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STS-124 day 1 highlights

The highlights from shuttle Discovery's launch day are packaged into this movie.

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Discovery rolls out

Discovery travels from the Vehicle Assembly Building to pad 39A in preparation for the STS-124 mission.

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STS-124: The programs

In advance of shuttle Discovery's STS-124 mission to the station, managers from both programs discuss the flight.

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STS-124: The mission

A detailed preview of Discovery's mission to deliver Japan's science laboratory Kibo to the station is provided in this briefing.

 Part 1 | Part 2

STS-124: Spacewalks

Three spacewalks are planned during Discovery's STS-124 assembly mission to the station.

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STS-124: The Crew

The Discovery astronauts, led by commander Mark Kelly, meet the press in the traditional pre-flight news conference.

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Spacewalker says cleaning damaged joint a 'big job'
BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: June 9, 2008

The powder-like debris dusting the outer edge of the space station's left-side solar array rotary mechanism does not appear to represent a serious problem, spacewalker Mike Fossum said today. He said the grease and debris seen on the port solar alpha rotary joint does not look anything like the much more severe contamination that has hobbled the station's right-side SARJ.

"There's really no similarity because on the starboard side, the damage is extensive and apparent," Fossum said during a crew news conference aboard the station. "The bearing surface itself is severely eroded, maybe not very thick but there's definitely a lot of damage there. On the port side, you really didn't see that at all. You see a little bit of the grease that some expected, and some didn't. It's really unclear.

"The particles over there (on the port drive gear), it's just a few fine, almost powder-like particles. On the starboard side, it's metallic particles that are clinging to things, you can see magnetic pattern kind of features in there, the way they cling to corners and things like that. On the port side, there's nothing like that. It's more like just a little bit of dust, maybe kind of like the dust you have on your brakes."

The international space station is equipped with two motor-drive 10-foot-wide SARJ gears, one on either side of the lab's main power truss, that are designed to rotate outboard solar arrays like giant paddle wheels to track the sun. The devices are crucial for maximizing the electricity the station's solar panels can generate.

Last summer, engineers began noticing higher-than-usual vibration levels in the right-side joint mechanism, along with electrical current spikes indicative of increased friction as the gear rolled through 12 trundle bearing assemblies. During a subsequent spacewalk inspection, astronauts discovered extensive metallic contamination covering the active drive gear and degradation, or erosion, of at least one of the gear's bearing surfaces.

Despite extensive troubleshooting, engineers still don't know what might be causing the damage. One possibility is a small crack or breakdown in the hardened bearing surface that produced debris that was then crushed as it passed through the trundle bearings, causing more damage and creating more debris. Whatever the cause, it is a serious problem and flight controllers no longer operate the right-side SARJ in "auto-track" mode.

The left-side SARJ is operating normally, but Fossum spotted buildups of grease during an inspection Thursday. Photographs also indicted small amounts of an unknown material dusting the outer edge of the drive gear.

Engineers believe the grease may be coming from one or more of the trundle bearings the gear rolls through and it may be beneficial in slowing or preventing the sort of surface breakdown that has damaged the right-side gear. In any case, the grease is not thought to be an issue. The source of the powder-like material is not yet known, but Fossum collected samples during a spacewalk Sunday.

Each SARJ is made up of two identical drive gears, only one of which is used at any given time. NASA managers are holding open the option of moving all 12 trundle bearings and two drive motors to the backup gear in the right-side SARJ, but they don't want to take that step without first knowing what happened to the current drive gear to make sure the problem doesn't crop up again.

In the near term, astronauts may attempt to clean up the contamination in the starboard SARJ using grease and cloth wipes to get as much mileage out of the damaged gear as possible before switching to the backup gear. Fossum tested cleaning procedures during a spacewalk last Tuesday and while they seemed to work, "that's going to be a big job."

"What you'd really like to do is go out there with a shop vac, but that's not going to work for obvious reasons," Fossum said today. "And they don't want to use a brush that would cause all those particles to end up just in other places or perhaps clinging to solar arrays and causing other problems.

"So the grease looks like it's a pretty good answer. It's going to be a lot of work, but you can lay down a bead of grease, kind of wipe it across the surface you're trying to clean, and then scrape that up to get most of (the debris) and then go over it with essentially a terry cloth wipe, It's kind of a mitt with terry cloth on one side to clean up most of the grease. Maybe we see from the port side that a little bit of grease isn't a bad thing."

Fossum and his crewmates - commander Mark Kelly, pilot Kenneth Ham, flight engineer Ronald Garan, Karen Nyberg, Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide and returning space station flight engineer Garrett Reisman - spent the day replacing spacesuit battery chargers in the Quest airlock module, testing the Japanese Kibo module's robot arm and re-opening a storage module that was bolted to the top of Kibo on Friday.

