STS-130 Endeavour 6/2/2010

lord lucan

Right so,back on track with the next mission to the ISS. This mission will bring the Tranquility node to the ISS and will consist of 3 EVAs. I've put the launch date down for February 6th even though NASA still say February 4th. From what i can gather there's a range conflict which will bump STS-130 down a couple of days to the 6th.

lord lucan

Endeavour is due to rollover from the OPF to the VAB in the next couple of weeks to be mated with her ET&SRBs. She'll spend christmas in the VAB and will roll out to 39a early in the new year.

Beeker

lord lucan wrote: »

Endeavour is due to rollover from the OPF to the VAB in the next couple of weeks to be mated with her ET&SRBs. She'll spend christmas in the VAB and will roll out to 39a early in the new year.

Good man LL!!!! now we're off again at last:) Roll on STS-130!

lord lucan

Launch looks like the 7th of February now. Rollover looks set for December 12th.

Beeker

By the way LL good to see your a member of L2 aswell. Its the only place to be!:)

lord lucan

Beeker wrote: »

By the way LL good to see your a member of L2 aswell. Its the only place to be!:)

The 2hour re-entry video of STS-115 and STS-112 ascent was worth the subscription alone imo.

lord lucan

Rather than start a new thread i'll just throw this in here. NASA held an in-house competition to mark the end of the Shuttle programme. They asked NASA employees to design a patch to mark the end of the shuttle programme. It won't be a mission patch but the winning design will get flown on one of the 5 remaining flights. Obviously it's an internal competition but 2 designs have made their way online. Here they are:



My favourite is the first one,5 shuttles marking the 5 orbiters that flew the programme and 14 stars representing the 14 astronauts who lost their lives on Challenger&Columbia. It also includes the 2 things the shuttle will be remembered for,Hubble and the ISS.

Beeker

lord lucan wrote: »

Rather than start a new thread i'll just throw this in here. NASA held an in-house competition to mark the end of the Shuttle programme. They asked NASA employees to design a patch to mark the end of the shuttle programme. It won't be a mission patch but the winning design will get flown on one of the 5 remaining flights. Obviously it's an internal competition but 2 designs have made their way online. Here they are:



My favourite is the first one,5 shuttles marking the 5 orbiters that flew the programme and 14 stars representing the 14 astronauts who lost their lives on Challenger&Columbia. It also includes the 2 things the shuttle will be remembered for,Hubble and the ISS.

I agree the first one looks the best!

By the way we may get one extra flight STS-135/Atlantis:) Fingers crossed.
http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2009/12/nasa-evaluating-sts-135-addition-to-shuttle-manifest/

Stargate

lord lucan wrote: »

Rather than start a new thread i'll just throw this in here. NASA held an in-house competition to mark the end of the Shuttle programme. They asked NASA employees to design a patch to mark the end of the shuttle programme. It won't be a mission patch but the winning design will get flown on one of the 5 remaining flights. Obviously it's an internal competition but 2 designs have made their way online. Here they are:

Dont know if its the colouring , layout etc LL but id go with the 2nd one

Stargate

Since its xmas time , just off topic , i thought id let you know of this fantastic link for anyone with kids , or even for the adults too ...........enjoy :P:pac:

Get Santa to send the kids a personal video message from the north pole you can upload the childs foto and it shows up on the video lol

http://portablenorthpole.tv/home/

Sorry if its off topic guys , but thoughts some here would like it !

lord lucan

Beeker wrote: »

By the way we may get one extra flight STS-135/Atlantis:) Fingers crossed.
http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2009/12/nasa-evaluating-sts-135-addition-to-shuttle-manifest/

My baby,erm.... Atlantis may get to see out the programme!!:D:D:D

lord lucan

Nice close-up of the TPS around Endeavours cockpit:

Beeker

Stargate wrote: »

Since its xmas time , just off topic , i thought id let you know of this fantastic link for anyone with kids , or even for the adults too ...........enjoy :P:pac:

Get Santa to send the kids a personal video message from the north pole you can upload the childs foto and it shows up on the video lol

http://portablenorthpole.tv/home/

Sorry if its off topic guys , but thoughts some here would like it !

