[Space] NASA - STS Program - Space Shuttle RTF

[GioFX]

Discussione ufficiale

NASA
National Space Transportation System

Space Shuttle Program

Nome ufficiale: National Space Transportation System (Space Shuttle Program)

Tipo: Human Spaceflight - Esplorazione e utilizzazione orbita bassa terrestre, lancio e recupero satelliti, costruzione e rifornimento Space Station Freedom (poi International Space Station).

Stato: Terminato (21/07/2011).

Sito ufficiale: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sh...ain/index.html

________________________


Space Shuttle Return To Flight Program progress news:

Final engine test-fired for shuttle return to flight

NASA NEWS RELEASE
Posted: August 20, 2004

Engineers at NASA's Stennis Space Center (SSC) in Mississippi have successfully tested what's expected to be the last of three Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSMEs) that will carry the next shuttle into orbit.

The engine tested Thursday will be shipped to NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla., for installation on Space Shuttle Discovery for its Return to Flight mission, designated STS- 114. NASA plans to launch Discovery to the International Space Station no earlier than March 2005.

The test began at about 9:10 p.m. EDT August 19. It ran for 520 seconds, the length of time it takes a Space Shuttle to reach orbit. Initial indications are all test objectives were successfully met.

"Piece by piece, milestone by milestone, we're getting closer to flying the Shuttle again," said Michael Kostelnik, deputy associate administrator for International Space Station and Space Shuttle Programs. "Today's engine test is another important step to make sure we give the STS-114 crew a safe ride to and from the Space Station."

"Our NASA and contractor team has continued to work hard over the past year and a half to make sure the Shuttle's main engine -- this incredible piece of machinery -- maintains its safety record," said Miguel Rodriguez, director of the Propulsion Test Directorate at SSC. "All the effort will pay off when we see Discovery lift off next year."

Engineers conduct rigorous testing to verify that an engine is ready to fly. Developed in the 1970s, the Space Shuttle Main Engine is the most advanced liquid-fueled rocket engine ever built and the first reusable one.

Temperatures inside the engines reach 6,000 degrees Fahrenheit -- hot enough to melt iron -- and the pressure mounts to as high as 6,000 pounds per square inch. During the eight-and-a-half minutes the Shuttle's three Main Engines burn, they produce energy equivalent to 23 Hoover Dams -- about 37 million horsepower. Each engine is 14 feet long, weighs about 7,000 pounds and is seven-and-a-half feet in diameter at the end of its nozzle. It generates almost 400,000 pounds of thrust.

"The successful completion of this test is another milestone in our efforts to return the Space Shuttle safely to flight," said Gene Goldman, manager of the Space Shuttle Main Engine Project Office at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. "There has been a tremendous effort by the team at Stennis, both civil servant and contractor, to ready the engines for flight. Their diligent attention to detail is critical to the safe and reliable performance of the engines."

The Rocketdyne Propulsion and Power division of The Boeing Co. of Canoga Park, Calif., manufactures the Shuttle's Main Engines. Pratt and Whitney, a United Technologies Company of West Palm Beach, Fla., builds the high-pressure turbopumps. NASA's Space Shuttle Main Engine Project Office administers the main engine program. SSC conducts engine tests.

[GioFX]

We are processing 7 days a week 24 hours a day on Discovery (Ov-103) and Atlantis (OV-104). 6 days a week 16 hours a day on OV-105.

Our work rules, that were developed after the Challenger accident, Do not allow a person to work more that 60 hours a week or more than 7 days in a row.

With the schedule as it is we are scheduled to work through the Thanksgiving and Christmas/New Years holidays.

shuttle_guy

[GioFX]

NASA sets May date for first post-Columbia shuttle launch

NASA NEWS RELEASE
Posted: October 29, 2004

After an extensive review, NASA is planning its Return to Flight space shuttle mission, designated STS-114, for a launch window that opens in May 2005.

NASA's Space Flight Leadership Council met today to consider a recommendation from the Space Shuttle Program to revise the Return to Flight target launch window to May 2005. The council endorsed the recommendation the May window, which opens from May 12 to June 3, 2005, is achievable.

