Spaceflight Now | STS-117 Shuttle Report | Anderson replaces Williams aboard the station

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Anderson replaces Williams aboard the station
BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: June 6, 2007

After the third spacewalk, assuming P6-2B is fully retracted and all other high-priority tasks are complete, the astronauts will take a break of sorts, enjoying a half day of off-duty time before sharing a joint meal with the station crew and participating in a news conference with reporters back on Earth.

A brief farewell ceremony is planned that evening before hatches are closed between Atlantis and the space station to set the stage for undocking.


DATE/EDT.......DD...HH...MM...EVENT

Sat 08:08 AM...07...12...30...STS/ISS crew wakeup
Sat 10:28 AM...07...14...50...SSRMS walks off MBS to lab
Sat 11:08 AM...07...15...30...Crew off duty time
Sat 02:58 PM...07...19...20...MT moves from WS-5 to WS-1
Sat 03:08 PM...07...19...30...Joint crew meal
Sat 04:23 PM...07...20...45...Post-EVA transfer and reconfig
Sat 05:23 PM...07...21...45...O2 system teardown
Sat 06:23 PM...07...22...45...Joint crew news conference
Sat 07:03 PM...07...23...25...Joint crew photo
Sat 07:23 PM...07...23...45...Farewell ceremony
Sat 07:38 PM...08...00...00...Egress and hatch closure
Sat 08:18 PM...08...00...40...Leak checks
Sat 08:38 PM...08...01...00...Rendezvous tools checkout
Sat 11:08 PM...08...03...30...ISS crew sleep begins
Sat 11:38 PM...08...04...00...STS crew sleep begins

The next morning, Archambault will take the controls for undocking, guiding Atlantis straight away from the space station before beginning a slow loop around the outpost to permit his crewmates to photograph the station and its new solar arrays.

"One of the big reasons we do this is so we can get good documentation, photo imagery of the space station as we leave it," Archambault said. "At a minimum, we'll be backing out to approximately 400 feet. If the propellant does not permit, then we'll separate at that point. Propellant permitting, we'll do a 360-(degree trip) round the space station to get good photo imagery from all angles."

As soon as the fly-around is complete, the shuttle astronauts will use the ship's robot arm around to pick up the orbiter boom sensor system for a final set of nose cap and wing leading edge inspections.

"On flight day two, the scans are primarily looking for damage caused by the launch environment," said shuttle Flight Director Cathy Koerner. "Here on flight day 10, what we're looking for are any micrometeoroid impacts that may have occurred while we were on orbit. And again, we're trying to ensure the integrity of the thermal protection system before entry day."


DATE/EDT.......DD...HH...MM...EVENT

06/17/07
Sun 07:38 AM...08...12...00...STS/ISS crew wakeup
Sun 09:48 AM...08...14...10...Group B computer powerup
Sun 10:18 AM...08...14...40...Centerline camera installation
Sun 10:48 AM...08...15...10...Undocking timeline begins
Sun 11:31 AM...08...15...53...UNDOCKING
Sun 12:46 PM...08...17...08...Separation burn No. 1
Sun 01:14 PM...08...17...36...Separation burn No. 2
Sun 01:18 PM...08...17...40...Group B computer powerdown
Sun 01:33 PM...08...17...55...SRMS powerup
Sun 01:48 PM...08...18...10...PMA-2 depressurization
Sun 01:48 PM...08...18...10...Crew meals begin
Sun 02:48 PM...08...19...10...OBSS unberth
Sun 03:33 PM...08...19...55...Starboard wing survey
Sun 04:48 PM...08...21...10...Nose cap survey
Sun 05:38 PM...08...22...00...Port wing survey
Sun 06:53 PM...08...23...15...OBSS berthing
Sun 07:53 PM...09...00...15...SRMS powerdown
Sun 08:08 PM...09...00...30...NC-5 rocket firing
Sun 10:53 PM...09...03...15...STS crew sleep begins
Sun 11:08 PM...09...03...30...ISS crew sleep begins

Assuming no problems are found, the astronauts will spend flight day 11 packing up and rigging the shuttle for re-entry. Sturckow, Archambault and Swanson will test the shuttle's flight control systems, fire up one of its three hydraulic power units and test fire maneuvering jets. The two pilots also will use a computer simulator to practice landing procedures.


