STS-108 MISSION ARCHIVE (FINAL) Updated: 12/17/01 Space Station Assembly Mission UF1: ISS Crew Rotation and Resupply By William Harwood CBS News/Kennedy Space Center The following copy originally was posted on the Current Mission space page at http://cbsnews.cbs.com/network/news/space/current.html. Comments, suggestions and corrections welcome! TABLE OF CONTENTS - NASA engineers troubleshoot rocket pod attachment concern (09/29/01) - Endeavour cleared for launch (10/06/01) - Shuttle moved to pad; NASA opts for modest solar array fix (10/31/01) - Updated flight plan, launch windows posted (11/20/01) - Astronauts arrive in Florida for launch (11/25/01) - Shuttle mission preview (11/26/01) - Signal conditioner cleared for flight (11/26/01) - Tight security in place for shuttle launch (11/27/01) - Progress docking problem assessed (11/28/01) - Shuttle launch delayed by docking snag (11/29/01) - Shuttle launch delayed to Dec. 4, after Progress EVA (11/30/01) - Russians set for Monday spacewalk (12/02/01) - Station EVA clears way for shuttle launch (12/03/01) - Launch delayed by bad weather (12/04/01) - Endeavour finally rockets into orbit (12/05/01) - Astronauts close in on space station (12/06/01) - Endeavour docks with space station (12/07/01) - Raffaello attached; crews exchanged (12/08/01) - Astronauts honor Sept. 11 victims (12/09/01) - Solar array repair spacewalk (12/10/01) - Astronauts honor terrorist victims; mission extended (12/11/01) - Astronauts repair station treadmill (12/12/01) - Station change-of-command ceremony (12/13/01) - Raffello remounted in cargo bay (12/14/01) - Endeavour undocks from space station (12/15/01) - Astronauts pack up for landing (12/16/01) - Endeavour returns to Earth (12/17/01) =================================================================== NASA engineers troubleshoot rocket pod attachment concern (09/29/01) NASA and contractor engineers are studying a potential fleet-wide problem with critical bolt holes in the attachment fittings that secure the space shuttle's braking rocket pods to the aft end of the orbiter. The shuttle Endeavour is scheduled for launch on a space station crew rotation and resupply flight at 7:35 p.m. on Nov. 29. But if engineers are forced to unbolt one or both of the orbital maneuvering system - OMS - pods for an inspection of the suspect bolt holes, launch likely would slip to the first or second week of January, sources say. The goal of the 107th shuttle mission is to deliver a fresh three-man crew to the international space station - Russian commander Yuri Onufrienko, Daniel Bursch and Carl Walz - and to bring the lab's current crew - commander Frank Culbertson and Russian cosmonauts Vladimir Dezhurov and Mikhail Tyurin - back to Earth after four months in space. If Endeavour's launch slips to January, Culbertson and his crewmates would be forced to spend an additional month-and-a-half in space. But officials say the station has more than enough on-board supplies to support the crew until early February in a worst-case scenario. Senior shuttle program managers are scheduled to meet Monday and later next week to review the situation and to decide whether Endeavour can be safely launched as is on Nov. 29 or whether time-consuming inspections might be required. Each OMS pod is equipped with fuel tanks and the thrusters used to maneuver the shuttle in space and to drop it out of orbit. The pods are bolted to the top of the vehicle's aft engine compartment using 12 attachment fittings. Each fitting incorporates 14 bolt holes. During work to repair a suspect part in an attachment fitting used by the shuttle Columbia's right-side OMS pod - RP05 - engineers discovered bolt holes in attachment point No. 5, near the aft end of the pod, had been improperly drilled, apparently when the pod was built. The slightly elongated holes were fixed by drilling them out and installing custom bushings. According to a preliminary engineering analysis, it was initially believed the problem was isolated to Columbia's right side pod. But during an inspection last week of attachment point No. 5 on Columbia's left-side pod - LP05 - engineers found similar problems. As of Friday afternoon, engineers had been unable to prove the problem was isolated to Columbia's OMS pods, raising the prospect of a fleet-wide concern. Assuming worst-case elongation in half the 14 attachment point bolt holes in a giving fitting, and assuming the elongations were generally oriented in the same direction, the attachment fitting could fail in flight. No such failures have occurred, but engineers say the stresses would be higher during certain abort regimes and without an inspection, it might not be possible to determine the condition of the bolt holes in question on Endeavour. =================================================================== Endeavour cleared for launch (10/06/01) NASA managers meeting Oct. 6 cleared the shuttle Endeavour for launch Nov. 29 "as is," deciding there was no need to remove the ship's rear rocket pods to inspect suspect attachment bolt holes. Engineers are now pressing ahead with work to ready Endeavour for liftoff to ferry a fresh three-man crew to the international space station and to bring the lab's current occupants back to Earth after four months in orbit. Liftoff from pad 39B is targeted for 7:43:59 p.m. A detailed flight plan is posted below. During recent inspection of attachment fittings used to bolt the shuttle Columbia's OMS pods to the back of the orbiter, engineers discovered deformed bolt holes, apparently the result of misdrilling when the orbiter was built. Engineers were concerned the elongated holes could result in bolt failures during aerodynamically stressful abort regimes (see the Sept. 29 status report for complete details). It initially appeared likely engineers would be forced to remove Endeavour's OMS pods for an inspection, work that would have delayed launch to mid January. But a detailed engineering analysis shows Endeavour can be safely launched as is. "After a thorough engineering evaluation, space shuttle managers determined today that orbiter Endeavour is safe to fly without any additional orbiter maneuvering system (OMS) pod work," NASA said in a statement Friday. "Testing and analysis confirmed that the strength of the OMS pod attach point will not be compromised by irregular bolt holes, even if the deformation is greater than that seen on orbiter Columbia." =================================================================== Shuttle moved to launch pad; NASA opts for more modest solar array fix (10/31/01) The shuttle Endeavour was hauled to the launch pad 39B today for launch Nov. 29 on a mission to ferry a fresh crew to the international space station and to bring the lab's current crew back to Earth after a four-month stay in orbit. Under heightened security procedures, NASA public affairs officials were not immediately allowed to say when Endeavour's rollout began or when it was completed. But as of 10:30 a.m., the shuttle was confirmed to be "hard down" on the pad. Heightened security procedures are expected to be in effect for the remainder of Endeavour's processing and countdown to launch. While no final decisions have been made, NASA managers are considering implementation of public affairs procedures similar to those employed in years past for fully classified shuttle missions. For those missions, starting with flight STS-51C in January 1985, NASA provided no information on when a shuttle might launch beyond a target date and a broad launch window. NASA television coverage was reduced and generic in nature and countdown clocks were not activated until T-minus nine minutes. Similar procedures likely will be in effect for Endeavour's launching but details are not yet known. As always, NASA will not discuss what is being done to ensure the physical protection of the shuttle itself. Space station managers, meanwhile, have decided to forego replacing a critical solar array motor assembly aboard the international space station during a spacewalk by Endeavour astronauts Linda Godwin and Daniel Tani. Instead, the spacewalkers will simply install thermal blankets around the bearing, motor and roll ring module - BMRRM - for the port-side PV4B solar array in a bid to limit temperature extremes and thus improve its performance. The American segment of the space station includes two huge solar panels known as the P6 array. Each panel rotates to track the sun. The BMRRMs are part of the bearing gimbal assembly at the base of each array. The BMRRMs pass primary power from the solar arrays to the rest of the station and drive the panels to track the sun. They also provide structural support. The motor used by the port-side array has exhibited higher-than-expected currents since its activation, indicating something in the mechanism is causing it to bind or hang up. These "high current events" have been increasing in number and magnitude in recent months and as it now stands, the port-side array cannot be used to automatically track the sun. The concern is that at some point, the array could lock up in a less-than-optimal sun-pointing orientation, reducing the station's available power. NASA managers decided earlier this summer to replace the BMRRM during a complex spacewalk by Godwin and Tani. But after additional analysis, they decided late last week to forego the replacement and to instead simply wrap the motor assembly in thermal blankets on the assumption that temperature extremes are to blame for the motor's performance problems. The revised, much simpler spacewalk is expected to last about four hours. If the blankets don't fix the problem, the motor assembly probably will be replaced on a future shuttle mission. But mission managers opted to try the simpler fix before going down that road. =================================================================== Updated flight plan, launch windows posted (11/20/01) The Endeavour astronauts are scheduled to fly to the Kennedy Space Center Sunday afternoon for the start of their countdown to blastoff Nov. 29 on a space station crew rotation mission. The countdown is scheduled to begin at 11 p.m. Monday. The latest revision of the STS-108 flight plan has been posted below, along with updated launch windows and a detailed countdown overview. Kennedy Space Center Director Roy Bridges initially intended to conduct Endeavour's countdown in secrecy as a post Sept. 11 security precaution. But that was a unilateral decision on Bridges' part and it later was overruled by Joseph Rothenberg, associate administrator for spaceflight in Washington, who decided that since Endeavour's launch time was already in the public domain it made little sense to classify it after the fact. As a result, next week's countdown will be conducted in the open. But unprecedented security precautions will be in effect in other areas and access to the spaceport will be strictly controlled. As of this writing, reporters and photographers will not be allowed to cover the astronauts' departure from crew quarters on launch day and the usual post-launch news conference may be called off. Daily status reports will be posted here starting with crew arrival Sunday. A detailed mission overview will be posted Monday. =================================================================== Astronauts arrive in Florida for launch (11/25/01) The shuttle Endeavour's crew flew to Florida today for launch Thursday night on a flight to ferry a fresh crew to the international space station. Flying from Houston to the Kennedy Space Center in sleek T-38 jets, the astronauts touched down on the shuttle runway around 4:40 p.m. Endeavour's countdown to blastoff is scheduled to begin at 11 p.m. Monday. If all goes well, the shuttle will climb away from pad 39B at 7:41 p.m. Thursday evening. But National Weather Service forecasters are predicting a chance for afternoon and early evening showers and thunderstorms that could cause problems. On board will be commander Dominic Gorie, pilot Mark Kelly, flight engineer Daniel Tani, Linda Godwin and Expedition Four space station commander Yuri Onufrienko and his two U.S. crewmates, Daniel Bursch and Carl Walz. The station's current crew - Expedition Three commander Frank Culbertson and Russian crewmates Vladimir Dezhurov and Mikhail Tyurin - will return to Earth aboard Endeavour on Dec. 10 after 120 days in orbit. Along with carrying a fresh crew to the space station, Endeavour also will deliver nearly four tons of cargo, crew supplies and fresh water. And in a symbolic gesture, the shuttle will carry 6,000 small American flags that will be presented to family members of those who died in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. "It's just a beautiful day to arrive for a wonderful flight," Gorie said today from the shuttle runway. "This whole crew is ready to fly. Our most important mission is bringing these three expedition (four) crew members up to the space station and bringing Expedition Three home. We are ready to do that and looking forward to a launch on Thursday night. We'll just hope the weather stays like it is and we're going to have a wonderful flight." Said Onufrienko: "I'm a really happy man. I'm here, in Florida. ... It's really great. I hope we will have a very successful flight, a long-duration flight." Unprecedented security measures are in effect for Endeavour's countdown to launch to protect the $2 billion spacecraft and its crew from any possible terrorist attack. While NASA will not discuss any aspects of what is being done to physically protect the space shuttle, Godwin said recently the astronauts are satisfied they will be safe when they strap in for launch Thursday afternoon. "We have come to know most of the security measures that are in place and I don't see how they could be doing anything else," she said in Houston. "I don't think the answer is not to launch shuttles. That's allowing the enemy another victory. "I think we have to do this and I do think all the security is in place," she said. "As Dom has said, for that period of time, we may be some of the best protected people in the country." A detailed mission preview will be posted here later this evening. =================================================================== Shuttle mission preview (11/26/01) By WILLIAM HARWOOD CBS News Space Consultant With NASA on a semi-wartime footing, engineers are readying the space shuttle Endeavour for blastoff Thursday on a space station crew rotation mission marked by haunting symbolism and unprecedented security. "We are the first to launch since Sept. 11," said pilot Mark Kelly. "A space shuttle launch is always a real significant event and especially now, being the first ones up since then, I think it will be something that will bring a lot of pride to the people. "The United States stands alone with just one other nation that can launch humans into space. And that's something that every American should be really proud about." NASA and the Air Force have implemented extraordinary - but largely undisclosed - security precautions for the first shuttle flight since the war on terrorism began, barring members of the public from driving into the Kennedy Space Center on launch day for the first time since shuttles began flying in 1981. Those who are allowed on the base, from VIPs and journalists to NASA employees and contractors, will be subjected to close scrutiny, hands-on ID checks and random car searches. SWAT teams will be evident. A limited number of tourists and area residents willing to buy tickets will be able to enter the space center on buses. In another first for the shuttle program, reporters, photographers and even off-duty spaceport personnel will not be allowed to witness the astronauts' departure from crew quarters to the launch pad, a traditional launch day "photo op." More important, of course, is what is being done to protect Endeavour, one of four irreplaceable $2 billion spacecraft that are world-wide symbols of America's technological prowess. Loaded with a half million gallons of highly explosive rocket fuel, a shuttle on the launch pad represents an enormously visible - and intrinsically vulnerable - target for any would-be terrorist with even a light aircraft who might try to crash into the ship's thin-skinned external fuel tank. NASA will not discuss what is being done to protect Endeavour. But F-15 fighter jets patrolled the sky when the shuttle was hauled out to the launch pad and it is widely assumed fighter protection will be on station during Endeavour's countdown. There may even be anti-aircraft batteries stationed around the pad or other weapons capable of shooting down a suicidal terrorist aircraft. Reporters have not been allowed to visit the launch complex since the Sept. 11 attacks. But the Air Force allowed photographs of similar gun emplacements set up at nearby Patrick Air Force Base and it's widely assumed weapons systems of some sort are in place at the spaceport. Whatever the details, Endeavour's astronauts say they are satisfied they will be safe when they strap in for launch on the 107th shuttle mission. "One of my first thoughts, even on the day of the 11th when we were in the middle of some training exercise, was gosh, you know, a shuttle on a launch pad, that's a target," said spacewalker Linda Godwin. "And we all thought about that." Since then, "we have come to know most of the security measures that are in place and I don't see how they could be doing anything else," she said. "I don't think the answer is not to launch shuttles. That's allowing the enemy another victory. "I think we have to do this and I do think all the security is in place," she said. "As (commander Dominic Gorie) has said, for that period of time, we may be some of the best protected people in the country." Said Gorie: "We are totally confident. I'm not able to talk about any specifics, but we are very, very pleased with all that's been done for security here." Godwin, Gorie, Kelly, Daniel Tani and Expedition Four space station astronauts Yuri Onufrienko, Daniel Bursch and Carl Walz, are scheduled for liftoff from pad 39B at 7:41 p.m. Thursday. It will be the 27th night launch in shuttle history. The goal of the year's sixth and final shuttle flight is to deliver the Expedition Four crew to the international space station and to bring the lab's current occupants - Expedition Three commander Frank Culbertson, Vladimir Dezhurov and Mikhail Tyurin - back to Earth after 120 days in orbit. Endeavour also will deliver more than three tons of scientific equipment, fresh food and other crew supplies, along with a half-ton of fresh water. Another 4,400 pounds of experiment samples, trash and no-longer-needed equipment will be brought back to Earth when the shuttle returns on Dec. 10. FLAGS FOR HEROES AND FAMILIES But it is Endeavour's symbolic cargo that adds an emotional lift to an otherwise routine space station mission. Packed away in the shuttle's crew cabin will be 6,000 four-inch by six-inch American flags. After the flight, the flags will be presented to the families of those who lost their lives in the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. A large American flag that was flying at the World Trade Center that day and later recovered nearly intact also is on board the shuttle, along with a Marine Corps flag rescued from the Pentagon and an American flag that was flying above the Pennsylvania state capitol building on Sept. 11. The latter is on board to honor those who died preventing one jet from hitting its target. The World Trade Center flag was found in the debris of the twin towers after they collapsed. It is remarkably intact. "It has two small tears and you could smell the strong aroma of ashes," Gorie said. "It's a very, very strong symbol that this flag survived. It's going to fly to the highest place that we can fly it. We're going to give it a really great ride and it's not going to take much to return it to is former beautiful state and it'll fly again someday." Along with the flags, the shuttle is carrying 23 New York City police badges, 91 police patches, one large New York Fire Department flag and a poster with pictures of all the fire fighters who died in the attack. "The space shuttle is more than a symbol of our strength and our unity and our vision in this country," Gorie said. "When people look at a space shuttle launch, they think of that with very, very strong emotions. So I think anything we can take that might commemorate the memory of the people who lost their lives is significant." The "Flags for Heroes and Families" campaign was announced Oct. 11 by then-NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin. It is a "way for us to honor and show our support for the thousands of brave men and women who have selflessly contributed to the relief and recovery efforts," Goldin said. "The American flags are a patriotic symbol of our strength and solidarity and our Nation's resolve to prevail." The flags and other mementos will remain packed away during Endeavour's flight, but the combined shuttle and space station crews plan to stage a ceremony of some sort to mark the occasion. And then it will be back to work. RENDEZVOUS AND DOCKING The first item on the agenda for Gorie and company is to rendezvous and dock with the space station. At liftoff, the station will be flying along a northeasterly trajectory near Newfoundland. A space shuttle can only catch up with the station if it launches within five minutes of the moment Earth's rotation carries the launch pad into the plane of the lab's orbit. But in recent years, NASA managers decided to give up the first five minutes of the 10-minute launch window to improve the odds of a reaching an East Coast runway in the event of multiple main engine failures that otherwise would force a crew to bail out. By waiting five minutes, Earth's rotation results in a trajectory that carries the shuttle closer to the East Coast, thus improving the odds of pulling off an East Coast abort and landing, or ECAL. Fifteen civilian and military runways from Myrtle Beach, S.C., to Newfoundland are available for emergency use if needed. Assuming an on-time liftoff and a trouble-free ascent, Endeavour will spend two days catching up with the station, using a series of rocket firings to fine-tune the approach. The terminal phase of the rendezvous procedure will begin when the shuttle reaches a point about 9.2 miles behind the station. To visualize the shuttle's approach, it is useful to recall the current configuration of the space station. The 150-ton complex is made up of four connected pressurized modules and a truss extending upward with respect to Earth that supports the huge P6 solar arrays. The solar panels extend at right angles to the long axis made up of the pressurized modules. For Endeavour's docking, the station will be oriented with its long axis in the direction of travel. The forward-most module is the U.S. Destiny laboratory. Destiny, in turn, is connected to a multi-hatch module known as Unity, which is connected to the Russian-built NASA-financed Zarya module. Zarya, in turn, is connected to the Russian Zvezda command module. Zvezda's aft port is used by unmanned Progress supply ships. A new docking compartment known as Pirs is connected to a downward facing hatch in the command module. The station's three-man Soyuz lifeboat is docked to a downward facing hatch in the Zarya module. The Unity module has six hatchways - one on each end and four around its circumference. A large airlock is attached to Unity's starboard hatch and the Z1 truss that serves as the base of the P6 solar array extends upward from Unity's zenith port. Endeavour will approach the station from behind and below. When it reaches a point about 600 feet directly below the lab complex, Gorie will begin a maneuver to position the shuttle 400 feet or so directly ahead of the station with its tail pointing toward Earth and its payload bay facing a docking module on Destiny's front end. "Then we back into the space station at about a quarter of a foot per second to start with, and it slows down to be a tenth of a foot per second at the very end," Gorie said in a NASA interview. "That's a very slow pace ... so it's very controllable." Tani will be in charge of the rendezvous checklist, making sure no one inadvertently misses a procedure. Godwin will use a handheld laser to measure the shuttle's distance from the station and its closing velocity while Kelly oversees rendezvous computers showing Endeavour's current and projected positions. "It's a very slow ballet of a maneuver," Gorie said. "You're not forcing anything like you would with an F-18 that I'm used to, slamming an airplane on an aircraft carrier deck, but you are just very smoothly and precisely flying this thing with very slow and controlled rates. And I think 'delicate' is probably one of the best words you could use." Once the docking systems have engaged and leak checks are complete, hatches between Endeavour and the Destiny module will be opened and Culbertson, Dezhurov and Tyurin will welcome their shuttle colleagues and Expedition Four replacements aboard. A BUSY FEW DAYS IN SPACE Two-and-a-half hours after docking, and after Culbertson completes a mandatory space station safety briefing, the shuttle astronauts will begin moving cargo from the shuttle's middeck into the lab complex. The middeck is loaded with 1,060 pounds of gear and supplies. The Expedition Three and Four crews, meanwhile, will begin handover activities to familiarize the newcomers to the station's operation, maintenance, quirks and idiosyncracies. Most of the shuttle's cargo - 5,565 pounds of it - is housed in an Italian-built pressurized module called Raffaello that is mounted at the back of Endeavour's cargo bay. The day after docking, Kelly, operating the shuttle's 50-foot robot arm, will pluck the $150 million module from the cargo bay and position it within the reach of capture latches on the Unity module's downward-facing, or nadir, hatch. It will take nine hours or so to unberth Raffaello, attach it to the station, complete leak checks and work through remote activation procedures. The astronauts will finally enter the module to begin unloading it late that evening. In the meantime, the Expedition Three and Four crews will be trading places. To be considered a full-time space station crew member, an astronaut or cosmonaut must have his or her custom-fitted Soyuz seat liner on board, along with a Russian Sokol spacesuit, in case of an emergency that might force a crew to bail out in the station's Soyuz lifeboat. While the shuttle crew works to attach the Raffaello module, the Expedition crews will replace the station's seat liners and suits in pairs. Walz and Tyurin will swap out their seatliners first, followed by Dezhurov and Onufrienko, then Culbertson and Bursch. From that point forward, Onufrienko, Walz and Bursch will be considered the station's crew and would remain aboard the lab if the shuttle had to depart early for any reason. Culbertson, Dezhurov and Tyurin would leave with Endeavour's crew. The combined crews will spend the next day unloading Raffaello and transferring fresh water to the space station. Late that evening, however, hatches between the shuttle and the station will be closed in preparation for a spacewalk the following day by Godwin and Tani. REPAIR SPACEWALK STRAIGHTFORWARD BUT CRITICAL Assuming an on-time liftoff, the four-hour excursion is scheduled to begin at 2:46 p.m. on Dec. 4. The goal of the outing is to install thermal blankets around the motors and bearings used to rotate the P6 solar arrays to track the sun. Over the past several months, engineers noticed higher-than-expected currents in the motor assemblies, indicating something was causing internal bearings to bind, making them harder to turn. Engineers grew concerned that one of the motor assemblies could lock up with an array in a less-than-optimal orientation, reducing the amount of power the panel could produce. "The concern ... was if we get a solar array that we can't position optimally toward the sun we'd have to power down parts of the station and some critical equipment may have to be powered down," said station flight director Sally Davis. "That reduces our fault tolerance and it gives us less flexibility in our operations. So we've been very careful with those arrays while we were trying to figure out what was causing the motors to increase their current and in some cases, stall." Studying telemetry, engineers were able to rule