Spaceflight Now | STS-114 Shuttle Report | Readying the station for continued assembly

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Part 9: Readying the station for continued assembly
BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: December 19, 2004

The day after installing the new gyroscope, the astronauts will enjoy a half-day off, share a joint crew meal and hold a traditional in-flight news conference. Krikalev and Noguchi also will participate in separate news conferences with reporters from their own countries. Supply and equipment transfers to and from the logistics module will continue and Robinson and Noguchi will configure their tools and service their spacesuits for their third and final excursion the following day.

Flight Day 8 highlights:


   DAY..EDT........DD...HH...MM...EVENT
   
   05/21/05
   Sat  04:11 AM...06...12...00...STS crew wakeup
   Sat  04:41 AM...06...12...30...ISS crew wakeup
   Sat  07:11 AM...06...15...00...Transfer operations resume
   Sat  08:46 AM...06...16...35...EVA tools configured for use
   Sat  11:21 AM...06...19...10...Crew photo
   Sat  11:36 AM...06...19...25...Crew news conference
   Sat  12:11 PM...06...20...00...Joint ISS/STS meal
   Sat  01:11 PM...06...21...00...Crew off duty time begins
   Sat  01:16 PM...06...21...05...Japanese Public Affairs event
   Sat  02:51 PM...06...22...40...Russian Public Affairs event
   Sat  04:11 PM...07...00...00...EVA-3: Procedures review
   Sat  08:11 PM...07...04...00...Crew sleep begins

The primary objective of the third spacewalk is installation of the external stowage platform, or ESP-2. Tipping the scales at 6,300 pounds, ESP-2 will be pre-packed with critical equipment needed for extensive station re-wiring during upcoming assembly missions when the lab's huge solar arrays will be attached to the currently unfinished boom. Robinson and Noguchi also will retrieve two materials science experiment packages used to expose various materials to the space environment and install a third.

This illustration shows the ESP-2 being lifted from the shuttle. Credit: NASA TV

The station's robot arm will be used to pull ESP-2 from its mounting in Discovery's cargo bay. The box then will be maneuvered up to the Quest airlock module on the starboard side of the Unity node for attachment by the spacewalkers. The SSRMS, meanwhile, will lock onto the logistics module attached to Unity's nadir port to set the stage for its detachment the next day.

Flight Day 9 highlights:


   DAY..EDT........DD...HH...MM...EVENT
   
   05/22/05
   Sun  04:11 AM...07...12...00...STS crew wakeup
   Sun  04:41 AM...07...12...30...ISS crew wakeup
   Sun  05:26 AM...07...13...15...EVA-3: EVA preparations begin
   Sun  07:41 AM...07...15...30...Transfer operations resume
   Sun  09:31 AM...07...17...20...EVA-3: Airlock depressurization
   Sun  10:16 AM...07...18...05...EVA-3: Airlock egress
   Sun  11:01 AM...07...18...50...EVA-3: Primary cable routing
   Sun  11:46 AM...07...19...35...EVA-3: MISSE 1 & 2 retrieval   
   Sun  12:11 PM...07...20...00...SSRMS ESP-2 grapple
   Sun  12:46 PM...07...20...35...EVA-3: MISSE 6 installation
   Sun  12:56 PM...07...20...45...SSRMS ESP-2 unberth
   Sun  01:46 PM...07...21...35...EVA-3: Secondary cable routing
   Sun  02:46 PM...07...22...35...EVA-3: ESP-2 installation
   Sun  03:11 PM...07...23...00...SSRMS ESP-2 ungrapple
   Sun  03:26 PM...07...23...15...SSRMS maneuver to MPLM
   Sun  03:56 PM...07...23...45...SSRMS grapples MPLM
   Sun  04:11 PM...08...00...00...EVA-3: Airlock ingress
   Sun  04:36 PM...08...00...25...EVA-3: Airlock repressurization
   Sun  08:11 PM...08...04...00...Crew sleep begins

The next day, the astronauts will complete their final logistics module equipment transfers, deactivate the module's systems and remove it from Unity using the station's robot arm. After re-berthing the module in the shuttle's cargo bay, the SSRMS will lock onto the end of the OBSS boom, take it from the shuttle's arm and put it back in the payload bay for return to Earth. Engineers hope to eventually mount the OBSS boom permanently on the space station, after assembly reaches the point where clearance issues become a problem.

Flight Day 10 highlights:


   DAY..EDT........DD...HH...MM...EVENT
      
   05/23/05
   Mon  04:11 AM...08...12...00...STS crew wakeup
   Mon  04:41 AM...08...12...30...ISS crew wakeup
   Mon  07:11 AM...08...15...00...MPLM deactivation
   Mon  09:01 AM...08...16...50...MPLM vestibule depressurized
   Mon  09:26 AM...08...17...15...Public Affairs event
   Mon  10:46 AM...08...18...35...EVA tools stowed
   Mon  12:16 PM...08...20...05...MPLM removed from Unity
   Mon  12:56 PM...08...20...45...MPLM mounted in shuttle cargo bay
   Mon  01:46 PM...08...21...35...Rendezvous tools checkout
   Mon  02:01 PM...08...21...50...SSRMS ungrapples MPLM
   Mon  03:31 PM...08...23...20...SSRMS takes OBSS from RMS
   Mon  04:26 PM...09...00...15...SSRMS berths OBSS
   Mon  05:06 PM...09...00...55...SSRMS ungrapples OBSS
   Mon  08:11 PM...09...04...00...Crew sleep begins

PREVIEW REPORT PART 10 --->

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