STS-119: NASA Discovery to ISS - Launch 11th March 2009

[Rick]

NASA postpones Discovery ISS jaunt

NASA has postponed the Discovery STS-119 mission to the International Space Station while it ponders a possibly troublesome hydrogen flow control valve.

The agency explains that the shuttles have "three flow control valves that channel gaseous hydrogen from the main engines to the external fuel tank" - one of which was damaged on Endeavour's STS-126 gig last November.

More: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/02/23/discovery_jaunt_postponed/

[Rick]

NASA has given a green light to Discovery's STS-119 mission to the International Space Station following a review of a potentially troublesome hydrogen flow control valve. The shuttle will blast off from Kennedy Space Center at 9:20 pm EDT on Wednesday (01:20 GMT Thursday).

More: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/03/09/discovery_launch/

[Rick]

Launch Scrubbed for Wednesday
Wed, 11 Mar 2009 06:48:47 PM GMT+0000

The STS-119 launch was scrubbed at 2:37 p.m. EDT due to a hydrogen leak in a Liquid Hydrogen vent line between the shuttle and the external tank. The launch team is currently beginning the process of draining the external fuel tank. We'll turn around for launch attempt tomorrow at 8:54 p.m. EDT.

(from http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html )

[Rick]

NASA yesterday aborted the scheduled launch of space shuttle Discovery after a leak in a gaseous hydrogen vent line.

Launch Director Mike Leinbach explained yesterday that "the leak developed on the piping that runs from the fixed service structure, or launch tower, to a valve at the intertank section of the shuttle's external tank".

The agency elaborates: "The pipe moves hydrogen gas away from the shuttle and to a flare stack near the launch pad that burns it away safely. He said there was never any danger to the shuttle while it was being fueled, but that the leak allowed too much gaseous hydrogen to escape the vent line."

NASA notes that an inspection of the line later today "could set a course for repair options that would allow another launch attempt as soon as Sunday".

More: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/03/12/discovery_grounded/

[Rick]

The crew of the International Space Station has been forced to shelter in the Russian Soyuz capsule after a close call with a piece of space debris.

The three crew members are now out of danger and have returned to the ISS, Russian mission control officials told Reuters news agency.

Nasa said news of the debris threat had come too late for flight controllers to move the space station out of the way.

More: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7940431.stm

[Rick]

International Space Station crew members were forced to flee to the outpost's escape capsule briefly on Thursday when a rogue piece of space junk came too close for comfort.

The debris, a discarded mechanism used in boosting a satellite into higher orbit, missed the ISS without incident. The three astronauts took shelter for 11 minutes inside an attached Russian Soyuz module, which serves as the station's lifeboat if needed.

More: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/03/12/iss_evacuated_space_junk_march_09/

[mickw]

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - A small bat appears to be trying to hitch a ride aboard the space shuttle Discovery from its perch on the spacecraft's attached external tank as NASA counts down to a planned Sunday evening launch.
Mission managers said the tank-clinging fruit bat is unlikely to pose a risk for the shuttle, and will probably fly away when Discovery blasts off this evening at 7:43 p.m. EDT (2334 GMT) from Pad 39A here at Kennedy Space Center.
"It's not expected to be a debris problem," NASA spokesman Mike Curie told SPACE.com. The bat is between one quarter and one third of the way up on the north side of the shuttle's huge orange external fuel tank, which is the side that faces away from the orbiter. It could be seen in a NASA view caught by collectSPACE.com, a SPACE.com partner.

More:  http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/090315-sts119-bat-stowaway.html

[Rick]

Space shuttle Discovery blasted off last night from Kennedy Space Centre at 19:43 EDT (23:43 GMT) on its STS-119 mission to the International Space Station.

More: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/03/16/discovery_launch/

And: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7945345.stm

[Rick]

Crew aboard the International Space Station were yesterday told they would not have to perform a "debris avoidance maneuver"* after NASA deemed a 10-centimetre piece of the destroyed Russian Cosmos 1275 satellite posed no threat to the orbiting outpost.

Mike Fincke, Yury Lonchakov and Sandy Magnus last week took refuge for 11 minutes in the station's "lifeboat" Soyuz capsule when a "discarded mechanism used in boosting a satellite into higher orbit" whizzed past at "nearly 5.5 miles per second (20,000mph)".

More: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/03/17/iss_update/

[mickw]

A small bat that was spotted blasting off with the space shuttle Sunday and clinging to the back side of Discovery's external fuel tank apparently held on throughout the launch.

NASA hoped the bat would fly away before the spacecraft's Sunday evening liftoff, but photos from the launch now show the bat holding on for dear life throughout the fiery ride. 

More:   http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/090317-sts119-bat-shuttle.html

[Rick]

Hmmm... One dead bat, I guess.

[Rick]

Space shuttle Discovery yesterday docked with the International Space Station at 17:20 EDT (21:20 GMT), delivering the final solar arrays and associated truss segment to the orbiting outpost.

More: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/03/18/discovery_iss_dock/

[Rick]

Consumer pundits have long speculated that we would one day - perhaps even by now - have intelligent fridges which could be remotely controlled and monitored from afar using advanced communications links. But they couldn't realise that these fridges would become crammed with possibly-deadly organisms warped by extraterrestrial radiation into a hideous parody of life as we know it.

More: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/03/18/space_freezer_return/

[Rick]

Nasa's space shuttle Discovery has docked with the International Space Station (ISS).

The visiting astronauts are delivering the orbiting platform's fourth and final set of solar arrays.

Installation work will start on Wednesday when the "backbone" segment holding the folded-up solar wings is lifted out of Discovery's payload bay.

The truss will be slotted into place at the starboard, or right, side of the station on Thursday.

More: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7950537.stm

[Rick]

Astronauts have installed the final truss, or backbone segment, to the International Space Station (ISS).

The Starboard 6 truss holds the fourth pair of solar arrays needed to fully power the orbiting outpost.

Friday will see the command given to unfurl the arrays, a procedure that has in the past run into difficulties with panels snagging as they roll out.

More: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7954604.stm