out a problem with the electronic control systems used to operate the motor assemblies. Without knowing what was causing the binding, NASA planners had Godwin and Tani start training for a high-stakes spacewalk to replace the port-side bearing motor roll ring module assembly, or BMRRM. "That was high risk in that we had to power down almost everything on that power channel except that which we could run on batteries for several hours," Davis said. "Then we would have to power everything back up. Also, it was highly choreographed with power and data connectors into that data canister." But after additional analysis, the engineering community began to believe the temperature extremes of space "was causing a distortion in the roundness of the beta gimbal assembly BMRRM motor bearings, which would cause the bearings to bunch up," Davis said. And that led NASA managers to forego the high-risk replacement of the port-side motor bearing assembly and instead to ask Godwin and Tani to perform a much simpler task: Installation of insulation blankets around the port and starboard drive motors to keep the temperatures they experience more constant and to minimize, if not eliminate, any distortion in their housings. Engineers will monitor the performance of the motors through December to determine if the blankets fix the problem. If not, a bearing replacement spacewalk likely will be added to a May shuttle mission. "It's kind of a big barrel-looking thing, about the size of a barrel," Godwin said of the BMRRM. "It gets full sun on one side sometimes while it has full shadow on the other. And those temperature extremes basically get it out of round so it becomes a slight oval rather than a cylinder. "So we're carrying up two thermal blankets to go and wrap these barrels, which are the beta gimbal housings, in hopes that will keep the temperature more constant all the way around its perimeter. They think that will take away some of the problems they've seen with the current spiking a bit high when they're moving the arrays." After installing the blankets, Godwin and Tani will perform a few so-called "get-ahead" tasks for spacewalkers on the next station assembly flight, moving a set of tools inside, removing a thermal blanket on an S-band transponder and securing a solar array truss that failed to fully lock in place when the panel was deployed. STATION RESUPPLY AND CREW HANDOVER The next two days will be devoted to unloading Raffaello, repacking it with equipment and material bound for Earth, boosting the station's altitude using Endeavour's steering jets and continuing the Expedition Three-Four handover activity. Bursch said Expedition Two flight engineer James Voss explained handover as the exchange of three sets of notes between the two crews. "One set is kind of an ongoing set of items that the ground keeps track of, maybe a system we're operating in a different mode than we've been trained or ... it's had a failure so this is how we're operating it instead," Bursch said. "So that is one set of notes or questions. "Another set might be just personal notes that Frank and Mikhail or Vladimir will have (about things) they've seen that maybe surprised them when they got on station, that they didn't realize that were different, or different from what they trained, or maybe tips that they can give us. ... So that's the second thing. "And then after we can see maybe those first two notes, we'll probably come up with our own questions," Bursch said. But some questions can't be answered except through personal experience. Like coping with four months in space cooped up in what amounts to a small three-bedroom home with the same three people, day after day. Mir-veteran Onufrienko has experience with long-duration spaceflight, but it will be a new experience for Bursch and Walz. "We've got a lot of friends around who are going to take good care of our families while we're up there and we are very fortunate that we've got good communications with email, we have the new internet phone up there and also we will get updates of news items," Walz said. "So we'll be informed and we'll be in communication. But then again, when terrible things happen it'll still be difficult to comprehend. Expedition Three's been up there and all these things have happened, the Sept. 11th attacks, so they'll come down to a tremendously different world. I'm hoping that things don't change so radically for us." Walz is bringing books and a five-octave Yamaha electronic keyboard that will remain aboard the station for use by future crews. Walz is a church accompanist and lead singer with the astronaut band Max Q. Walz jokingly referred to the keyboard as a "psychological support device." "We actually have a keyboard that we can play up there," he said. "So we look forward to bringing that out and playing some music. We also have a guitar up there. I play the piano and this'll give me a chance to relax a little bit and maybe we'll have a little space concert down the line." For his part, Onufrienko plans to read a bit when he can find a spare moment and to craft new fishing lures. He lists cooking as a hobby and leaves no doubt about who will be in charge of the station's kitchen. "I am going to cook on the station every day," he joked in an interview. "After maybe two months - this is my goal - the American astronauts Carl and Dan will like to eat Russian food. This would be the best for me!" Bursch also plans to bring books to the station, along with supplies for perhaps the most unusual hobby of any astronaut to date: Basket weaving. To be precise, Shaker basket weaving. "Probably somebody's going to shoot me for mentioning this, because somebody's going to say we're sending astronauts up into space to weave baskets," he said. "Actually I'll be thrilled if I even get to touch the materials up there." CLOUDS ON THE SCIENCE HORIZON That's because flight controllers and the science community will leave the Expedition Four crew little spare time for hobbies. "During Expedition Four, we'll begin the busiest, most diverse and complex research program we've ever attempted on the international space station," said program scientist John Uri. Through Expedition Three, 28 scientific payloads have been operated for 41 separate investigations requiring some 500 hours of crew time. More than 50,000 hours of experiment run time has been accumulated. For Expedition Four, Uri said, "we'll have 26 different payloads that will be conducted - and seven of these are new to the ISS program - and they will be supporting 30 primary investigations to characterize the microgravity environment; to study human physiology; performing research in fundamental biology, which will be a first on this expedition; doing some materials processing as well as the exposure of materials to the space environment; biotechnology; (and) some very active commercial endeavors." Onufrienko, Bursch and Walz will spend at least 300 hours doing hands-on research and 72 hours of work devoted to Russian research. They will accept delivery of some 1,650 pounds of experiment hardware from Endeavour and the next shuttle to visit in March. They also will stage two spacewalks and monitor a major software update for the station's command-and-control computers. On top of all that, the crew will receive and unload an unmanned Progress supply ship in February and host a three-person crew delivering a fresh Soyuz lifeboat in April. Onufrienko and company will return to Earth in May aboard a shuttle ferrying up the Expedition Five crew. "I'm proud that we can continue what we're doing," Walz said. "Hopefully, while we're up there we can remind the country that we are a space power, that we're keeping people aloft, that we're continuing to not only pursue our activities in Afganistan, but we continue to fly in space, that we fly in space with a consortium of nations and we are a visible symbol of how nations can work together harmoniously instead of having to fight with each other and do terrorist acts." But a cloud of uncertainty hangs over the space station as NASA awaits the arrival of a new administrator - Sean O'Keefe - who has vowed to force the agency to live within its budget, even if that means indefinitely restricting station crew size to three. NASA's longest-serving administrator, Daniel Goldin, resigned in October, just before the release of a critical report by a panel of outside experts that blamed projected space station cost overruns on poor management. The panel said NASA must reorganize the space station program, redefine the project's science goals and sharply cut spending to keep even the current three-person lab financially feasible. Those recommendations and others, if implemented, would reduce the shuttle flight rate to just four per year by 2003, eliminate hundreds, if not thousands, of contractor and civil service jobs across the nation and severely limit onboard research by Europe, Japan, Canada and other international partners. Panel chairman Thomas Young said if these or similar measures are implemented, the agency probably could complete the space station's current three-person design and still meet, or come close to, an $8.3 billion spending cap set earlier by NASA and the Office of Management and Budget. That spending cap covers station costs between fiscal 2002 and the completion of assembly, now stretched out to 2006. The overall cost of the station through assembly complete is roughly $25 billion by NASA's estimates, not counting shuttle transportation and other indirect costs. NASA originally planned to build a crew habitation module and an emergency crew return vehicle that would support an on-board crew of six or seven. But earlier this summer, project managers discovered station costs would exceed the projected spending cap by $4.8 billion. By eliminating work on the crew return vehicle, the habitation module and a multi-hatch node that would connect future modules, NASA reduced the projected overrun to around $480 million. That shortfall remains unresolved. But loss of the crew return vehicle reduced the size of the station's eventual crew to just three, the number of astronauts that can fit inside a Russian Soyuz re-entry vehicle, the station's current lifeboat. While three people can safely operate and maintain the station, there is little time for hands-on science operations: about 20 hours per week. For the station's international partners, a three-person crew effectively eliminates any chance for European, Japanese or Canadian astronauts to carry out significant on-board research. For them, a six- or seven-member crew is essential. But the Young panel recommended putting station expansion on hold until the agency can demonstrate more "credible" cost estimating and budgeting. With a clear mandate from the Bush administration to reign in the station program, O'Keefe, deputy director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, has vowed to implement the recommendations of the Young panel. "The administration is very proud of the technical accomplishments of (the space station) program, as we all should be," O'Keefe said Nov. 7 in testimony before the House Science Committee. "However, technical excellence at any cost is not an acceptable approach," he said. "Managing the program within cost and schedule must be elevated in importance - particularly within the culture of NASA's Human Space Flight activities - to be on a par with technical excellence." Bill Gerstenmaier, deputy director of the station program at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, agreed NASA needs to improve its cost estimating techniques and predicted the agency will figure out ways to cut costs and still preserve a viable space station. "Our problem is how we forecast costs and how we budget in the future," he said. "We definitely need to do some improvement there and we'll take some of the recommendations (the Young panel made) and figure out a way to put together a plan to satisfy what they need, run that through headquarters and up to OMB and Congress. I think we'll be able to get a plan that will satisfy where we want to go." FOR EXPEDITION THREE, A WELCOME RETURN TO EARTH In the near term, flight controllers, engineers and the astronauts are focused on Endeavour's mission, getting Expedition Four on board and getting Expedition Three back to Earth after four months in space. On Dec. 7, the Raffaello module will be unlatched and remounted in Endeavour's cargo bay for return to Earth. The next day, the shuttle will undock, leaving Onufrienko and his crewmates on their own until the next shuttle crew arrives in March. Kelly will be at the controls for undocking, guiding the orbiter straight away from the station and then through a loop around the outpost for photo documentation. "When we get physical separation between the space station and space shuttle, I'll start firing some jets and we'll move out to about 450 feet in front of the space station," Kelly explained in a NASA interview. "And then we'll command the shuttle to start pitching over, and when we pitch over, then I'll start translating to keep the top of the space shuttle pointing right at the space station. And that'll allow us to fly this 360-degree maneuver all the way around the station. We can survey the outside of it, take some pictures, and the engineers can use that later to determine the, you know, the status of certain components and if there's been any damage." Kelly will guide Endeavour through an additional quarter loop before leaving the station for good. "That whole procedure takes a good amount of time," he said, "it's a slow maneuver, it's kind of challenging. ... So it'll be exciting, and I'm really looking forward to it." The day after undocking, Gorie, Kelly and Tani will check out the shuttle's re-entry systems while their crewmates stow loose gear and ready the ship for its fiery plunge back to Earth. If all goes well, Endeavour will touch down on the Kennedy Space Center's 3-mile-long runway around 3:15 p.m. on Dec. 10. Over the past year, the station grew from 70 tons to 150 tons and now is roughly comparable to the mass of Russia's old Mir space station. Five space station assembly flights are planned for 2002 to build a huge truss that ultimately will support four sets of solar arrays. Some 50 tons of hardware will be delivered to the station and astronauts will carry out 19 spacewalks to continue the lab's assembly and outfitting. After a mission in February to service the Hubble Space Telescope, NASA's space station assembly flights will resume in March with delivery of the central section of the solar array truss. =================================================================== Signal conditioner cleared for flight (11/26/01) Shuttle engineers have cleared a suspect signal conditioner "black box" in the shuttle Endeavour's engine compartment, saying the unit is healthy and no threat to Thursday's launch. Forecasters, meanwhile, are predicting a 60 percent chance of acceptable weather Thursday night with 90 percent "go" conditions Friday and Saturday. The concern Thursday is possible showers and anvil clouds near the space center. The goal of Endeavour's mission is to deliver supplies and a fresh three-man crew to the international space station. At the Baikonur Cosmodrome in central Asia, an unmanned Progress supply ship loaded with additional cargo for the station's next crew blasted off today at 1:24 p.m. EST. The spacecraft is expected to dock with the space station at 2:40 p.m. Wednesday. A detailed 5,000-word mission preview is posted in the CBS News Reporter's Notebook immediately below. =================================================================== Tight security in place for shuttle launch (11/27/01) 10:00 a.m., 11/27/01, Update: Countdown underway; Endeavour ready for flight The shuttle Endeavour's countdown began at 11 p.m. Monday and with no technical problems of any significance at pad 39B, launch of the 107th shuttle flight remains targeted for 7:41:01 p.m. Thursday. Forecasters are predicting a 60 percent chance of acceptable weather, with the odds improving to 90 percent "go" Friday and Saturday. The goal of the year's sixth and final shuttle voyage is to ferry a fresh three-man crew to the international station and to bring the lab's current occupants home after 120 days in orbit. Endeavour's crew also will deliver nearly four tons of equipment and supplies to the outpost while carrying thousands of small American flags that will be given to family members of those who lost their lives in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. For a variety of technical reasons, Endeavour must be off the ground by Dec. 6 or the flight could be delayed a full month because of conflicts with other launches and because of the changing angle between the sun and the plane of the space station's orbit. As it now stands, NASA test director Jeff Spaulding said the launch team can make five attempts in seven days to get Endeavour off the ground, up to and including Dec. 6. "The KSC processing team has done an exceptional job getting this vehicle ready for flight," he said. "I think everybody's excited to be back launching again. All of our flight and ground systems look great and we're looking forward to Thursday evening's launch." Endeavour's countdown is being conducted under tight security. NASA will not discuss what precautions have been taken to protect the orbiter, but the Air Force Monday showed off a powerful mobile radar system set up at nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station that can detect objects as small as nine feet from a distance of 230 miles. It is widely assumed fighter jets will be in the area at launch time, possibly supported by anti-aircraft weapons somewhere near the launch pad. Spaulding would not discuss any aspects of security, but he said the launch team had not been distracted from the task at hand. "We've been in this posture, obviously, for quite some time," he said. "Senior management here at KSC has taken it upon themselves to make sure the folks are aware of what is going on ... and also to assure them of their safety and security is being taken care of." Todd Corey, payload manager for Endeavour's mission, said the launching is a signal to the rest of the world that America is pressing ahead with business as usual, despite the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. "I think it shows our resolve and the fact that we press on with our day to day lives and keep doing the great things that we're doing here for the space program," he said. "So I think it makes a pretty positive statement for the whole country." 06:30 p.m., 11/27/01, Update: Launch day airspace restrictions in effect Security for Thursday's launch of the shuttle Endeavour will be extraordinarily tight, an Air Force colonel said today. Small aircraft will be banned from flying within 35 miles of the launch pad and the Coast Guard will strictly enforce a three-mile coastal buffer around the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and the Kennedy Space Center. Boats also will be barred, as with any shuttle launch, from entering a launch danger zone extending 75 miles to sea along the spacecraft's planned trajectory. At an otherwise routine pre-launch news conference, Col. Samuel Dick of the 45th Space Wing at nearby Patrick Air Force Base said he could not discuss what weapons might be in place or the "rules of engagement" governing their use should a an aircraft or boat stray into restricted areas. But he left no doubt assets are, in fact, in place to shoot down or disable any threatening craft. "This is an unprecedented level of effort," he said. "It certainly is appropriate considering the United States is at war and (Florida) is an area where we know terrorists did frequent (prior to Sept. 11). The threat is terrorism. "And we want to ensure the safe and secure access to space is guaranteed. So we've provided some assets. I'm not going to go into a list of what we've done. We've tightened up control of the airspace, we've provided the means to protect America's access to space and beyond that, I'd rather not go into details about what hardware, units or capability we have." F-15 jets patrolled the area when Endeavour was hauled to the launch pad and a high-power military radar system has been installed at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station that is capable of detecting objects nine feet across at a distance of 230 miles. It is not known whether any anti-aircraft batteries have been set up at the space center or the nearby Air Force station. Dick would not even say whether fighter jets will be in the air on launch day. But a "special interest" notice to airmen, or NOTAM, on the FAA website includes the following warning: PILOTS ARE ADVISED THAT MILITARY AIRCRAFT PATROL THE TFR AREA AND ALL FLIGHTS ARE ACTIVELY MONITORED. ANY AIRCRAFT WITHIN THE TFR AREA NOT IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE ABOVE PROCEDURES IS SUBJECT TO IMMEDIATE MILITARY AIRCRAFT INTERCEPTION AND THE USE OF FORCE." The airspace restrictions go into effect at 1:45 a.m. Thursday and remain in force until 8:45 p.m., roughly one hour past the shuttle's expected launch time of 7:41 p.m. During that period, general aviation/VFR traffic within 35 miles of the launch pad will be banned, a restriction that effectively shuts down five small area airports and runways. Between 35 and 45 miles, small aircraft can fly if they use transponders and remain in contact with air traffic control. Commercial aviation above 18,000 feet is not affected. "The purpose of the notice is to notify those airmen that this is an area to avoid, so they should give us a wide berth," Dick said. "But for those folks who are unfortunate enough to actually end up in that area, they may actually see some of our assets attempt to intercept and move them away. "Our purpose is to keep them from reaching a point where decisions would have to be made that would be adverse. They are in a situation, if they place themselves inside that security zone, of being at risk. "I'm not going to go into what precise rules of engagement we use in order to ensure innocent folks are not harmed," he said. "But there is a set of procedures we use specifically to address that decision. There are many steps we will take before we take that last step." Pressed to say whether he was confident the security precautions will protect the shuttle and launch crews from any credible threat, Dick would only say "whatever comes, we'll be prepared." Shuttle program manager Ronald Dittemore then added: "We're satisfied that the necessary security precautions are in place, or we would not be ready to launch. We're satisfied as a program and an agency." =================================================================== Progress docking problem assessed (11/28/01) 09:40 a.m., 11/28/01, Update: Weather improves for shuttle launch The shuttle Endeavour's countdown continues to tick smoothly toward blastoff Thursday on the 107th shuttle mission. There are no technical problems at pad 39B and forecasters say an approaching cold front has stalled slightly, improving the odds for an on-time liftoff. The only concern is a chance for electrically charged anvil clouds to move within 10 nautical miles of the launch pad. Shuttles are prohibited from flying through anvil clouds because of the threat of rocket-triggered lightning. Even so, forecasters say there's now a 70 percent chance of good weather Thursday evening when Endeavour's 7:41 p.m. launch time rolls around. 02:45 p.m., 11/28/01, Update: Progress supply ship docks with space station An unmanned Russian supply ship docked with the international space station today as the two spacecraft sailed high above central Asia. The Progress 6 vehicle docked to the aft port of the Russian Zvezda command module at 2:43 p.m. EST after an automatic rendezvous. There were no problems and the linkup was uneventful. 08:00 p.m., 11/28/01, Update: Russian engineers troubleshoot Progress docking glitch Russion flight controllers are troubleshooting a potential problem with the docking mechanism used to secure an unmanned Progress supply ship to the international space station. The Progress 6 spacecraft appeared to dock normally at 2:43 p.m., but engineers at the Russian flight control center near Moscow did not immediately receive indications all the hooks and latches needed to lock the craft to the station had firmly engaged. This is a potential issue for NASA's planned launch of the shuttle Endeavour Thursday. The shuttle is scheduled to dock with the space station Saturday, but NASA would not proceed if there is any question about the status of the Progress vehicle. When the shuttle docks with the station, it imparts a relatively modest force on the complex. But if a Soyuz or Progress vehicle was not firmly docked, the force imparted to the station by the shuttle could cause a loose spacecraft to wobble back and forth enough to cause structural damage. Here's the text of a NASA status report describing the Progress issue: Source: NASA ISS status report No. 48 "The International Space Station resumed its normal orientation control about three hours later than planned this afternoon to allow Russian flight controllers time to evaluate a potential technical problem seen following the docking of a Progress resupply craft today. The station remained in free drift, with attitude control turned off, the normal mode for a Progress docking. The station's orientation control system would normally have been turned back on only a few minutes after the docking, once Russian flight controllers had received indications that hooks that hard dock the supply craft to the station had closed and latched. Mission Control, Korolev, did not see the expected indication after the Progress docked to the complex at 1:43 p.m. CST. The station remained in free drift, with steering systems off line, until about 5 p.m. CST, when Russian flight controllers determined the Progress was attached securely enough to allow the station's steering system to operate normally. While the station was in free drift, power generation was reduced and some non-critical items onboard were powered off temporarily to conserve electriciity. Heaters that control condensation on the shell of the Destiny lab, Unity node and pressurized mating adapters on the station were turned off for a few hours as were a backup cabin air assembly and a contaminant monitor in the Quest airlock. Once the station returned to its normal orientation, all equipment temporarily powered off was powered back on with no impact to station operations. Russian flight controllers are continuing to evaluate the problem seen following the Progress docking. Indications are that hooks that normally constitute the second stage of the Progress' attachment to the station had not closed and latched as expected. An evaluation of the situation will continue tonight and troubleshooting aboard the station may be performed Thursday morning when the complex next moves within range of Russian ground tracking sites. Meanwhile, at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, all activities are proceeding as planned toward the launch of the Space Shuttle Endeavour at 6:41 p.m. CST Thursday on shuttle mission STS-108, which will ferry a fourth crew to the station. The next milestone in Endeavour's preparations will be a decision to begin fueling the shuttle for launch, expected at about 9:15 a.m. CST Thursday. The Inernational Space Station is orbiting at an average altitude of 247 statute miles (397 km)." NASA mission managers plan to meet Thursday just before 9 a.m. to discuss shuttle processing and to give formal permission to begin fueling the spaceship around 10:46 a.m. for a launch at 7:41 p.m. This is a routine meeting of the mission management team that is conducted during every shuttle countdown. But the Progress issue, if it is not resolved by then, will be discussed and in a worst-case scenario, it could cause a delay. =================================================================== Shuttle launch delayed by docking snag (11/29/01) 09:15 a.m., 11/29/01, Update: Russians say Progress problem won't delay Endeavour Russian engineers have not yet resolved a problem that has prevented an unmanned Russian Progress supply ship for firmly locking in place on the international space station. But ground controllers told the station crew today the problem will not delay the shuttle Endeavour's blastoff tonight at 7:41 p.m. "One thing is for sure, we agreed with the American side, this will not have any impact on the shuttle," a Russian flight controller radioed the crew around 9 a.m. "The shuttle will launch and dock and do all other operations as scheduled." NASA managers have not yet announced a formal decision one way or the other. But fueling is scheduled to begin shortly before 11 a.m. The Progress spacecraft docked at the aft port of the station's Zvezda command module at 2:43 p.m. Wednesday. The docking appeared to go smoothly, but engineers never received confirmation that hooks and latches had fully engaged to lock, or "hard dock," the spacecraft to its port. NASA officials said Wednesday evening the shuttle could not dock to the station if a Progress or Soyuz vehicle was not hard docked because of potential structural damage. The concern was that a loose vehicle could rock back and forth enough to cause damage due to the forces imparted on the station when the shuttle docks. During a morning update for the crew, Russian flight controllers said the Progress appeared to be just five millimeters out of alignment. A cable of some sort may have prevented the spacecraft from firmly locking in place. "We do have video information that in the preveious Progress, when it was docking, everything was clean," the controllers said. "But when we undocked (the old Progress) last week, we saw a cable loose, or some rope, and we could see it clearly. During yesterday's docking (of the new Progress) we saw also something shaped like a U that was going through kind of the docking cone and we're not sure of the origin of this. "We understand that you have been moniroting the video and we're trying to understand where this item could come from and our request to you, please remember calmly, what was the last thing you put into that Progress, especiallyl some items and some flexible long items, cables, ropes." Russian flight engineer Vladimir Dezhurov replied that "no, we did not have anything of that description. ... I looked at everything and even wiped the cone on the inside. Everything looked absolutely clean. ... Everything was secured. There was nothing there." Ground control then said engineers would think about it some more and advised the crew the problem would not delay Endeavour's launching. 