties, including an interactive educational event with children at the Boise, Idaho, Discovery Center; the 50,000th orbit of the station’s Russian Zarya module; robotic installation of a stowage platform outside the station and preparation for Wednesday’s third spacewalk.

The next status report will be issued Tuesday morning or earlier if events warrant.

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Source: NASA - STS-118 MCC Status Report #11

Waspie_Dwarf

Aug 14 2007, 01:10 PM

08.14.07

6 a.m. CDT, Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2007
Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas

STATUS REPORT: STS-118-12

STS-118 MCC Status Report #12

The International Space Station has a new control moment gyroscope, which is in the process of being checked out by Mission Control.

A third external stowage platform (ESP) will be installed on the International Space Station today. This time it will be done by crew members using robotic arms of the shuttle Endeavour and the station.

Both ESPs now on the station, one on the U.S. laboratory Destiny and the other on the Quest airlock, were attached during spacewalks.

The Endeavour crew, Commander Scott Kelly, Pilot Charles Hobaugh, and Mission Specialists Tracy Caldwell, Rick Mastracchio, Dave Williams, Barbara Morgan and Alvin Drew, and station crew members, Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and Flight Engineers Oleg Kotov and Clay Anderson, were awakened at 5:07 a.m. CDT by “Happy Birthday Tracy,” performed by Caldwell’s nieces and nephews, in recognition of the day’s significance.

The control moment gyroscope installed during the Monday spacewalk by Mastracchio and Williams was brought to the station on ESP3 in Endeavour’s cargo bay as a replacement. Now it’s ESP3’s turn.

Installation begins with Caldwell and Morgan using the shuttle arm to lift it from the cargo bay. They’ll hand it to the station arm, operated by Hobaugh and Anderson. They will maneuver it into position and install it.

Transfer activities continue today. Preparations for the mission’s third spacewalk, this one by Mastracchio and Anderson to prepare the P6 truss for relocation in October, include a procedure review by all crew members and the start of an overnight campout in the airlock by the spacewalkers.

Morgan and Caldwell will talk with representatives of five major news organizations at 1:01 p.m. Morgan, Williams, Drew and Anderson will speak with children at the Discovery Center of Idaho in Boise at 4:09 p.m.

In addition to Caldwell’s birthday, today marks another milestone. A little after 10:15 a.m., Zarya, the first module of the International Space Station, will mark its 50,000th orbit. It was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on a Russian Proton rocket in November 1998. The U.S.-funded module was built in Russia. Zarya is Russian for “Sunrise.”

The next status report will be issued Tuesday evening or earlier if events warrant.

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Source: NASA - STS-118 MCC Status Report #12

Waspie_Dwarf

Aug 15 2007, 12:47 AM

08.14.07

6 p.m. CDT, Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2007
Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas

STATUS REPORT: STS-118-13

STS-118 MCC Status Report #13

In a first for the International Space Station, astronauts today installed a 7,000-pound storage platform using only the station and shuttle’s robotic arms.

The installation of two previous storage platforms, one on the Destiny laboratory and the other on the Quest airlock, required the help of spacewalking astronauts.

Mission specialists Tracy Caldwell and Barbara Morgan were inside at Endeavour’s controls as the shuttle’s robotic arm lifted the storage platform from the cargo bay to hand it over to the station’s robotic arm. Pilot Charles Hobaugh and station Flight Engineer Clay Anderson then used the station arm to attach the 13-by-7-foot platform to the station’s Port 3 truss at 11:18 a.m.

This is the station’s third external stowage platform, and it holds critical spare parts, including a control moment gyroscope, a nitrogen tank assembly and a battery charge/discharge unit.

Crew members also took time out of a busy schedule for two conversations with people back home. Morgan and Caldwell, along with Commander Scott Kelly, were interviewed by five news organizations. Then Morgan was joined by Anderson and mission specialists Dave Williams and Alvin Drew for the first of the mission’s three educational events. Twenty children at the Discovery Center in Boise, Idaho, were given the chance to ask questions on topics ranging from how fast one could throw a baseball in space to how being a teacher is like being an astronaut. The remaining two education events are planned for Thursday and Sunday.