Reisman's replacement - Gregory Chamitoff - will remain behind aboard the station with Expedition 17 commander Sergei Volkov and Oleg Kononenko when Discovery undocks Wednesday. Hatches between the two spacecraft will be closed Tuesday evening.

"This is so much fun," Chamitoff said today. "The station is huge and there's plenty or room here for 10 people to work hard and do what we've done. I think when they leave, it's going to be very sad for me to see them go. I think that one moment, when we close the hatch, that's going to be the hard moment. After that, I'm with really good friends that I've spent years training with and they've already been here for two months, so they know how to do it and they'll show me the ropes."

Reisman, launched to the station in March, said he's looking forward to getting back to Earth.

"As far as what I'm looking forward to the most, that's easy. I can answer that with two words and it's Simone Francis, who's my wife," he said, laughing. "No doubt about that. And our cat, Fuzzy. ... Let's see, as far as what I'll miss most, it's definitely just floating. We call it floating, but really it's more like flying because as soon as you push off, you're moving through the air like some kind of super hero and being able to do that every day as you're commuting to work, it's unreal. That's what I'll miss the most.

"As far as what I'm looking forward to eating the most, of course, I would love to have a good slice of pizza. We don't really have much bread on board," he said. "We eat mostly tortillas because bread makes too many crumbs. So a nice, big, fat hamburger bun or something like that would be great. And that's what I think about.

"But the truth is, adjusting back to gravity is not so easy. Just like adjusting to weightlessness takes some time, adjusting to gravity takes some time, too. So even though I have visions of stepping off the shuttle and chowing down on a giant T-bone steak or something, that's not going to happen. But eventually it will, and I'm looking forward to that day where I can enjoy my favorite foods and do some of the things I love to do that I haven't been able to do from up here."

Spaceflight Now Plus
Additional coverage for subscribers:
VIDEO: THE FLIGHT DAY 9 HIGHLIGHTS MOVIE PLAY
VIDEO: SUNDAY'S MISSION STATUS BRIEFING PLAY
VIDEO: NARRATED PREVIEW OF SPACEWALK NO. 3 PLAY
VIDEO: ANIMATION OF NITROGEN TANK REPLACEMENT PLAY
VIDEO: SUNDAY'S FLIGHT DIRECTOR INTERVIEW PLAY

VIDEO: THE FLIGHT DAY 8 HIGHLIGHTS MOVIE PLAY
VIDEO: JAPANESE VIP CALL TO STATION PLAY
VIDEO: SATURDAY'S MISSION STATUS BRIEFING PLAY
VIDEO: MEDIA INTERVIEWS WITH SHUTTLE AND ISS CREWS PLAY
VIDEO: KIBO LAB'S ROBOTIC ARM FLEXES FOR FIRST TIME PLAY
VIDEO: NARRATED PREVIEW OF ARM'S FIRST MOVEMENTS PLAY
VIDEO: SATURDAY'S FLIGHT DIRECTOR INTERVIEW PLAY
VIDEO: CREW'S DOWNLINKED REPLAY OF LOGISTICS MODULE MOVE PLAY

VIDEO: LEFT-HAND BOOSTER CAMERA LOOKING UPWARD PLAY
VIDEO: LEFT-HAND BOOSTER CAMERA LOOKING INBOARD PLAY
VIDEO: LEFT-HAND BOOSTER CAMERA LOOKING DOWNWARD PLAY
VIDEO: RIGHT-HAND BOOSTER CAMERA LOOKING UPWARD PLAY
VIDEO: RIGHT-HAND BOOSTER CAMERA LOOKING DOWNWARD PLAY

VIDEO: THE FLIGHT DAY 7 HIGHLIGHTS MOVIE PLAY
VIDEO: FRIDAY'S MISSION STATUS BRIEFING PLAY
VIDEO: SHUTTLE CREW ASKED TO TAKE PHOTOS OF WING PANELS PLAY
VIDEO: JAPANESE LOGISTICS MODULE MOVED TO KIBO LAB'S ROOF PLAY
VIDEO: STATION'S ROBOT ARM GRAPPLES LOGISTICS MODULE PLAY
VIDEO: MEDIA INTERVIEWS WITH SHUTTLE AND ISS COMMANDERS PLAY
VIDEO: FRIDAY'S FLIGHT DIRECTOR INTERVIEW PLAY
VIDEO: NARRATED PREVIEW OF LOGISTICS MODULE MOVE PLAY