10:00 a.m., 11/29/01, Update: No word from NASA on shuttle launch options NASA managers have not yet formally said whether they plan to proceed with the shuttle Endeavour's launching this evening on a space station crew rotation mission. Russian flight controllers radioed the station crew earlier this morning that Endeavour would, in fact, launch on time. But that might have been premature. Discussions are on-going and with a 90 percent chance of good weather Friday and Saturday - the forecast is just 70 percent "go" tonight - NASA managers could opt to buy more time for additional analysis of the Progress docking problem. Stay tuned! 10:15 a.m., 11/29/01, Update: Shuttle launch delayed one day Launch of the heavily guarded shuttle Endeavour on a space station crew rotation mission has been delayed at least 24 hours, sources say, to give U.S. and Russian engineers more time to analyze a docking problem with a Russian Progress supply ship. Launch, which had been scheduled for 7:41 p.m. today, is now off until at least 7:18:29 p.m. Friday. The forecast for Friday and Saturday calls for a 90 percent chance of good weather. More details will be posted here as they become available. 10:45 a.m., 11/29/01, Update: Spacewalk discussed to clear Progress problem Russian ground controllers have told the space station astronauts they may be asked to stage an unplanned spacewalk Monday to remove a loose cable of some sort that apparently has prevented a Progress supply ship for firmly docking to the outpost. The spacewalk would be carried out by cosmonauts Vladimir Dezhurov and Mikhail Tyurin. In the same conversation, the cosmonauts were notified the shuttle Endeavour's launch had been delayed at least 24 hours. Plans are far from finalized, but one option under discussion calls for launching Endeavour Friday night at 7:18:29 p.m. for a docking around 4:18 p.m. Sunday. The spacewalk by Dezhurov and Tyurin would be staged Monday and another already-planned spacewalk, by shuttle astronauts Daniel Tani and Linda Godwin, would take place the following day. Russian engineers believe the Progress failed to firmly lock in place on the aft docking port of the Zvezda command module Wednesday because of a cable of some sort that managed to float into the docking mechanism. During the spacewalk Monday, the cosmonauts would attempt to remove the cable, which presumably would allow the docking system to fully engage. Engineers believe the shuttle can safely dock with the station in its current configuration and that any forces imparted on the lab complex would not cause the "soft-docked" Progress to rock back and forth enough to cause any structural damage. But with excellent weather predicted for Friday and Saturday, NASA managers have opted to take a bit more time to make sure the preliminary structural analysis is correct and to give flight planners more time to revise the work schedule of the combined crews. 03:15 p.m., 11/29/01, Update: NASA mulls launch options; delay to Sunday or Monday possible NASA managers are narrowing down a list of options for launching the shuttle Endeavour on a delayed space station crew rotation mission. Mission managers hope to make a decision early Friday to either clear Endeavour for launch Friday evening at 7:18 p.m. or to delay the flight even more to accommodate an unplanned spacewalk on the station to clear a piece of debris that is preventing an unmanned supply ship from firmly locking in place. NASA had hoped to launch Endeavour this evening, at 7:41 p.m., but the flight was put on hold because of problems encountered Wednesday during the docking of the Progress 6 supply ship. A piece of electrical cable or some other type of cable-like debris apparently is lodged in the docking mechanism, preventing hooks from engaging to lock the two spacecraft together. Russian flight controllers appear adamant about staging a repair spacewalk Monday to remove the debris. Under their proposal, two of the station's on-board crew members - most likely Russian cosmonauts Vladimir Dezhurov and Mikhail Tyurin - would stage a spacewalk Monday from the station's new Pirs airlock module. A probe extends from the nose of the Progress into the station's docking mechanism. The probe normally pulls the two docking interfaces together so eight hooks and latches can engage for a so-called hard dock. The debris is preventing the probe from moving the final five millimeters or so needed for a firm docking. For Monday's planned spacewalk, the probe would be backed off somewhat, allowing the Progress to move eight to 12 inches out from the docking port. The spacecraft would remain attached to the station, but the resulting gap would be wide enough to permit Dezhurov and Tyurin to use a tool or some sort to snare the errant cable and clear the obstruction. The probe then would be re-tightened and the Progress hard docked. But NASA managers have two problems: Convincing themselves the shuttle can safely dock with the station even though the Progress is not firmly docked itself; and incorporating an unplanned spacewalk into the shuttle crew's already busy schedule. "Although we are OK for the loads for nominal operation of the space station right now, we are not approved for the loads that are induced during the docking and the attitude control maneuvers while the space shuttle is attached to the station," said station operations manager James Van Laak. "We think we'll be OK to get to that at some point. ... But as of this morning, when we had to make a decision as to whether or not to launch this afternoon, we did not have that answer and that clearly was a go no-go criteria for that decision." That said, engineers are fairly confident the shuttle can safely dock with the Progress in a soft-dock configuration. The more important issue from NASA's perspective is the impact of the unplanned spacewalk on other shuttle work ranging from station resupply to crew transfer and handover. Because launch has now been delayed at least one day, Endeavour's flight cannot be extended an extra day to allow the crews to make up lost time. The hydrogen and oxygen needed to power the ship's electrical generators constantly boils off and by sitting on the ground an extra day, the shuttle will not have enough fuel cell reactants for an extra day in space. Among a bewildering variety of options under discussion, two of the more likely scenarios go like this: Option 1: Launch Endeavour on Friday and dock with the space station Sunday. The station astronauts then would conduct the repair spacewalk Monday as the Russians have proposed. An already-planned spacewalk by shuttle astronauts Linda Godwin and Daniel Tani to install protective insulation blankets around two solar array drive motors would be deferred until after the shuttle departs. The insulation blankets would be installed by the station astronauts instead. Option 2: Launch Endeavour on Sunday or Monday. That would allow engineers to top off the shuttle's fuel cell reactants and restore the possibility of adding a docked day to the mission. Under this scenario, the repair spacewalk would be conducted Monday and the shuttle would dock either Tuesday or Wednesday. The spacewalk by Tani and Godwin would be carried out as planned. The second option appears to offer minimal impact to Endeavour's mission, but no decisions are expected before Friday morning. "There are a lot of options here," Van Laak said earlier today. "We think we see a fairly straightforward path to resolving it. The work before us is principally in two ares. The first being to minimize the impacts of this work, both during the (shuttle mission) timeframe or (after) if we do it at that time. "And secondly, because it is a new activity from the American point of view ... and our process requires we understand and concur on these issues, there will be several days of serious work, to go through, step by step, how that EVA would be done, what translation paths would be used, what hazards exist and so on. I have confidence all those things can be done, but we need to develop a plan." And they don't have much time. Endeavour must be off the ground by Dec. 6 or the flight could be delayed a full month because of conflicts with other operations on the Air Force tracking range and because of the changing angle between the sun and the space station's orbit. 08:00 p.m., 11/29/01, Update: No shuttle launch Friday; likely early next week NASA managers attending an evening teleconference have decided not to make an attempt to launch the already delayed shuttle Endeavour Friday on a space station crew rotation mission, sources say. The launch team was told liftoff would be delayed until at least Saturday and almost certainly, launch would slip to early next week, after a planned Russian spacewalk to fix a problem aboard the international space station. The engineering community unanimously recommended delaying launch until after the spacewalk by cosmonauts Vladimir Dezhurov and Mikhail Tyurin, currently targeted for Monday. But not all senior NASA managers were able to attend the teleconference and until everyone has had a chance to be briefed - including Russian space station managers - an official decision was put on hold. In the meantime, the Kennedy Space Center launch team was told not to press ahead for a Friday launch attempt. Until an official decision is announced, they will instead recycle and keep their options open for a 48-hour scrub-turnaround, which would lead to a Saturday launch. But again, sources say that is a shuttle payload processing necessity and that the flight almost certainly will slip to early next week. NASA managers said earlier this week Endeavour had to be off the ground by Dec. 6 or the flight could slip into early January because of already scheduled, presumably classified, activity by the Air Force radar tracking system and because of the changing angle between the sun and the plane of the station's orbit. Sources said late today Dec. 7, 8 and 9 are, in fact, booked and not available to the shuttle. But Dec. 11 and 12 apparently are available and there is some chance Dec. 10 and 13 could free up as well. NASA's mission management team plans to meet early Friday to make a formal decision on how to proceed. But as of this writing, launch is off for Friday and and it is expected to slip into early next week when all is said and done. Launch originally was scheduled for today, but the flight was delayed after an unmanned Russian Progress supply ship failed to fully dock with the space station Wednesday. A piece of cable or similar debris apparently is lodged in the docking mechanism, preventing hooks and latches from fully engaging to secure the spacecraft to its docking port. The Russians want to stage a spacewalk Monday to remove the debris. NASA wants to wait until the spacewalk is complete before launching Endeavour. While the shuttle could be launched earlier, the unplanned Russian spacewalk would throw a wrench into the shuttle crew's schedule. By delaying to early next week, the shuttle flight would be unaffected by the Russian spacewalk. In addition, engineers would have time to top off the shuttle's fuel cell supplies, permitting an additional day in orbit if required. See the earlier status reports below for a detailed review of the Progress problem. =================================================================== Shuttle launch delayed to Dec. 4 (11/30/01) 09:00 a.m., 11/30/01, Update: Russians say shuttle flight delayed to next week Russian flight controllers told the crew of the international space station early today that the shuttle Endeavour's launch will be delayed until after a spacewalk Monday to remove an obstruction preventing a supply ship from firmly docking. In the crew's regular daily planning session with mission control-Moscow, flight controllers said the shuttle launch would slip to Monday afternoon or Tuesday. NASA managers attending a teleconference Thursday night to assess their options unanimously agreed the flight should be delayed until after the spacewalk by cosmonauts Vladimir Dezhurov and Mikhail Tyurin. But an official announcement was put off pending discussion with the Russians and senior NASA managers who were unable to attend the teleconference. But NASA has not yet made any official announcements. In the meantime, here are updated launch windows for next week: DATE.....WINDOW OPEN.....LAUNCH..........WINDOW CLOSE.....DOCKING Dec. 3...06:02:42 p.m....06:07:41 p.m....06:12:41 p.m.....FD-3 .........06:05:50 p.m....06:10:49 p.m....06:15:49 p.m.....FD-4 Dec. 4...05:40:08 p.m....05:45:07 p.m....05:50:07 p.m.....FD-3 Dec. 5...05:14:28 p.m....05:19:26 p.m....05:24:26 p.m.....FD-3 .........05:17:35 p.m....05:22:34 p.m....05:27:34 p.m.....FD-4 Dec. 6...04:51:53 p.m....04:56:52 p.m....05:01:52 p.m.....FD-3 Dec. 7...04:26:13 p.m....04:31:12 p.m....04:36:12 p.m.....FD-3 .........04:29:30 p.m....04:34:19 p.m....04:39:19 p.m.....FD-4 Dec. 8...04:03:39 p.m....04:08:38 p.m....04:13:38 p.m.....FD-3 .........04:06:47 p.m....04:11:46 p.m....04:16:46 p.m.....FD-4 Dec. 9...03:41:05 p.m....03:46:04 p.m....03:51:04 p.m.....FD-3 Dec. 10..03:15:24 p.m....03:21:23 p.m....03:25:23 p.m.....FD-3 .........03:18:32 p.m....03:23:31 p.m....03:28:31 p.m.....FD-4 Dec. 11..02:52:50 p.m....02:57:49 p.m....03:02:49 p.m.....FD-3 .........02:55:59 p.m....03:00:59 p.m....03:05:59 p.m.....FD-4 Dec. 12..02:27:10 p.m....02:32:09 p.m....02:37:09 p.m.....FD-3 .........02:30:17 p.m....02:35:16 p.m....02:40:16 p.m.....FD-4 Dec. 13..02:04:36 p.m....02:09:34 p.m....02:14:34 p.m.....FD-3 .........02:07:44 p.m....02:12:43 p.m....02:17:43 p.m.....FD-4 09:30 a.m., 11/30/01, Update: NASA flight controllers say Dec. 4 is recommended shuttle launch date A NASA flight controller told space station commander Frank Culbertson early today that shuttle managers have recommended launching the shuttle Endeavour on Tuesday, Dec. 4. The controller said NASA's mission management team is considering that recommendation and a decision is expected shortly. A launch on Tuesday would be targeted for 5:45:07 p.m. See the updated launch window chart below for additional details. 09:55 a.m., 11/30/01, Update: Endeavour cleared for Dec. 4 launch NASA's mission management team has finally made it official: The shuttle Endeavour's launch to the international space station will be delayed to Tuesday, Dec. 4, at 5:45:07 p.m. As expected, the delay was ordered to give the Russians time to complete a spacewalk Monday by cosmonauts Vladimir Dezhurov and Mikhail Tyurin to remove an obstruction blocking the firm docking of a Progress supply ship. While the shuttle crew's flight plan will be tweaked over the next few days, here's a summary timeline of major mission events based on a Tuesday launching (in EST and mission elapsed time). A complete timeline is posted below along with updated launch windows through Dec. 13. DATE/TIME..DD...HH...MM...EVENT 12/04/01 05:45 PM...00...00...00...STS-108 launch from pad 39B 12/06/01 02:45 PM...01...21...00...Docking with space station 03:25 PM...01...21...40...Hatch opening work begins 04:35 PM...01...22...50...Welcome aboard! 12/07/01 11:00 AM...02...17...15...Robot arm grapples Raffaello supply module 12:55 PM...02...19...10...Raffaello attached to station 08:20 PM...03...02...35...Raffaello ingress 12/09/01 12:50 PM...04...19...05...Spacewalk: Airlock egress 01:55 PM...04...20...10...Spacewalk: Solar array repair work 04:45 PM...04...23...00...Spacewalk: Airlock ingress 12/11/01 03:15 PM...06...21...30...Crew news conference 12/12/01 11:05 AM...07...17...20...Raffaello egress 02:40 PM...07...20...55...Robot arm grapples Raffaello 05:00 PM...07...23...15...Raffaello reberthed in shuttle 05:40 PM...07...23...55...Robot arm ungrapples Raffaello 12/13/01 09:05 AM...08...15...20...Hatches closed 10:30 AM...08...16...45...Undocking timeline begins 11:33 AM...08...17...48...Undocking 01:00 PM...08...19...15...Final separation 12/15/01 04:45 AM...10...11...00...Crew wakeup 08:15 AM...10...14...30...Begin deorbit prep timeline 12:14 PM...10...18...29...Deorbit ignition (orbit 170) 01:19 PM...10...19...34...Landing (orbit 171) 01:15 p.m., 11/30/01, Update: NASA managers say launch delay protects options NASA managers decided to delay the shuttle Endeavour's launching until Tuesday to protect their options in the event a Russian space station repair job Monday fails to resolve a Progress docking problem. "We agreed that the best use of our resources, the best way to minimize the risk to the UF1 flight, to be sure we can get it off before the end of the year and accomplish all the critical mission objectives was to target our first launch attempt on Tuesday evening," said James Van Laak, space station operations manager at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. "The principle benefits of doing that is that it allows us to have a clear understanding of the consequences, the outcome of the EVA on Monday. We feel good it can be done and will be successful, but it uses a good part of the day Monday and we want time to assess the outcome and make certain we're in a good safe, configuration. "Clearly, if we were to try and launch on Monday it would require that we tank and have the crew get aboard the vehicle while we were still assessing things. And that puts a great deal of pressure on all involved and was not the way to make the best decision possible." As it now stands, cosmonauts Vladimir Dezhurov and Mikhail Tyurin will begin a planned four-hour spacewalk around 8:30 a.m. Monday to remove a long piece of cable-like debris from the docking interface between the station's Zvezda command module and the Progress 6 supply ship. The unmanned supply craft arrived at the station Wednesday but it was unable to complete a tight docking. Video from orbit shows a piece of cord-like debris in the interface between the Zvezda and the Progress. While the supply ship is latched securely to the station, hooks have not been able to fully engage to create a structurally solid, air-tight seal." Van Laak said video from space shot from the Progress 5 craft as it pulled away to make room for Progress 6 clearly shows the debris. He said it looks as though part or all of a pressure seal in the departing Progress 5's docking mechanism pulled away somehow when the craft undocked. That's what it looks like, he said. That might not be what it is. In any case, the Russians plan to retract a docking probe that extends from the nose of the Progress 6 vehicle into Zvezda's aft docking port. That should result in an eight- to 12-inch gap between the two spacecraft, enough for Dezhurov and Tyurin to visually inspect the debris and, if possible, remove it. Russian space engineers faced a very similar problem when the Kvant-1 module was launched to the no-defunct Mir space station in March 1987. In that case, a trash bag lodged in the docking interface prevented Kvant-1 from being locked into place. Cosmonauts Yuri Romanenko and Alexander Laveikin ultimately carried out a successful spacewalk to remove the debris. Given Russian experience with this sort of thing, "we're really getting a lot of confidence we can do this," Van Laak said. Even so, he said it made sense to delay Endeavour's launching until after the spacewalk is complete. He outlined three possible scenarios. If the repair work is successful, the Progress will be "hard docked" to the station before Endeavour takes off and once on station, the shuttle crew will be able to carry out its complete mission. If the docking interface cannot be cleared of debris, the Russians will simply tighten the mechanism up as much as possible and, assuming the fit is at least as good as it is now, Endeavour would launch Tuesday and its crew would carry out its normal mission. Additional work to fix the Progress problem would be deferred until after the shuttle departs. In a worst-case scenario, one in which the debris cannot be cleared and the Progress ends up in a configuration that cannot handle the forces imparted on the station by a shuttle docking, Van Laak said the Russians have agreed to undock the spacecraft and park it nearby until after Endeavour's mission is complete. In all three scenarios, Endeavour would be clear to launch Tuesday. "We have sufficient logistics on board the station right now to keep the crew up there in great shape until the end of January," Van Laak said. "If either shuttle or the Progress gets there, they're well into March before they have to worry about consumables. So there's plenty of time to respond to things. This is a matter of making intelligent decisions and getting the most effective use of our resources." =================================================================== Russians set for Monday spacewalk (12/02/01) Russian cosmonaut Vladimir Dezhurov and Mikhail Tyurin are gearing up for a critical spacewalk Monday morning to remove debris preventing a Progress supply ship from docking properly. Dezhurov, wearing a spacesuit with red stripes, and Tyurin, wearing a spacesuit with blue stripes, plan to float out of the station's Pirs airlock module around 8:30 a.m. EST. This will be the ninth spacewalk for Dezhurov, the third for Tyurin and the 30th devoted to space station assembly and maintenance. Russian planners said Friday they thought the spacewalk might last four hours or so. Officials now say the excursion is targeted to last around five hours and 40 minutes. Live NASA television coverage of the spacewalk is scheduled to begin at 8 a.m. Monday. The problem cropped up during docking of the unmanned Progress 6 supply ship last Wednesday at the Zvezda command module's aft port. While the craft's initial capture went smoothly, a probe used to draw the two spacecraft together for a firm, airtight seal, was not able to fully retract. Analysis of videotape shows what appears to be a large O-ring-like rubber seal, possibly from the recently discarded Progress 5 vehicle, floating in the docking interface. The debris presumably is caught in the Progress 6-Zvezda interface, preventing the docking mechanism from fully engaging. During Monday's spacewalk, ground controllers will relax the docking system, allowing the Progress 6 vehicle - still attached to the station in so-called "soft dock" mode - to back away slightly from the Zvezda docking mechanism. The extension will be carried out in two stages. First, the Progress docking probe will be extended six inches for a quick visual inspection. Then it will be extended its full range - 16 inches - opening a gap large enough for debris removal. Early today, Russian flight controllers discussed procedures for making a hook-like tool that will be used to snare the debris in the docking interface. There were no problems. "We have fabricated the hook, we have assembled the tools," Dezhurov reported a few minutes past noon. Assuming Dezhurov and Tyurin can, in fact, snag the debris, Russian flight controllers will attempt to retract the docking probe during the next pass over Russian ground stations. Dezhurov and Tyurin may stand by at a safe distance to observe the retraction. Assuming the re-docking goes smoothly, NASA engineers will resume the shuttle Endeavour's countdown, now holding at T-minus 11 hours, at 1:50 a.m. Tuesday. Here's a preliminary timeline of major countdown events: TIME.........EVENT 12/04/01 01:50 a.m....The countdown resumes at T-minus 11 hours 06:50 a.m....Begin a planned two-hour hold 06:50 a.m....Mission managers meet to give launch engineers a 'go' for fueling 08:34 a.m....Crew wakeup 08:50 a.m....Countdown resumtes at T-minus six hours 08:50 a.m....Fueling begins (may begin a half-hour earlier) 10:34 a.m....Final astronaut medical checks 11:50 a.m....Fueling complete 11:50 a.m....Begin a two-hour hold at T-minus three hours 12:30 p.m....NASA television coverage begins 12:45 p.m....Astronaut photo op 01:15 p.m....The crew gets a final weather briefing 01:25 p.m....Astronauts don launch-and-entry suits 01:50 p.m....The countdown resumes 02:00 p.m....Astronauts depart crew quarters 02:30 p.m....The crew begins boarding Endeavour 03:40 p.m....The shuttle's hatch is closed 04:30 p.m....Begin a 10-minute hold at T-minus 20 minutes 04:40 p.m....The countdown resumes 04:51 p.m....Begin an adjustable hold at T-minus nine minutes 05:36 p.m....The countdown resumes 05:45 p.m....Launch Again, this countdown is contingent on a successful spacewalk Monday by Dezhurov and Tyurin. More details will be posted here as they become available. =================================================================== Station EVA clears way for shuttle launch (12/03/01) 08:35 a.m., 12/03/01, Update: Cosmonauts begin spacewalk to clear Progress debris Cosmonauts Vladimir Dezhurov and Mikhail Tyurin opened the hatch of the Pirs docking compartment aboard the international space station today at 8:20 a.m., officially beginning a planned five-hour 41-minute spacewalk. The goal of the excursion is to remove debris in a docking mechanism that is preventing an unmanned Progress supply ship from firmly docking to the Zvezda command module's aft port. The Progress 6 spacecraft docked with the station last Wednesday, but attempts to lock it in place were unsuccessful. That forced NASA to hold up the shuttle Endeavour's planned launch last Thursday on a space station crew rotation mission. The concern was that Endeavour's docking, while relatively gentle, could cause the loosely docked Progress to rock back and forth enough to cause structural damage. Russian engineers, meanwhile, said a review of videotape showing the departure of an earlier Progress showed what appeared to be cord-like debris in the docking interface. That debris could be all or part of a rubber O-ring seal that somehow pulled away from the departing Progress 5 vehicle. As it turned out, a structural analysis indicated Endeavour could have safely docked with the station even withIn the Progress 6 spacecraft less than firmly locked in place. But NASA managers, concerned about the impact of the unplanned Russian repair spacewalk on the shuttle crew's tightly-scripted timeline, opted to keep Endeavour on the ground until after the results of today's spacewalk are known. It will take the cosmonauts roughly one hour to move tools and handrails from Pirs to a work site near the Progress docking port. Once in place, Dezhurov will give Russian flight controllers a visual report, describing whatever they see in the docking interface. Then, during orbital darkness, the cosmonauts will take a break while ground engineers command a probe extending from the nose of the Progress into the station's aft' port to retract six inches. The Progress will remain attached to the station in so-called "soft-dock" mode, but the resulting gap should give the cosmonauts better visibility into the docking interface. Flight controllers then will command the Progress docking probe to retract as far as it can while still holding the spacecraft to the station, or about 16 inches. Again, Dezhurov and Tyurin will photograph the docking interface and give another visual report to Russian flight controllers. Assuming the debris is reachable, the spacewalkers will use a hook-like tool to snag it and pull it free of the docking interface. With the debris out of the way and the station in contact with Russian ground stations, commands will be sent to re-tighten the Progress 6 docking probe. This time, engineers hope, the spacecraft will be locked firmly in place, clearing the way for the shuttle Endeavour's delayed launch Tuesday afternoon. 