STS-132 Atlantis 14/5/10

ynotdu

the final hatch was opened at 17.15 allowing the crew of Atlantis to be welcomed by the six Astronauts aboard the ISS.Good Luck to them,They have an awful lot of work to do{ISS Astronauts are wearing purple tops.

the two crafts passed over the southern tip of Ireland at about 17.30 and MC mentioned us so thy did!:)

lord lucan

ynotdu wrote: »

One thing i am genuinely confused about though,are they all taken by You or reproductions from other sources?

Did 1981 get You past extremely restricted area's to take them?

You can see all that stuff on the tours at KSC Ynotdu. The SSME is at an observation gantry called LC 39. You can see pads 39a and 39b from there. It's alongside the crawlerway. You should save your roubles for a trip over.:)

lord lucan

lord lucan

Lovely shot of Atlantis over the Canaries from Soichi onboard the ISS.

http://twitpic.com/1odxcb

lord lucan

And for Ynotdu,here's Baikonur from the ISS.

http://twitpic.com/1odxcs

thecommander

Last 2 I promise! These are the launch photos, I took them with a wide angle lens. I had my zoom lens with me, used it for other shots but I didn't want to experience the launch thru the viewfinder of the camera. There will be better photos out there than I ever could have taken so why waste the one chance I had of viewing it.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/complexvisuals/4611994125/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/complexvisuals/4612594332/

Went for dinner with 1981, met a friend of his who had cameras set up with acoustic triggers at about 700 yards from the pad. We had a quick look at them on his camera and they looked amazing. I'll get the link to his site and post it up.

lord lucan

thecommander wrote: »

Last 2 I promise! These are the launch photos, I took them with a wide angle lens. I had my zoom lens with me, used it for other shots but I didn't want to experience the launch thru the viewfinder of the camera. There will be better photos out there than I ever could have taken so why waste the one chance I had of viewing it.

You were right. I done the same,set the camera up on a tripod with a trigger and burst mode set and let it fire away while watching it with my own eyes. It'd be a shame to watch it through a viewfinder.

Great pics,thanks for posting.:)

ynotdu

lord lucan wrote: »

And for Ynotdu,here's Baikonur from the ISS.

http://twitpic.com/1odxcs

Thanks a whole bunch for that LL,Did You really have to post a picture of Me entering a Russian Whorehouse?

I'm in big trouble now:eek:

Dacian

I had a look at heavens-above .com. It tells be there are no visible passes of the ISS over the next few days.....thats a bit dissappointing. Was hoping to spot of with orbiter attached.

ynotdu

Dacian wrote: »

I had a look at heavens-above .com. It tells be there are no visible passes of the ISS over the next few days.....thats a bit dissappointing. Was hoping to spot of with orbiter attached.

Hi Dacian,I don't know if You managed to watch the post Launch News conferance but it seems to Me Russia at least are going to do their damnest to keep the ISS in orbit until 2028!So there will be plenty of sighting oportunities ahead for a long time yet,i would guess!:)

The shame of it all is that space is becoming of interest only to the Military powers of China,India,Pakistan,USA,Russia and Japan as it stands now.

The Apollo 11 plaque stating that "We came in peace for ALL Mankind" is like the peaceful exploration of outer Space rapidly becoming redundant:mad:

Oh meant to say the ISS is so hugh now even the shuttle makes hardly any diffrience to a sighting

ynotdu

Anyway for anybody that is interested beyond the launch and landing of a Shuttle,here is a synopsis of Mondays events

Image above: Space shuttle Atlantis is photographed from the International Space Station prior to docking. Image credit: NASA

First Spacewalk for STS-132 Crew

Two astronauts will venture outside their spacecraft today in the first of three planned spacewalks for the mission. They will install back-up communications equipment onto the station and a work platform onto a station robot.

Mission Specialists Garrett Reisman and Stephen Bowen spent the night in the Quest Airlock to prepare for the planned 6.5-hour spacewalk. They are expected to egress from the airlock at 8:15 a.m. EDT. Good and Expedition 23 Flight Engineer T.J. Creamer will help with the suit-up preparations, and Good will join Pilot Tony Antonelli, the intravehicular officer, to assist during the spacewalk. Mission Specialist Piers Sellers and Flight Engineer Tracy Caldwell Dyson will support robotic arm operations throughout.