The agency was working toward a launch planning window that opens in March 2005, before a series of hurricanes impacted operations at multiple NASA facilities. NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla., Marshall Space Flight Center, Ala., Stennis Space Center, Miss., and Michoud Assembly Facility, La., all experienced shutdowns in preparation for one or more of the four hurricanes in August and September, resulting in delays on Return to Flight work.

"After four hurricanes in a row impacted our centers and our workers, it became clear, we needed to step back and evaluate the work in respect to the launch planning date," said William Readdy, Space Flight Leadership Council co-chair and associate administrator for Space Operations. "We asked the program to go back and evaluate May, and they reported the milestones are lining up. The May launch planning window is based on solid analysis and input from across all elements of the program," he said.

NASA's Space Flight Leadership Council is co-chaired by Readdy and Walt Cantrell, deputy chief engineer for the agency's Independent Technical Authority. The council includes the directors for NASA's four Space Operations centers, Chief Officer for Safety and Mission Assurance Bryan O'Connor, and Deputy Associate Administrator for International Space Station and Space Shuttle Programs Michael Kostelnik.

[thotgor]

ah, li avevano interrotti i voli shuttle? non lo sapevo

[GioFX]

Originariamente inviato da thotgor
ah, li avevano interrotti i voli shuttle? non lo sapevo

come non lo sapevi, mai sentito della tragedia del Columbia?

[thotgor]

Originariamente inviato da GioFX
come non lo sapevi, mai sentito della tragedia del Columbia?

si, ma pensavo avessero già ripreso. O almeno, non avessero smesso per cosi tanto.

[GioFX]

Originariamente inviato da thotgor
si, ma pensavo avessero già ripreso. O almeno, non avessero smesso per cosi tanto.

C'è stata una commissione di inchiesta che ha indicato, oltre alle cause del disastro, anche tutte le nuove misure da adottare e le modifiche al programma STS, soprattutto per la fase di lancio, e tutte queste features da implementare hanno richiesto, oltre a 10 mesi di indagini, un altro bel anno e mezzo per avere la prima launch window, a marzo 2005 (ora spostata a maggio a causa dei 4 uragani che si sono abbattuti sulla Florida nel mese di settembre). Tieni conto che si sta lavorando 24 ore al giorno sull'orbiter 104 (Discorvery, quello che partirà per primo) e 18-20 sugli altri 2, non per ultimo ora le finestre di lancio sono inferiori di numero dato che hanno eliminato i lanci notturni.

[Duncan]

Costo dell'aggiornamento?

[GioFX]

Shuttle tank arrives at Kennedy Space Center

BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: January 5, 2005

The upgraded external fuel tank that will launch as part of the first post-Columbia shuttle mission in May arrived at the Kennedy Space Center today, setting the stage for attachment to a set of solid-fuel boosters.


The covered barge ferrying the re-designed space shuttle external fuel tank arrives at Kennedy Space Center as seen from atop the press site mound. Photo: William Harwood

A barge carrying external tank 120 was tied to a dock near the Vehicle Assembly Building around 2 p.m. after a five-day voyage from NASA's Michoud Assembly Plant near New Orleans.

"This is a very important day for the nation and for its space program," said external tank project manager Sandy Coleman. "This is a big boost (to morale). We're all excited we have all of the vehicle here at the Kennedy Space Center."

The shuttle Columbia was destroyed during re-entry Feb. 1, 2003, because of a crack or hole in its left wing that was caused by the impact of a piece of insulating foam that broke free from the orbiter's external tank during launch.


This view of the tank arrival shows the famous countdown clock and flag at the Kennedy Space Center press site with launch pad 39A in the background. Photo: William Harwood

The foam in question has been eliminated from the new tanks and other improvements have been implemented that, taken together, should make ET-120 "the safest and most reliable tank that's ever been produced," Coleman said.

The tank arrived at KSC a day early. It will be off loaded and towed to the Vehicle Assembly Building early Thursday. NASA plans a media photo opportunity and news conference later in the morning.

Shuttle commander Eileen Collins and the crew of the STS-114 mission are scheduled to visit the Kennedy Space Center Friday to view the tank and meet with spaceport workers. They also plan to hold their first question-and-answer session with reporters before heading back to Houston.