10:30 a.m., 12/03/01, Update: O-ring debris cleared; Progress firmly docked Cosmonauts Vladimir Dezhurov and Mikhail Tyurin have successfully removed a ropy piece of O-ring debris from a docking interface that had prevented an unmanned Progress supply ship from firmly locking in place. After cutting away the rubbery debris, the spacewalkers stood by while Russian flight controllers commanded the docking system to re-engage. This time around, everything went smoothly. The Progress 6 vehicle is now firmly latched to the Zvezda command module's aft port, clearing the way for launch of the shuttle Endeavour Tuesday afternoon. Russian flight controllers booked more than five hours for today's spacewalk, but the cosmonauts did not need nearly that long, removing the debris about 90 minutes into the spacewalk. Dezhurov and Tyurin are now carefully working their way back toward the Pirs airlock module to conclude the 30th spacewalk devoted to space station assembly and maintenance. 11:10 a.m., 12/03/01, Update: Successful spacewalk ends Cosmonauts Vladimir Dezhurov and Mikhail Tyurin re-entered the Pirs airlock module and closed the hatch at 11:06 a.m., officially ending a two hours 46-minute spacewalk to remove debris from a Progress docking mechanism. Twenty three Americans, one Canadian and four Russians, including Dezhurov and Tyurin, have now logged 186 hours and four minutes carrying out 30 spacewalks to build or maintain the international space station. This was the fourth and final spacewalk by Expedition Three crew members Dezhurov, Tyurin and commander Frank Culbertson, and the sixth staged from the space station. The other assembly and maintenance spacewalks were conducted from docked space shuttles. 02:00 p.m., 12/03/01, Update: Weather 80 percent 'go' for shuttle launch - maybe! A final mission management team meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. this evening to formally clear the shuttle Endeavour for blastoff Tuesday on a space station crew rotation mission. There are no technical problems at pad 39B and with forecasters predicting an 80 percent chance of good weather, there is nothing standing in the way of a launch attempt at 5:45:07 p.m. Tuesday. Except, perhaps, the weather. While forecasters say conditions should be good, there appears to be a good chance for higher-than-allowable crosswinds at the shuttle's 3-mile-long runway just west of the launch pad. A main engine failure early in flight could force a crew to make an emergency return to the Kennedy Space Center, and flight rules forbid a launch if crosswinds are predicted to be higher than 15 knots. But Ed Priselac, the shuttle weather officer who predicts an 80 percent chance of good weather, also said the winds would be out of the northeast at 60 degrees with gusts to 18 knots. Sixty degrees is perpendicular to the shuttle runway, so those gusts, should they materialize, would represent a pure crosswind of 18 knots. NASA flight rules allow a launch with 17-knot crosswinds if an astronaut flying approaches in a shuttle training aircraft reports good stability and little or no turbulence. But 18 knots is out of limits. Sunset Tuesday occurs at 5:26 p.m. Because Endeavour's takeoff time is more than 15 minutes past sunset, liftoff will be classified as a night launch, the 27th in shuttle history and the 13th from pad 39B. The countdown currently is holding at T-minus 11 hours. It is scheduled to resume at 2:50 a.m. Tuesday. Here's a timeline of major countdown events: TIME.........EVENT 02:50 a.m....The countdown resumes at T-minus 11 hours 07:50 a.m....Begin a planned one-hour hold at T-minus six hours 07:50 a.m....Mission managers meet to give launch engineers a 'go' for fueling 08:34 a.m....Crew wakeup 08:50 a.m....Countdown resumtes at T-minus six hours 08:50 a.m....Fueling begins (may begin a half-hour earlier) 10:34 a.m....Final astronaut medical checks 11:50 a.m....Fueling complete 11:50 a.m....Begin a two-hour hold at T-minus three hours 12:30 p.m....NASA television coverage begins 12:45 p.m....Astronaut photo op 01:15 p.m....The crew gets a final weather briefing 01:25 p.m....Astronauts don launch-and-entry suits 01:50 p.m....The countdown resumes 02:00 p.m....Astronauts depart crew quarters 02:30 p.m....The crew begins boarding Endeavour 03:40 p.m....The shuttle's hatch is closed 04:30 p.m....Begin a 10-minute hold at T-minus 20 minutes 04:40 p.m....The countdown resumes 04:51 p.m....Begin an adjustable hold at T-minus nine minutes 05:36 p.m....The countdown resumes 05:45 p.m....Launch This timeline is slightly different from a countdown chart posted Sunday. A two-hour hold at T-minus six hours has been shortened to just one hour. =================================================================== Launch delayed by bad weather (12/04/01) 02:00 p.m., 12/04/01, Update: Astronauts head for pad to strap in Shuttle commander Dominic Gorie, pilot Mark Kelly, Daniel Tani, Linda Godwin and space station crewmates Yury Onufrienko, Daniel Bursch and Carl Walz departed crew quarters and headed for launch pad 39B around 2 p.m. to begin strapping in for launch. Liftoff remains targeted for 5:45 p.m. and forecasters are generally optimistic the weather will cooperate. But high cross winds at the shuttle's emergency runway are expected to be on the high side and this countdown likely will go down to the wire. Endeavour's launch window closes at 5:50:07 p.m. 09:15 a.m., 12/04/01, Update: Shuttle fueling begins Engineers begin pumping rocket fuel into the shuttle Endeavour's external tank at 8:20 a.m., setting the stage for liftoff this evening on a delayed flight to ferry a fresh crew to the international space station. With forecasters predicting an 80 percent chance of good weather, liftoff is targeted for 5:45:07 p.m., 19 minutes after sunset at the Kennedy Space Center. There are no technical problems at pad 39B and fueling should be complete by around 11:30 a.m. NASA television coverage of launch preparations will begin at 12:30 p.m., 15 minutes before a traditional launch-day photo-op with the shuttle astronauts. Commander Dominic Gorie and his crewmates plan to leave crew quarters at 2 p.m. and to begin strapping in around 2:30 p.m. to await liftoff on the 107th shuttle mission. The goal of the flight is to deliver the station's fourth full-time crew - Expedition 4 commander Yury Onufrienko, Daniel Bursch and Carl Walz - and to bring the lab's current occupants, Expedition 3 commander Frank Culbertson, Vladimir Dezhurov and Mikhail Tyurin, back to Earth after four months in orbit. Endeavour's crew also will deliver three tons of supplies and equipment. This page will be updated throughout the day as launch preparations move into the terminal phase of Endeavour's countdown. A detailed flight plan is posted below. The NASA television schedule will be updated after Endeavour takes off. 03:45 p.m., 12/04/01, Update: Astronauts strap in The shuttle astronauts have strapped in for launch this evening at 5:45 p.m. Endeavour's side hatch has been closed and locked. There are no technical problems off any significance and earlier cloud cover appears to be clearing off. The only concern remains the possibility of high crosswinds at the shuttle's emergency runway. This status report will be updated after Endeavour takes off or as conditions warrant. 06:05 p.m., 12/04/01, Update: Bad weather delays shuttle launcch Despite an initially good forecast, clouds built up over the shuttle Endeavour's launch pad late today and after a down-to-the-wire debate about whether or not to clear the ship for take off, NASA managers ultimately decided they had no choice but to order a 24-hour delay. Launch had been targeted for 5:45:08 p.m. Hoping conditions would improve, launch director Michael Leinbach took the countdown to the T-minus five-minute mark and held there pending final clearance from NASA's mission management team. Chief astronaut Charles Precourt, flying near the launch pad in a NASA training jet, was increasingly pessimistic as the day wore on, reporting that an earlier clearing trend had stalled and that light rain was apparent directly above the launch pad. With less than a minute remaining in the shuttle's four-minute 33-second launch window, flight director Leroy Cain at the Johnson Space Center in Houston recommended standing down for the day. "We're still officially observed 'go' and forecast 'no-go,'" Cain said. "But it's my belief the situation is too dynamic today for landing weather and that's appearing to be the case for launch weather as well. So I'm going to recommend a no-go for launch at this time." James Halsell, chairman of NASA's mission management team and the final authority on launch clearance, concurred and told Leinbach to call off the countdown. Endeavour's launch on the 107th shuttle mission is now targeted for 5:19:26 p.m. Wednesday. Again, forecasters are predicting an 80 percent chance of good weather. Here is a quick look at major mission events based on a Wednesday takeoff (in EST and mission elapsed time): DATE/TIME..DD...HH...MM...EVENT 12/05/01 05:19 PM...00...00...00...STS-108 launch from pad 39B 12/07/01 02:19 PM...01...21...00...DOCKING 04:09 PM...01...22...50...Welcome aboard! 12/08/01 10:34 AM...02...17...15...Robot arm grapples Raffaello cargo module 12:29 PM...02...19...10...Raffaello attached to space station 07:54 PM...03...02...35...Raffaello ingress 12/10/01 12:24 PM...04...19...05...Spacewalk: Egress 01:29 PM...04...20...10...Spacewalk: Solar array blanket install 04:19 PM...04...23...00...Spacewalk: Airlock ingress 12/12/01 02:49 PM...06...21...30...Crew news conference 12/13/01 04:04 PM...07...22...45...Raffaello unberthed from ISS 04:34 PM...07...23...15...Raffaello reberthed in shuttle 12/14/01 10:04 AM...08...16...45...Undocking timeline begins 11:07 AM...08...17...48...Undocking 12:34 PM...08...19...15...Final separation 12/16/01 04:19 AM...10...11...00...Crew wakeup 07:49 AM...10...14...30...Begin deorbit prep timeline 11:48 AM...10...18...29...Deorbit ignition (orbit 170) 12:53 PM...10...19...34...Landing (orbit 171) A complete flight plan is posted below, although readers are advised that station rendezvous, docking and undocking times, along with times for media interviews, may change somewhat. Updates will be posted here as warranted. In the meantime, here is a preliminary timeline of major countdown events for a Wednesday launch: TIME..........EVENT 07:54:28 AM...ET fueling begins 01:29:28 PM...Crew heads for launch pad 01:54:28 PM...Astronauts strap in 04:04:28 PM...Start T-minus 20 hold 04:14:28 PM...Resume countdown 04:25:28 PM...Start T-minus 9 hold 05:10:28 PM...Resume countdown 05:14:28 PM...Planar Window Open 05:14:28 PM...APU Start 05:19:28 PM...Launch =================================================================== Endeavour finally rockets into orbit (12/05/01) 08:15 a.m., 12/05/01, Update: Shuttle refueled for launch Engineers began pumping liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen rocket fuel into the shuttle Endeavour's external tank this morning at 7:45 a.m., setting the stage for another launch attempt at 5:19:27 p.m. Forecasters are predicting a 70 percent chance of acceptable weather during Endeavour's launch window. Endeavour actually has two possible launch window "panes." If the shuttle launches during the first pane, the crew can rendezvous with the space station Friday, or flight day three. If they launch during the second pane, the rendezvous would slip to Saturday, or flight day four. NASA prefers a flight-day three rendezvous if at all possible to avoid what amounts to wasting a day of the mission just getting to the station. But given the delays encountered so far - and the fact that time is running out to get Endeavour off the ground this year - NASA managers have opted to use the flight-day four pane this afternoon if necessary. Here are the numbers: Pane 1 open.............05:14:28 p.m. Pane 2 open.............05:17:38 p.m. Preferred launch time...05:19:27 p.m. (for pane 1 and an FD-3 docking) Pane 1 close............05:24:27 p.m. (last chance for an FD-3 docking) Pane 2 close............05:27:37 p.m. (last chance for an FD-4 docking) It would work like this: The launch team will shoot for the pane 1 preferred launch time. But if the weather is bad or a technical problem crops up, the window can be extended to 5:27:37 p.m., or three minutes and 10 seconds beyond the close of the pane 1 window. If they launch during that final three minutes and 10 seconds, Endeavour will dock with the station on flight day four. 01:50 p.m., 12/05/01, Update: Astronauts strap in for launch Endeavour's seven-member crew - commander Dominic Gorie, pilot Mark Kelly, Daniel Tani, Linda Godwin and Expedition 4 space station crewmates Yury Onufrienko, Daniel Bursch and Carl Walz - arrived at pad 39B around 01:50 p.m. to strap in for launch. Liftoff on the 107th shuttle mission remains targeted for 5:19:27 p.m. Today's launch window closes at 5:27:37 p.m. There are no technical problems at the launch pad and Endeavour is fully fueled for launch. The only question mark is the weather, with bands of low, thick clouds periodically sweeping over the space center. As of this writing, it appears today's launch attempt will mirror yesterday's down-to-the-wire countdown. If NASA gets lucky, Endeavour's launch window will coincide with a break in the weather and the shuttle will get off the ground. If not, NASA likely will make yet another launch attempt Thursday. As of this writing, however, it's too soon to predict what might happen. Stay tuned! 03:15 p.m., 12/05/01, Update: Shuttle hatch closed for launch; weather remains 'iffy' The shuttle Endeavour's seven-member crew is now on board, the ship's cockpit hatch has been closed and the countdown is continuing to tick smoothly toward liftoff at 5:19:27 p.m. There are no technical problems at pad 39B, but forecasters remain concerned about high crosswinds at the shuttle's emergency runway and off-shore rain showers moving in the general direction of the Kennedy Space Center. It would appear NASA is in another down-to-the-wire countdown today, with launch managers hoping the weather will be favorable by the time Endeavour's launch window opens later this afternoon. Assuming the shuttle gets off the ground, here are updated times for major mission events: EVENT................DATE.......TIME STS-108 Launch.......12/05/01...05:19:27 p.m. Station Docking......12/07/01...03:04:00 p.m. Spacewalk Begins.....12/10/01...12:24:00 p.m. Station Undocking....12/14/01...10:26:00 a.m. Deorbit Ignition.....12/16/01...11:22:00 a.m. Landing..............12/16/01...12:28:00 p.m. If the shuttle cannot get off the ground today, NASA likely will make a third attempt in a row Thursday. Here's the latest launch window information: EVENT...........................TIME NASA TV coverage beings.........11:30:00 a.m. Launch window opens.............04:51:54 p.m. Preferred launch time...........04:56:53 p.m. Launch window closes............05:01:53 p.m. 04:30 p.m., 12/05/01, Update: Countdown enters final hold The shuttle Endeavour's countdown entered its final planned hold at T-minus nine minutes at 4:36 p.m. Launch is targeted for 5:19:28 p.m., one second later than reported earlier based on the latest tracking data on the international space station. The weather remains a concern, with a deck of clouds approaching the Kennedy Space Center from the south and with high crosswinds at the shuttle's emergency runway. Chief astronaut Charles Precourt, flying a NASA training jet over the Kennedy Space Center, reports generally acceptable conditions on final approach to the Shuttle Landing Facility. Launch managers remain hopeful conditions will permit a liftoff today, but as stated earlier, right now it's too close to call. This status report will be updated after Endeavour takes off or as conditions warrant. 05:30 p.m., 12/05/01, Update: Shuttle Endeavour thunders into orbit Under fighter jet protection, the heavily guarded space shuttle Endeavour finally rocketed into orbit this evening, carrying a fresh crew for the international space station and thousands of flags to honor the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. "Have a great flight and to the Expedition 4 crew, farewell," launch director Michael Leinnbach radioed minutes before liftoff. "We'd like to say thank you to the entire KSC team for getting Endeavour in great shape," commander Dominic Gorie replied. "Secondly, from the entire crew, we're all well aware that for over 200 years, and certainly over the past two months, freedom rings loud and clear across this country. But right here, right now, it's time to let freedom roar. Let's light 'em up!" And so, after delays caused by problems in space last week and bad weather Tuesday, Endeavour leaped away from pad 39B at 5:19:28 p.m., the moment Earth's rotation carried the launch pad into the plane of the space station's orbit. Joining Gorie aboard Endeavour are pilot Mark Kelly, flight engineer Daniel Tani, Linda Godwin and the station's fourth full-time crew, Expedition 4 commander Yury Onufrienko, Daniel Bursch and Carl Walz. If all goes well, Gorie will guide Endeavour to a docking with the 15-ton space station around 3:04 p.m. Friday. The primary goal of the mission is to deliver Onufrienko and company and to bring the lab's current occupants - Expedition 3 commander Culbertson, Vladimir Dezhurov and Mikhail Tyurin back to Earth after 126 days in orbit. The Expedition 4 crew will remain on board until next May. Endeavour also is carrying several tons of equipment and supplies, including fresh food, clothing and a five-octave electronic piano. Walz, an accompaniest at his Houston-area church, promises occasional concerts from space during his stay in orbit. In a symbolic gesture, 6,000 small four-inch by six-inch American flags were packed away aboard Endeavour that will be given to family members and survivors of the men and women killed during the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. A large American flag found in the rubble of the World Trace Center also is packed away on the shuttle, along with a Marine Corps flag found in the Pentagon and a U.S. flag from the Pennsylvania state capitol that was flying when one commandeered aircraft crashed. Finally, the crew is carrying 23 New York Police Department shields, 91 police department patches and a poster with pictures of the New York fire fighters who perished in the World Trace Center collapse. "A lot of us probably wonder how do you do something to contribute, to helping us get out of this feeling you have afer the tragedy and help the people out who were so personally hit by it," Godwin said before launch. "This is maybe a very small way of doing that." Not surprisingly, Endeavour's countdown was carried out under unprecedented security, with fighter jets patrolling the launch area and small planes barred from approaching within 35 statute miles of pad 39B. A powerful mobile radar system capable of detecting objects nine feet across within a radius of 230 miles was in operation at the nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Many shuttle flights are held up by boats that stray into an off-shore danger zone, but there were no such reports today. The Coast Guard enforced a strict three-mile off-shore buffer zone, along with a standard downrange corridor where debris would fall in the event of a launch mishap. Crowds at the Kennedy Space Center were down sharply as NASA barred area residents and tourist from driving on site to view the launching from a nearby causeway for the first time since shuttles began flying in 1981. Again, there were no reported incidents other than the interception of a wayward helicopter Tuesday. Endeavour originally was scheduled for launch last Thursday, but the flight was put on hold after a Russian Progress supply ship ran into problems linking up with the space station the day before. While the unmanned vehicle successfully "soft docked," Russian flight controllers were unable to lock it firmly in place. NASA managers, concerned a shuttle docking could cause the loosely docked Progress to rock back and forth enough to cause structural damage, ultimately decided to delay Endeavour's launch until after a spacewalk by Dezhurov and Tyurin to fix the Progress problem. On Monday, the cosmonauts did just that, removing a long piece of a rubber O-ring seal from the docking interface that was preventing the Progress from snugging up for an airtight seal. The supply ship then was "hard docked" without incident, clearing the way for Endeavour's launching Tuesday. But this time around, the weather refused to cooperate. While forecasters held out hope conditions would improve enough to permit a liftoff, low clouds persisted and showers began near the launch pad as the opening of Endeavour's launch window approached. Finally, with the countdown holding at T-minus five minutes and with less than one minute remaining to pick up the count, mission managers ordered a 24-hour delay. 07:30 p.m., 12/05/01, Update: New York police officer congratulates launch team A New York City police officer personally congratulated the Kennedy Space Center launch team this afternoon after shuttle Endeavour, carrying 6,000 flags to honor the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, thundered into orbit. "You guys did a fantastic job and now we have heroes in space," said Det. Michael Jermyn. =================================================================== Astronauts close in on space station (12/06/01) The Endeavour astronauts were awakened at 8:19 a.m. today with an enthusiastic rendition of "Soul Spirit" recorded by Dan Bursch's daughter and her second-grade classmates. Bursch, a member of the international space station's next crew, will not see his family again until he returns to Earth in May. "Good morning, Houston, and good morning to Robin's second grade class and Ms. Woods," Bursch radioed. "That sounded great! It's great to be up here and I miss you guys already." The astronauts face a busy day in orbit, setting up rendezvous computers, checking out the ship's robot arm and preparing their docking system for linkup with the space station Friday. Astronauts Linda Godwin and Daniel Tani also plan to check out the spacesuits they'll wear Monday for a planned four-hour spacewalk to install insulation blankets around two solar array drive motors. Here's today's NASA timeline (in EST and mission elapsed time): REV..EVENT..................................DD/HH:MM...EST........GMT 11...ENDEAVOUR CREW WAKE UP (begins FD 2)...00/15:00...08:19 AM...13:19 12...POC SCIENCE UPDATE..............MSFC...00/17:41...11:00 AM...16:00 13...DELTA 2 JASON/TIMED PRELAUNCH...VAFB...00/18:41...12:00 PM...17:00 NEWS CONFERENCE 13...ROBOT ARM POWERUP......................00/18:45...12:04 PM...17:04 13...ROBOT ARM CHECKOUT.....................00/19:00...12:19 PM...17:19 14...AIRLOCK PREPARATION....................00/19:35...12:54 PM...17:54 14...ROBOT ARM PAYLOAD BAY SURVEY...........00/19:45...01:04 PM...18:04 14...CENTERLINE CAMERA MOUNT................00/20:20...01:39 PM...18:39 14...RENDEZVOUS TOOL CHECKOUT...............00/20:50...02:09 PM...19:09 15...DOCKING SYSTEM RING EXTENSION..........00/21:15...02:34 PM...19:34 15...SPACESUIT CHECKOUT.....................00/21:30...02:49 PM...19:49 15...VIDEO FILE........................HQ...00/21:41...03:00 PM...20:00 17...OFF DUTY PERIODS BEGIN.................01/00:20...05:39 PM...22:39 18...MISSION STATUS BRIEFING..........JSC...01/01:41...07:00 PM...00:00 20...FLIGHT DAY HIGHLIGHTS............JSC...01/05:41...11:00 PM...04:00 20...ENDEAVOUR CREW SLEEP BEGINS............01/06:00...11:19 PM...04:19 The complete NASA TV schedule is posted below. =================================================================== Endeavour docks with space station (12/07/01) 09:45 a.m., 12/07/01, Update: Shuttle closes in on space station The shuttle Endeavour is closing in on the international space station for a docking this afternoon to deliver a fresh crew, supplies and equipment to the lab complex. There are no technical problems aboard the space shuttle and if all goes well, commander Dominic Gorie will guide Endeavour to a linkup at 2:59 p.m. as the two spacecraft sail over the Bristol Channel near the southwest coast of England. NASA television coverage of today's events will resume at 12:00 p.m. Between 9:30 a.m. and noon, NASA TV is covering the first Senate confirmation hearing for Sean O'Keefe, nominated by President Bush to serve as NASA's next administrator. On the West Coast, meanwhile, NASA engineers are gearing up to launch an unmanned Delta 2 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., carrying two environmental satellites valued at $420 million. Liftoff is scheduled for 10:07 a.m. EST. Because of the O'Keefe confirmation hearing, the Jason/TIMED launch will be carried on GE-2, transponder 11C. Aboard Endeavour, rendezvous operations begin in earnest with the terminal phase initiation rendezvous rocket firing at 12:44 p.m. At that point, Endeavour will be trailing the station by about 9.2 miles. The "TI" burn will bring the shuttle to a point 600 feet directly below the space station at 2:14 p.m. From there, Gorie will take over manual control and guide Endeavour to a point directly in front of the lab complex at 2:28 p.m. Then, with the shuttle's tail pointed toward Earth and it's cargo bay toward the station, Gorie will begin his final approach. Again, docking with a pressurized mating adapter on the front of the U.S. Destiny laboratory module is targeted for 2:59 p.m. A detailed docking timeline is posted below. Here is an integrated schedule of today's major events (in EST and mission elapsed time): TIME.......DD...HH...MM...EVENT 07:19 AM...01...14...00...Crew wakeup 08:49 AM...01...15...30...ISS Crew wakeup 09:29 AM...01...16...10...Group B computer powerup 09:30 AM...01...16...11...NASA TV switches to administrator confirmation hearings 09:39 AM...01...16...20...ISS: Daily planning conference 09:44 AM...01...16...25...Rendezvous timeline begins 10:19 AM...01...17...00...Logistics transfer preparations 10:59 AM...01...17...40...ISS: Tyurin exercises (TVIS) 11:11 AM...01...17...52...NC4 rendezvous rocket firing 11:59 AM...01...18...40...ISS: Culbertson exercises (CEVIS) 11:59 AM...01...18...40...ISS: Dezhurov exercises (TVIS) 12:00 PM...01...18...41...NASA television coverage resumes 12:44 PM...01...19...25...TI rendezvous rocket firing 01:09 PM...01...19...50...Crew meals begin 01:34 PM...01...20...15...Begin final approach timeline 01:49 PM...01...20...30...ISS: Crew meals begin 02:17 PM...01...20...58...R-bar arrival (shuttle below station) 02:59 PM...01...21...40...DOCKING 03:29 PM...01...22...10...Leak checks 03:49 PM...01...22...30...Docking system prepared for ingress 03:49 PM...01...22...30...Hatch opening work begins 03:59 PM...01...22...40...Group B computer powerdown 04:08 PM...01...22...49...Playback of docking 04:59 PM...01...23...40...Welcome aboard! 