Mission managers continued to discuss whether they will ask the crew to repair damage to the shuttle’s heat shield that occurred during launch. Mission managers have determined that the damage is not a threat to crew safety. Any repairs would be performed to minimize repairs to Endeavour after landing. They are awaiting the results of tests and analyses that included subjecting intentionally damaged tiles to heat and pressure comparable to shuttle reentry conditions.

Depending on the results of the tests, spacewalkers could be called upon to repair the damage no earlier than the mission’s fourth spacewalk.

Tonight, Anderson and Mission Specialist Rick Mastracchio are preparing for the mission’s third spacewalk, scheduled to start at 10:01 a.m. Wednesday. The duo will spend the night camped out in the station’s Quest Airlock, where the air pressure will be lowered to help purge nitrogen from their bodies. The six-and-a-half hour spacewalk will prepare the Port 6 truss segment for relocation from its temporary home on the Z1 truss, where it’s been since 2000, during the next mission.

The crew is scheduled to go to sleep at 9:06 p.m. and start flight day 8 at 5:06 a.m.

The next status report will be issued Wednesday morning or earlier if events warrant.

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Source: NASA - STS-118 MCC Status Report #13

Waspie_Dwarf

Aug 15 2007, 12:22 PM

08.15.07

5:30 a.m. CDT, Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2007
Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas

STATUS REPORT: STS-118-14

STS-118 MCC Status Report #14

The third spacewalk of Endeavour’s visit to the International Space Station will help lay groundwork for relocation of the Port 6 truss, upgrade a station voice communications system and retrieve materials experiments.

Endeavour Mission Specialist Rick Mastracchio and station Flight Engineer Clay Anderson are scheduled to begin the 6½-hour spacewalk at 10:01 a.m. CDT.

The Endeavour crew, Commander Scott Kelly, Pilot Charles Hobaugh, and Mission Specialists Tracy Caldwell, Mastracchio, Dave Williams, Barbara Morgan and Alvin Drew, and station crew members, Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin, Flight Engineer Oleg Kotov and Anderson, were awakened for spacewalk 3 day at 5:07 a.m. CDT by “Good Morning World.” It was written and performed by Morgan’s son Adam.

The station’s P6 truss is to be relocated from atop the Unity node to the left end of the main truss. Spacewalkers will move two Crew Equipment Translation Aid (CETA) carts from tracks on the left side of the Canadarm2’s mobile transporter to its right side. That will clear the way for the arm to work on the P6 relocation, scheduled during the next shuttle mission.

Mastracchio and Anderson also will relocate an antenna base and install a new transponder and signal processor in an S-band communications upgrade.

The spacewalkers will retrieve two experiments for return to Earth. The materials experiments, dubbed MISSE (for Materials International Space Station Experiment) 3 and 4, could play a role in construction of future spacecraft. These are the last two of five suitcase-like containers exposing hundreds of material samples to the harsh conditions of space for about a year. These were deployed in August 2006. MISSE 1, 2 and 5 already have been returned to Earth.

Transfer operations, movement of supplies, equipment and other material between Endeavour and the station, also will continue. It is about half complete.

The next status report will be issued Wednesday evening or earlier if events warrant.

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Source: NASA - STS-118 MCC Status Report #14

Waspie_Dwarf

Aug 16 2007, 02:51 AM

08.15.07

8:30 p.m. CDT, Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2007
Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas

STATUS REPORT: STS-118-15

STS-118 MCC Status Report #15

Endeavour’s third spacewalk prepared the International Space Station for the next step in solar array deployment and voice communications system upgrades despite an early end called because of a damaged glove.

The spacewalk began at 9:38 a.m. for Mission Specialist Rick Mastracchio and station Flight Engineer Clay Anderson. At 1:54 p.m., during a periodic glove check, Mastracchio noted a hole in the second layer of material on the thumb of his left glove. The suit has five protective layers, and the small hole did not cause any leak or danger to Mastracchio.

As a precautionary measure, Mastracchio headed back to the Quest airlock while Anderson completed his final task. The spacewalk ended at 3:05 p.m., with a total time of 5 hours and 28 minutes. During the excursion, Mastracchio and Anderson relocated the S-Band Antenna Sub-Assembly from Port 6 (P6) to Port 1 (P1), installed a new transponder on P1 and retrieved the P6 transponder.

