INTERNATIONAL PARTNERS UPDATE SPACE STATION LAUNCH MANIFEST

Send in the International heavy lift.  May it provide an altitude boost when needed.
- LRK -

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INTERNATIONAL PARTNERS UPDATE SPACE STATION LAUNCH MANIFEST
http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2010/oct/HQ_10-242_Updated_Station_Manifest.html

WASHINGTON -- NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) agreed on Friday to update the International Space Station launch schedule.

The target launch dates for the last planned space shuttle flight, STS-134 on Endeavour, will be Feb. 27, 2011, and the Automated Transfer Vehicle-2 (ATV-2) will be Feb. 15. Roscosmos will continue to look at Soyuz launch and landing options to provide manifest robustness.

The agencies agreed to the changes during discussions at the International Astronautical Conference in Prague. Arianespace, whose Ariane 5 rocket will launch ATV-2 into orbit from French Guiana, has confirmed its commitment to launch on Feb. 15.

The STS-134 flight will deliver the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) to the station. The AMS is a state-of-the-art cosmic ray particle physics detector designed to examine fundamental issues about matter, and the origin and structure of the universe. The flight will include three spacewalks and the installation of the AMS to the exterior of the space station using both the shuttle and station arms.

ATV-2, dubbed Johannes Kepler, is scheduled to dock on Feb. 26 to the station. The cargo craft is designed to deliver more than seven tons of experiments, fuel, water, food and other supplies to the space station. While docked, ATV-2 will use its thrusters to periodically boost the station's orbit, which decays with time. It also can be used for emergency maneuvers, such as those required if a piece of space debris is predicted to hit the station. This capability saves critical attitude control propellant for the station.

After about 3.5 months, the ATV-2 will undock from the station and burn up harmlessly in the atmosphere over an uninhabited area of the Pacific Ocean. The first ATV, Jules Verne, was launched in March 2008 and reentered the atmosphere in September 2008.

The space station launch manifest is available at:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/iss_manifest.html

For details about upcoming shuttle missions and crews, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle

For more information about ATV-2, visit ESA at:
http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/ATV

For more information about the Ariane 5 launch vehicle, visit:
http://www.arianespace.com/launch-services/launch-services-overview.asp

For more information about the space station, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/station

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Making an appointment to meet up with friends is not always easy, on Earth or in space.
Making allowances for participants schedules takes some fine tuning.
Can you really come?
- LRK -

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ESA Reassurances Clear Way for Station Cargo Launch Delay
http://www.spacenews.com/civil/100930-esa-reassurances-clear-cargo-launch.html
Thu, 30 September, 2010
By Peter B. de Selding

PRAGUE, Czech Republic — The European Space Agency (ESA) has secured approval from its international space station partners to delay the launch of the ATV-2 cargo carrier by two months, to mid-February, following ESA guarantees that there will be no more postponements caused by commercial concerns for Europe’s Arianespace launch consortium, government officials said Sept. 30.

A formal announcement of the agreement is expected Oct. 1.

Arianespace Chief Executive Jean-Yves Le Gall in turn has promised ESA that even if a planned late-December launch of two telecommunications satellites is delayed for whatever reason, this commercial mission will be rescheduled for March, giving time for the ATV-2 launch to occur around Feb. 15.

The 20,000-kilogram Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) delivers water and other supplies to the station. It is also needed to reboost the station into its operating orbit, a maneuver that NASA has said it wants to occur in March or April.

Managing the arrival and departure of vehicles to the station — Europe’s ATV, Japan’s smaller H-TV cargo transporter, the U.S space shuttle and Russian Soyuz manned flights and Progress cargo deliveries — has been made more complicated by the ATV-2 delay.

NASA, as the station’s general contractor, had pushed for a December launch, government officials said. ESA officials, including ESA Director-General Jean-Jacques Dordain, have clearly been uncomfortable in explaining the two-month delay.

[Read more about the scheduling complications - LRK -]
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As noted at ESA News
- LRK -

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International partners update launch manifest
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMR88QOHEG_index_0.html

1 October 2010
ESA PR 22-2010 NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) on Friday agreed to update the International Space Station launch schedule. The target launch dates for the last planned space shuttle flight, STS-134 on Endeavour, will be Feb. 27 and the Automated Transfer Vehicle-2 (ATV-2) will be Feb. 15.

Roscosmos will continue to look at Soyuz launch and landing options to provide manifest robustness.

The agencies agreed to the changes during discussions at the International Astronautical Conference in Prague. Arianespace, whose Ariane 5 rocket will launch ATV-2 into orbit from French Guiana, has confirmed its commitment to launch ATV-2 on February 15.

[See related articles for ATV on right hand navigation column. - LRK -]
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Many more adjustments to be made over the coming years.
- LRK -

Thanks for looking up with me.
- LRK -

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
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Space Shuttle News
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html

APU Loading Begins
Fri, 01 Oct 2010 05:35:26 AM PDT

Technicians will begin loading hydrazine fuel into space shuttle Discovery's three auxiliary power units today. The APUs are turned on five minutes before liftoff and provide power to the several systems during the climb into orbit, including the hydraulics that steer the main engines. Discovery, which stands at Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, is being readied for liftoff on the STS-133 mission, targeted for Nov. 1 at 4:40 p.m.EDT. At NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Discovery's six-person crew will continue their bench review.


http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/153212main_134etmove430x.jpg
Image above: The external fuel tank for space shuttle Endeavour's upcoming STS-134 mission was carried from the the Pegasus barge into the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday. The tank was the last one due at the space center for the Space Shuttle Program. Processing also continues on pace for Discovery's STS-133 mission, targeted for launch on Nov. 1. Photo credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller
› View larger image
http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/180842main_KSC-310D-0824_0047.jpg

During space shuttle Discovery's final spaceflight, the STS-133 crew members will take important spare parts to the International Space Station along with the Express Logistics Carrier-4. Discovery has been moved to Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. STS-133 is slated to launch Nov. 1.

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ATV - Automated Transfer Vehicle
http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/ATV/index.html

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ATV Johannes Kepler cargo section arrives in Bremen

10 September 2009   The Integrated Cargo Carrier for Europe's second Automated Transfer Vehicle, ATV Johannes Kepler, has been delivered to the premises of EADS Astrium in Bremen, Germany.
Full story at: http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/ATV/SEMDXTV0EZF_0.html

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

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