05:19 PM...02...00...00...Safety briefing 05:19 PM...02...00...00...Shuttle-station spacesuit transfer work begins 05:30 PM...02...00...11...Mission status briefing on NASA TV 05:39 PM...02...00...20...Middeck transfer operations begin 05:39 PM...02...00...20...ISS-3/ISS-4 handover activities begin 06:00 PM...02...00...41...Playback of Delta 2 Jason/TIMED launch 09:54 PM...02...04...35...ISS: Daily planning conference 11:19 PM...02...06...00...STS/ISS crew sleep begins Once docked, the two crews will enjoy a brief welcoming ceremony and a safety briefing from Expedition 3 commander Frank Culbertson before beginning work to transfer supplies and equipment from the shuttle's crew cabin to the station. Culbertson and his two crewmates - Vladimir Dezhurov and Mikhail Tyurin - also will begin briefing their replacements on the care, maintenance and operation of the space station. Expedition 4 commander Yury Onufrienko, Daniel Bursch and Carl Walz plan to remain aboard the outpost until May. Revision F of the NASA television schedule is posted below. 01:10 p.m., 12/07/01, Update: Shuttle begins terminal phase of rendezvous Trailing the international space station by 9.2 statute miles, shuttle commander Dominic Gorie fired Endeavour's maneuvering rockets at 12:44 p.m. to begin the final phase of today's rendezvous. Docking remains targeted for 2:59 p.m. 03:10 p.m., 12/07/01, Update: Shuttle Endeavour docks with space station Rookie shuttle commander Dominic Gorie guided Endeavour to a flawless docking with the international space station today as the two spacecraft sailed 240 miles above northern Europe. Streaking silently through space at five miles per second, Endeavour gently contacted a docking port on the front end of the U.S. Destiny laboratory module at 3:03 p.m. to cap a two-day orbital chase. After pressurization of the docking system vestibule between Endeavour and the station, leak checks will be carried out and if no problems develop, hatches will be opened around 5 p.m. for a brief welcome-aboard-the-station ceremony. Station commander Frank Culbertson will give his shuttle colleagues a quick safety briefing before the combined crews begin the long process of transferring equipment and supplies from the orbiter to the space station. A mission status briefing is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. and the two crews will go to bed around 11:19 p.m. 03:30 p.m., 12/07/01, Update: Astronauts troubleshoot docking snag The Endeavour astronauts have run into problems retracting the shuttle's docking ring to lock the orbiter and the international space station together. Shuttle skipper Dominic Gorie guided Endeavour to a smooth docking at 3:03 p.m. But the astronauts were not immediately able to align and retract the docking system ring as required for a firm link up. Both spacecraft must be properly aligned and with all relative motions damped out before retraction is allowed. After making an initial attempt to retract the docking system ring, the crew lost alignment and was told to re-extend the docking ring before making a second try. Station commander Frank Culbertson joked about making a spacewalk to fix the problem, but there was little chance of that. After waiting a bit to allow any unwanted motion to damp out, the shuttle astronauts planned to make another attempt. A similar problem cropped up during the most recent shuttle docking in August. 04:00 p.m., 12/07/01, Update: Shuttle completes hard docking After a half-orbit of troubleshooting, the Endeavour astronauts successfully retracted the ship's docking ring to firmly lock the orbiter and the international space station together following an otherwise smooth initial linkup. The crew's first attempt to retract the docking ring failed because of a slight misalignment presumably caused by relative motion between the two spacecraft. After re-extending the ring and waiting for unwanted motions to damp out, the ring was retracted again and this time around, the procedure worked. Hooks and latches then rotated into place to lock the shuttle and the station firmly together. 06:05 p.m., 12/07/01, Update: Station astronauts welcome shuttle crewmates aboard Space station commander Frank Culbertson and his Expedition 3 crewmates Vladimir Dezhurov and Mikhail Tyurin welcomed the shuttle Endeavour's crew on board today with hugs and handshakes, clearly enjoying their first visitors since launch 119 days ago. Hatches between the two spacecraft were cranked open at 5:42 p.m. and Culbertson, floating in the roomy Destiny laboratory module, immediately rang the ship's bell and welcomed shuttle skipper Dominic Gorie and cosmonaut Yury Onufrienko, commander of the station's next full-time crew, on board. The rest of Endeavour's crew then floated in: pilot Mark Kelly, Daniel Tani, Linda Godwin and Onufrienko's Expedition 4 crewmates Daniel Bursch and Carl Walz. The trio plans to remain aboard the station until May while Culbertson and company will return to Earth next week aboard Endeavour after 126 days in orbit. "We want to welcome aboard our seven new crew members, our seven new crewmates, welcome to the international space station," Culbertson said. "It's a really big day for us and I know it's a big day for Expedition 4 also. And Dom, we sure appreciate your good driving to get 'em here. It looked beautiful coming (up), very, very smooth flying and nice contact. "This is a great place, you're going to love it here," Culbertson said. "We'll tell you all about it and help you get settled, but we're very happy to see all of you. Thanks for coming. Welcome aboard." Gorie then took the microphone, saying "Frank, when we saw the station light up it was like a star in the distance. It was probably 15 or 20 miles (away) and the first time the sun set, the sunrise came up and it turned it a golden red." "The color was just spectacular, your house is beautiful and it's even prettier on the inside," Gorie said. "We're just happy as all get out to be here and I'm looking forward to transferring some stuff and bringing you home." Added Onufrienko: "I just want to say it's great to be in space, especially for our crew, and we're ready to work." Following a safety briefing to familiarize the shuttle astronauts with the station's myriad systems, the crews plan to begin the long process of transferring equipment and supplies from the shuttle to the station. Items scheduled for transfer this evening include a new LCD computer screen for the station's robot arm; a bag of fresh water; a spare shuttle spacesuit; and Soyuz seat liners and spacesuits for the Expedition 4 crew members. The seat liners will be installed in the station's Soyuz lifeboat Saturday. At that point, the Expedition 4 crew will officially replace Culbertson and his crewmates as the station's full-time crew. The Expedition 3 astronauts will then be considered members of Endeavour's crew. Gorie guided Endeavour to a smooth docking at 3:03 p.m. as the two spacecraft sailed high above northern Europe. The initial linkup went smoothly, but one of the dampers used to take out residual motion between the two vehicles apparently experienced a bit of stickiness - what flight controllers call "stiction" - preventing proper alignment. The first attempt to retract the shuttle's docking ring and firmly lock the shuttle and space station together failed when the proper alignment could not be maintained. The docking ring was re-extended and, after allowing time for unwanted motion to damp out, a second attempt was made. This time, the procedure worked properly. "Everything went very, very well," said lead flight director Wayne Hale. "This was the 12th docking that we've had between the shuttle and the international space station. We used very little propellant today, it was a really smooth rendezvous, everything worked normally all the way up to the moment of capture when we had two little problems that stopped us for just a minute." The first problem was a failed thruster, the second small maneuvering jet aboard Endeavour that has failed since launch. The loss of this jet, like the first, will have no impact on the mission. As for the docking problem, Hale said the glitch was minor and one that has been experienced before. "This is not unusual or anything to be worried about," he said. "This mechanism is trying to damp out a huge amount of momentum. If you think about it, two hundred-ton ocean liners coming together and they've got to match perfectly, there's a lot of energy to take out ... and the mechanism's got a lot of work to do. It worked fine, it just took a few minutes longer and I don't think it's a major issue." Hale said Gorie completed today's rendezvous using less propellant than had been budgeted, providing additional fuel for three planned one-hour reboost sessions. If all goes well, Endeavour's thrusters will be used to increase the station's altitude to nearly 243 statute miles before the shuttle departs next week. Hale also said the crew's efforts to conserve electricity have paid off and that he's optimistic enough hydrogen and oxygen will be available for the shuttle's fuel cell generators to extend the mission one day. As of Thursday night, the crew had enough fuel cell reactants for 21 additional hours. By Tuesday, when a decision will be made, they almost certainly will have saved an additional three hours to permit the extra docked day. "We're very optimistic we will get there," Hale said. "I believe we're within a couple of hours and we're just seeing if we can officially get there and make sure we have got the right projections ... before we declare it official." =================================================================== Raffaello attached; crews exchanged (12/08/01) 08:50 a.m., 12/08/01, Update: Astronauts prepare to attach cargo module The Endeavour astronauts are gearing up to attach the Raffaello cargo module, loaded with supplies and equipment, to the international space station. The station's new crew - Expedition 4 commander Yury Onufrienko, Daniel Bursch and Carl Walz - will spend the morning installing their custom Soyuz seatliners in the lab's lifeboat and testing the Russian pressure suits they would wear if they ever have to make an emergency return to Earth. Once the seat liners and Sokol suits are in place, Onufrienko's crew will officially replace Expedition 3 commander Frank Culbertson, Vladimir Dezhurov and Mikhail Tyurin. The Expedition 3 crew will return to Earth aboard Endeavour next week to wrap up a 126-day stay in space. Expedition 4 will remain aboard the station until next May. While the technical crew exchange takes place with the installation of seat liners and Sokol suits, an official change-of-command ceremony will not be held until next Tuesday. The major activity for the shuttle astronauts today is the attachment of the Raffaello cargo module to the downward facing, or nadir, port of the station's Unity connecting module. The pressurized, Italian-built Raffaello was carried into orbit in the rear of Endeavour's 60-foot-long cargo bay. Linda Godwin, assisted by pilot Mark Kelly, will use the shuttle's 50-foot-long robot arm to lift Raffaello out of the payload bay for attachment to the space station. Daniel Tani also will assist, operating the Canadian space vision system to verify the module's exact position and orientation at various points in the berthing procedure. Unberthing operations will begin around 11:19 a.m. If all goes well, Raffaello will be attached to Unity's nadir docking port by 2 p.m. "I'll grapple it with the shuttle arm, we lift it very slowly, straight up out of the bay, to kind of a low hover position," Godwin said in a NASA interview. "Then we start moving it to 'high hover,' which moves it forward relative to the shuttle, and rotates it around a little bit and gets it positioned, ready to put it onto (Unity). "And then, we, in coordination with the station people - they have to get the latches ready up there, we have to be in the right attitude control and all that - bring it on in, latch it, and then there's some work to do before we're ready to open up the hatches and start to unload. But we're trying to, before we go to bed, get to the point where we've got the hatch open and we're at least ready to go inside." Crew ingress is targeted for 7:54 p.m. Raffaello is loaded with 5,565 pounds of supplies and equipment, including about 1,000 pounds of crew provisioning and 850 pounds of food. Another 1,000 pounds of supplies and other equipment was carried into orbit in the shuttle's middeck. Here is an integrated timeline of today's activity, including highlights from the NASA television schedule (rev. F) and the summary timeline uplinked to the crew earlier this morning as part of the daily execute package (times in EST and mission elapsed time): EST........DD...HH...MM...EVENT 12/08/01 07:19 AM...02...14...00...Shuttle: Crew wakeup 07:49 AM...02...14...30...Station: Crew wakeup 09:14 AM...02...15...55...Station: Daily planning conference 09:49 AM...02...16...30...Unity docking mechanism prepped for mating 10:19 AM...02...17...00...Shuttle robot arm powerup 10:19 AM...02...17...00...Tyurin/Walz Soyuz seat liner transfer 10:19 AM...02...17...00...Dezhurov/Onufrienko Soyuz seat liner transfer 10:24 AM...02...17...05...Tani exercises 10:34 AM...02...17...15...Robot arm grapples Raffaello cargo module 11:19 AM...02...18...00...Raffaello unberthing operations 11:19 AM...02...18...00...Culbertson/Bursch Soyuz seat liner transfer 11:24 AM...02...18...05...Middeck transfer operations resume 12:29 PM...02...19...10...Raffaello attached to Unity nadir port 01:09 PM...02...19...50...Sokol suit leak check (Bursch) 01:54 PM...02...20...35...Robot arm ungrapples Raffaello 02:04 PM...02...20...45...Robot arm powerdown 02:04 PM...02...20...45...Shuttle crew meals begin (staggered) 02:54 PM...02...21...35...Vestibule pressurization 03:09 PM...02...21...50...Sokol suit leak check (Onufrienko) 03:39 PM...02...22...20...APCF transfer to middeck 03:54 PM...02...22...35...Raffaello/ISS vestibule equipment setup 03:54 PM...02...22...35...Sokol suit leak check (Walz) 04:24 PM...02...23...05...Vestibule configured for ingress 04:44 PM...02...23...25...CBS Radio, MSNBC, WAGT-TV interview Shuttle CDR, PLT, ISS-3 CDR, ISS-4 CDR 04:54 PM...02...23...35...Dezhurov exercises (TVIS) 05:24 PM...03...00...05...Gorie exercises 05:24 PM...03...00...05...Tyurin exercises (TVIS) 05:30 PM...03...00...11...Mission status briefing on NASA TV 05:44 PM...03...00...25...Culbertson exercises (CEVIS) 05:54 PM...03...00...35...Raffaello activation step 1 06:34 PM...03...01...15...Kelly exercises 06:54 PM...03...01...35...Raffaello activation step 2 07:19 PM...03...02...00...Dezhurov exercises (TVIS) 07:54 PM...03...02...35...Raffaello ingress 08:49 PM...03...03...30...ISS daily planning conference 11:00 PM...03...05...41...Daily highlights reel begins airing on NASA TV 11:19 PM...03...06...00...STS/ISS crew sleep begins 12/09/01 07:19 AM...03...14...00...STS crew wakeup 07:49 AM...03...14...30...ISS crew wakeup 12:05 p.m., 12/08/01, Update: Raffaello cargo module unberthed Astronaut Linda Godwin, operating the shuttle Endeavour's 50-foot-long robot arm, began lifting the Italian-built Raffaello cargo module from its berth in the orbiter's cargo bay at 12:01 p.m. The pressurized module, loaded with three tons of equipment and supplies, will be attached to the downward-facing hatch of the international space station's Unity module, which connects the U.S. Destiny laboratory to the Russian Zarya module. The flight plan reserves about two-and-a-half hours for installation of the cargo module, but arm operators typically take a bit longer to actually complete the precisely orchestrated transfer operation. Revision G of the NASA television schedule is posted below. A televised event commemorating the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington is now scheduled to begin at 5:24 p.m. Sunday. A new event, called the "National Anthems of Remembrance," is scheduled for 8:46 a.m. Tuesday. 01:05 p.m., 12/08/01, Update: Raffaello attached to Unity module The Raffaello cargo module was successfully attached to the international space station at 12:55 p.m. Astronaut Linda Godwin, operating the shuttle Endeavour's robot arm, carefully moved the pressurized module from the orbiter's cargo bay to its attachment point on the Unity module. Motorized bolts in the active docking mechanism of the Unity module's Earth-facing port then were commanded to tighten, firmly locking the cargo carrier to the space station. Later this afternoon, the Raffaello module will be powered up and if all goes well, the astronauts will open its hatch and float inside from the Unity module early this evening to begin transferring equipment and supplies into the station. 06:15 p.m., 12/08/01, Update: New crew moves in aboard space station Expedition 4 commander Yury Onufrienko, Daniel Bursch and Carl Walz officially replaced their Expedition 3 counterparts - commander Frank Culbertson, Vladimir Dezhurov and Mikhail Tyurin - aboard the international space station today. While a formal change-of-command ceremony will be staged Tuesday, the replacement became official with the installation of custom Soyuz seat liners and Russian Sokol pressure suits that would be used by the station crew to bail out in an emergency. From this point forward, Onufrienko, Bursch and Walz are considered station crew members while Culbertson and his two crewmates are considered members of the shuttle Endeavour's crew. "The seats are all installed," Culbertson told ground controllers at 5:11 p.m. "There's a tiny bit of survival equipment to be installed yet, the medical supplies have all been transferred and swapped and the suit leak checks have all been completed successfully. We'll do a formal changeover later, but in reality, Expedition 4 is the station crew at this point." Culbertson, Dezhurov and Tyurin were launched to the station Aug. 10. Their "expedition" - the third long-duration stay aboard the lab complex - officially began at 3:15 p.m. on Aug. 13. It officially ended today at 5:11 p.m. for an expedition duration of 117 days two hours and 56 minutes. The total duration of their voyage, including shuttle transit time to and from the station, will be 126 days two hours and 50 minutes when Endeavour returns to Earth Dec. 16. Culbertson and his crewmates began their journey before the Sept. 11 attacks that triggered the on-going war on terrorism and forever altered the cultural and psychological landscape. In an interview with CBS Radio earlier today, Culbertson said he's not quite sure what to expect when he returns home. "The most common thing I hear is that it's different now, that I'm going to be surprised," he said. "I don't have a lot of details on it yet, of course, but I hear some things about how things are different. You know, when we're in this situation and dealing with a threat to the country then yes, things will be different. I'm looking forward to seeing my family and friends, of course, but also looking forward to seeing how things are different and how I can help." One of Culbertson's classmates at the U.S. Naval Academy was Charles F. "Chick" Burlingame, a 25-year Navy veteran and the captain of American Airlines flight 77, the plane that crashed into the Pentagon on Sept. 11. On Friday, the secretary of the Army granted full burial rights at Arlington National Cemetary for Burlingame after the Army earlier said the 52-year-old pilot did not meet age requirements. "I did know Chic as a classmate at the Naval Academy, a wonderful gentleman and a fine man he was," Culbertson said today. "I also know he probably died trying to keep his ship flying. I feel that it's a great thing that he'll be buried with honors, he deserves it. I'm sure his family is happy about it, I'm sure they're very proud of Chic. We all thought he was great." Culbertson also was asked about the ongoing budget crisis facing NASA, with a $5 billion projected cost overrun in the space station project through 2006. Sean O'Keefe, nominated by President Bush to become NASA's next administrator, has said he supports recommendations by an independent review board to freeze the station in a so-called "core complete" configuration until the agency proves it can control costs. The core complete station would support just three crew members, not the six or seven NASA has long envisioned for scientific research. Today, Culbertson said the government risks the loss of world-class research if the station's crew complement isn't increased. "There are only so many hours in the day and the more people you have here to conduct science, the more science you're going to conduct," he said. "It's very important, I think, to be able to increase the crew size at sometime in the future, when it's right and when we have the accommodations for it, and obviously that costs some money. "But I think if we're going to maximize this resource, which IS an incredible resource with many, many contributions from around the world, we should bring the crew size up to whatever we can sustain. And the sooner we do that, the sooner we'll start seeing the bigger science returns. "We spend a lot of time on experiments, but we also have to spend a lot of time working the station, repairing it and maintaining it," he said. "And that's always going to be the case in an outpost like this." Culbertson, Dezhurov and Tyurin will spend most of the next five days briefing their Expedition 4 successors on the station's idiosyncracies and giving them tips on how to operate sometimes cantankerous equipment. "We haven't been able to get into a lot of detail on the systems yet, we've just given the broad brush and the big picture on how things are going," Culbertson told CBS Radio. "But the biggest things I'm trying to tell the folks is be patient, you have to be tolerant, both of the people involved and of the equipment itself. "We're still developing the procedures, still developing the best way to use this hardware, we're still learning about it. It's sort of like we're still in the test flight of an airplane and so patience and flexibility are very important. And of course, you've got to pay attention to details." =================================================================== Astronauts honor Sept. 11 victims (12/09/01) 08:30 a.m., 12/09/01, Update: Astronauts plan Sept. 11 ceremony The four Endeavour astronauts and their six space station colleagues are working through a busy day in space, transferring supplies from the shuttle to the station before marking the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in an afternoon ceremony. Departing expedition 3 commander Frank Culbertson and his two crewmates - Vladimir Dezhurov and Mikhail Tyurin - are in the process of briefing their replacements - Expedition 4 commander Yury Onufrienko, Daniel Bursch and Carl Walz - on the station's operation and maintenance, a "handover" process that will continue until Endeavour departs Friday. But the highlight of today will be a "commemorative event" at 5:24 p.m. on NASA television honoring the men and women who lost their lives in the Sept. 11 attacks on Washington and New York. Packed away in the shuttle's crew cabin are 6,000 small two-inch by four-inch American flags. After the flight, the flags will be presented to the families of those who lost their lives in the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. A large American flag that was flying at the World Trade Center that day and later recovered nearly intact also is on board the shuttle, along with a Marine Corps flag rescued from the Pentagon and an American flag that was flying above the Pennsylvania state capitol building on Sept. 11. The latter is on board to honor those who died preventing one jet from hitting its target. The World Trade Center flag was found in the debris of the twin towers after they collapsed. It is remarkably intact. "It has two small tears and you could smell the strong aroma of ashes," commander Dominic Gorie said before launch. "It's a very, very strong symbol that this flag survived. It's going to fly to the highest place that we can fly it. We're going to give it a really great ride and it's not going to take much to return it to is former beautiful state and it'll fly again someday." Along with the flags, the shuttle is carrying 23 New York City police badges, 91 police patches, one large New York Fire Department flag and a poster with pictures of all the fire fighters who died in the attack. "The space shuttle is more than a symbol of our strength and our unity and our vision in this country," Gorie said. "When people look at a space shuttle launch, they think of that with very, very strong emotions. So I think anything we can take that might commemorate the memory of the people who lost their lives is significant." The "Flags for Heroes and Families" campaign was announced Oct. 11 by then-NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin. It is a "way for us to honor and show our support for the thousands of brave men and women who have selflessly contributed to the relief and recovery efforts," Goldin said. "The American flags are a patriotic symbol of our strength and solidarity and our Nation's resolve to prevail." Here is an integrated timeline of today's activity, including highlights from the NASA television schedule (rev. G) and the summary timeline uplinked to the crew earlier this morning as part of the daily execute package (times in EST and mission elapsed time): EST........DD...HH...MM...EVENT 07:19 AM...03...14...00...STS crew wakeup 07:49 AM...03...14...30...ISS crew wakeup 09:19 AM...03...16...00...ISS daily planning conference 09:34 AM...03...16...15...Maneuver to reboost attitude 10:09 AM...03...16...50...Shuttle reboost operations 10:19 AM...03...17...00...Raffaello cargo module transfer operations 10:19 AM...03...17...00...Culbertson exercises (TVIS) 11:14 AM...03...17...55...Bursch exercises (CEVIS) 12:14 PM...03...18...55...Onufrienko exercises (CEVIS) 12:14 PM...03...18...55...Tani exercises 12:29 PM...03...19...10...Dezhurov exercises (TVIS) 01:09 PM...03...19...50...Tyurin exercises (CEVIS) 01:14 PM...03...19...55...ISS-3/ISS-4 handover activity resumes 01:14 PM...03...19...55...Godwin exercises 01:49 PM...03...20...30...Gorie exercises 02:14 PM...03...20...55...Spacewalk tools configured 02:14 PM...03...20...55...Kelly exercises 02:44 PM...03...21...25...Nitrogen gas transfer troubleshooting 03:14 PM...03...21...55...Joint STS/ISS crew meal 04:39 PM...03...23...20...Middeck preps 05:00 PM...03...23...41...Mission status briefing on NASA TV 05:24 PM...04...00...05...Sept. 11 commemorative event with STS/ISS crew 05:39 PM...04...00...20...STS crew reviews spacewalk procedures 05:39 PM...04...00...20...ISS: Raffaello transfers resume 07:29 PM...04...02...10...Hatches closed for Monday spacewalk 07:29 PM...04...02...10...Walz exercises 07:54 PM...04...02...35...10.2 cabin depressurization (spacewalk prep) 08:49 PM...04...03...30...ISS daily planning conference 11:00 PM...04...05...41...Daily highlights reel on NASA TV 11:19 PM...04...06...00...STS/ISS crew sleep begins 06:20 p.m., 12/09/01, Update: Astronauts honor victims of Sept. 11 attacks Space station commander Frank Culbertson, the lone American off the planet the day terrorists attacked New York and Washington, watched in horror - and terrible isolation - as the events of Sept. 11 unfolded 240 miles below. Today, he delivered a heartfelt message to survivors and loved ones and praised America's armed forces for waging the war on terrorism. "My name is Frank Culbertson and I am the commander of Expedition 3 and of course, we were flying on board the station on Sept. 11 at 8:36 a.m. Eastern when the first attack occurred," he said, floating with his nine shuttle and space station crewmates in the roomy Destiny laboratory module. "We were informed of it fairly shortly after it happened," he said. "We were flying over North America at the time so we were able to look out one of the windows and actually see New York City under attack. That was quite a disturbing sight as you can imagine, to see my country under attack. "We could see the smoke streaming off to the south, we could see the smoke pall over New York and I believe all three of us were thinking how terrible this must be for the people that were at the point of attack and their families," he said. "The same thing was true for Washington DC as we flew over that an hour and a half later, with the smoke over the Pentagon. "All of us were affected by that day, greatly," Culbertson said. "All of us thought about it and talked about it a lot on board and received a lot of messages from