The spacewalkers also monitored the station’s robotic arm as Mission Specialist Charlie Hobaugh and station Flight Engineer Oleg Kotov moved two Crew Equipment Translation Aid carts. The move enabled relocation of the solar array segment to its final position during STS-120. Mission Specialist Tracy Caldwell coordinated the spacewalk from inside, while Mission Specialist Barbara R. Morgan provided camera views using the shuttle robotic arm.

The only task not completed was the retrieval of two space material sample packages. Materials International Space Station Experiments 3 and 4 will be retrieved on a later spacewalk.

Mission managers in Houston continue to consider whether a spacewalk will be needed to repair a small gouge on Endeavour’s heat shield tiles. Before going to bed, the crew was informed that managers have decided the next spacewalk will be moved from Friday to Saturday, but that they haven’t decided whether Saturday’s spacewalk will be devoted to tile repair or get-ahead tasks.

To protect for various schedule possibilities, the crew on Thursday will proceed with early preparations for a tile repair spacewalk.

The rest of the Endeavour and station crew, Commander Scott Kelly, mission specialists Dave Williams and Alvin Drew and station Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin, also supported the relocation and installation work. The crews continued transferring supplies and equipment between Endeavour and the station.

The next status report will be issued Thursday morning or earlier if events warrant.

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Source: NASA - STS-118 MCC Status Report #15

Waspie_Dwarf

Aug 16 2007, 01:01 PM

08.16.07

5 a.m. CDT, Thursday, Aug. 16, 2007
Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas

STATUS REPORT: STS-118-16

STS-118 MCC Status Report #16

Preparations for a possible spacewalk to repair a small ding in Endeavour’s thermal protection system tiles will occupy a considerable part of today for Commander Scott Kelly and Mission Specialists Rick Mastracchio, Dave Williams and Tracy Caldwell.

Mission managers have not decided that a repair spacewalk will be needed. But to prepare for that possibility, the crew members will begin to get ready to do the repair, should managers determine that is necessary.

The managers did decide to move the flight’s fourth spacewalk from Friday to Saturday. If the repair isn’t done, that spacewalk will see installation of two antennas and removal of one, installation of a stowage stand for the shuttle’s orbiter boom sensor system and other tasks.

The Endeavour crew, including Pilot Charles Hobaugh and Mission Specialists Barbara Morgan and Alvin Drew, and station Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and Flight Engineer Oleg Kotov, were awakened at 4:37 a.m. CDT by “Times Like These” by the Foo Fighters. It was for Mastracchio.

In addition to spacewalk preparations, transfer operations, movement of supplies, equipment and other material between Endeavour and the station, will continue. It is more than half complete. The crew also will have some off-duty time late in the day.

Morgan and Drew will speak with the Challenger Center for Space Science Education in Alexandria, Va., and children from the area at 7:06 a.m. A little later, at 9:16 a.m., they will chat with reporters from Associated Press Television, Reuters and Idaho Public Television.

The next status report will be issued Thursday evening or earlier if events warrant.

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Source: NASA - STS-118 MCC Status Report #16

Waspie_Dwarf

Aug 17 2007, 09:50 AM

08.16.07

8 p.m. CDT, Thursday, Aug. 16, 2007
Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas

STATUS REPORT: STS-118-17

STS-118 MCC Status Report #17

Endeavour’s crew was informed just before bedtime today that mission managers had decided not to call upon them to repair the shuttle’s heat shield.

“Pass along our thanks for all the hard work the MMT (Mission Management Team) and everyone down there is doing supporting our flight,” said STS-118 Commander Scott Kelly.

As testing and deliberations related to the decision were under way, Kelly and Mission Specialists Rick Mastracchio, Dave Williams and Tracy Caldwell spent much of their day preparing for the possibility of a repair to a small ding in the silicon tiles on Endeavour’s belly.

