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Comm cable swapped out as countdown rolls on BY WILLIAM HARWOOD STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION Posted: March 10, 2008 Rollback of a protective gantry from the shuttle Endeavour was delayed today while engineers replaced a suspect cockpit audio cable that will be used by flight engineer Mike Foreman during the climb to space early Tuesday. Tower rollback was delayed about three hours, but by 9 a.m., the huge gantry was in its launch position and engineers said the snag would not have any impact on the remainder of Endeavour's countdown. Launch is targeted for 2:28:14 a.m. and forecasts are continuing to predict a 90 percent chance of acceptable weather. Other than the cable replacement and work overnight to repair minor tile damage near a nose rocket thruster, the countdown is proceeding smoothly with no technical issues of any significance. NASA's Mission Management Team plans to meet late this afternoon to assess the weather and any outstanding technical issues before giving the launch team permission to begin loading a half-million gallons of liquid oxygen and hydrogen rocket fuel into Endeavour's external tank. The three-hour remotely controlled procedure is scheduled to begin around 5 p.m. Endeavour's crew - Foreman, commander Dominic Gorie, pilot Gregory Johnson, Richard Linnehan, Robert Behnken, Japanese astronaut Takao Doi and space station flight engineer Garrett Reisman - plans to don their pressure suits and head for the pad to strap in around 10:38 p.m. Endeavour's trajectory for the second night launch of the post-Columbia era will carry it along a path paralleling the East Coast of the United States, a dramatic sight for viewers with clear weather. T.S. Kelso, a noted satellite tracking analyst, provides a very useful visualization tool illustrating the shuttle's flight path and visibility from various locations. Interested readers can find the STS-123 data file, and the free Analytical Graphics viewer software necessary to play it, here: Here is a timeline for the remainder of today's countdown, major ascent events and the crew's post-launch timeline (in EDT; best viewed with fixed-width font): EDT...........EVENT 03:03 PM......Begin 2-hour built-in hold (T-minus 6 hours) 03:58 PM......Crew wakeup 04:03 PM......External tank ready for loading 04:18 PM......Mission management team tanking meeting 05:03 PM......Resume countdown (T-minus 6 hours) 05:03 PM......Liquid oxygen (LO2), liquid hydrogen (LH2) transfer line chilldown 05:13 PM......Main propulsion system chill down 05:13 PM......LH2 slow fill 05:43 PM......LO2 slow fill 05:48 PM......Hydrogen ECO sensors go wet 05:53 PM......LO2 fast fill 06:03 PM......LH2 fast fill 07:58 PM......LH2 topping 08:03 PM......LH2 replenish 08:03 PM......LO2 replenish 08:03 PM......Begin 2-hour 30-minute built-in hold (T-minus 3 hours) 08:03 PM......Closeout crew to white room 08:03 PM......External tank in stable replenish mode 08:18 PM......Astronaut support personnel comm checks 08:48 PM......Pre-ingress switch reconfig 08:55 PM......Crew breakfast/photo op (recorded) 09:30 PM......NASA television launch coverage begins 09:58 PM......Final crew weather briefing 10:08 PM......Crew suit up begins 10:33 PM......Resume countdown (T-minus 3 hours) 10:38 PM......Crew departs O&C building 11:08 PM......Crew ingress 11:58 PM......Astronaut comm checks Tue 03/11/08 12:13 AM......Hatch closure 12:53 AM......White room closeout 01:13 