STS-117 Atlantis | Mission Status
POSTED BY: cljohnston108
UPDATED: Friday, June 29, 2007 13:58
VIEWED: 23775
PAGE 3 of 11
BUMP
Can't stop the signal... and Serenity still flies... gotta love all the browncoats out there in the real world.. spreading the word.
Chindi
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Quote:
Originally posted by cljohnston108:
“I had an unfortunate experience with a Bomb Rack Unit on an F-111 jet,” the Atlantis shuttle pilot explained before launch.
. . .
Well?
Guy can't say something like that an not tell the story! It's against the Pilot's Code(tm).
-----
We applied the cortical electrodes but were unable to get a neural reaction from either patient.
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yeah a current update would be shiny too!
Chindi
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I see, by the Master Flight Plan, that the crew has a 2-hour block of off-duty time on Flight Day 5, starting at 3:33 pm EDT...
http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts117/fdf/117flightplan.html
Maybe Swanny'll break out our precious cargo and begin the conversion process! 
But it's kinda weird that NASA isn't posting any new photos to the gallery. 
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/shuttle/sts-117/ndxpage1.ht
ml
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Good morning space fans,
Swanny has been busy this first two days so I havent gotten an emails yet. they do have a 2 hour crew off time tomorrow, so who knows maybe they will watch an episode or two :)
Yesterday saw a beautiful docking with the Space Station ( I am still pulling photos from the database). Today is the First of 4 Spacewalks. They will install the S3/S4 Truss segement today which is the big solar array on the starboard side of the ISS. They wont deploy the solar array wings until tomorrow.
The Mission Management team and the rest of Mission Control is still thinking about what to do with the bent blanket on the Left OMS (Orbital Manuvering System) Pod. The thermal blanket was torn loose and bent upwards due to aerodynamic loads during launch. The concern with this blanket is what amount of increased heating it will cause in the area during entry heating. If the blanket rips off during the lower portion under aero loads it is not a debris concern. The team is working options for tucking the blanket back down since it does have some memory for staying flat. If it is flat during entry heating it should not be an issue, but if it is bent up the disturbance to the plasma flow could cause damage to the underlying OMS Pod structure by causing a stagnation point and a hole that heat can get into, but not out of. In the past we have seen lost blankets and tiles that did cause survivable damage to the OMS pod. So the question the team is working is the extent of localized damage and if there is a concern for entry.
The team is also continuing to review ascent data (RADAR, WBS Tracking Planes, SRB Video, Ground Cameras) as well as the flight day 2 inspection data and so far there is no indication of areas for concern.
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=ekhorlf.24ok35ob&x=0&y=-bjbomd
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Thanks for the updates!
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Thanks MAIII..
pass along in your email that when they watch Serenity.. they should NOT think that the gorram primary buffer panel does not = the tear in the Shuttle skin.. honestly, it is just a stange coincidence!!!
no just kidding.. don't mention it.. but I had to... :-)
Thanks for the update; looking forward to the photos
Chindi
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well the team is extending the mission by two days to repair this OMS Pod Blanket. there is a concern with burn through given the increased localized temperatures. the concern is the fact that the blanket is sticking up, this could cause the plasma flow in the area to increase and stagnate in the open cavity. the under substructure is graphite epoxy and only rated for 250 degs so the higher potential localized heating could cause the epoxy to delaminate and then the fibers could allow a flow path further into the structure and eventual failure of the OMS Pod. on STS-41G we lost a whole blanket during launch, while it survived entry the OMS pod saw significant damage to the facesheets and took a year to fix. this case is believed to be potentially worse because of the stagnation point.
by just tucking the blanket down that might provide the needed thermal protection to get through entry and then if aero loads do pull the blanket back up it is not a concern since we would be beyond peak heating loads. if the blanket comes completely off during aero entry loads it should not be a debris transport/impact issue, though they are still finalizing that analysis.
the team is concerned enough that we can not deorbit until this repair is done. some on the team have no confidence in the survivability of this OMS Pod during entry heating. in the event of a low likelihood cabin leak, the crew would declare CSCS - crew uses ISS as Safe Haven, abandons Atlantis in the Pacific unmanned and waits for the Launch On Need Vehicle to come and rescue them. I dont want to alarm people, because we are going to do the right thing, repair the blanket and then there should be no issues for coming home, but until that repair is completed on EVA 3 & 4 this OMS Pod damage is considered suspect.
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Is it just me, or did Swanny's Flight Day 4 wake-up call, -- "It Probably Always Will" by Ozark Mountain Daredevils -- sound similar to the Ballad of Serenity?
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/audio/shuttle/sts-117/mp3/fd04.mp3
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