VIDEO: THE FLIGHT DAY 6 HIGHLIGHTS MOVIE PLAY
VIDEO: BUZZ LIGHTYEAR TOY ON THE LOOSE IN SPACE PLAY
VIDEO: ASTRONAUTS INVITE VIEWERS TO DINNER PLAY
VIDEO: THURSDAY'S MISSION STATUS BRIEFING PLAY
VIDEO: INSPECTION OF THE PORT-SIDE SOLAR ROTARY JOINT PLAY
VIDEO: FAULTY TV CAMERA REMOVED FROM STATION PORT TRUSS PLAY
VIDEO: THERMAL SLEEVE PLACED ON KIBO TRUNNION PIN PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH LOCKS RELEASED ON KIBO'S UPPER PORT PLAY
VIDEO: SPACEWALKERS INSTALL PAIR OF TV CAMERAS ON KIBO PLAY
VIDEO: MIKE FOSSUM EMERGES FROM AIRLOCK FOR EVA NO. 2 PLAY
VIDEO: NARRATED PREVIEW OF SPACEWALK NO. 2 PLAY
VIDEO: THURSDAY'S FLIGHT DIRECTOR INTERVIEW PLAY

VIDEO: THE FLIGHT DAY 5 HIGHLIGHTS MOVIE PLAY
VIDEO: WEDNESDAY'S MISSION STATUS BRIEFING PLAY
VIDEO: ASTRONAUTS ENTER THE KIBO MODULE FOR FIRST TIME PLAY
VIDEO: CEREMONY BEFORE KIBO HATCH OPENING PLAY

VIDEO: THE FLIGHT DAY 4 HIGHLIGHTS MOVIE PLAY
VIDEO: TUESDAY'S MISSION STATUS BRIEFING PLAY
VIDEO: KIBO SCIENCE LAB ATTACHED TO THE SPACE STATION PLAY
VIDEO: KIBO MODULE UNBERTHED FROM SHUTTLE PAYLOAD BAY PLAY
VIDEO: CLOSEUP INSPECTION OF STATION'S SOLAR ROTARY JOINT PLAY
VIDEO: FOSSUM UNBOLTS LOCKS ON KIBO'S WINDOW COVERINGS PLAY
VIDEO: SPACEWALKERS REMOVE COVERS ON KIBO'S PORT PLAY
VIDEO: SHUTTLE POWER UMBILICALS UNHOOKED FROM KIBO PLAY
VIDEO: SHUTTLE INSPECTION BOOM RETRIEVED FROM THE STATION PLAY
VIDEO: SPACEWALKER RON GARAN REMOVES COVER ON BOOM PLAY
VIDEO: SPACEWALKER MIKE FOSSUM FREES ARM'S ELBOW CAMERA PLAY
VIDEO: ANIMATION OF KIBO MODULE INSTALLATION PLAY
VIDEO: ANIMATION OF INSPECTION BOOM RETRIEVAL PLAY
VIDEO: NARRATED PREVIEW OF SPACEWALK NO. 1 PLAY
VIDEO: TUESDAY'S FLIGHT DIRECTOR INTERVIEW PLAY

VIDEO: THE FLIGHT DAY 3 HIGHLIGHTS MOVIE PLAY
VIDEO: CREW'S REMARKABLE CAMCORDER FOOTAGE FROM MONDAY PLAY
VIDEO: MONDAY'S MISSION STATUS BRIEFING PLAY
VIDEO: SHUTTLE CREW WELCOMED INTO STATION PLAY
VIDEO: DISCOVERY DOCKS TO SPACE STATION PLAY
VIDEO: SHUTTLE PERFORMS RENDEZVOUS BACKFLIP PLAY
VIDEO: NARRATED ANIMATION OF PREVIEWING THE DOCKING PLAY

VIDEO: THE FLIGHT DAY 2 HIGHLIGHTS MOVIE PLAY
VIDEO: CREW'S CAMCORDER FOOTAGE FROM FLIGHT DAY 2 PLAY
VIDEO: SUNDAY'S MISSION STATUS BRIEFING PLAY
VIDEO: ANIMATION OF THE HEAT SHIELD INSPECTIONS PLAY
VIDEO: NARRATED TOUR OF DISCOVERY'S PAYLOAD BAY PLAY

VIDEO: THE FLIGHT DAY 1 HIGHLIGHTS MOVIE PLAY
VIDEO: EXTERNAL TANK SEEN AFTER SEPARATION PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: VAB ROOF PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: CAMERA CS-1 PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: CAMERA CS-2 PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: CAMERA CS-6 PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: FRONT CAMERA PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: BEACH TRACKER PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: PAD PERIMETER PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: UCS-12 TRACKER PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: UCS-23 TRACKER PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: PLAYALINDA BEACH PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: PATRICK AIR FORCE BASE PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: PRESS SITE PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: WEST TOWER PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: CAMERA 009 PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: CAMERA 041 PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: CAMERA 049 PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: CAMERA 050 PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: CAMERA 051 PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: CAMERA 054 PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: CAMERA 060 PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: CAMERA 061 PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: CAMERA 063 PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: CAMERA 070 PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: CAMERA 071 PLAY

VIDEO: LIFTOFF OF DISCOVERY WITH KIBO LAB! PLAY
VIDEO: ONBOARD CAMERA FOOTAGE OF TANK FOAM FALLING PLAY
VIDEO: INSIDE MISSION CONTROL DURING LAUNCH PLAY
VIDEO: POST-LAUNCH NEWS CONFERENCE PLAY

VIDEO: FINAL PRE-LAUNCH POLLS GIVE "GO" FOR LIFTOFF PLAY
VIDEO: ASTRONAUTS ARRIVE AT LAUNCH PAD 39A PLAY
VIDEO: CREW DEPARTS QUARTERS FOR LAUNCH PAD PLAY
VIDEO: ASTRONAUTS DON SPACESUITS FOR LAUNCH PLAY
VIDEO: NARRATED RECAP OF KIBO LAB'S PRE-FLIGHT CAMPAIGN PLAY
VIDEO: NARRATED RECAP OF DISCOVERY'S PRE-FLIGHT CAMPAIGN PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH PAD GANTRY RETRACTED FRIDAY NIGHT PLAY
VIDEO: TIME-LAPSE OF GANTRY ROLLBACK PLAY
VIDEO: FRIDAY'S COUNTDOWN STATUS BRIEFING PLAY
VIDEO: PRE-LAUNCH NEWS CONFERENCE PLAY
VIDEO: BRIEFING ON KIBO LABORATORY FACILITY PLAY
VIDEO: ASTRONAUTS ARRIVE AT THE CAPE FOR LAUNCH PLAY
VIDEO: WEDNESDAY'S COUNTDOWN AND WEATHER BRIEFING PLAY
VIDEO: NARRATED MISSION PREVIEW MOVIE PLAY

VIDEO: NEWS BRIEFING FOLLOWING FLIGHT READINESS REVIEW PLAY

VIDEO: INTERVIEW WITH COMMANDER MARK KELLY PLAY
VIDEO: INTERVIEW WITH PILOT KEN HAM PLAY
VIDEO: INTERVIEW WITH MS1 KAREN NYBERG PLAY
VIDEO: INTERVIEW WITH MS2 RON GARAN PLAY
VIDEO: INTERVIEW WITH MS3 MIKE FOSSUM PLAY
VIDEO: INTERVIEW WITH MS4 AKIHIKO HOSHIDE PLAY

VIDEO: ASTRONAUTS PRACTICE EVACUATION OF SHUTTLE PLAY
VIDEO: CREW BOARDS DISCOVERY FOR PRACTICE COUNTDOWN PLAY
VIDEO: TRAINING SESSIONS AT LAUNCH PAD AND BUNKER PLAY
VIDEO: CREW NEWS CONFERENCE AT LAUNCH PAD 39A PLAY
VIDEO: ASTRONAUTS ARRIVE FOR PRACTICE COUNTDOWN PLAY

VIDEO: TIME-LAPSE OF GANTRY ENCLOSING DISCOVERY PLAY
VIDEO: PAD'S ORBITER ACCESS ARM SWUNG INTO POSITION PLAY
VIDEO: TIME-LAPSE OF CRAWLER RETREATING AFTER ROLLOUT PLAY
VIDEO: SHUTTLE DISCOVERY ROLLED TO PAD 39A PLAY

VIDEO: SHUTTLE AND STATION PROGRAM BRIEFING PLAY
VIDEO: STS-124 MISSION OVERVIEW PART 1 | PART 2
VIDEO: PREVIEW BRIEFING ON MISSION'S SPACEWALKS PLAY
VIDEO: THE ASTRONAUTS' PRE-FLIGHT NEWS BRIEFING PLAY

VIDEO: KIBO LABORATORY TRAVELS TO THE LAUNCH PAD PLAY
VIDEO: TRANSPORT CANISTER WITH KIBO ROTATED UPRIGHT PLAY
VIDEO: CRANE PLACES KIBO MODULE INTO TRANSPORT CANISTER PLAY

VIDEO: DISCOVERY HOISTED FOR ATTACHMENT TO FUEL TANK PLAY
VIDEO: THE SHUTTLE MOVES TO THE VEHICLE ASSEMBLY BUILDING PLAY
MORE: STS-124 VIDEO COVERAGE
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