Now, the fourth spacewalk of the mission on Saturday will remain focused on installation of two antennas and a stowage stand for the shuttle’s orbiter boom sensor system, and other tasks. Spacewalkers Williams and station Flight Engineer Clay Anderson also will retrieve two suitcase-sized packages known as Materials International Space Station Experiments 3 and 4. Those experiments were scheduled for retrieval at the end of Wednesday’s spacewalk, which was cut short due to a damaged spacesuit glove.

Also today, mission specialists Barbara R. Morgan and Alvin Drew answered questions from students at the Challenger Center for Space Science Education in Alexandria, Va. The duo then conducted interviews with Associated Press Television, Reuters and Idaho Public Television.

Morgan also answered questions via an amateur radio connection from students in her former school district, McCall-Donnelly in Idaho. Morgan taught at McCall-Donnelly Elementary School from 1975-1978, and again in 1979-1998.

Pilot Charlie Hobaugh and station Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and Flight Engineer Oleg Kotov transferred supplies and equipment between the two orbiting spacecraft, which is more than half-way complete. Both crews closed the day with some off-duty time.

The next status report will be issued Friday morning or earlier if events warrant.

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Source: NASA - STS-118 MCC Status Report #17

Waspie_Dwarf

Aug 17 2007, 11:07 AM

08.17.07

4:30 a.m. CDT, Friday, Aug. 17, 2007
Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas

STATUS REPORT: STS-118-18

STS-118 MCC Status Report #18

After mission managers decided on Thursday that no repair of Endeavour’s heat resistant tiles is necessary, astronauts today will work to prepare for a Saturday spacewalk much like the one initially planned.

The Endeavour crew, Commander Scott Kelly, Pilot Charles Hobaugh, and Mission Specialists Tracy Caldwell, Rick Mastracchio, Dave Williams, Barbara Morgan and Alvin Drew, and station Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and Flight Engineers Oleg Kotov and Clay Anderson, were awakened at 4:08 a.m. CDT by “Black Horse and the Cherry Tree,” performed by KT Tunstall, for Caldwell.

The mission's fourth spacewalk will be done by Williams of the Canadian Space Agency and Anderson. Caldwell will serve as the intravehicular officer, guiding spacewalkers through their tasks and keeping them on the timeline.

Spacewalk tasks include installing an External Wireless Instrumentation System antenna, installing a stand for the shuttle’s robotic arm extension boom, bolting down debris shields on the Unity node and the U.S. laboratory Destiny and retrieving two containers of the Materials ISS Experiment.

Caldwell and the spacewalkers will spend about an hour and a half this morning preparing spacewalking tools. Late in their day, all 10 shuttle and station crew members will do a review of spacewalk procedures. Then Williams and Anderson will begin the standard “campout,” spending the night in the Quest airlock.

Substantial blocks of transfer time are scheduled for six crew members to continue moving equipment and supplies between the two spacecraft.

Crew members will talk with reporters at NASA centers and Canadian Space Agency headquarters in Montreal. The 40-minute event begins at 12:34 p.m.

The next status report will be issued Friday evening or earlier if events warrant.

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Source: NASA - STS-118 MCC Status Report #18

Waspie_Dwarf

Aug 18 2007, 01:19 AM

08.17.07

6:30 p.m. CDT, Friday, Aug. 17, 2007
Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas

STATUS REPORT: STS-118-19

STS-118 MCC Status Report #19

The Endeavour astronauts and their colleagues on the International Space Station today took time out from supply transfers and spacewalk preparations for a news conference with United States and Canadian reporters.

Commander Scott Kelly, Pilot Charles Hobaugh, and Mission Specialists Tracy Caldwell, Rick Mastracchio, Dave Williams, Barbara Morgan and Alvin Drew, and station Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and Flight Engineers Oleg Kotov and Clay Anderson all gathered in the Destiny Laboratory for the traditional news conference.

In response to questions, the crew said it agrees 100 percent with the mission managers’ decision to land Endeavour without mounting a spacewalk to repair damage to its heat shield tiles.

Mission managers are keeping a close watch on Hurricane Dean and reviewing established plans as they might apply to STS-118, should the storm threaten Johnson Space Center, where Mission Control is located. They’re also considering how those preparations could affect the remainder of STS-118. Managers are working with the flight control team to keep open the option of ending the mission Tuesday rather than Wednesday if the storm continues to threaten Houston.