The first task of the spacewalk will be the installation of a back-up Ku-band antenna known as the SGAnt or Space-to-Ground Antenna. The task will start at the mobile transporter to remove the SGAnt, then Reisman will hand carry the boom and antenna to its installation point on the Z1 truss. Bowen will meet Reisman there to attach the antenna, connect power and data cables and remove protective insulation. During that time, Reisman will travel on the arm to retrieve the antenna dish and bring it to the worksite for installation. Time permitting, Bowen will install a heat shield and remove position locks on the antenna.

Reisman will again return to the pallet to collect Dextre’s storage platform. He and Bowen will meet at Dextre’s worksite atop the Destiny laboratory to attach the platform to the robot. If possible, they will also install a maintenance tether and connect two electrical fuses.

The final task will have Bowen at the end of the left or port truss, to loosen bolts on the six batteries that will be replaced in the later spacewalks.

Throughout the extravehicular activity, Commander Ken Ham will oversee the activities and work on transfer of supplies to the station.

lord lucan

The 2 boys have just begun EVA-1. What a view they have!

lord lucan

Love the Yankees patch on outside of the suit!:)

thecommander

Lashing rain over here with thunderstorms, looks like I'll have the chance to follow this one.

Beeker

Not a bad place to work!:D

Beeker

Some great shots on NASA TV...wish I could spend some more time watching but work is getting in the way:D

lord lucan

Beeker wrote: »

Some great shots on NASA TV...wish I could spend some more time watching but work is getting in the way:D

Feckin' jobs,you'd think employers would have some consideration!:p

Beeker

lord lucan wrote: »

Feckin' jobs,you'd think employers would have some consideration!:p

:D:D

Beeker

Meanwhile the boosters have returned to the cape.

Beeker

These guys love their jobs!!!:)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mcc5A_6rxws

Beeker

Talks of a delay to 133 until November and 134 until next Feb. No harm spread them out is what I say:)

lord lucan

Beeker wrote: »

Talks of a delay to 133 until November and 134 until next Feb. No harm spread them out is what I say:)

Yeah but that's almost 6 months until the next launch! I'll have to start an STS nostalgia thread to keep us ticking over after Atlantis returns.;)

lord lucan

Another great pic from Soichi onboard the ISS.

http://twitpic.com/1ooghs

Beeker

lord lucan wrote: »

Another great pic from Soichi onboard the ISS.

http://twitpic.com/1ooghs

He's some man for the photos:)

lord lucan

Beeker wrote: »

He's some man for the photos:)

I have his Twitter page bookmarked,usually check every couple of days as he puts up some brilliant pics of the planet from the ISS.

ynotdu

Todays main objective is to fit the Russian built Rassvet{In English it means Dawn,some translate it as Sunrise}It is packed with resupplys and once they have been unloaded will double as Russias second Mini research module and a docking port.
Although it will all be carried out by robotics ,during the FFR on May the 5th it seemed to be one of the main concerns of failure,with plans in a worse case scenario to place it back in Atlantis's payload bay and return it to earth
I can only speculate the reason for that concern is because the crew have such a limited time on the ISS and are not trained for an unforseen problem.with this module or the robotics


0652 GMT (2:52 a.m. EDT)
A day to build another room on the International Space Station has begun for the astronauts. Flight Day 5 will see the Russian Rassvet module unberthed from Atlantis' payload bay by the shuttle robotic arm. It'll be handed off to the space station's arm and then attached to the Earth-facing port of the Zarya module to become a new docking compartment for visiting Russian spacecraft and a mini science lab.

The work is scheduled to begin around 5 a.m. EDT, with Rassvet connecting to the station about three hours later.

ynotdu

Beeker wrote: »

These guys love their jobs!!!:)

So You were only 1000 tiles out when You said there were 25,000 tiles on an Orbiter the time We were so bored We decided to count them from photo's! Your Learning!!:D

Saw none of Yesterdays EVA,So Thanks Everybody that posted:)

Beeker

Work underway on the transfer of Rassvet from Atlantis to ISS

Beeker

ynotdu wrote: »

Beeker wrote: »

These guys love their jobs!!!:)

So You were only 1000 tiles out when You said there were 25,000 tiles on an Orbiter the time We were so bored We decided to count them from photo's! Your Learning!!:D

:D:D

Beeker

Nice shot of the docked Atlantis:)