 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Countdown begins for US-Europe space mission
Washington (AFP) Feb 5, 2008 The crew of the US shuttle Atlantis readied Tuesday for this week's delayed mission to deliver a European space laboratory to the orbiting International Space Station. Lift-off, originally scheduled for December, now is set for Thursday after a two-month delay, while engineers got to the bottom of electrical faults with fuel gauges on the shuttle's external fuel tank. "Atlantis is ready to go fly," Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, assistant NASA test director, told reporters Monday, when the crew arrived at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida for the launch. Mission Commander Steve Frick and Pilot Alan Poindexter on Tuesday practiced landing maneuvers on a Gulfstream business jet outfitted to mimic the space shuttle. Meanwhile, the five mission specialists who make up the rest of the seven member crew also carefully rehearsed flight-related tasks -- including the operation of the robot arm of the International Space Station, which during the mission will move Columbus out of Atlantis' payload bay and attach it to the ISS. The European laboratory Columbus is the latest addition to the International Space Station, which is being developed as a jumping-off point for exploration to Mars and beyond. Columbus will be followed by a Japanese laboratory, Kibo, which is to be delivered in three shuttle missions starting in March. Kibo will be the biggest component of the station when it is completed. Atlantis' first take-off attempt is set for a ten-minute window on Thursday beginning at 2:45 pm (1945 GMT) in Cape Canaveral, weather permitting. NASA has said there was a 40 percent chance of favorable weather that day, with rain and clouds forecast, and an 80 percent chance Friday. Three spacewalks have been scheduled during the mission, which is seen as a major step forward for European ambitions in space, with crew members Leopold Eyharts of France and Hans Schlegel of Germany on board the Atlantis. Currently there are US and Russian astronauts on the space station. Schlegel will conduct two spacewalks during the flight to connect power and fluid lines between Columbus and the station, while Eyharts will become Europe's first long-duration station resident, taking the place of NASA astronaut Dan Tani. Columbus, a 10-ton cylindrical unit seven meters (7.6 yards) long and 4.5 meters (five yards) wide, has room inside for three people. Operated by ground staff at a control center near Munich in Germany, Columbus will enable the European Space Agency to conduct experiments related to biotechnology, medicine, materials and liquids. The lab cost some 1.3 billion euros (two billion dollars), paid mostly by Germany, Italy and France. It was to have been installed in 2004 but the US grounded its shuttle fleet after the Columbia disaster in 2003. All seven Columbia astronauts died when their shuttle exploded as it returned to Earth. The disaster put operations on hold for two years as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) reviewed its safety procedures. For the upcoming mission, senior NASA official Bill Gerstenmayer said engineers had tracked down the problem with the fuel gauges and it would not re-occur. The gauges warn the shuttle's computers when the tank of liquid hydrogen fuel is almost empty, so the engines are automatically turned off after the shuttle powers out of the Earth's atmosphere. Frick said NASA engineers and specialist contractors had modified a connector in the tank's sensors, which detect when the fuel is low. NASA is racing to finish the space station by 2010, when its shuttle fleet is due to be retired. US President George W. Bush on Monday proposed a budget including 17.6 billion dollars for NASA projects in the coming year -- a net cut in funds, when adjusted for inflation. NASA has also asked Congress for three billion dollars for a project aimed at putting Americans back on the Moon in 2020 to set up a permanent outpost to support manned missions to Mars. Related Links Station at NASA Station and More at Roscosmos S.P. Korolev RSC Energia Watch NASA TV via Space.TV Space Station News at Space-Travel.Com
ISS astronauts repair solar array during 7-hr spacewalk
Washington (AFP) Jan 30, 2008Two astronauts aboard the orbiting International Space Station on Wednesday replaced an electric motor on one of three solar wings that provide power to the station during a seven-hour-long spacewalk, NASA said. |
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright Space.TV Corporation. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space.TV Corp on any Web page published or hosted by Space.TV Corp. Privacy Statement |