The crew is scheduled to go to sleep at 8:06 p.m. and wake up at 4:06 a.m. Then Williams and Anderson plan to begin the final spacewalk of the mission at 9:01 a.m. Saturday. The tasks in that spacewalk will be prioritized overnight while the crew sleeps so that the spacewalk can be abbreviated to protect all landing options.

The mission’s third spacewalk ended early because of damage to Mastracchio’s spacesuit glove. Mission managers today completed a careful review and concluded that Williams and Anderson could safely perform Saturday’s spacewalk. It is believed that the small tear was the result of wear in the material, but Williams and Anderson will check their gloves even more often than usual to stay alert for any cut that might be caused by a sharp edge on the exterior of the station.

The next status report will be issued Saturday morning or earlier if events warrant.

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Source: NASA - STS-118 MCC Status Report #19

Waspie_Dwarf

Aug 18 2007, 12:02 PM

08.18.07

4:30 a.m. CDT, Saturday, Aug. 18, 2007
Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas

STATUS REPORT: STS-118-20

STS-118 MCC Status Report #20

The fourth spacewalk of Endeavour’s mission to the International Space Station is scheduled to begin at 9:01 a.m. CDT today.

The Endeavour crew, Commander Scott Kelly, Pilot Charles Hobaugh, and Mission Specialists Tracy Caldwell, Rick Mastracchio, Dave Williams, Barbara Morgan and Alvin Drew, and station Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and Flight Engineers Oleg Kotov and Clay Anderson, were awakened for spacewalk day at 4:03 a.m. CDT by “Learn to Fly,“ performed by the Foo Fighters. It was played for Drew.

Overnight, mission managers decided to shorten the originally planned 6.5-hour spacewalk to 4.5 hours so that the crew can close hatches between the station and shuttle at the end of the day today. That plan preserves the option to have Endeavour undock from the station on Sunday and prepare for a landing on Tuesday. The earlier landing is being considered in the event Hurricane Dean threatens the Houston area. It could allow an opportunity for the shuttle to land before Mission Control, Houston, would be shut down in preparation for a storm.

However, managers will review the forecast for Dean and mission activities this afternoon during their daily meeting and assess whether they will continue to pursue a possible early undocking and landing.

Today's spacewalk will be conducted by Williams of the Canadian Space Agency and Anderson. Caldwell will serve as the intravehicular officer, guiding spacewalkers through their tasks and keeping them on the timeline.

Spacewalk tasks include installing an External Wireless Instrumentation System antenna, part of a system that measures stresses on the structure of the station. Also, Williams and Anderson will install a stand for the shuttle’s robotic arm extension boom, allowing it to be temporarily stowed on the station next year. They also will retrieve two containers of the Materials ISS Experiment. These are the last of five containers that look at the effects of the space environment on 1,500 samples of various materials. The study provides investigators insight into how those materials may be used on future spacecraft.

To shorten the spacewalk, two tasks will be deferred to a future station spacewalk. Those include cleaning up and securing debris shielding on the Unity node and Destiny lab and a move of a tool box on the station to a more central location.

Transfer operations, the movement of equipment and supplies between Endeavour and the station, are almost complete.

The next status report will be issued Saturday evening or earlier if events warrant.

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Source: NASA - STS-118 MCC Status Report #20

Waspie_Dwarf

Aug 19 2007, 12:28 AM

08.18.07

5:30 p.m. CDT, Saturday, Aug. 18, 2007
Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas

STATUS REPORT: STS-118-21

STS-118 MCC Status Report #21

Two astronauts conducted a five-hour spacewalk today, finishing up the last priorities of Endeavour’s mission, while their crewmates inside prepared for an early undocking, now scheduled for Sunday.

Mission Specialist Dave Williams and International Space Station Flight Engineer Clay Anderson left the station’s airlock at 8:17 a.m. By the time they returned at 1:19 p.m., they’d completed all of the tasks scheduled for the replanned spacewalk, which was trimmed by two hours to allow for a day-early hatch closing at 4:10 p.m. CDT today.