The barge is maneuvered into the tank unloading area. Photo: William Harwood

[GioFX]

All elements in place for shuttle's return to flight

NASA NEWS RELEASE
Posted: January 6, 2005

NASA marked a major milestone for the Space Shuttle's Return to Flight, as the redesigned External Tank rolled out today from the barge that carried it to the agency's Kennedy Space Center.


The external tank is offloaded from the covered barge with shuttle officials and members of the news media looking on. Photo: NASA-KSC

The tank was taken to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) for a final checkout. It will eventually be attached to the twin Solid Rocket Boosters and the Space Shuttle Discovery for its Return to Flight mission, STS-114.

"With the arrival of the External Tank, all of the elements of the Space Shuttle system are in place for Return to Flight," said Michael Kostelnik, deputy associate administrator for International Space Station and Space Shuttle programs. "This improved tank will be the safest we've ever flown. The modifications we have made will ensure the Shuttle completes its long- term mission of assembling the International Space Station," he said.

NASA and Lockheed Martin Corp. spent nearly two years modifying the 15-story, rust-colored tank to make it safer. Among dozens of changes is a redesigned forward bipod fitting to reduce the risk to the Shuttle from falling debris during ascent. Reducing the debris risk was a key recommendation of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board.

"Although we can never completely eliminate insulating foam coming off the External Tank, we have absolute confidence we have eliminated the type of debris that caused the loss of Columbia," said Bill Parsons, Space Shuttle program manager. "This tank is safe to fly the Return to Flight mission."

The External Tank arrived at KSC after a 900-mile journey at sea. It departed NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans on Dec. 31. It was transported via Pegasus, NASA's specially designed barge. The Solid Rocket Booster retrieval ship Liberty Star brought the barge to Port Canaveral yesterday. The barge was moved by tugs to the KSC Turn Basin, the tank off-loaded and transported to the Vehicle Assembly Building.

"The team here at KSC is tremendously excited to receive the final Shuttle element for the Return to Flight mission," said Mike Wetmore, director of Shuttle processing at KSC. "We have an experienced team in place that will complete the final checkout and processing of the tank and prepare it for its final journey out to the launch pad before flight."


The tank was moved to the VAB. Photo: NASA-KSC

In the VAB, the tank will be raised to a vertical position. It will be lifted high up in the transfer aisle into the "checkout cell," where the tank's mechanical, electrical and thermal protection systems are inspected. The tank will also undergo new processes resulting from its re-design, including inspection of the bipod heater and External Tank separation camera.

The tank will be prepared for "mating" to the Shuttle's Solid Rocket Boosters. When preparations are complete, the tank will be lifted from the checkout cell, moved across the transfer aisle and into High Bay 1. It will be lowered and attached to the boosters, which are sitting on the Mobile Launch Platform.

The arrival of the External Tank, the largest element of the Space Shuttle system, follows other recent Return to Flight milestones, including the "stacking" of the Solid Rocket Boosters in the Vehicle Assembly Building and installation of the Space Shuttle Main Engines into Discovery. The External Tank is the only Shuttle component not recovered after launch and reused.

The Return to Flight mission is targeted for a launch window beginning in May. The seven-member Discovery crew will fly to the International Space Station primarily to test and evaluate new procedures for flight safety, Shuttle inspections and repair techniques.

The Space Shuttle Propulsion Office at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala., manages the tank project. Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co., New Orleans, is the primary contractor.

[lowenz]

Originariamente inviato da Duncan
Costo dell'aggiornamento?

E fonte dei proventi? Sarei felice di sapere che i fondi ci sono ancora.....anche se non capisco da dove vengano!

[spinbird]

rapido riepilogo, quali sono quelli attualmente esistenti e ancora operativi?

challenger e columbia se ne sono andati

ci sono il discovery, atlantis e poi se non erro anche l'endeavour, anche se non l'ho letto nelle tue citazioni

[GioFX]

Originariamente inviato da lowenz
E fonte dei proventi? Sarei felice di sapere che i fondi ci sono ancora.....anche se non capisco da dove vengano!