people around the world in support of what we are doing and in support of the United States and the response that was necessary to this terrorist threat. And obviously, it affects everybody all around the world. "So to all of those who lost loved ones, to all of those who worked so hard to help people survive and to the people who are trying so hard to stop this threat, we wish you the best. We have thought about you often over the last three months and we will continue to think of you and keep you in our thoughts and continue to do everything possible to demonstrate good international cooperation through the space program of all the countries involved in the international space station and continue to, we hope, set a good example of how people can accomplish incredible things when they have the right goals. "So thank you very much for your time," Culbertson concluded. "We will continue to think of how we can improve peace around the world, how we can improve knowledge, and hopefully, that will bring people together." Packed away aboard Endeavour are 6,000 two-inch by four-inch American flags that will be mounted on certificates and presented to survivors and loved ones after the crew returns to Earth. A large American flag that was flying atop the World Trade Center that day and later recovered nearly intact also is on board the shuttle, along with a Marine Corps flag rescued from the Pentagon and an American flag that was flying above the Pennsylvania state capitol building on Sept. 11. The latter is on board to honor those who died preventing one jet from hitting its target. Along with the flags, the shuttle is carrying 23 New York City police badges, 91 police patches, one large New York Fire Department flag and a poster with pictures of all the fire fighters who died in the attack. "The American space program has a long history of flying items to commemorate courageous acts ... and this flight is no exception," said shuttle commander Dominic Gorie. "We have literally thousands of items on this flight. We're carrying 6,000 small American flags that will be distributed when we return to the families and loved ones of the victims of Sept. 11 in New York and Washington DC and Pennsylvania. "We have several large flags that were flying, one is honoring the men and women who helped save untold lives with their actions on Flight 93 in Pennsylvania," he added. "We have a Marine Corps flag that some young marines, as they were running through the Pentagon after it was attacked, found in a burning conference room. "But I think one of the most significant items we have, if not the most significant, is a large American flag that was flying on top of the World Trade Center. This was found amongst the rubble. It has a few tears in it, you can still smell the ashes and when we first saw it, we were amazed that this flag survived. "But it's just a tremendous symbol of our country," Gorie concluded. "Just like our country was a little bit bruised and battered and torn, with a little repair it's going to fly high and as beautiful as it ever did and that's just what our country is doing." =================================================================== Solar array repair spacewalk (12/10/01) 07:30 a.m., 12/10/01, Update: Astronauts gear up for spacewalk Astronauts Linda Godwin and Daniel Tani are gearing up for a planned four-hour spacewalk today to install protective insulation blankets around the motor assemblies that move the international space station's solar arrays to track the sun. The spacewalk is relatively simple as such things go, but one that could prove critical to the long-term health of the solar arrays. The spacewalk, the 31st devoted to space station assembly or maintenance, is scheduled to begin at 12:24 p.m. Godwin and Tani will ride the shuttle's 50-foot-long robot arm, driven by pilot Mark Kelly, to a point nearly five stories above Endeavour's cargo bay. The spacewalkers then will untether and make their way another 30 feet or so to the top of the P6 solar array truss where the drive motor assemblies are located. "We've got a really snazzy system of getting up to the work site, where we'll climb up to the edge of the shuttle's payload bay, where Mark will have the robot arm waiting for us," Tani said in a NASA interview. "We'll safety-tether onto the arm and Mark drives us up to the P6 truss where we're going to be doing our work. So we're looking forward to a fun ride there with a great view." Over the past several months, engineers noticed higher-than-expected currents in the P6 solar array drive motor assemblies, indicating something was causing internal bearings to bind, making them harder to turn. Engineers grew concerned that one of the motor assemblies could lock up with an array in a less-than-optimal orientation, reducing the amount of power the panel could produce. "The concern ... was if we get a solar array that we can't position optimally toward the sun we'd have to power down parts of the station and some critical equipment may have to be powered down," said station flight director Sally Davis. "That reduces our fault tolerance and it gives us less flexibility in our operations. So we've been very careful with those arrays while we were trying to figure out what was causing the motors to increase their current and in some cases, stall." Studying telemetry, engineers were able to rule out a problem with the electronic control systems used to operate the motor assemblies. Without knowing what was causing the binding, NASA planners had Godwin and Tani start training for a high-stakes spacewalk to replace the port-side bearing motor roll ring module assembly, or BMRRM. "That was high risk in that we had to power down almost everything on that power channel except that which we could run on batteries for several hours," Davis said. "Then we would have to power everything back up. Also, it was highly choreographed with power and data connectors into that data canister." But after additional analysis, the engineering community began to believe the temperature extremes of space "was causing a distortion in the roundness of the beta gimbal assembly BMRRM motor bearings, which would cause the bearings to bunch up," Davis said. And that led NASA managers to forego the high-risk replacement of the port-side motor bearing assembly and instead to ask Godwin and Tani to perform a much simpler task: Installation of insulation blankets around the port and starboard drive motors to keep the temperatures they experience more constant and to minimize, if not eliminate, any distortion in their housings. Engineers will monitor the performance of the motors through December to determine if the blankets fix the problem. If not, a bearing replacement spacewalk likely will be added to a May shuttle mission. "It's kind of a big barrel-looking thing, about the size of a barrel," Godwin said of the BMRRM. "It gets full sun on one side sometimes while it has full shadow on the other. And those temperature extremes basically get it out of round so it becomes a slight oval rather than a cylinder. "So we're carrying up two thermal blankets to go and wrap these barrels, which are the beta gimbal housings, in hopes that will keep the temperature more constant all the way around its perimeter. They think that will take away some of the problems they've seen with the current spiking a bit high when they're moving the arrays." After installing the blankets, Godwin and Tani will perform a few so-called "get-ahead" tasks for spacewalkers on the next station assembly flight, moving a set of tools inside, removing a thermal blanket on an S-band transponder and securing a solar array truss that failed to fully lock in place when the panel was deployed. "We have a little laundry list of those get-ahead tasks - picking up some tools and taking some pictures," Tani said. "And we'll go ahead and do those at the Z1 9truss), get back on the arm, get the free ride back to the shuttle come back in." Going into today's spacewalk, 23 Americans, one Canadian and four Russians have logged 186 hours and four minutes of spacewalk time building and maintaining the international space station. Six of those spacewalks, totaling 23 hours and one minute, were staged from the space station while 24 EVAs, totaling 163 hours and three minutes, were staged from visiting space shuttles. Here is an integrated timeline of today's activity, including highlights from the NASA television schedule (rev. G) and the summary timeline uplinked to the crew earlier this morning as part of the daily execute package (times in EST and mission elapsed time): EST........DD...HH...MM...EVENT 07:19 AM...04...14...00...Shuttle crew wakeup 07:49 AM...04...14...30...Station crew wakeup 09:19 AM...04...16...00...Station daily planning conference 09:19 AM...04...16...00...Spacewalk: Preparations begin 10:04 AM...04...16...45...Station: Transfer operations begin 10:19 AM...04...17...00...Dezhurov exercises 10:49 AM...04...17...30...Spacewalk: Spacesuit purge begins 10:49 AM...04...17...30...Robot arm powerup 11:34 AM...04...18...15...Bursch exercises (TVIS) 11:49 AM...04...18...30...Tyurin exercises 12:14 PM...04...18...55...Spacewalk: Airlock depressurization 12:24 PM...04...19...05...Spacewalk: Egress 12:29 PM...04...19...10...Spacewalk: Sortie setup 12:34 PM...04...19...15...Walz exercises (TVIS) 01:19 PM...04...20...00...Culbertson exercises 01:29 PM...04...20...10...Spacewalk: BGA blanket installation 01:39 PM...04...20...20...Onufrienko exercises (TVIS) 02:39 PM...04...21...20...ISS-4 meals 02:49 PM...04...21...30...Spacewalk: Sortie cleanup 03:19 PM...04...22...00...ISS-3 meals 03:34 PM...04...22...15...14.7 cabin repressurization 03:39 PM...04...22...20...Station: Transfer operations resume 03:39 PM...04...22...20...Station: SAFER checkout 04:19 PM...04...23...00...Spacewalk: Airlock ingress 04:24 PM...04...23...05...Robot arm powerdown 05:00 PM...04...23...41...Mission status briefing on NASA TV 05:39 PM...05...00...20...Interim ingress prior to hatch opening 05:59 PM...05...00...40...Hatches reopened 05:59 PM...05...00...40...Raffaello cargo transfer operations resume 05:59 PM...05...00...40...ISS-3/ISS-4 handover operations resume 09:19 PM...05...04...00...Station daily planning conference 11:00 PM...05...05...41...Daily highlights reel on NASA TV 11:19 PM...05...06...00...Shuttle/station crew sleep begins And finally, Tani answered a question from a visitor to NASA's shuttle web site this morning who asked him to describe his impressions of making his first launch aboard a space shuttle. "It feels pretty much what you imagine when you watch a launch and you see how powerful the SRBs (boosters) are," he said. "The orbiter shakes a lot, it's hard to read the displays and gauges, but you're able to do that, and the way I thought about it, it's kind of like what you would expect a train going a thousand miles an hour to feel like. There's a lot of shaking and acceleration and you can really feel that acceleration. Once the SRBs come off, the ride gets a lot smoother. But toward the end of powered flight, the G forces build on your body considerably, up to about three Gs, and then when the main engines shut down, you immediately go from three Gs to zero Gs and you're floating in space." Sounds like fun. 12:55 p.m., 12/10/01, Update: Spacewalk begins Floating in the shuttle Endeavour's airlock, astronauts Linda Godwin and Daniel Tani switched their spacesuits to internal battery power at 12:52 p.m. to officially begin a planned four-hour spacewalk. The astronauts are running about a half hour behind schedule, but this is a relatively simple, short spacewalk and starting a few minutes late will have no impact. The goal of the excursion is to wrap insulation blankets around the motor-bearing assemblies used to move the international space station's two main solar arrays. The drive motors occasionally draw high currents or even stall, possibly because of temperature extremes in space that cause the bearing housing to deform slightly. The insulation blankets will moderate those temperature extremes and should result in smoother performance. The blanket installation work is expected to begin in about an hour. See the 7:30 a.m. report below for additional details. 05:10 p.m., 12/10/01, Update: Astronauts end successful spacewalk Astronauts Daniel Tani and Linda Godwin successfully wrapped insulation blankets around two critical solar array drive motors today to accomplish the primary objective of a four-hour 12-minute spacewalk. But they were unable to tighten up a solar array support truss that failed to lock fully in place when the arrays were deployed last year. Using vice grips, Godwin made a few attempts to rotate a latch into position so a locking pin could engage. She then invited Tani to give it a try and he, too, failed to budge the shaft. "I've got a good grip on the vice grips, meaning its extra tight over center, and I tug on it, probably 10 pounds (worth)," Tani radioed. "And it's not moving." "Endeavour, Houston, we would like you to remove the tool and press on with the timeline," astronaut Charles Camarda radioed from mission control. Three of the array's four support trusses are fully locked in place and engineers say the panel is in no danger of moving or being damaged in its current configuration. The primary objective of the spacewalk was to install the insulation blankets around canisters housing motors used to rotate the P6 solar arrays to track the sun. That work went smoothly and while not all of the velcro fittings on one blanket lined up properly, engineers said both blankets were firmly in place. "Linda and Dan, you guys did a great job up there with those blankets," commander Dominic Gorie radioed from Endeavour's flight deck. "And good job on that four bar (truss). I think it just had more stress on it (than expected) and that's why it was hanging up in the first place." Because they spent longer than expected trying to tighten up the solar array latch, Godwin and Tani were told to forego a few minor tasks. That work will be done on a future spacewalk by a different crew. Again, this was a minor issue. Today's spacewalk began at 12:52 p.m. and ended at 5:04 p.m. with the start of airlock repressurization for a duration of four hours and 12 minutes. This was the 31st spacewalk devoted to space station assembly and maintenance, the 18th this year and the 25th staged from a visiting space shuttle. Six station spacewalks have been conducted from the station's own airlocks. Twenty-five Americans, one Canadian and four Russians have now logged 190 hours and 15 minutes building and maintaining the international space station. Godwin and Tani were strictly business as they carried out their spacewalk today, but they took a few moments here and there to enjoy the view from 240 miles up. "I'd recommend you pause and rest your hands for a second and check the station zenith," Gorie called at one point, telling the spacewalkers to look ahead along the station's ground track. "Pretty," Godwin said as the shuttle approached Cuba and the Bahamas. "Hard to believe. It almost doesn't seem real that we're up here." "I know. I agree," Tani said. A few moments later, he radioed: "Dom, what kind of land are we over right now?" "We're approaching Cuba and the Caribbean, which I think is probably the prettiest area on Earth," Gorie replied. "Probably have a lot of good boating and fishing there," Godwin deadpanned. "There's probably a few fish," Tani agreed. Toward the end of the outing, the shuttle passed directly over Houston, giving the spacewalker's a bird's eye view of home. "Wow," Tani marveled. "I see it, I see downtown Houston. Wow! I see Intercontinental, I see Ellington (air field), Clear Lake..." "Beautiful!" Godwin interrupted. "I was just thinking, 'hi Steve, hi mom,'" referring to her husband, former astronaut Steve Nagel. 06:15 p.m., 12/10/01, Update: Flight controllers pleased with spacewalk; bonus day likely Shuttle flight director Wayne Hale says he's optimistic Endeavour's mission will be extended one day to accomplish a bit of repair work and to decompress the crew's tight schedule. NASA's mission management team plans to meet Tuesday morning to discuss a mission extension but as of this writing, it appears the shuttle has enough liquid oxygen and hydrogen for its electricity producing fuel cells to permit the bonus day in space. The extra day of activity would be inserted Wednesday with tasks originally planned for Wednesday and thereafter pushed a day back. Landing would be targeted for Monday, Dec. 17. Among the tasks the crew would use the additional day for is replacement of the station's main treadmill and, possibly, the compressor in an air conditioner in the Russian command module, Zvezda. Otherwise, station flight director Sally Davis said the astronauts have now transferred some 3,500 pounds of supplies and equipment from the Raffaello cargo module into the station, along with about 1,000 pounds of equipment carried into orbit inside the shuttle's crew cabin. On Tuesday morning, at 8:46 a.m., the astronauts and flight controllers will participate in a nationwide remembrance of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. All federal agencies are marking the three-month anniversary of the attacks on New York and Washington. 07:00 p.m., 12/10/01, Update: NASA adjusts spacewalk stats NASA flight controllers have updated the official start time of today's spacewalk by one minute. The spacewalk officially started at 12:52 - one minute earlier than originally stated - for a total duration of four hours and 12 minutes. Earlier status reports have been corrected to reflect this change. =================================================================== Astronauts honor terrorist victims; mission extended (12/11/01) 07:40 a.m., 12/11/01, Update: Astronauts to participate in national remembrance of Sept. 11 The Endeavour astronauts were awakened today at 7:19 a.m. by a recording of "Let There Be Peace On Earth," an appropriate theme for a national day of remembrance honoring the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. By White House order, all federal agencies, including NASA, will mark the three-month anniversary of the tragedy at 8:46 a.m., the moment the attacks began. The combined crews of the shuttle Endeavour and the international space station will mark the moment, as will flight controllers at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, where the U.S. and Russian national anthems will be played. Shuttle commander Dominic Gorie, outgoing space station commander Frank Culbertson and the lab's new commander, Yury Onufrienko, will say a few words to mark the occasion. NASA's mission management team, meanwhile, is considering a one-day mission extension for Endeavour's crew, giving the astronauts more time to complete space station resupply work and to carry out needed station repairs. The bonus day would be inserted tomorrow with activities originally planned for Wednesday and beyond pushed one day to the right. Among the repair tasks that likely will be added are replacement of the station's high-tech vibration-free treadmill and installation of a new compressor in an air conditioner inside the Russian Zvezda command module. Other activities today include a Russian media crew interviews at 10:24 a.m.; the traditional joint crew news conference at 3:04 p.m.; and a formal space station change-of-command ceremony at 3:48 p.m. All three events will be carried live on NASA television. The station's new crew - Expedition 4 commander Yury Onufrienko, Daniel Bursch and Carl Walz - actually moved in Sunday, officially replacing Expedition 3 commander Frank Culbertson, Vladimir Dezhurov and Mikhail Tyurin. Today's ceremony will formally mark that change of command. Here is an integrated timeline of today's activity, including highlights from the NASA television schedule (rev. H) and the summary timeline uplinked to the crew earlier this morning as part of the daily execute package (times in EST and mission elapsed time): EST........DD...HH...MM...EVENT 07:19 AM...05...14...00...STS crew wakeup 07:49 AM...05...14...30...ISS crew wakeup 08:46 AM...05...15...27...Sept. 11 commemorative event 09:14 AM...05...15...55...ISS daily planning conference 09:29 AM...05...16...10...ISS: Regul handover 10:19 AM...05...17...00...Transfer operations resume 10:24 AM...05...17...05...Russian media interviews; on NASA TV 10:24 AM...05...17...05...ISS: Nitrogen system troubleshooting 10:24 AM...05...17...05...Reboost operations begin 10:39 AM...05...17...20...ISS handover operations resume 10:39 AM...05...17...20...Dezhurov exercises 10:49 AM...05...17...30...Maneuver to reboost attitude 11:19 AM...05...18...00...Reboost operations 11:24 AM...05...18...05...Bursch exercises (red) 11:29 AM...05...18...10...Godwin exercises 11:39 AM...05...18...20...Tyurin exercises (TVIS) 12:04 PM...05...18...45...Culbertson exercises (CEVIS) 12:24 PM...05...19...05...Walz exercises (red) 12:34 PM...05...19...15...Kelly exercises 01:04 PM...05...19...45...Culbertson exercises (TVIS) 01:04 PM...05...19...45...Tani exercises 01:09 PM...05...19...50...Onufrienko exercises (VELD) 02:04 PM...05...20...45...Joint meal 03:04 PM...05...21...45...Crew news conference (NASA TV) 03:34 PM...05...22...15...Crew photo 03:49 PM...05...22...30...ISS change-of-command ceremony (NASA TV) 04:04 PM...05...22...45...ISS handover operations resume 04:04 PM...05...22...45...MPLM transfer operations resume 05:00 PM...05...23...41...Mission status briefing (NASA TV) 05:19 PM...06...00...00...Tyurin exercises (TVIS) 06:19 PM...06...01...00...Orlan suit handover 07:19 PM...06...02...00...Gorie exercises 07:19 PM...06...02...00...Dezhurov exercises (TVIS) 09:24 PM...06...04...05...ISS daily planning conference 11:00 PM...06...05...41...Daily video highlights reel 11:19 PM...06...06...00...STS/ISS crew sleep begins 09:25 a.m., 12/11/01, Update: Flight controllers, astronauts honor Sept. 11 victims In a stirring tribute to the victims of Sept. 11, flight controllers at the Johnson Space Center stood at their consoles today while the U.S. and Russian national anthems were beamed up to the space shuttle Endeavour and the international space station. Based on long-standing tradition, flight directors seldom talk directly to orbiting astronauts and when they do, it's usually because of a major problem. But today, lead flight director Wayne Hale took a moment to mark the three-month anniversary of the moment when the first hijacked jetliner crashed into the World Trade Center to start what has become a war on terrorism. "Alpha, Endeavour, this is Houston flight," he began at 8:46 a.m. "We're hear today to mark a moment of solemn remembrance. In stark contrast to the international cooperation and unity in our efforts to take mankind literally to the stars, we're reminded of our loss and sorrow due to the acts of violence and terror in an unprecedented attack on freedom, democracy and civilization itself. "History has shown that those who take violence and terror as their tools ultimately always fail to accomplish their goals and that the general increase in human happiness is best accomplished by the twin geniuses of modern democracy: Cooperation and the peaceful resolution of conflict. "More than 3,000 people perished this day three months ago, including more than 200 citizens from countries that are family members of the international space station program: Canada, Italy, France, Germany, Japan and Russia. Today in space, Americans and Russians together honor these dead. We remember the heroes that, disregarding their own personal safety, rushed to do all that they could and more than was humanly possible. "And we honor all of those who in the days since have put themselves in harm's way, far from home, to protect and to defend us. And we come to rededicate ourselves to the defense of freedom. We ask you to join us as we all stand for the playing of the U.S. and Russian national anthems in commemoration of the struggle that began three months ago today." The ceremony was part of a national tribute by all federal agencies, including NASA. The flight control team, including controllers from the space station mission control center down the hall, remained standing as the anthems played out. Departing space station commander Frank Culbertson, who was in orbit aboard the lab complex when the Sept. 11 attacks took place, also reflected on the moment and its aftermath. "On Sept. 11, people all around the world were affected by this terrible event," he said. "We of course were affected up here also. We all lost countrymen and some of us even lot friends. It takes time - and time is the best healer - to have these things heal in the people who were affected. And I think that's true of all the countries, especially the United States in this case, but everybody's who's affected. We, however, have been given greater resolve by these events to continue what we're doing in the name of the positive and worthwhile goals of international cooperation in science and in space." The station's new commander, Russian cosmonaut Yury Onufrienko, and shuttle skipper Dominic Gorie also said a few words before the combined crews played a videotape of more detailed remarks. Culbertson concluded the ceremony by telling flight controllers "we join the control centers in standing in memory of those who lost their lives and were affected by this tragedy. We also want to remember the armed forces around the world that are working so hard in fighting to rid the world of this terrible threat of terrorism. So we thank you for your attention and we wish you all the best in the future." 10:50 a.m., 12/11/01, Update: Shuttle flight extended one day As expected, NASA's mission management team met this morning and officially approved a one-day extension for the shuttle Endeavour's mission. The additional day will be inserted in the crew's flight plan tomorrow and activities originally planned for Wednesday through the end of the mission will slip one day to the right. A revised flight plan is not yet available, but Endeavour's undocking from the space station is now targeted for around 11 a.m. Saturday while landing will slip from Sunday to around 1 p.m. Monday. An updated flight plan will be posted here shortly. 