AM......Begin 10-minute built-in hold (T-minus 20m) 01:23 AM......NASA test director countdown briefing 01:23 AM......Resume countdown (T-minus 20m) 01:24 AM......Backup flight computer to OPS 1 01:28 AM......KSC area clear to launch 01:34 AM......Begin final built-in hold (T-minus 9m) 02:04 AM......NTD launch status verification 02:19:14 AM...Resume countdown (T-minus 9m) 02:20:44 AM...Orbiter access arm retraction 02:23:14 AM...Launch window opens 02:23:14 AM...Hydraulic power system (APU) start 02:23:19 AM...Terminate LO2 replenish 02:24:14 AM...Purge sequence 4 hydraulic test 02:24:14 AM...Inertial measurement units to inertial 02:24:19 AM...Elevons, speed brake steering check 02:24:44 AM...Main engine steering test 02:25:19 AM...LO2 tank pressurization 02:25:39 AM...Fuel cells to internal reactants 02:25:44 AM...Clear caution-and-warning memory 02:26:14 AM...Crew closes visors 02:26:17 AM...LH2 tank pressurization 02:27:24 AM...Booster joint heater deactivation 02:27:43 AM...Shuttle flight computers take control of countdown 02:27:53 AM...Booster steering test 02:28:07 AM...Main engine start (T-6.6 seconds) 02:28:14 AM...LAUNCH ..............Return to Launch Site abort option available (1 engine out) 02:28:24 AM...(T+00:10) Start roll maneuver 02:28:32 AM...(T+00:18) Start throttle down (72%) 02:29:03 AM...(T+00:49) Max q (686 pounds per square foot) 02:29:07 AM...(T+00:53) Start throttle up (104.5%) 02:30:19 AM...(T+02:05) Booster separation 02:30:29 AM...(T+02:15) Start OMS assist rocket firing (1:54 duration) ..............Trans-Atlantic Landing abort option available (1 engine out) 02:30:47 AM...(T+02:33) 2 Engine TAL Moron (104.5%, 2S) 02:30:52 AM...(T+02:38) 2 Engine TAL Zaragoza (104.5%, 2S) 02:31:03 AM...(T+02:49) 2 Engine TAL Istres (104.5%, 2S) 02:32:01 AM...(T+03:47) Negative return (KSC) (104.5%, 3S) ..............Abort to Orbit option available (1 engine out) 02:33:16 AM...(T+05:02) Press to ATO (104.5%, 2S, 160 u/s) 02:33:38 AM...(T+05:24) Droop Zaragoza (109%,0s) 02:33:40 AM...(T+05:26) Single engine ops-3 Zaragoza (109%,0s,2eo simo) 02:34:01 AM...(T+05:47) Roll to headsup ..............Normal orbit available (1 engine out) 02:34:17 AM...(T+06:03) Press to MECO (104.5%, 2S, 160 u/s) 02:34:18 AM...(T+06:04) Single engine TAL Zaragoza (104.5%,2S,2eo simo) 02:34:18 AM...(T+06:04) Single engine TAL Moron(109%,0s,2eo seq,1st eo @ 5780 vi) 02:34:18 AM...(T+06:04) Single engine TAL Istres(109%,0s,2eo seq,1st eo @ 6150 vi) 02:35:09 AM...(T+06:55) Single engine press-to-MECO (104.5%, 2S, 566 u/s) 02:35:34 AM...(T+07:20) Negative Moron (2@67%) 02:35:36 AM...(T+07:22) 3G limiting 02:35:55 AM...(T+07:41) Last 2 eng pre-MECO TAL Zaragoza (67%) 02:35:55 AM...(T+07:41) Negative Istres (2@67%) 02:36:02 AM...(T+07:48) Last single eng pre-MECO TAL Zaragoza (104.5%) 02:36:07 AM...(T+07:53) 23K 02:36:07 AM...(T+07:53) Last 3 eng pre-meco TAL Zaragoza (67%) 02:36:32 AM...(T+08:18) Last TAL Diego Garcia 02:36:37 AM...(T+08:23) Engine cutoff command (MECO) 02:36:43 AM...(T+08:29) Zero thrust 03:06:00 AM...OMS-2 rocket firing to raise perigee 03:18:00 AM...Post insertion timeline begins 04:58:00 AM...Laptop computer setup (part 1) 05:08:00 AM...Robot arm powerup 05:50:00 AM...NC-1 rendezvous rocket firing 06:03:00 AM...Robot arm checkout 06:18:00 AM...External tank umbilical camera downlink 07:08:00 AM...Group B computer powerdown 08:28:00 AM...Crew sleep begins
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VIDEO:
OVERVIEW BRIEFING ON CANADA'S DEXTRE ROBOT 