I fondi dei progetti NASA, essendo questa un'ente governativo, sono totalmente a carico dello stato, e quindi del contribuente americano. I costi del progetto STS non li conosco nel dettaglio, tuttavia fa conto che è pari a circa un sesto del budget annuale, che ammonta a 16 miliardi di dollari per il F.Y. 2005 (quello dell'ESA, ad esempio, il secondo come entità dopo quello NASA, è pari ad appena 2,5 miliardi).

[GioFX]

Originariamente inviato da spinbird
rapido riepilogo, quali sono quelli attualmente esistenti e ancora operativi?

challenger e columbia se ne sono andati

ci sono il discovery, atlantis e poi se non erro anche l'endeavour, anche se non l'ho letto nelle tue citazioni

Dei 4 che erano previsti per la flotta del programma STS (Space Transportation System), ne rimangono 3:

- Discovery (OV-103), dove OV sta per Orbiter Vehicle

- Atlantis (OV-104)

- Endeavour (OV-105)

L'Enterprise è stato il primo (OV-101), doveva chiamarsi Constitution in onore del bicentenario della costituzione americana (correva l'anno 1976), ma era un prototipo non abilitato per il volo, poi fu costruito il Columbia (OV-102), il primo a volare (1981), poi fu la volta del Discovery (OV-103), e infine l'Atlantis (OV-104). L'Endeavour fu invece costruito per sostituire il Challenger (OV-99).

Oggi non sarebbe conveniente in termini di costi e ma anche come utiltà, anche perchè il programma dovrà essere chiuso e il resto degli orbiter mandati in pensione entro il 2011, causa scadenza della certificazione per il volo.

[Mauro82]

se non sbaglio l'Enterprise era stato utilizzato per simulazioni di volo planato in atmosfera, non è abilitato per il volo orbitale

[GioFX]

Space shuttle program poised for return in May

BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: February 18, 2004

NASA managers today set May 15 as the target launch date for the first post-Columbia shuttle mission, saying they are confident remaining technical issues, an independent review and a mountain of paperwork can be closed out in time for flight.

Launch director Michael Leinbach said the processing schedule includes about 12 days of contingency time to handle unexpected problems between now and then and "we feel good about that date."

The current schedule calls for engineers to attach Discovery's redesigned external fuel tank to a pair of already assembled solid-fuel boosters around Feb. 25 and for Discovery to be bolted to the side of the tank March 18.

The assembled spacecraft then will be hauled to launch pad 39B on March 25 and the tank will be loaded with supercold liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen rocket fuel April 7 in a test that will serve as a dress rehearsal for launch.

Commander Eileen Collins and her six crewmates plan to strap in aboard Discovery on April 29 for a practice countdown and if all goes well, the actual countdown will begin May 12 for a launch around 3:50 p.m. on May 15.

Columbia's launch window extends to June 3, based on the orbit of the shuttle's destination - the international space station - and because of a self-imposed requirement to not only launch the first two post-Columbia flights in daylight but also to ensure external tank separation in sunlight for photo documentation.

If NASA can't get Discovery off the ground by June 3 or thereabouts, the flight will slip to mid July. But Leinbach is optimistic it won't come to that.

"After the tanking test is done, the remainder of the pad flow is very standard to us," he said. "And so I'll just tell you, this date feels real good to me."

Fifteen of the 29 recommendations made by the Columbia Accident Investigation Board must be completed before Discovery's return to flight. As of today, only seven of those 15 have been fully addressed to the satisfaction of an independent panel charged with monitoring NASA's implementation of those recommendations.

But on Thursday, panel co-chairman Richard Covey, a Boeing executive and former shuttle commander, said he saw no major roadblocks to closing out the remaining items before the board ends its work March 31. William Readdy, NASA's associate administrator for space operations agreed and told reporters today "we have every expectation we are going to close all of them."

"We have a continuing dialogue with the three panels that they have," he said. "At this point, we really don't see any show stoppers, that's been their commentary all along, so we expect to close all of them."

Major technical questions remain, however, including work to determine how much damage the shuttle's wing leading edges and heat-shield tiles can withstand before repairs are needed.

The Spaceflight Leadership Council, co-chaired by Readdy, met today at the Kennedy Space Center and approved plans to test three rudimentary tile and leading edge repair techniques during Discovery's mission. But those techniques will not be certified before launch and as such would only be used in a true emergency.