04:30 p.m., 12/11/01, Update: Departing station crew eager for home, 'cold beer' The departing crew of the international space station said today they're looking forward to hot showers and reunions with friends and family members after four long months in orbit. American commander Frank Culbertson said he's looking forward to a bowl of ice cream. For Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin, "a big glass of cold beer would be fine." "I'm very proud of what we've accomplished," Culbertson told reporters today during an orbital news conference. "We accomplished all the tasks that were given to us, the big ones and the little ones. We probably did even a little bit more than people expected us to in some areas. So I'm very happy with what we've achieved, I'm very happy with the state of the station at this point and I'm very proud to be turning it over to Expedition 4." Culbertson, Tyurin and Vladimir Dezhurov were launched to the station in August to become the lab's third full-time crew. When they return to Earth aboard shuttle Endeavour on Monday, they will have logged 129 days off the planet. While an official change-of-command ceremony will be held Thursday, Culbertson and his crewmates have officially joined Endeavour's crew, turning station operations over to Expedition 4 commander Yury Onufrienko, Daniel Bursch and Carl Walz. Bursch and Walz both said they were amazed at the station's size and the pace of work aboard the outpost. "The first impression I had was just how big it was," Bursch said. "It's massive and it's only partially built, which really amazes me. The other thing I found is there is a lot of work here. We've had 10 people here on board for several days already and everybody is very, very busy. So I imagine with only three people we've got our hands full." Said Walz: "My impression again is just the size of the station. It's sort of like having your stateroom on one side of a football field and your office on the other and you're constantly running between - well, flying between - those two places. So it's a neat feeling. It just emphasizes the tremendous size of the station." Endeavour is scheduled to undock from the space station Saturday morning. Bursch said watching the shuttle depart will be an emotional moment for the Expedition 4 crew. And for their departing crewmates. "I'm certain there will be mixed feelings as we leave," Culbertson said. "This has been where we've lived and worked for four months and a very significant part of our lives, one of the most important things we'll remember in our lives probably. "It's a very special experience to be able to do this, to have the honor to do this, to represent our countries and our programs. And we feel like we've accomplished a lot. So it will be hard to leave it. However we're leaving it in very capable hands and I have complete confidence they'll continue what we have done and improve on it." But in the end, Culbertson said, "the most important thing is I feel very good, as do my crewmates, about going home to see our families and our friends and getting a chance to re-establish our lives on Earth. This has been great, but it's time to move on." Onufrienko, Bursch and Walz will remain in orbit aboard the space station until next May when a fresh crew will be ferried up by the shuttle. In between, Onufrienko and his crewmates will help yet another shuttle crew continue the station's assembly in March and accept delivery of a fresh Soyuz lifeboat in April. South African millionaire Mark Shuttleworth will join a Russian cosmonaut and a European Space Agency astronaut to deliver the new Soyuz and to take the station's current lifeboat back to Earth as it nears the end of its certified orbital lifetime. Shuttleworth is paying the Russians $25 million to become the second space tourist to visit the space station. The first such tourist, American millionaire Dennis Tito, visited the station last April over NASA's strident objections. The U.S. space agency has since reached an agreement with the Russians on training and other issues and will no longer attempt to block such flights. Maybe so. But Culbertson expressed reservations when asked about Shuttleworth's visit during today 's news conference. "The station's a working place and they're going to be extremely busy, the station is for workers," he said. "It puts an additional burden on the crew to have people up here that are not doing science or conducting experiments that are productive for the research effort of the station. "I'm sure that whatever will be worked out will be worked out with the mutual consent of the partners and they'll do what they feel is best for the program. But this is a work place, a laboratory, a research facility." For his part, Walz said having fresh faces on board will be a welcome change after five months in space, even if it means more work. "As big as the station is, we only have one bathroom, for example, and one wash area, so that'll get crowded," he said. "But it's also nice to have visitors, too. It'll be about five months for us, it'll be nice to see new faces and talk to people. "Dan and I have both had a chance to meet Mark Shuttleworth in Star City (near Moscow) and he's a very nice person," Walz said. "I think as long as the international partners work out the program, we'll do our best to be great hosts." =================================================================== Astronauts repair station treadmill (12/12/01) The Endeavour astronauts were awakened at 7:19 a.m. for a busy bonus day in space. The highlight of today's activity is a major overhaul of the international space station's high-tech vibration-free treadmill, a complex task that will take station astronauts Carl Walz and Daniel Bursch all day to complete. The combined shuttle-station crews also will work to repack the Raffaello cargo module, carried into orbit aboard Endeavour, with no-longer-needed equipment and trash for return to Earth. The astronauts already have moved more than 5,000 pounds of supplies and equipment from Raffaello to the station, including 850 pounds of fresh food, some 1,000 pounds of clothing and other crew provisions, 300 pounds of scientific gear, 800 pounds of spacewalk equipment and 600 pounds of medical gear. Here is an integrated timeline of today's activity, including highlights from the NASA television schedule (rev. I) and the summary timeline uplinked to the crew earlier this morning as part of the daily execute package (times in EST and mission elapsed time): EST........DD...HH...MM...EVENT 12/12/01 07:19 AM...06...14...00...STS crew wakeup 07:49 AM...06...14...30...ISS crew wakeup 09:19 AM...06...16...00...Dezhurov exercises (TVIS) 09:34 AM...06...16...15...ISS daily planning conference 09:39 AM...06...16...20...Maneuver to ISS reboost attitude 10:09 AM...06...16...50...ISS reboost maneuver begins 10:19 AM...06...17...00...Transfer operations resume 10:19 AM...06...17...00...ISS handover activities resume 10:19 AM...06...17...00...Tani exercises 10:19 AM...06...17...00...ISS: TVIS refurbishment (Walz and Bursch) 12:24 PM...06...19...05...Culbertson exercises (CEVIS) 02:44 PM...06...21...25...Joint STS/ISS crew meal 03:44 PM...06...22...25...Transfer operations resume 03:44 PM...06...22...25...Handover activity resumes 03:44 PM...06...22...25...TVIS refurbishment work resumes 04:19 PM...06...23...00...Gorie exercises 05:00 PM...06...43...41...Mission status briefing on NASA TV 05:19 PM...07...00...00...Godwin exercises 06:19 PM...07...01...00...Tyurin exercises (CEVIS) 06:54 PM...07...01...35...Onufrienko exercises (RED) 09:09 PM...07...03...50...ISS daily planning conference 11:00 PM...07...05...41...Daily video highlights reel (NASA TV) 11:19 PM...07...06...00...STS/ISS crew sleep begins =================================================================== Space station change-of-command ceremony (12/13/01) 10:15 a.m., 12/13/01, Update: Change-of-command ceremony on tap The Endeavour astronauts and their space station crewmates are pressing ahead today with work to repack the Raffaello cargo module with equipment and trash that will be brought back to Earth. The astronauts also will take time to replace the compressor in an air conditioner in the Russian Zvezda command module. Later this afternoon, at 4:09 p.m., departing space station commander Frank Culbertson will formally hand over command of the lab complex to Expedition 4 commander Yury Onufrienko in a brief ceremony that will be carried on NASA television. Onufrienko and his to Expedition 4 crewmates, Daniel Bursch and Carl Walz, officially took over Monday, but today's ceremony will mark that transition in a more formal setting. Endeavour is scheduled to undock from the station Saturday at 11 a.m. for a landing back at the Kennedy Space Center on Monday at 12:55 p.m. The preliminary forecast for Monday, however, is dismal with scattered clouds at 3,000 feet, broken clouds at 6,000 feet and overcast at 12,000 feet with thundershowers within 30 nautical miles of the runway. The thundershowers and a broken deck below 8,000 feet violate NASA's landing flight rules. In addition, winds are predicted to be out of the southwest (230 degrees) with gusts up to 20 knots. That translates into a 19-knot crosswind, another flight rule violation. This is Florida, of course, where people say "if you don't like the weather, wait five minutes and it will change." In this case, however, quite a bit will have to change for the astronauts to make it back to Earth on Monday. Here is an integrated timeline of today's activity, including highlights from the latest NASA television schedule (rev. J) and the summary timeline uplinked to the crew earlier this morning as part of the daily execute package (times in EST and mission elapsed time): EST........DD...HH...MM...EVENT 12/13/01 07:49 AM...07...14...30...ISS crew wakeup 08:04 AM...07...14...45...STS crew wakeup 09:19 AM...07...16...00...Laptop removal and replacement 09:34 AM...07...16...15...ISS daily planning conference 10:04 AM...07...16...45...ORCA oxygen transfer setup 10:19 AM...07...17...00...Transfer operations resume 10:19 AM...07...17...00...Utility power strip installation 10:19 AM...07...17...00...Tani exercises 10:19 AM...07...17...00...ISS handover operations resume 10:49 AM...07...17...30...ORCA high-pressure oxygen transfer 11:09 AM...07...17...50...Lower body negative pressure runs 11:39 AM...07...18...20...Bursch exercises (RED) 12:19 PM...07...19...00...Kelly exercises 12:29 PM...07...19...10...Culbertson exercises (TVIS) 12:39 PM...07...19...20...Dezhurov exercises (CEVIS) 01:39 PM...07...20...20...Walz exercises (RED) 03:04 PM...07...21...45...Crew meals begin 04:09 PM...07...22...50...Change-of-command ceremony 04:24 PM...07...23...05...ISS: CBN CPA installation 04:24 PM...07...23...05...Handover operations resume 05:00 PM...07...23...41...Mission status briefing on NASA TV 05:59 PM...08...00...40...Tyurin exercises (TVIS) 06:19 PM...08...01...00...Godwin exercises 08:09 PM...08...02...50...ISS daily planning conference 10:00 PM...08...04...41...Daily video highlights reel on NASA TV 10:19 PM...08...05...00...STS/ISS crew sleep begins 05:10 p.m., 12/13/01, Update: Culbertson formally hands over command of space station Departing space station commander Frank Culbertson formally turned over the lab complex to Expedition 4 commander Yury Onufrienko and his two American crewmates today. Unfortunately for Culbertson, who asked to have the ceremony delayed until today to give him time to prepare remarks, no one on Earth was able to listen in because of an ill-timed television dropout. After comments by his two Expedition 3 crewmates, Culbertson was beginning his part of the ceremony - the change-of-command part - when one NASA tracking satellite handed the signal off to another. When it returned a few moments later, Culbertson was concluding "... to Expedition 4, the ship is now your responsibility. Thank you very much guys. It's a pleasure." As the incoming and outgoing station crews traded handshakes and hugs, Culbertson radioed "Houston, was there enough TV?" Inexplicably, astronaut Stan Love in mission control replied, "We're going to call it good, Frank, thank you very much." Culbertson's two Russian crewmates - Vladimir Dezhurov and Mikhail Tyurin - were able to make a few comments before the signal was lost. "I hope the station is not worse than we saw when we came here," Tyurin joked in English. "At least all the computers are working, the treadmill is running, the station is flying, our great, our unbelievable program continues. "I wish the new crew as much success as possible," he said. "I wish them to be patient enough, because they will have some troubles, they will have some difficulties. But I hope they are prepared and they are trained well enough. I believe they will have enough support from ground and they will be able to successfully accomplish their mission. So good luck guys, the best wishes to you." The official change of command occurred Saturday when the Expedition 4 crew transferred their Russian pressure suits and custom-fitted Soyuz seatliners aboard the station. Today's ceremony was more symbolic than anything else, a more formal event to mark the transition from one crew to another. The astronauts spent most of the day packing equipment and trash into the Raffaello cargo module for return to Earth. They also attempted to transfer high-pressure oxygen from the shuttle to the space station's airlock tanks, but a kinked hose forced them to forego the exercise. An earlier test to transfer nitrogen from the shuttle to the station airlock tanks also came up short. In that case, engineers ultimately figured out what was wrong and corrected it, but by that point normal nitrogen use had lowered pressure on the shuttle side to the point where the transfer was no longer feasible. 05:35 p.m., 12/13/01, Update: Engineers study navigation glitch Engineers are troubleshooting an apparent glitch with one of the shuttle Endeavour's three inertial measurement units. The IMUs provide critical data to the shuttle's flight computers on the orbiter's position and orientation in space. Under NASA flight rules, the failure of a single IMU has no impact on a mission and officials say Endeavour's flight will not be affected even if the unit in question is, in fact, declared a failure. But if a second unit should fail, the crew would be forced to land as soon as possible. Last night, a gyroscope in one of the IMUs began a slow drift out of its normal orientation. Endeavour's flight computers immediately "deselected" the unit and sounded an alarm, waking commander Dominic Gorie, to let the crew know about the problem. Within 45 minutes or so, the unit began operating normally again but it remains locked out of the shuttle's navigation system pending the results of an ongoing engineering review. Again, this is not considered a serious issue at this point and as long as the shuttle's other two IMUs continue operating normally, Endeavour's mission will not be affected. Some readers may recall that an IMU failure aboard Atlantis in November 1991 (STS-44) prompted flight controllers to declare a "minimum-duration mission" and shorten the shuttle's flight. Endeavour lead flight director Wayne Hale said today the flight rules have been updated since then based on years of additional in-flight experience with the latest generation of IMUs. The units have proven to be so reliable a single failure is no longer considered a mission critical event. =================================================================== Raffello remounted in cargo bay (12/14/01) 08:00 a.m., 12/14/01, Update: Astronauts wrap up cargo transfer The Endeavour astronauts are essentially finished repacking the Raffaello cargo module with equipment and trash bound for Earth and are gearing up to detach the pressurized module from the international space station so it can be reberthed in the shuttle's cargo bay. The Italian-built Raffaello, also known as a "multi-purpose logistics module, or MPLM, is attached to the Earth-facing port of the station's Unity module. Shuttle pilot Mark Kelly, operating Endeavour's 50-foot-long robot arm, plans to grapple Raffaello around 2:19 p.m. After a break for lunch, he will begin pulling it away from the station at 4:09 p.m. From there it will take an hour or so to get the module reberthed in the shuttle's cargo bay. Operating the robot arm "is really a great opportunity, to get to actually move a module around on my first flight, especially being the pilot," Kelly said in a NASA interview. "Not every arm, not every pilot gets to be an arm operator. So I feel pretty fortunate to be given that opportunity." "We'll basically take the shuttle arm up to the MPLM (Raffaello), which sits on the node," he said. "And after we grapple it, we'll release the MPLM from the space station and then I'll fly it back down on the end of the arm and maneuver it into the payload bay. And once we get it all latched in the back of the payload bay, then we'll ungrapple the arm, and that's pretty much it. It takes a lot longer than me describing it, though." Raffaello was launched loaded with more than 5,000 pounds of equipment, supplies, fresh food, clothing, scientific gear and other items. It will return to Earth loaded with 3,600 pounds of no-longer-needed equipment and trash. The Raffaello unberthing is the major item on the shuttle crew's agenda today, but their space station colleagues will be busy with scientific research and work to replace the air compressor in an air conditioner in the Russian Zvezda command module. Here is an integrated timeline of today's activity, including highlights from the latest NASA television schedule (rev. J) and the summary timeline uplinked to the crew earlier this morning as part of the daily execute package (times in EST and mission elapsed time): EST........DD...HH...MM...EVENT 12/14/01 06:19 AM...08...13...00...STS crew wakeup 06:49 AM...08...13...30...ISS crew wakeup 07:44 AM...08...14...25...ISS daily planning conference 08:24 AM...08...15...05...Handover operations resume 08:34 AM...08...15...15...Lower body negative pressure setup 08:39 AM...08...15...20...Lower body negative pressure tests 08:49 AM...08...15...30...Transfer operations resume 08:59 AM...08...15...40...ISS A/C compressor replacement 09:39 AM...08...16...20...Gorie exercises 10:14 AM...08...16...55...Raffaello transfer closeout 10:14 AM...08...16...55...Rack configured for entry 10:44 AM...08...17...25...Raffaello egress 10:44 AM...08...17...25...Culbertson exercises (TVIS) 10:54 AM...08...17...35...Raffaello deactivation 10:59 AM...08...17...40...Kelly exercises 11:19 AM...08...18...00...Vestibule configured for demate 12:19 PM...08...19...00...Dezhurov exercises (TVIS) 12:24 PM...08...19...05...Godwin exercises 12:49 PM...08...19...30...Vestibule depressurized 12:49 PM...08...19...30...Bursch exercises (CEVIS) 01:04 PM...08...19...45...Tani exercises 01:24 PM...08...20...05...Robot arm powerup 01:44 PM...08...20...25...Tyurin exercises (TVIS) 01:49 PM...08...20...30...Onufrienko exercises (CEVIS) 02:19 PM...08...21...00...Robot arm grapples Raffaello 02:44 PM...08...21...25...Node 1 CBM demate 02:49 PM...08...21...30...Walz exercises (RED) 03:09 PM...08...21...50...STS crew meals 04:09 PM...08...22...50...Raffaello unberthed from ISS 04:19 PM...08...23...00...ISS meals 04:39 PM...08...23...20...Raffaello reberthed in shuttle 05:00 PM...08...23...41...Mission status briefing on NASA TV 05:19 PM...09...00...00...Robot arm ungrapples Raffaello 05:29 PM...09...00...10...Robot arm powerdown 05:49 PM...09...00...30...Undocking review 06:19 PM...09...01...00...Rendezvous computer setup 06:19 PM...09...01...00...Dezhurov exercises (TVIS) 06:49 PM...09...01...30...Rendezvous tools setup 07:09 PM...09...01...50...ISS daily planning conference 09:00 PM...09...03...41...Daily video highlights reel 09:19 PM...09...04...00...STS/ISS crew sleep begins The astroanuts were awakened today, as they have been throughout the mission, by astronaut Catherine "Cady" Coleman in mission control. Today, the crew surprised her by first asking her to stand up at her mission control console and then singing "Happy Birthday." "Cady, it doesn't matter if it's a night pass or the sun is up when you wake us up, we appreciate your cheeful wakeup, especially early in the morning, and we just want to wish you the very best day today, happy birthday to you," radioed shuttle skipper Dominic Gorie. "Well thank you very much," Coleman laughed. "Don't you guys have some packing to do?" 06:30 p.m., 12/14/01, Update: Raffaello module remounted in cargo bay Shuttle pilot Mark Kelly, operating Endeavour's 50-foot-long robot arm, detached the Raffaello cargo module from the international space station today and remounted it in the orbiter's cargo bay at 4:44 p.m. The move began about 45 minutes behind schedule because of problems depressurizing the vestibule between Raffaello and the Unity module's Earth-facing hatch. The hold up was resolved after a bit of troubleshooting by departing station commander Frank Culbertson. Flight director Wayne Hale said Endeavour's crew is on track to undock from the space station around 10 a.m. Saturday. But undocking could be delayed slightly if flight controllers decide to use the shuttle to change the station's altitude slightly because of a potential close encounter with a derelict Russian rocket on Sunday. NASA flight rules call for moving the shuttle or the station if radar tracking shows space debris might pass within a kilometer or so. It's not yet clear whether the rocket body in question will actually penetrate the imaginary protective box around the space station. "We are tracking a Russian rocket body that may pose a problem to us in a couple of days," Hale said. "We are looking at a time in the morning, after the crew gets up, before undocking, obviously, to do this little translation maneuver if it's required." Hale said engineers are no closer to figuring out what caused erratic behavior in one of the shuttle's three inertial measurement units two nights ago. The IMU, which provides orientation and position data to the shuttle's flight computers, is still in operation, but it is "deselected" and it will not be used during Endeavour's entry and landing Monday. Hale said engineers will need to take the unit apart after Endeavour's return to figure out what went wrong. And finally, the space station astronauts today successfully replaced the compressor in an air conditioning unit in the Russian Zvezda command module. =================================================================== Endeavour undocks from space station (12/15/01) 07:30 a.m., 12/15/01, Update: Shuttle, dodging space junk, set for undocking The Endeavour astronauts will delay today's undocking from the international space station in order to boost the lab's altitude slightly and avoid a close encounter with derelict Russian rocket stage. Shuttle commander Dominic Gorie and pilot Mark Kelly plan to fire Endeavour's downward-firing maneuvering jets at 9:44 a.m. to raise the lab's orbit by about three quarters of a mile. Undocking is now targeted for 11:37 a.m., 37 minutes later than originally planned. The unplanned use of propellant for the collision avoidance maneuver will force the shuttle crew to cancel a departure fly-around of the station. Instead, Kelly will guide Endeavour to a point directly above the outpost and then depart the area. The Russian space junk is an old SL-8 upper stage launched in the 1970s. U.S. Space Command radar tracking showed the rocket would pass fairly close by the station Sunday if nothing was done. NASA mission managers subsequently ordered an avoidance maneuver. For departing space station commander Frank Culbertson and his Expedition 3 crewmates Vladimir Dezhurov and Mikhail Tyurin, undocking promises to be an emotional moment. The trio was launched to the outpost last August and when they return to Earth Monday, they will have spent 129 days off planet. "I'm certain there will be mixed feelings as we leave," Culbertson said earlier this week. "This has been where we've lived and worked for four months and a very significant part of our lives, one of the most important things we'll remember in our lives probably. It's a very special experience to be able to do this, to have the honor to do this, to represent our countries and out programs. "And we feel like we've accomplished a lot," he said. "So it will be hard to leave it. However, we're leaving it in very capable hands and I have complete confidence they'll continue what we have done and improve on it. So I feel good about that. But the most important thing is I feel very good, as do my crewmates, about going home to see our families and our friends and getting a chance to re-establish our lives on Earth. This has been great, but it's time to move on." Culbertson and his crewmates were replaced aboard the station by Expedition 4 commander Yury Onufrienko, Daniel Bursch and Carl Walz. The Expedition 4 crew will remain aboard the lab complex until next May when a replacement crew is scheduled to arrive. Here is an integrated timeline of today's activity, including highlights from the latest NASA television schedule (rev. K; the complete schedule is posted below) and the summary timeline uplinked to the crew earlier this morning as part of the daily execute package (times in EST and mission elapsed time): EST........DD...HH...MM...EVENT 12/15/01 05:19 AM...09...12...00...STS crew wakeup 05:49 AM...09...12...30...ISS crew wakeup 06:59 AM...09...13...40...Nitrogen repress 07:09 AM...09...13...50...Tani exercises 07:14 AM...09...13...55...ISS daily planning conference 07:44 AM...09...14...25...ISS: Middeck transfers 07:59 AM...09...14...40...ISS hatch egress 08:29 AM...09...15...10...Hatches closed 08:29 AM...09...15...10...Dezhurov exercises 08:29 AM...09...15...10...ODS vestibule leak check 08:44 AM...09...15...25...ISS: Bursch exercises (TVIS) 08:49 AM...09...15...30...Culbertson exercises 09:09 AM...09...15...50...ISS: Onufrienko exercises (CEVIS) 09:19 AM...09...16...00...Maneuver to reboost attitude 09:19 AM...09...16...00...Tyurin exercises 09:44 AM...09...16...25...Collision avoidance reboost 09:54 AM...09...16...35...Godwin exercises 10:24 AM...09...17...05...Spacesuit installation 10:39 AM...09...17...20...Group B powerup 10:54 AM...09...17...35...Undocking timeline begins 11:19 AM...09...18...00...ISS: Depart PMA-2 11:37 AM...09...18...18...UNDOCKING 11:49 AM...09...18...30...ISS: PMA-2 depressurization 12:19 PM...09...19...00...ISS: Walz exercises (RED) 12:20 PM...09...19...01...Final separation 12:29 PM...09...19...10...Crew meals/off-duty time begins 12:29 PM...09...19...10...Dezhurov exercises 12:34 PM...09...19...15...Centerline camera removal 12:44 PM...09...19...25...Group B computer powerdown 12:59 PM...09...19...40...Culbertson exercises 01:00 PM...09...19...41...Mission status briefing on NASA TV 01:29 PM...09...20...10...Kelly exercises 02:49 PM...09...21...30...VTR playback of undocking on NASA TV 03:09 PM...09...21...50...Tyurin exercises 04:09 PM...09...22...50...KGO-TV, Fox News, AP crew interviews 04:29 PM...09...23...10...ISS: Crew sleep begins 04:54 PM...09...23...35...Orbit adjust rocket firing 08:00 PM...10...02...41...Daily video highights reel on NASA TV 08:19 PM...10...03...00...STS crew sleep begins 10:00 a.m., 12/15/01, Update: Undocking may be delayed to permit half-lap station flyaround The Endeavour astronauts may delay undocking from the international space station today by 51 minutes to permit a half-lap fly-around of the lab complex before their final departure. If the change is officially approved, undocking would occur at 12:28 p.m. Undocking slipped 37 minutes, to 11:37 a.m., earlier today because of a maneuver to boost the station's altitude by about three quarters of a mile to avoid a close encounter with an old Russian rocket stage. The 20-minute reboost maneuver began just before 10 a.m. Without the maneuver, the Russian rocket stage would have passed within three miles of the space station Sunday. With the reboost, however, the derelict rocket will come no closer than about 40 miles. But because of the unplanned use of the shuttle's propellant, Endeavour's crew was told earlier today that a planned full-lap fly-around of the station after undocking would be reduced to a quarter of a lap. Flight controllers later told the crew that if they agreed to delay undocking by 51 minutes and spend the night with their windows facing deep space instead of Earth then they probably could do a half-lap fly-around of the station for photo documentation and to give pilot Mark Kelly a bit more "stick time" before final separation. Delaying undocking also would use up an hour of the crew's off-duty time later today. But commander Dominic Gorie said the crew would do anything required to get the extended fly-around. A final decision has not yet been made, but that's where flight controllers seem to be heading. 10:15 a.m., 12/15/01, Update: Undocking officially delayed to 12:28 p.m. NASA managers have officially approved a 51-minute delay for the shuttle Endeavour's undocking from the international space station today. Undocking now is targeted for 12:28 p.m. After a half-lap fly-around, the shuttle will leave the area for good with a rocket firing at 1:52 p.m. A mission status briefing originally scheduled for 1 p.m. will slip to 2 p.m. See the 10 a.m. status report below for complete details. 