Williams and Anderson installed the External Wireless Instrumentation System antenna, attached a stand for the shuttle’s robotic arm extension boom and retrieved the two materials experiment containers to be brought home on the shuttle. Two other tasks originally planned for the spacewalk – cleaning up and securing debris shielding and moving a tool box to a more central location – were deferred to a future spacewalk.

During the spacewalk, the crew got a good look at Hurricane Dean as the station and shuttle passed over the Caribbean, prompting Williams to comment, “Wow.” On the ground, mission managers reviewed the storm’s track and decided to move Endeavour’s undocking up a day, to 6:57 a.m. Sunday.

If the storm continues to threaten Houston, the plan is now to land at one of three shuttle landing sites – Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Edwards Air Force Base in California, or White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico – on Tuesday. If Endeavour is unable to land on Tuesday and the storm continues to threaten Houston, managers would send a small Emergency Mission Control Center team of flight controllers to Florida to support a Wednesday landing. International Space Station managers are preparing to execute a similar Backup Control Center plan if needed.

However, if the storm takes a more favorable track, managers may elect to proceed with a landing strategy that allows the entry team of flight controllers to pick the best landing day and site based on landing site weather conditions.

The next status report will be issued Sunday morning or earlier if events warrant.

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Source: NASA - STS-118 MCC Status Report #21

Waspie_Dwarf

Aug 19 2007, 08:07 PM

08.19.07

4 a.m. CDT, Sunday, Aug. 19, 2007
Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas

STATUS REPORT: STS-118-22

STS-118 MCC Status Report #22

Endeavour is scheduled to undock from the International Space Station today, winding up a successful stay of almost nine days at the orbiting laboratory.

The Endeavour crew, Commander Scott Kelly, Pilot Charles Hobaugh, and Mission Specialists Tracy Caldwell, Rick Mastracchio, Dave Williams, Barbara Morgan and Alvin Drew, was awakened for undocking day at 3:37 a.m. CDT by “Teacher, Teacher,” performed by .38 Special. It was for Morgan. Station Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and Flight Engineers Oleg Kotov and Clay Anderson got their standard wakeup tone about the same time.

Endeavour and station crew members said their farewells Saturday afternoon, and hatches were closed between the two vehicles at 4:10 p.m. Undocking is scheduled for 6:57 a.m. The shuttle will move slowly away from the station. At a distance of a little more than 400 feet, a separation burn at about 7:25 a.m. will begin Endeavour’s move away from the area of the station.

Just after 8:30 a.m. Endeavour’s robotic arm will unberth the Orbiter Boom Sensor System for the standard wings and nose cap survey. The survey, to make sure the spacecraft is ready for re-entry, will conclude before the OBSS is reberthed at 1:47 p.m. and the arm powered down about 35 minutes later.

Endeavour crew members will get some time off during the afternoon, beginning about 3:35 p.m., four hours before the scheduled start of their sleep period. The first landing opportunity is at Kennedy Space Center at 11:29 a.m. on Tuesday.

Mission managers continue to monitor Hurricane Dean. Early Sunday Dean, with 145 mph winds, was about 155 miles south of Port au Prince, Haiti, moving west-northwest at about 17 mph. If the storm threatens Mission Control Houston, Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., and White Sands Space Harbor, N.M., also would be called up for a Tuesday landing.

The next status report will be issued Sunday evening or earlier if events warrant.

- end -
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Source: NASA - STS-118 MCC Status Report #22

Waspie_Dwarf

Aug 20 2007, 10:03 AM

08.19.07

4 p.m. CDT, Sunday, Aug. 19, 2007
Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas

STATUS REPORT: STS-118-23

STS-118 MCC Status Report #23

After nearly nine days of operations docked to the International Space Station, space shuttle Endeavour undocked from the orbiting complex at 6:56 a.m.

Undocking was moved up a day in preparation for landing on Tuesday. The earlier landing opportunity was selected in the event Hurricane Dean threatens the Houston area. Based on the forecasted track for Hurricane Dean, JSC will be open for normal business Monday and mission managers have elected to make no changes to current mission support or Mission Control Center operations.

After backing 400 feet away from the station, the STS-118 crew fired Endeavour’s engines for two planned orbital separation burns, the first at 7:23 a.m. and a second 30 minutes later at 7:53 a.m.