Readdy said any repair techniques would have to be tested in space before certification and in any case, the kind of external tank foam debris blamed in the Columbia disaster has been eliminated. Other potential weak spots have been addressed as well.

"Given the depth of inspection that we've gone into in each and every last subsystem and element of the program, I'd be very, very surprised if we had any kind of damage as a result of debris shedding," he said. "We just heard ... a very thorough debrief on the analysis they have conducted. That analysis continues, but I think it should give everyone tremendous confidence that we have done what we needed to to eliminate critical debris from the external tank and other sources on the solid rocket motors."

Combined with efforts to fully characterize the strength of the thermal protection system and improvements in other systems, "we'll be flying much more safely than we ever have before."

Walter Cantrell, deputy chief engineer for NASA's new Independent Technical Authority and co-chairman of the agency's Spaceflight Leadership Council, said the Return to Flight Task Group chaired by Covey and Thomas Stafford has participated in the engineering discussions and understands the processing schedule.

Regarding the open items in the RTF recommendations, Cantrell said "we have received from the Stafford-Covey group their expectations that, if satisfied by us, they could be comfortable in saying that their assessment would be that we have complied with the intent of the CAIB recommendations. Some of them are obviously harder than others because of timing, given that the Stafford-Covey group wants to be able to give its recommendations to the administrator at least one month before return to flight.

"We're in careful contact with them and know what we think we need to do and we know what they think we need to do," Cantrell said. "A significant number of their members participated today, not only listened but actually provided comments during the Spaceflight Leadership Council (meeting), so we're all tracking the same things.

"Our sense of it, and the last sense that we have from them, is there are no show stoppers, we're in very tight agreement on the schedule for closure. Anything can happen, but we do not anticipate that being a problem."

He said NASA had set higher standards "in almost every case" than the CAIB recommendations required and "we're holding ourselves to that raised bar."

"Obviously, we're going to comply with what Stafford-Covey is looking for and what the CAIB is looking for," he said. "But we are the ones who accept the risk and we've set that standard where we think it should be."

[GioFX]

Altre info da shuttle_guy (insider United Space Alliance al Kennedy):

28 more launches

2005 3
2006, 7, 8, 9, 10 have 5 each.

The mandidate end of Shuttle is the END of 2010.

However there is an effort to reduce the number of launches by moving some logistical cargo to unmanned vehicles.

[AlexGatti]

Originariamente inviato da GioFX
Altre info da shuttle_guy (insider United Space Alliance al Kennedy):

28 more launches

2005 3
2006, 7, 8, 9, 10 have 5 each.

The mandidate end of Shuttle is the END of 2010.

However there is an effort to reduce the number of launches by moving some logistical cargo to unmanned vehicles.

Ok, e di 'sti 13 lanci che ci sono di qui alla fine del 2007 non ne possono impiegare neanche uno per rimettere a posto Hubble? Non ci credo.

[jumpermax]

Originariamente inviato da AlexGatti
Ok, e di 'sti 13 lanci che ci sono di qui alla fine del 2007 non ne possono impiegare neanche uno per rimettere a posto Hubble? Non ci credo.

c'è un bel problema: come procedura di sicurezza prevedono il trasbordo degli astronauti sulla stazione spaziale... e dall'orbita dell'Hubble lo shuttle non è in grado di attraccare alla stazione.

[AlexGatti]

Originariamente inviato da jumpermax
c'è un bel problema: come procedura di sicurezza prevedono il trasbordo degli astronauti sulla stazione spaziale... e dall'orbita dell'Hubble lo shuttle non è in grado di attraccare alla stazione.

Hmm, un po' come dire, "lo shuttle siamo sicuri che arriva in orbita, ma forse ci arriva fallato".
Insomma, o queste procedure di sicurezza sono oltremodo sovradimensionate in modo da rassicurare l'opinione pubblica (anche se in realtà non sono necessarie) oppure lo shuttle e veramente un tarambiccolo che sta su a fortuna e una volta che lo mandi su non c'è alcuna garanzia che torni giù intatto ne che tu lo riesca a riparare in volo.