Good day - NASA Targets Friday Launch for Shuttle Atlantis

Hmmmm, kick the tires, check the water, and why won't she start?

Where is a fuel cell that works when you need one?
- LRK -


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http://www.cbsnews.com/network/news/space/current.html
Coverage of STS-115

STATUS REPORT 55
Last Updated: 08:30 p.m. EDT, 09/06/06

By William Harwood
CBS News Space Consultant

Editor's Note...

1. CBS News Space Place Downloads / STS-115 Mission Archive

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Changes and additions:

# SR-51 (09/06/06): Troubleshooting plan; MMT meeting on tap
# SR-52 (09/06/06): Adding fuel cell background; vendor links
# SR-53 (09/06/06): Updating countdown, flight plan, ascent data to reflect possible Sept. 7 launch
# SR-54 (09/06/06): NASA managers mull fuel cell options
# SR-55 (08/06/06): Launch reset for Friday pending resolution of fuel cell problem

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http://www.cbsnews.com/network/news/space/downloads.html
Space Place Downloads

CBS NEWS SPACE REPORTER'S HANDBOOK

The CBS News Space Reporter's Handbook, by William Harwood, is available in pdf format. The SRH includes detailed crew and mission background while a separate set of appendices covers station/shuttle program statistics, space demographics data, abort background and information about the Challenger and Columbia disasters.

STS-115 SRH changes and additions:

# 08/25/06: Posting STS-115 edition and updated appendices

SRH: STS-115 Supplement (87 pages; 4 megabytes)
SRH: Appendices (6.7 megabytes)
SRH: STS-51L/107 Remembered (6 megabytes; included in appendices)

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http://www.space.com/spaceshuttle/
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After Scrub, NASA Targets Friday Launch for Shuttle Atlantis NASA is now targeting Friday for the launch of its shuttle Atlantis, but the mission can only lift off if engineers settle a fuel cell system glitch that prevented a planned Sept. 6 space shot, mission managers said late Wednesday. > Read More http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/060906_sts115_newlaunchdate.html
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - NASA is now targeting Friday for the launch of its shuttle Atlantis, but the mission can only lift off if engineers settle a fuel cell system glitch that prevented a planned Sept. 6 space shot, mission managers said late Wednesday.

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Thanks for looking up with me.

Larry Kellogg

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
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CBS NEWS REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK

In an effort to keep this page relatively compact, CBS News status reports are moved to an FTP archive the day after they are originally posted on this page. If you're looking for a quote or need to check when something happened, please check out the archive.

# STS-115 Mission Archive Table of Contents:

* 08/29/06: NASA reverses rollback decision, moves Atlantis back to pad with improved forecast
* 08/29/06: Shuttle rollback underway
* 08/28/06: Crawler problems add hours to rollback time
* 08/28/06: Ernestor threatens KSC; rollback preps underway
* 08/27/06: NASA defers rollback decision to Monday; Tuesday launch still possible
* 08/27/06: Rollback options debated; launch windows reviewed
* 08/27/06: Monday launch ruled out
* 08/27/06: Monday launch no longer appears possible; Ernesto takes turn toward Florda
* 08/27/06: MMT defers decision on booster, range safety tests
* 08/26/06: NASA managers discuss additional tests
* 08/26/06: Lightning strike one of most powerful on record
* 08/26/06: Launch delayed 24 hours
* 08/26/06: Sunday forecast worsens; lightning checks still in work; fuel cell loading complete
* 08/25/06: NASA works around stormy weather; optimistic about Sunday
* 08/25/06: Countdown on track; weather outlook worsens slightly
* 08/25/06: STS-115 mission preview
* 08/24/06: Countdown begins; crew arrives for final preps
* 08/16/06: NASA clears Atlantis for Aug. 27 launch
* 08/15/06: Flight readiness review begins; KU bolt update
* 08/15/06: Mission flight plan updated
* 08/13/06: Engineers troubleshoot KU bolt issue
* 08/09/06: Atlantis crew ready to kick start station assembly
* 08/07/06: Astronauts arrive for practice countdown
* 08/03/06: NASA sticks with Aug. 27 launch target; lighting doesn't support Aug. 26
* 08/02/06: Atlantis finally moved to launch pad
* 07/27/06: Launch window opening moves up one day to Aug. 27
* 07/24/06: Atlantis moved to Vehicle Assembly Building
* 07/21/06: Setting up STS-115 pages; Atlantis prepped for roll over to VAB