DATE/EDT.......DD...HH...MM...EVENT

06/18/07
Mon 07:08 AM...09...11...30...STS crew wakeup
Mon 10:08 AM...09...14...30...Cabin stow
Mon 11:08 AM...09...15...30...Flight control system checkout
Mon 12:18 PM...09...16...40...Reaction control system hotfire
Mon 12:33 PM...09...16...55...PILOT landing practice
Mon 01:33 PM...09...17...55...Deorbit review
Mon 02:03 PM...09...18...25...Crew meal
Mon 03:03 PM...09...19...25...Cabin stow resumes
Mon 03:38 PM...09...20...00...L-1 comm check
Mon 03:58 PM...09...20...20...PAO event (all)
Mon 04:18 PM...09...20...40...Entry video setup
Mon 05:18 PM...09...21...40...Launch-entry suit checkout
Mon 06:18 PM...09...22...40...Recumbent seat setup
Mon 06:58 PM...09...23...20...Wing leading edge sensor system deact
Mon 06:58 PM...09...23...20...KU-band antenna stow
Mon 07:08 PM...09...23...30...Ergometer stow
Mon 07:18 PM...09...23...40...PGSC stow (part 1)
Mon 07:18 PM...09...23...40...SRMS powerdown
Mon 10:38 PM...10...03...00...STS crew sleep begins

Touchdown back at the Kennedy Space Center is planned for around 2:44 p.m. on June 19.


DATE/EDT.......DD...HH...MM...EVENT

06/19/07
Tue 06:38 AM...10...11...00...Crew wakeup
Tue 08:43 AM...10...13...05...Group B powerup
Tue 08:58 AM...10...13...20...IMU alignment
Tue 09:23 AM...10...13...45...PGSC stow (part 2)
Tue 09:28 AM...10...13...50...GIRA stow, PGSC stow
Tue 09:43 AM...10...14...05...Deorbit prep timeline begins
Tue 01:42 PM...10...18...04...Deorbit ignition (orbit 171)
Tue 02:44 PM...10...19...06...KSC Landing

With touchdown, Atlantis will be left with just two more missions: A flight in December to deliver the European Space Agency's Columbus research module and a final voyage in late 2008 to service the Hubble Space Telescope. After that flight, Atlantis will become the first of NASA's space shuttles to be retired from flight status.

"We periodically take (shuttles) into depot-level maintenance where you can take the systems out, get down to the basic structure to see if there's corrosion going on, you can examine all the parts and make sure they are all working as they were designed to work," Program Manager Wayne Hale said. "We have a process that puts our shuttles into what we call OMDP, orbiter maintenance down period, every three-and-a-half or four years. As a matter of fact Endeavour, is just completing that kind of maintenance period.

"Atlantis times out at the end of calendar year 2008, it's time to put Atlantis into that regularly scheduled maintenance period. That takes about a year to a year and a half to accomplish. So if we were to put Atlantis into that OMDP period starting in 2009, it would be done and ready to fly just at the time the program's ready to end. That doesn't make a lot of sense.

"So what we're going to do is not put Atlantis into an OMDP. ... The current plan is to put Atlantis into a state where we keep the power on, we keep the purges on so that piece parts, black boxes and so forth will be kept healthy for use as spares. This will help us draw down our spares inventory, by the way, but Atlantis will not be in a flyable condition and it won't be in a condition where we could very quickly get into a flyable condition."

Atlantis will remain at the Kennedy Space Center until the end of the shuttle program.

The End

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