With the burns completed, mission specialists Rick Mastracchio and Tracy Caldwell used the shuttle’s mechanical arm and the Orbiter Boom Sensor System to inspect reinforced carbon-carbon material on the leading edges of Endeavour’s port and starboard wings as well as the nose cap area to make sure the vehicle’s thermal protection system is ready to support re-entry and landing. The data collected in the survey will be reviewed at the Mission Management Team meeting on Monday when the management team will give the final “go” for STS-118’s return to KSC on Tuesday.

The remainder of the day included some rest and off-duty time for the crew, including Commander Scott Kelly, Pilot Charlie Hobaugh and mission specialists Barbara Morgan, Dave Williams and Alvin Drew. They will begin their sleep period at 7:36 p.m. They will be awakened at 3:36 a.m. on Monday to begin what is expected to be their final full day in space.

Landing on Tuesday is targeted for 11:32 a.m.

The next status report will be issued Monday morning or earlier if events warrant.

- end -
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Source: NASA - STS-118 MCC Status Report #23

Waspie_Dwarf

Aug 20 2007, 10:05 AM

08.20.07

4 a.m. CDT, Monday, Aug. 20, 2007
Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas

STATUS REPORT: STS-118-24

STS-118 MCC Status Report #24

Endeavour astronauts are getting ready to come home.

The crew, Commander Scott Kelly, Pilot Charles Hobaugh, and Mission Specialists Tracy Caldwell, Rick Mastracchio, Dave Williams, Barbara Morgan and Alvin Drew, was awakened at 3:37 a.m. CDT by “Flying,” performed by the Long John Baldry Trio, a Canadian group. It was for Williams, a Canadian Space Agency astronaut.

Endeavour is about 68 miles behind the International Space Station, a distance increasing by about 4.5 miles each 91-minute orbit of the Earth. The two spacecraft spent almost nine days together before Endeavour undocked at 6:56 a.m. Sunday.

Crew members begin stowing items in Endeavour’s cabin about 6:40 a.m. Just after 6:50 a.m. Kelly, Hobaugh and Mastracchio will check out the shuttle flight control surfaces, the flaps and rudder. At about 8:10 a.m. they’ll test fire reaction control system thrusters. Starting 15 minutes later, all crew members will have a 30-minute deorbit briefing.

At 10:46 a.m. Kelly, Williams and Morgan will take a break to talk with Canadian schoolchildren from the La Ronge, Saskatchewan area. A little later Morgan and Drew will prepare the Spacehab module in the shuttle’s cargo bay for re-entry. The astronauts will have some time off late in their day.

Mission managers continue to monitor Hurricane Dean. Early Monday Dean, with winds near 150 mph, was about 150 miles southeast of Grand Cayman, moving west at about 20 mph.

Endeavour is scheduled to land at Kennedy Space Center at 11:32 a.m. CDT on Tuesday. White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico will not be called up for a possible Tuesday landing there. A decision on whether to call up Edwards AFB, Calif., is expected this morning.

Aboard the International Space Station, it’s a day off for Expedition 15 Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and Flight Engineers Oleg Kotov and Clay Anderson

The next status report will be issued Monday evening or earlier if events warrant.

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Source: NASA - STS-118 MCC Status Report #24

Waspie_Dwarf

Aug 20 2007, 11:40 PM

08.20.07

6 p.m. CDT, Monday, Aug. 20, 2007
Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas

STATUS REPORT: STS-118-25

STS-118 MCC Status Report #25

Space shuttle Endeavour’s crew spent – weather permitting – their last full day on orbit today getting their ship ready to return home Tuesday with two landing opportunities available at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center at 11:32 a.m. and 1:06 p.m.

The shuttle was deemed in good shape for landing this morning, after analysis on Sunday’s final inspection of the wing leading edges and nose cap was completed. Commander Scott Kelly, Pilot Charles Hobaugh, and Mission Specialist Rick Mastracchio reinforced that assessment with successful checks of the shuttle flight control systems. Kelly and Hobaugh spent time on their computers practicing landing simulations and the entire crew, including mission specialists Tracy Caldwell, Dave Williams, Barbara Morgan and Alvin Drew, got ready for return by stowing equipment and supplies.