Mine too old for that now but try this also http://www.noradsanta.org/
Great fun on christmas eve as you track Santa around the world. My little one used to love this a few years back.:)

lord lucan

Beeker wrote: »

Mine too old for that now but try this also http://www.noradsanta.org/
Great fun on christmas eve as you track Santa around the world. My little one used to love this a few years back.:)

Dublin Airport normally have Rudolph1 or something like that on the arrivals section online and aertel on xmas eve for midnight.:D:D

Stargate

lord lucan wrote: »

My baby,erm.... Atlantis may get to see out the programme!!:D:D:D

Leo , if she does , you will have to take a few of us with you :P
Your not allowed to go over to the launch site alone , NEW forum rules Leo ;-)

lord lucan

Looks like Endeavour will rollover to the VAB tomorrow evening. Launch date appears to be up in the air right now,we'll have to wait for the FRR in january to get an idea of when she'll go.

lord lucan

Anyone else watching Endeavours rollover to the VAB?:p:p

lord lucan

lord lucan

jumpguy

Endeavour looks quite old and slightly haggard now...

lord lucan

The white tiles are unforgiving in terms of how they look. NASA say they're too expensive/time consuming to change just for cosmetic reasons.

jumpguy

lord lucan wrote: »

The white tiles are unforgiving in terms of how they look. NASA say they're too expensive/time consuming to change just for cosmetic reasons.

That's fair enough. As long the tiles function as good as new, fresh looking tired that's grand. It's the amazing the heat of re-entry can have on the blackness of them! It's like they've been sandblasted (which probably the may well have been with the speed of the air hitting them)...

But it's not only that...the nose engine nossels look old, areas around the rearengines look discoloured. The white is not sheen. They're scratchs. The shuttle fleet looks tired. It's looking at pics up close like this with revealing lighting you really realise why they're being retired.

lord lucan

jumpguy wrote: »

That's fair enough. As long the tiles function as good as new, fresh looking tired that's grand. It's the amazing the heat of re-entry can have on the blackness of them! It's like they've been sandblasted (which probably the may well have been with the speed of the air hitting them)...

But it's not only that...the nose engine nossels look old, areas around the rearengines look discoloured. The white is not sheen. They're scratchs. The shuttle fleet looks tired. It's looking at pics up close like this with revealing lighting you really realise why they're being retired.

There's lots of discolouration that you can only see up close. They do a full review and repair job on the orbiters when they return from a mission and only if something is broken/damaged and risks flight safety will they change it. Maybe if the shuttle was around for another 10 years they may pay more attention to it cosmetically but with the programme in wind down mode they'll have to soldier on as they are.

The shuttles main engines will be re-used after the shuttle retires so they may need some reconditioning,they won't remain on the orbiters when they go to the museums.

jumpguy

lord lucan wrote: »

There's lots of discolouration that you can only see up close. They do a full review and repair job on the orbiters when they return from a mission and only if something is broken/damaged and risks flight safety will they change it. Maybe if the shuttle was around for another 10 years they may pay more attention to it cosmetically but with the programme in wind down mode they'll have to soldier on as they are.

The shuttles main engines will be re-used after the shuttle retires so they may need some reconditioning,they won't remain on the orbiters when they go to the museums.

What could the engines be reused for? Will all the orbiters go to museums (would be savage)?

lord lucan

jumpguy wrote: »

What could the engines be reused for? Will all the orbiters go to museums (would be savage)?

NASA said they'd sell the orbiters to any interested museums provided they met certain criteria(how they'll be displayed/stored etc.). Iirc there was a figure of $42m per orbiter being mentioned. Last i heard the British science museum were interested in buying Endeavour.

Beeker

lord lucan wrote: »

NASA said they'd sell the orbiters to any interested museums provided they met certain criteria(how they'll be displayed/stored etc.). Iirc there was a figure of $42m per orbiter being mentioned. Last i heard the British science museum were interested in buying Endeavour.

I'm making room in my garage as we speak:D

lord lucan

Beeker wrote: »

I'm making room in my garage as we speak:D

I'm taking Atlantis for my back garden,i'll throw an STS party when she arrives!:p:p

lord lucan

Continuing on from the post about commorative patches for the shuttle programme in the 1st page,here's a few more that have surfaced.

Beeker

lord lucan wrote: »

Continuing on from the post about commorative patches for the shuttle programme in the 1st page,here's a few more that have surfaced.

Some beauties there!

Stargate

lord lucan wrote: »

NASA said they'd sell the orbiters to any interested museums provided they met certain criteria(how they'll be displayed/stored etc.). Iirc there was a figure of $42m per orbiter being mentioned. Last i heard the British science museum were interested in buying Endeavour.

They ( British science museum ) can afford that LL on ONE item ? They Must have a fairly large money vault in that building in South Kensington full to the brim

Stargate

Beeker wrote: »

I'm making room in my garage as we speak:D

Beeker is a trillion zillionaire , " show me the money " :eek: