Spaceflight Now





Station to receive cargo-delivery module tonight
BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: April 7, 2010


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Traffic on the International Space Station's local area network has slowed downlink of multi-gigabyte heat shield inspection files, NASA officials said Wednesday. But no major problems have been seen so far as analysts prioritize their work to clear the shuttle Discovery's right wing first, allowing the astronauts to attach a massive cargo module to the space station overnight Wednesday.


File photo of Leonardo being lifted from the shuttle bay. Credit: NASA
 
The Leonardo multi-purpose logistics module, or MPLM, is loaded with more than 17,000 pounds of science gear, equipment and supplies for the International Space Station, including a new crew sleep station, an experiment sample freezer and a darkroom-like enclosure to improve Earth-observation photography from a lab window.

Mounted in the back of Discovery's cargo bay, the MPLM is scheduled to be attached to the station's Unity module just after midnight.

But once the module is in place, the 50-foot-long robot arm extension that would be needed to re-examine any areas of concern on the shuttle's right wing would not be able to get in the proper position if a problem was found later that required a "focused" inspection.

"The items of greatest priority and interest to us are those associated with the starboard wing," said LeRoy Cain, chairman of NASA's Mission Management Team. "We want to clear the starboard wing from any focused inspection requirements as soon as we can because we do have some (robot arm) interference once we take the MPLM out and put it on the station. So, that work is ongoing and we anticipate that we'll be able to press ahead with the MPLM work when the crew gets up tonight."

Detailed flight day two inspections of the shuttle's reinforced carbon carbon nose cap and wing leading edge panels, which experience the most extreme heating during re-entry, normally are transmitted to the ground in real time. But because the shuttle's Ku-band antenna is out of action due to a post-launch malfunction, the astronauts were forced to convert the videos to digital files for downlink through the station's Ku-band system.

Six such 7.2-gigabyte files were generated but as of 6 p.m. Wednesday, only the first two had made it down to the ground. One more is needed to clear the right wing before the MPLM can be installed.

"We were targeting to have all of the starboard wing data to the ground by 11 o'clock and some of the rest of the data in addition to that," Cain said. "We did not have it all to the ground by then. Part of the challenge we had is the rate of the data coming down was varying somewhat and we think it had to do with the amount of traffic on the local area network between the shuttle and the station during that time period.

"Right after we got docked and got the hatches open and (brought) all those systems up, there's a number of other activities that have to go on. ... What we found is, once the crew went to sleep, the rate increased pretty significantly because there was a lot less traffic on the LAN."

Cain said additional imagery confirmed the loss of part of a heat shield tile on Discovery's rudder-speedbrake. Analysts also have noted a small amount of surface damage on a tile near one of the propellant feedline doors on the shuttle's belly. But he said neither issue was expected to cause any problems.

"All in all, Discovery's doing extremely well, the crew on board is doing very, very well and they're ready to press on with the flight plan," Cain said. "Of everything we've looked at so far, we have no concerns at all."

Here is an updated timeline of today's activity (in EDT and mission elapsed time; includes revision B of the NASA television schedule; best viewed with fixed-width font):


EDT........DD...HH...MM...EVENT

04/07
08:21 PM...02...14...00...Crew wakeup
10:01 PM...02...15...40...Russian PAO event
10:21 PM...02...16...00...Station arm (SSRMS) grapples MPLM
10:51 PM...02...16...30...SSRMS unberths MPLM

04/08
12:11 AM...02...17...50...SSRMS installs MPLM
12:36 AM...02...18...15...MPLM first stage bolts
12:56 AM...02...18...35...MPLM second stage bolts
01:11 AM...02...18...50...EVA-1: Equipment lock preps
02:00 AM...02...19...39...Mission status briefing on NTV
02:16 AM...02...19...55...SSRMS ungrapples MPLM
02:46 AM...02...20...25...Crew meals begin
03:01 AM...02...20...40...MPLM vestibule pressurization
03:46 AM...02...21...25...Middeck transfers
04:16 AM...02...21...55...MPLM vestibule config for ingress
05:46 AM...02...23...25...MPLM activation (part 1)
07:41 AM...03...01...20...MPLM activation (part 2)
08:01 AM...03...01...40...MPLM ingress
08:16 AM...03...01...55...News media interviews
08:36 AM...03...02...15...EVA-1: Procedures review
09:26 AM...03...03...05...ISS daily planning conference
11:16 AM...03...04...55...EVA-1: Mask pre-breathe
12:01 PM...03...05...40...EVA-1: Airlock depress to 10.2 psi
12:21 PM...03...06...00...ISS crew sleep begins
12:51 PM...03...06...30...STS crew sleep begins
01:00 PM...03...06...39...Daily video highlights reel on NTV
04:00 PM...03...09...39...Post-MMT briefing on NTV
06:00 PM...03...11...39...Flight director update on NTV
08:51 PM...03...14...30...Crew wakeup
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VIDEO: SHUTTLE CREW WELCOMED ABOARD THE STATION PLAY
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VIDEO: DESCRIPTION OF KU-BAND ANTENNA PROBLEM PLAY

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VIDEO: POST-LAUNCH NEWS CONFERENCE PLAY

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VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: PATRICK AFB PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: PAD PERIMETER PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: BEACH TRACKER PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: PAD CAMERA 070 PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: PAD CAMERA 071 PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: PLAYALINDA BEACH PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: PAD FRONT CAMERA PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: KSC WEST TOWER PLAY | HI-DEF

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VIDEO: CREW FINISHES GETTING SUITED UP PLAY | HI-DEF

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VIDEO: LAUNCH PAD'S SERVICE TOWER RETRACTED PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: PAYLOAD BAY DOORS CLOSED FOR LAUNCH PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: ASTRONAUTS INSPECT THE PAYLOAD BAY PLAY | HI-DEF

VIDEO: STS-131 MISSION PREVIEW MOVIE PLAY | HI-DEF
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VIDEO: PRE-LAUNCH INTERVIEW WITH RICK MASTRACCHIOPLAY
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VIDEO: RECAP OF THE FLIGHT READINESS REVIEW PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: HELIUM VALVE NO CONSTRAINT TO LAUNCH PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: MANAGERS ASSESS ISSUES BEFORE FLIGHT PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: UPDATE ON PRE-LAUNCH PREPS AT PAD 39A PLAY | HI-DEF

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VIDEO: TRANSPORT CANISTER ROTATED VERTICALLY PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: LEONARDO PLACED INTO THE TRANSPORTER PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: STATION'S NEW AMMONIA COOLANT TANK PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: LEONARDO HATCH CLOSED FOR FLIGHT PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: FILLING UP ONE OF THE SUPPLY RACKS PLAY | HI-DEF

VIDEO: CAN THE SHUTTLE PROGRAM AVOID LOOMING RETIREMENT? PLAY
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VIDEO: PREVIEW BRIEFING ON MISSION'S SPACEWALKS PLAY
VIDEO: THE ASTRONAUTS' PRE-FLIGHT NEWS BRIEFING PLAY

VIDEO: SHUTTLE EVACUATION PRACTICE PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: CREW MODULE HATCH IS CLOSED PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: ASTRONAUTS BOARD DISCOVERY PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: CREW BRIEFED ON EMERGENCY PROCEDURES PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: TEST-DRIVING AN EMERGENCY ARMORED TANK PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: NIGHTTIME APPROACHES IN TRAINING AIRCRAFT PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: ASTRONAUTS CHAT WITH REPORTERS AT PAD 39A PLAY
VIDEO: CREW ARRIVES FOR PRACTICE COUNTDOWN PLAY | HI-DEF

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VIDEO: DISCOVERY REACHES PAD 39A PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: OVERNIGHT ROLLOUT BEGINS PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: SHUTTLE HOISTED FOR ATTACHMENT TO TANK PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: CRANE ROTATES THE ORBITER VERTICALLY PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: DISCOVERY MOVES TO ASSEMBLY BUILDING PLAY | HI-DEF

VIDEO: ASTRONAUTS VISIT THEIR SPACECRAFT PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: CREW GOES INSIDE LEONARDO MODULE PLAY | HI-DEF

VIDEO: EXTERNAL TANK ATTACHED TO BOOSTERS PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: FUEL TANK LIFTED INTO CHECKOUT CELL PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: EXTERNAL TANK ARRIVES AT SPACEPORT PLAY | HI-DEF

VIDEO: DISCOVERY'S NOSE POD ATTACHED PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: INSTALLING DISCOVERY'S MAIN ENGINES PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: KSC'S SHUTTLE MAIN ENGINE SHOP PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: GASEOUS NITROGEN TANK REMOVED PLAY | HI-DEF
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