Kelly and Morgan also joined Williams for a Canadian Space Agency educational event with children from Williams' home province, Saskatchewan, in Canada. The astronauts fielded questions from seventh and eighth graders on subjects ranging from whether astronauts grow in space, how microgravity affects bone density and what you need to know to operate the Canadarm.

With weather forecasts showing Hurricane Dean making landfall far from Johnson Space Center, the plan for Tuesday now calls for landing attempts only at Kennedy Space Center.

The crew is scheduled to begin their sleep period at 7:36 p.m., and wake up at 3:36 a.m. on Tuesday. Deorbit preparations will begin at 6:26 a.m.

The next STS-118 status report will be issued Tuesday morning or earlier if events warrant.

- end -
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Source: NASA - STS-118 MCC Status Report #25

Waspie_Dwarf

Aug 21 2007, 11:06 AM

08.20.07

4 a.m. CDT, Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2007
Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas

STATUS REPORT: STS-118-26

STS-118 MCC Status Report #26

Endeavour astronauts are beginning a day they hope will see a landing at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The crew, Commander Scott Kelly, Pilot Charlie Hobaugh, and Mission Specialists Tracy Caldwell, Rick Mastracchio, Dave Williams, Barbara R. Morgan and Alvin Drew, was awakened at 3:36 a.m. CDT by “Homeward Bound,” performed by Simon & Garfunkel. It was for the entire crew.

Endeavour is about 150 miles behind the International Space Station. Endeavour undocked from the station at 6:56 a.m. Sunday after almost nine days at the orbiting laboratory.

The landing focus for Tuesday will be on Kennedy Space Center, with two opportunities available there. Weather forecasts generally are favorable.

Deorbit preparations by the crew begin at 6:26 a.m. If the weather cooperates, payload bay doors would be closed at 7:45 a.m. for the orbit 201 landing opportunity. The deorbit burn would begin at 10:25 a.m., resulting in a landing at 11:32 a.m.

The second opportunity is on the subsequent orbit, 202. That would see a deorbit burn beginning at noon and a landing at 1:06 p.m. It would take Endeavour almost over Hurricane Dean. At an altitude of more than 35 miles, the shuttle would feel no effects from the storm, nor would the crew be likely to see it. The shuttle would be between its first and second roll reversal, with its belly facing Dean.

White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico will not be called up Tuesday. Edwards AFB, Calif., will be staffed, but is not expected to be used.

The next status report will be issued Tuesday afternoon or earlier if events warrant.

- end -
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Source: NASA - STS-118 MCC Status Report #26

Waspie_Dwarf

Aug 21 2007, 11:00 PM

08.20.07

5 p.m. CDT, Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2007
Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas

STATUS REPORT: STS-118-27

STS-118 MCC Status Report #27

After 5.3 million miles and 13 days, Endeavour today landed safely in Florida.

The shuttle rolled to a stop on runway 15 at 11:33:20 a.m., for a total of 13 days, 17 hours and 56 minutes in space.

The tile damage Endeavour suffered at launch fared well during reentry. In a post-landing news conference, NASA Administrator Michael Griffin said it was hard to tell that it had been through entry at all.

Endeavour's crew, Commander Scott Kelly, Pilot Charlie Hobaugh, and Mission Specialists Tracy Caldwell, Rick Mastracchio, Dave Williams, Barbara Morgan and Alvin Drew, will return to Houston Wednesday. A welcoming ceremony for the crew is planned for 3:45 p.m. Wednesday in NASA Hangar 990 at Ellington Field.

During Endeavour’s mission to the International Space Station, the crew performed four spacewalks. The tasks ranged from installing a new station truss segment and replacing a control moment gyroscope to preparing for missions to come. The crew also delivered about 5,000 pounds of equipment and supplies to the station, and brought about 5,000 pounds of completed experiments, spare parts and trash back.

The next shuttle mission, targeted for late October, will deliver a connecting module named Harmony and technically called Node 2. A gateway to the station's future international segments, the installation of Harmony will allow the European and Japanese laboratory modules to be added to the complex.

This is the final STS-118 mission status report.

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Source: NASA - STS-118 MCC Status Report #27

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