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http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html
Launch Status Briefing
At a 6 p.m. briefing on Wednesday, NASA's STS-115 Mission Management Team announced that because of the fuel cell anomaly it would be prudent to spend another 24 hours to research the issue. The management team will meet again at 1 p.m. on Thursday to assess the data gathered about the fuel cell issue and decide whether the launch will take place on Friday.

"We want to fly a good mission, we want to fly a safe mission, we want to have a successful mission," said Wayne Hale, space shuttle program director.

Hale reported that more tests and analysis would be necessary because there has been no previous failure of this nature in the history of the program.

Deputy Orbiter Project Manager, Ed Mango said "We put together a huge amount of data, but it's not complete yet. We have to put all the data on the table and look at it." Mango also reported that the signature reading on the fuel cell cooling pump had never been seen before. "We'll need more time to understand what this signature really means," he said.

Weather Officer Lt. Col. Patrick Barrett reported that for a Friday launch day, Kennedy will experience much the same weather conditions as earlier this week. There may be some upper level clouds coming into the area during the early morning hours and a 30 percent chance of weather prohibiting launch continues over the next few days.

[More links at the NASA web site. - LRK -]

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http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5522536
Wayne Hale's Insider's Guide to NASA
by Nell Boyce

Morning Edition, June 30, 2006 . NASA is getting ready to launch its first space-shuttle mission in more than a year as it struggles to resume normal flights after the February 2003 Columbia disaster.

It's a critical time for the agency, and also for its space-shuttle programmer, Wayne Hale, who is in charge of the entire effort to get the shuttle flying again.

Normally, you might see Hale on TV, talking about technical things such as "ice frost ramps" or the aerodynamics of foam. But Hale has another side.
He's a compulsive e-mail writer who composes lyrical reflections on life at NASA.

Life, Death and Rocket Science

Every few months, thousands of people in the space-shuttle program open their e-mail boxes to find Hale's meditations on life, death and the meaning of rocket science.

The e-mails often describe the interior lives of behind-the-scenes workers at NASA. For example, when space shuttle Discovery blasts off, Hale will be watching from a spot at Kennedy Space Center called "The Firing Room."

It's where flight controllers make the critical decision about whether to go ahead with the launch and count down the final seconds. Hale knows exactly what they'll be feeling. He spent 15 years as a flight director in charge of re-entry, watching the weather and having to make a similar call: go or no-go. One recent e-mail described that feeling:

"I have given the Go 28 times. Every time was the toughest thing I have ever done. And I have never ever been 100 percent certain, it has always been gray, never a sure thing. But the team needs to have confidence that the decision was good. It is almost a requirement to speak the words much bolder than you feel, like it is an easy call. Then you pray that you were right."

Behind NASA's "Go Go Go" attitude, it seems, there's a lot of angst. And that's what Hale often talks about in his emails. They end up circulating far beyond his staff as people forward them on to friends and outside contractors.

The e-mails can be pensive, but also funny. Sometimes they sound like a sermon, other times like a letter from a close friend.

"I have this impulse that is just almost uncontainable of an idea that has to be expressed," Hale says. "I'm not sure I could suppress it if I wanted to. It's just got to come out."

Hale admits that for a mechanical engineer who normally just writes technical reports, this is a little unusual.

"You know," he says, "it's not easy for an engineer maybe to put words on paper."

But Hale does just that -- or at least he types the words onto a computer screen. He often composes his essays in airports and hotel rooms, whenever he's alone and has free time. The e-mails deal with things that NASA people might feel, but rarely talk about.

Inside a Flight Directors Meeting

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WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK

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