With that, Discovery’s launch date was penciled in for February 24 or 25 as negotiations began with other ISS partners – specifically ESA (the European Space Agency) which was planning to dock their ATV-2 vehicle to the ISS at the same time that Discovery would now be ready for launch.Īfter negotiations concluded, it was decided that ATV-2’s docking on the morning of February 24 would permit the launch of Discovery later that day – something that had previously been ruled out due to communication and on-orbit requirements of the two vehicles and the ISS crew.īut as repairs to Discovery’s stringers kicked into high gear and things looked to be settling out for the veteran space vehicle, STS-133/Discovery crewmember Tim Kopra was injured and had to be removed from the mission as a result. “All of the cracks found during tanking as well as cracks fixed during manufacturing were located on stringers made with this mottled material.”įurthermore, engineers were finally able to recreate the stringer crack failure seen on Discovery’s ET using the stringers from the partially-built ET-139 at the Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF).īy January 6, the all-powerful Program Requirements Control Board (PRCB) had directed teams to proceed forward with the radius block modification on well over 100 of Discovery’s tank stringers – a decision that further emphasized the drive for safety and understanding over launch date pressure. Testing revealed this mottled material had lower fracture toughness than the nominal material and exhibited unstable crack growth. On January 4, NASA identified the potential root cause for the stringer issue – a mottling on the stringers themselves.Īs noted by an investigation report, “Some material used for the stringers was found to be ‘mottled,’ with a different surface appearance than the standard material. STS-133 Specific – Including ET Stringer Issue – Articles: ( L2 Link).ĭiscovery, the third operational Shuttle orbiter and fourth overall Shuttle orbiter constructed by NASA, was preparing for her 39th and final mission in November 2010 when the stringer crack issue presented itself during the mission’s first launch attempt on November 5, 2010.įollowing the discovery of this issue, NASA mission managers refused to set a launch date for the flight in a concerted effort to allow the engineering analysis teams to have the time they needed to properly and safely address the issue without feeling a push toward launch fever. OV-103/Discovery – The final voyage of the veteran workhorse:įor the final year of the Space Shuttle Program, operations in 2011 began where all Shuttle missions have: in the Vehicle Assembly Building.Īfter enduring a rollback from LC-39A in late-December 2010, because of cracks on the stringers of her External Tank’s (ET) intertank structure, Space Shuttle orbiter Discovery, OV-103, spent the first month of 2011 in the VAB undergoing ET intertank repairs and strengthening activities while the various NASA centers conducted numerous simulations to nail down the cause of the ET stringer cracks. It was year of exceptional highs and emotional scenes as Discovery, Endeavour, and Atlantis closed out their remarkable careers with same style, grace, mission success, and safety that all had come to know from them. And thus was the grand finale of the Space Shuttle Program in 2011. They gave the rocket the lift from Earth’s gravity.All good things must come to an end. The solid rocket boosters looked liked two thin rockets. The external tank was a large orange fuel tank. The names of the orbiters were Atlantis, Challenger, Columbia, Discovery and Endeavour. The astronauts rode and lived in this part. The orbiter was the part that looked like an airplane. The space shuttle was made of three main parts: the orbiter, the external tank and the solid rocket boosters. What Were the Parts of the Space Shuttle? Each mission lasted for one or two weeks. The space shuttle launched for 135 missions. Doing experiments in space is different than doing them on Earth.Įach time a space shuttle launched, it was called a mission. The space shuttle was also like a science lab. The shuttle carried large parts into space to build the International Space Station. It took satellites to space so they could orbit Earth. It could carry up to seven astronauts at a time.
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