12:30 p.m., 12/15/01, Update: Endeavour undocks from space station The shuttle Endeavour undocked from the international space station today as the two spacecraft sailed over the western coast of Australia. On command, powerful springs in the shuttle's docking mechanism pushed the shuttle gently away at 12:28 p.m. and a few moments later, pilot Mark Kelly fired small maneuvering jets to slightly increase Endeavour's departure velocity. "We have physical separation," shuttle commander Dominic Gorie radioed. "Mark's executing the separation burn." A few moments after that, Navy Capt. Daniel Bursch, a member of the space station's new crew, rang the ship's bell in accordance with naval tradition, radioing "Endeavour, departing." Kelly planned to fly Endeavour through a half loop around the station, starting from a point directly ahead of the outpost then looping over the top and continuing on to a point directly behind the lab complex. At that point, he planned to fire the shuttle's maneuvering jets to leave the area for good around 2 p.m. Before the hatches between Endeavour and the station were closed for the final time earlier this morning, the departing Expedition 3 crew, their replacements - Expedition 4 commander Yury Onufrienko, Bursch and Carl Walz - and the shuttle's four astronauts gathered in the U.S. Destiny laboratory module for a final farewell. Culbertson said he wanted "to take this opportunity to say farewell to the station that's been our home for four months and to say farewell to Expedition 4, who is ready to go and ready to see us leave, I believe, so they can get to work and get this place back in order. And to say thanks to the Endeavour crew, who has done such a great job of transferring people and hardware and logistics and will be our ride home, of course." "But we'd also like to say thank you to all the teams on the ground who worked so hard to not only put up with us, but to improve our life up here, to improve operations and to respond to the mutual recommendations made by both the ground and the people on board ... to improve research and continue to make this a better and more efficient place to work. We sure appreciate everything everybody has done." Culbertson's two Russian crewmates also said a few words. "On behalf of myself and the whole crew, I'd like to thank everyone who's building the space station, making parts of the space station and partially have already created a great outpost here in space," said Vladimir Dezhurov. "We have become a great post where we can perform research and a lot of experiments. I would like to wish good luck to the new crew on board the space station and we're ready to go home." Culbertson concluded, saying "it's been a great ride." "It's now time to say goodbye. We feel like we've accomplished a lot, we feel our mission has been successful. However the most important thing for everybody to remember is the journey continues, the work continues, the research continues and it will for many, many years thanks to good people here and good people on the ground. ... It's been a wonderful experience for all of us." Before floating back to Endeavour and leaving the Expedition 4 crew on its own, Culbertson presented them with a small Christmas tree to "help you count down the days until Christmas." "And it has a little souvenir for each day in December until the 25th and hopefully, it will help you get in the spirit," Culbertson said. "And a few candy canes to hang above your (sleep stations) and in your tree. And Dan, you can't eat them now!" 01:30 p.m., 12/15/01, Update: Endeavour moves away As the shuttle Endeavour moved directly behind the international space station following a half-lap fly-around, commander Dominic Gorie radioed a final farewell. "Alpha, Endeavour, on the minus V-bar, we're separating," he called. "Fair winds and following seas, my friends." "Thanks a lot, Dom," Expedition 4 flight engineer Daniel Bursch replied from the station. "It was great flying with you guys. We'll miss all of you and hopefully, it'll seem like yesterday when we get home." Departing commander Frank Culbertson then added his final thoughts. "Yury, Dan and Carl, from Frank, Vladimir and Mikhail, thank you for your arrival, for taking command of the station," he said. "And we want to thank the station and all who built her and who operate her from the ground for the opportunity and the honor of living aboard for this time. She looks beautiful from here, it's a wonderful machine inside also. We wish you the best. We'll be thinking about you constantly while you're there. And to international space station Alpha: Thank you for being a wonderful home for 129 days." "And Frank, it was our pleasure to be able to relieve you," Bursch replied. "And I think the station still misses you because the SSRMS camera (on the station's robot arm) has kept on following you." =================================================================== Astronauts pack up for landing (12/16/01) 08:10 a.m., 12/16/01, Update: Astronauts test re-entry systems The Endeavour astronauts were awakened this morning by a recording of Bing Crosby's "I'll Be Home For Christmas," an especially appropriate tune for returning space station commander Frank Culbertson and his two crewmates, Vladimir Dezhurov and Mikhail Tyurin. Launched Aug. 10, they're looking forward to landing Monday to wrap up a 129-day voyage. "Good morning, Endeavour," called astronaut Cady Coleman. "We're glad to see you're on your way home for the holiday season. Hanukkah is already underway and Christmas is around the corner. We just hope you did your shopping before the flight." Endeavour is scheduled to land at the Kennedy Space Center at 12:55 p.m. Monday. Late last week, forecasters were expecting dismal weather but as of this morning, the outlook has improved considerably thanks to an approaching frontal system that is moving slower than expected. Forecasters are now calling for scattered clouds at 3,000 and 10,000 feet and 10-knot winds from 140 degrees with gusts to 18 knots. That translates into a maximum crosswind on the shuttle runway of just 3 knots. There is, however, a slight chance of showers in the vicinity, along with a slight chance for a broken deck of clouds at 3,000 feet that would violate NASA's safety rules. Given a generally favorable forecast, NASA probably won't call up Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., for Monday's entry. But entry flight director Leory Cain has not yet made a formal decision one way or the other. In the meantime, here is a list of all the shuttle's possible landing times Monday and Tuesday at Edwards and the Kennedy Space Center (times, in EST, will be updated later this morning): ORBIT...SITE.....ENTRY BURN...LANDING Monday 185.....KSC......11:50 a.m....12:55 a.m. 186.....EDW......01:22 p.m....02:25 a.m. KSC......01:28 p.m....02:32 a.m. 187.....EDW......02:59 p.m....04:01 p.m. 188.....EDW......04:37 p.m....05:37 p.m. Tuesday 200.....KSC......10:41 a.m....11:44 a.m. 201.....KSC......12:17 a.m....01:19 p.m. 202.....EDW......01:47 p.m....02:50 p.m. 203.....EDW......03:24 p.m....04:25 p.m. Additional landing details will be posted here after today's entry news briefing at 12:30 p.m. Shuttle commander Dominic Gorie pilot Mark Kelly and flight engineer Daniel Tani began their day by testing Endeavour's re-entry systems, firing up one of the ship's three hydraulic power units and checking out their cockpit controls in a standard set of pre-landing checks. They also plan to test fire the orbiter's steering jets. The flight control system checkout and reaction control system "hotfire" tests should be complete by 9:30 a.m. or so. The astronauts then plan to launch a small mirror-studded satellite called Starshine at 10:02 a.m. that will be tracked by students around the world as part of an ongoing educational project. This is the third satellite in the Starshine series and like the others, it resembles a small disco ball with a surface made up of some 900 highly polished mirrors. "Starshine is really interesting," said astronaut Linda Godwin. "It's a small satellite, but it's made up of many mirrors that have been worked on literally by thousands of students who have polished these mirrors to a very perfect, smooth surface, and then they've been assembled on this satellite. "The whole job of our crew is to activate the circuitry that blows some pyros and allows a spring to push this satellite out of a can that's out in the shuttle payload bay. And it stays in orbit for a period of time and because it's so reflective, and it also has a very slow spin on it so it kind of seems to shine as it rotates, the students on the ground can track it, they'll be able to see it. And they can make calculations on where it is and how high it is and how its orbit is changing, so it gives them a lot of experience in using numbers like that and mathematics to look at orbital decay. "There's going to be a series of these over a solar cycle, so they even get to look at how that impacts orbital dynamics," Godwin said. "It's something that's participated in by so many students, and it really ties a lot of them into the space program, which is a neat thing." The astronauts will review deorbit procedures before participating in a final set of in-flight interviews by CNN and NBC News starting at 11:49 a.m. While the rest of the crew's day is mostly off-duty time, the returning space station astronauts will take turns exercising. Vladimir Dezhurov and Godwin also will set up the reclining seats the station crew will use during entry Monday. The shuttle's KU-band antenna will be stowed at 5:34 p.m., ending normal on-board television. Here is an integrated timeline of today's activity, including highlights from the latest NASA television schedule (rev. L) and the summary timeline uplinked to the crew earlier this morning as part of the daily execute package (times in EST and mission elapsed time): EST........DD...HH...MM...EVENT 12/16/01 04:19 AM...10...11...00...STS crew wakeup 06:49 AM...10...13...30...Culbertson exercises 07:09 AM...10...13...50...PILOT landing simulator practice 07:19 AM...10...14...00...Cabin stow begins 07:19 AM...10...14...00...Tyurin exercises 08:09 AM...10...14...50...Flight control system checkout 08:19 AM...10...15...00...Launch and entry suits checked out 09:19 AM...10...16...00...Reaction control system hotfire test 09:19 AM...10...16...00...Dezhurov exercises 09:34 AM...10...16...15...Maneuver to Starshine deploy attitude 10:02 AM...10...16...43...Starshine deploy 11:19 AM...10...18...00...Deorbit review 11:49 AM...10...18...30...CNN, NBC News crew interviews 11:49 AM...10...18...30...Tani exercises 12:30 PM...10...19...11...Mission status briefing on NASA TV 12:44 PM...10...19...25...Crew meal 01:44 PM...10...20...25...Crew off duty time begins 02:14 PM...10...20...55...Gorie exercises 02:44 PM...10...21...25...Dezhurov exercises 03:19 PM...10...22...00...Culbertson exercises 03:49 PM...10...22...30...Tyurin exercises 04:19 PM...10...23...00...Recumbant seat installation 04:19 PM...10...23...00...Kelly exercises 04:39 PM...10...23...20...Laptop computer breakdown 05:19 PM...11...00...00...Ergometer stow 05:34 PM...11...00...15...KU-band antenna stow 08:00 PM...11...02...41...Daily video highlights reel on NASA TV 08:19 PM...11...03...00...Crew sleep begins 02:00 p.m., 12/16/01, Update: Shuttle crew packs for Monday landing Entry flight director Leroy Cain says he's optimistic the weather will cooperate for the shuttle Endeavour's planned landing Monday at the Kennedy Space Center. But it will all come down to how fast an approaching frontal system moves and whether or not showers develop as Endeavour's landing time approaches. Endeavour's crew has two opportunities to land in Florida Monday, the first at 12:55:18 p.m. and the second at 2:32:18 p.m. Landing opportunities also are available at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., but Cain says if the shuttle can't get home to Florida, the crew will stay in orbit an extra day and land Tuesday, one way or the other, at Kennedy or Edwards. The forecast for Edwards is excellent all week, but the weather is expected to worsen at Kennedy on Tuesday. For Monday's landing, forecasters are predicting scattered clouds and light winds with just a slight chance of showers within 30 nautical miles and a slight chance of a broken deck of clouds at 3,000 feet. Either condition, should it materialize, would violate NASA's safety rules. Cain said forecasters believe the weather will be much the same for both Florida landing opportunities. "We're either going to have a day that's good enough to go tomorrow, or not," he said. On Tuesday, there's a much better chance of showers and thunderstorms in the area and high crosswinds at the shuttle's 3-mile-long runway as the leading edge of the frontal system moves across Florida. Endeavour's astronauts, meanwhile, tested the shuttle's re-entry systems today, launched the Starshine student satellite and packed up for the trip home. Here's a detailed timeline for the crew's two landing opportunities Monday: TIME..........EVENT 07:50 AM......Begin deorbit timeline 08:05 AM......Radiator stow 08:15 AM......Mission specialists (MS) seat installation 08:21 AM......Computers set for deorbit prep 08:25 AM......Hydraulic system configuration 08:50 AM......Flash evaporator checkout 08:56 AM......Final payload deactivation 09:10 AM......Payload bay doors closed 09:20 AM......Mission control 'go' for OPS-3 entry software load 09:30 AM......OPS-3 transition 09:55 AM......Entry switchlist verification 10:05 AM......Deorbit maneuver (PAD) update 10:10 AM......Crew entry review 10:25 AM......Gorie, Kelly don entry suits 10:42 AM......Inertial measurement unit alignment 10:50 AM......Gorie, Kelly strap in; others don suits 11:07 AM......Shuttle steering check 11:10 AM......Hydraulic system prestart 11:17 AM......Toilet deactivation 11:25 AM......Payload bay vent doors closed for entry 11:30 AM......Mission control 'go' for deorbit burn 11:36 AM......Mission specialists seat ingress 11:45 AM......Single hydraulic power unit start 11:48:39 AM...TDRS-West acquisition of signal 11:50:11 AM...Deorbit ignition (orbit 185) 11:53:14 AM...Deorbit burn complete 12:23:38 PM...Entry interface 12:28:31 PM...77-degree left roll command 12:35:27 PM...33-degree roll reversal 12:48:52 PM...Velocity less than mach 2.5 12:50:58 PM...Velocity less than mach 1 12:51:43 PM...Shuttle on the heading alignment cylinder 12:55:18 PM...Landing (orbit 186) ..............One orbit late 1:07 PM......Mission control 'go' for deorbit burn 1:13 PM......Mission specialists seat ingress 1:22 PM......Single hydraulic power unit start 1:27:54 PM...Deorbit ignition (orbit 186) 1:30:07 PM...AOS TDRS-West 1:30:59 PM...Deorbit ignition complete 2:00:06 PM...Entry interface 2:05:01 PM...77-degree left roll command 2:22:13 PM...33-degree roll reversal 2:25:55 PM...Velocity less than mach 2.5 2:28:00 PM...Velocity less than mach 1 2:29:02 PM...Shuttle on the heading alignment cylinder 2:32:18 PM...Landing (orbit 187) Earlier today, the astronauts participated in their final media interviews of this mission. Frank Culbertson, commander of the international space station for the past four months, provided a fascinating description of what it was like to watch the Leonids meteor shower from orbit. "The Leonids meteor shower was incredible," he said. "It was even more beautiful and awesome than I expected it to be. Mikhail (Tyurin) and I were side by side in the window watching outside and Vladimir (Dezhurov) was in a different one and we saw, as we came around the Earth, the meteors coming into the atmosphere almost in formation, three or four at a time, eventually, I'd say, a hundred a minute. And then by the time we reached the end of the dark pass, they were coming down vertically all around us as if we truly were in a shower, almost like a hailstorm of meteors." Cool. =================================================================== Endeavour returns to Earth (12/17/01) 07:30 a.m., 12/17/01, Update: Shuttle astronauts prepare for re-entry The Endeavour astronauts are preparing the space shuttle for re-entry and landing this afternoon at the Kennedy Space Center, bringing three space station astronauts back to the uncomfortable tug of Earth's gravity after four months in the weightlessness of space. The astronauts awakened this morning at 4:19 a.m. by a recording of Jon Bon Jovi singing "Please Come Home for Christmas." "You've got a lot of friends and family looking forward to having you home today," astronaut Cady Coleman, wearing reindeer antlers, radioed from mission control. "As much as we've liked working with you, your planning team is also anxious to see you back on the Earth. Of course, the entry team is really the one that will give you the official word but for the record, the planning shift is go for deorbit burn." "Cady that is just great news," shuttle commander Dominic Gorie replied. "Working with you guys has been a pleasure every single morning. We are looking forward to getting home for Christmas, especially Frank (Culbertson) and his crew. It's going to be a wonderful time, I think, just to be reunited with families." Endeavour has two opportunities to land in Florida today, the first at 12:55:18 p.m. and the second at 2:32:18 p.m. Edwards Air Force Base in California's Mojave Desert has not been activated. If the shuttle can't get home to Florida today, the crew will land Tuesday, one way or the other, at either Kennedy or Edwards. The weather in Florida is generally favorable, with scattered clouds at 3,000 and 6,500 feet and winds out of 140 degrees at 10 knots with gusts to 17 knots. That translates into a crosswind of just 3 knots or so. But there's a chance of showers to develop within 30 nautical miles of the runway, which would violate NASA's safety rules. The forecast for Tuesday calls for scattered clouds at 3,000 and 10,000 feet, broken clouds at 25,000 feet and a chance of a broken deck at 3,000 feet, a flight rule violation. In addition, forecasters predict a chance of showers within 30 nautical miles and winds out of 260 degrees at 10 knots with gusts to 18 for a crosswind violation of 17 knots. Based on the forecast, the astronauts need to land today to avoid a good chance of being diverted to Edwards on Tuesday. The weather at Edwards is expected to be ideal all week. Repeating from yesterday, here's a detailed timeline for the crew's two landing opportunities Monday and the backout timeline should entry be delayed 24 hours (all times in EST): TIME..........EVENT 07:50 AM......Begin deorbit timeline 08:05 AM......Radiator stow 08:15 AM......Mission specialists (MS) seat installation 08:21 AM......Computers set for deorbit prep 08:25 AM......Hydraulic system configuration 08:50 AM......Flash evaporator checkout 08:56 AM......Final payload deactivation 09:10 AM......Payload bay doors closed 09:20 AM......Mission control 'go' for OPS-3 entry software load 09:30 AM......OPS-3 transition 09:55 AM......Entry switchlist verification 10:05 AM......Deorbit maneuver (PAD) update 10:10 AM......Crew entry review 10:25 AM......Gorie, Kelly don entry suits 10:42 AM......Inertial measurement unit alignment 10:50 AM......Gorie, Kelly strap in; others don suits 11:07 AM......Shuttle steering check 11:10 AM......Hydraulic system prestart 11:17 AM......Toilet deactivation 11:25 AM......Payload bay vent doors closed for entry 11:30 AM......Mission control 'go' for deorbit burn 11:36 AM......Mission specialists seat ingress 11:45 AM......Single hydraulic power unit start 11:48:39 AM...TDRS-West acquisition of signal 11:50:11 AM...Deorbit ignition (orbit 185) 11:53:14 AM...Deorbit burn complete 12:23:38 PM...Entry interface 12:28:31 PM...77-degree left roll command 12:35:27 PM...33-degree roll reversal 12:48:52 PM...Velocity less than mach 2.5 12:50:58 PM...Velocity less than mach 1 12:51:43 PM...Shuttle on the heading alignment cylinder 12:55:18 PM...Landing (orbit 186) ..............One orbit late 1:07 PM.......Mission control 'go' for deorbit burn 1:13 PM.......Mission specialists seat ingress 1:22 PM.......Single hydraulic power unit start 1:27:54 PM....Deorbit ignition (orbit 186) 1:30:07 PM....AOS TDRS-West 1:30:59 PM....Deorbit ignition complete 2:00:06 PM....Entry interface 2:05:01 PM....77-degree left roll command 2:22:13 PM....33-degree roll reversal 2:25:55 PM....Velocity less than mach 2.5 2:28:00 PM....Velocity less than mach 1 2:29:02 PM....Shuttle on the heading alignment cylinder 2:32:18 PM....Landing (orbit 187) ..............Waveoff timeline 02:19 PM......Begin deorbit backout timeline 04:19 PM......Presleep begins 07:19 PM......Crew sleep begins 12/18/01 03:19 AM......Crew wakeup 05:49 AM......Group B computer powerup 05:59 AM......Printer stow 06:04 AM......IMU alignment 06:14 AM......Laptop computer stow 06:44 AM......Begin deorbit timeline 10:42 AM......Deorbit ignition (orbit 200) 11:48 AM......Landing (orbit 201) 01:15 p.m., 12/17/01, Update: Shuttle Endeavour returns to Earth The shuttle Endeavour glided back to Earth today, bringing three space station astronauts back to a starkly different post Sept. 11 world and leaving a fresh crew behind in orbit for a nearly six-month tour of duty. Dropping like a stone through a somewhat cloudy sky, Endeavour settled to a high-speed touchdown on runway 15 at the Kennedy Space Center at 12:55:10 p.m. to close out a 12-day voyage spanning 186 complete orbits and 4.9 million miles. A few moments later, commander Dominic Gorie brought the spaceplane to a stop on the runway centerline and along with it, NASA's 107th shuttle mission. "Houston, Endeavour, wheels stopped," Gorie radioed. "Endeavour, Houston. Nice job on the approach and landing there, Dom," replied astronaut James Kelly from mission control in Houston. Mission duration was 11 days 19 hours 35 minutes and 42 seconds. It was the 57th shuttle landing at the Kennedy Space Center, the 44th to occur in daylight hours. The returning space station crew - Expedition 3 commander Frank Culbertson, Vladimir Dezhurov and Mikhail Tyurin - made the trip back to Earth resting on their backs, strapped into recumbent seats on Endeavour's lower deck. U.S. and Russian flight surgeons were standing by to help them off the shuttle as required. Russian flight surgeons forbid their cosmonauts from attempting to walk immediately after landing, but U.S. medical officers leave it up to the astronaut. For his part, Culbertson sounded healthy and in good spirits when he called Houston about 25 minutes after touchdown. "To everyone who helped make this mission possible and bring us home, thanks very much, we're very grateful to be home for Christmas," Culbertson radioed. "We're really grateful for all the great work everybody did." "Frank, those are great words, we'll pass 'em on and welcome back to Earth," Kelly replied. "We're happy to have you back." "Thanks. Looking forward to seeing everybody." After medical exams and their first hot showers in 129 days, the returning station fliers looked forward to reunions with friends and family and a bit of food and drink not available in space. Culbertson told flight controllers last week he was especially eager for a taste of ice cream while Tyurin said he was looking forward to "a big glass of cold beer." "Living in space had always been a goal of mine and we had the opportunity to do it and it was a great experience," Culbertson said Sunday. "We felt like we accomplished a lot and as Mikhail has said, this may end up being one of the most significant parts of our lives. "So it's sad when something like that comes to an end. But of course, we've got a lot of good things ahead of us and we'll be very, very happy to see all our family and friends." Flight surgeon Stephen Hart said the crew will get a brief chance to visit with their families prior to medical exams and then "afterwards, after we finish out testing initially, they'll get back to the most important activity of sort of quietly getting some family time." NASA plans to interview Culbertson and his crewmates later this evening and videotape will be broadcast on NASA television shortly thereafter. All three Expedition 3 crew members will spend Tuesday at the Kennedy Space Center and fly back to Houston on Wednesday. Following U.S. protocols, Culbertson will move back into his home while he begins physical therapy to continue his re-adaptation to gravity. Dezhurov and Tyurin, as is the Russian custom, will check into crew quarters at the Johnson Space Center where they will remain in quarantine for several days. Both men plan to fly back to Moscow later this month to ring in the new year with their families in Russia. But first, the crew faces another eight days of intense "biomedical and research activity and, most important, rehab," Hart said. "And we'll be doing that to build up gradually the strength and flexibility and balance skills that have basically been on vacation the past four months. The first week of that period is really the steepest part of the curve, but thereafter things are really pretty much back to normal." Maybe from a daily activity standpoint. But it typically takes returning station astronauts as much time on Earth as they spent in space to fully recover from the effects of prolonged weightlessness. Endeavour blasted off on the year's final shuttle mission Dec. 5 and docked with the station two days later. The following day, Dec. 8, Culbertson's crew was officially replaced by Expedition 4 commander Yury Onufrienko, Daniel Bursch and Carl Walz, who plan to remain aboard the outpost for nearly six months. They will return to Earth in mid May. In a formal change-of-command ceremony a few days later, Culbertson said "it's been a great ride. and it's now time to say goodbye." "We feel like we've accomplished a lot, we feel our mission has been successful," he said. "However, the most important thing for everybody to remember is the journey continues, the work continues, the research continues and it will for many, many years thanks to good people here and good people on the ground. ... It's been a wonderful experience for all of us." Next up for NASA: Launch of the shuttle Columbia at 1:43 p.m. on Feb. 14 to service the Hubble Space Telescope. Hubble Servicing Mission 3B features five back-to-back spacewalks by alternating two-man teams to install two new solar arrays, a new power control unit, a new camera and a high-tech cooling system to revive a dormant infrared camera/spectrometer. "We're going to put on a new camera, the Advanced Camera for Surveys, which has two times the field of view and five times the sensitivity of the current Wide-Field Planetary Camera 2," said program scientist David Leckrone. "It will be about 10 times more efficient, which means in a given amount of observing time it'll go fainter by quite a bit and also cover a broader field of view with better resolution. So it's going to be a gang busters camera, it will become the work horse camera supplanting WFPC." After the Hubble mission, NASA plans five station assembly, resupply and crew rotation flights, beginning with mission 8A in late March to install the anchor section of what will become a huge cross truss that ultimately will support the station's four sets of solar arrays. While NASA faces a shuttle flight reduction in 2003 and other measures to bring space station costs in line with budget projections, next year promises to be just as ambitious as the one now concluding. "I think we've accomplished an awful lot this year," said Milt Heflin, chief of NASA's flight directors office. "Since we've had continuous human presence on board the station, which is about 13 months or so, it's been a remarkable year. ... In the past year, we've put up about 45 tons of new equipment and modules and this brings the total mass to around 184 tons. What's interesting is we're probably going to double that this next year as we begin to add more truss segments ot the station. "Since this continuous human presence, we have flown a total of 15 visiting vehicles to the international space station. That's seven shuttle flights, five Russian Progress flights, two Soyuzes and the docking compartment. That's a remarkable amount of activity that we have handled safely, developed procedures for and managed throughout the last year." Astronauts and cosmonauts from six nations visited the station and given the international participation in the program, "I really think we're building a zero gravity United Nations," Heflin said. "This last year, we have accomplished on the order of 18 spacewalks to assemble and maintain the international space station," he said. "That basically doubles what we did last year. And hang on. Because this coming year, we plan to do somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 spacewalks. ... People here at the Johnson SPace Center talk about the 'wall of EVA.' Well, the wall of EVAs is getting steeper and I think the team of people here on the ground and the folks who are going to be on board have been able to get prepared for all that. "Over the past year, I'm told we accomplished something on the order of 50,000 hours of experiment operating time, that's both including the crew-tended experiments as well as the remote telescience operations. So that's a very busy year." Heflin said NASA accounts for less than 1 percent of the U.S. budget per year and "it's my belief that by building this international space station, this little agency is providing tangible proof of a real beacon of international cooperation. And goodness knows, we ought to take advantage of all that that we can, today." ===================================================================