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STS-119 Mission Preps Move Forward
Cape Canaveral FL (SPX) Feb 03, 2009 At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians installed space shuttle Discovery's gaseous hydrogen, or GH2, flow control valves Saturday. GH2 leak checks will be performed today. The GH2 valves are used to synchronize the gas pressure between the external fuel tank and the engines, creating an even flow. Final installation of the ordnance that will separate the shuttle from the mobile launcher platform at the time of liftoff is scheduled to take place late tonight. Communication checks were successfully conducted between Kennedy and NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. After Discovery lifts off from Kennedy, responsibility of the shuttle is transferred to Johnson. The STS-119 crew members are in launch-countdown mode, which includes shifting sleep patterns and frequent medical exams. Commander Lee Archambault and Pilot Tony Antonelli will fly to White Sands Space Harbor in Las Cruces, N.M., to practice landing techniques in NASA's shuttle training aircraft. Later in the week, the astronauts will be preflight quarantined in Johnson's Astronaut Quarantine Facility to keep them isolated from potential infections. Meanwhile, NASA managers are en route to Kennedy for tomorrow's executive-level Flight Readiness Review, or FRR, to evaluate Discovery's readiness for launch. An announcement will be made at the conclusion of the meeting and broadcast no earlier than 6 p.m. Tuesday on NASA TV to set the mission's official launch date.
Space Shuttle Mission: STS-119 The S6 truss, with its set of large U.S. solar arrays, will complete the backbone of the station and provide one-fourth of the total power needed to support a crew of six. The two solar array wings each have 115-foot-long arrays, for a total wing span of 240 feet. They will generate 66 kilowatts of electricity + enough to provide about 30 2,800-square-foot homes with power. Commander Lee Archambault will lead Discovery's crew of seven, along with Pilot Tony Antonelli, and Mission Specialists Joseph Acaba, John Phillips, Steve Swanson, Richard Arnold and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Koichi Wakata. Related Links Space Shuttle Shuttle at NASA Watch NASA TV via Space.TV Space Shuttle News at Space-Travel.Com
Discovery Gets New Valves - Crew Practices Simulated Liftoff
Cape Canaveral FL (SPX) Feb 02, 2009Space shuttle Discovery's gaseous hydrogen, or GH2, flow control valves have arrived at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Following management approval, technicians will install them on the shuttle. The GH2 valves are used to synchronize the gas pressure between the external fuel tank and the engines, creating an even flow. |
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