In this behind-the-scenes video, watch as STS-129 commander Charlie Hobaugh and the rest of the crew practice putting on their launch and entry suits, the bright orange flight suits they wear aboard the shuttle.
At NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Launch Pad 39A technicians are loading space shuttle Atlantis’ two, mass-memory units today. Located in the middeck’s two avionics bays, each reel-to-reel digital magnetic tape storage device holds basic flight software for the shuttle’s general purpose computers and can store additional data.
Preparations for final ordnance installations and connections at the pad will begin today and are expected to wrap up this weekend.
At NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, the STS-129 mission’s six astronauts will be given their L-10 physicals today. They’ll also practice integrated entry procedures in Johnson’s motion base simulator.
Atlantis is scheduled to launch on its 11-day supply mission to the International Space Station at 2:28 p.m. EST Nov. 16, 2009.
NASA’s space shuttle Atlantis is targeted to begin an 11-day flight to the International Space Station with a Nov. 16 launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Liftoff is scheduled for 2:28 p.m. EST.
Atlantis’ launch date was announced Thursday at the conclusion of a flight readiness review at Kennedy. During the meeting, senior NASA and contractor managers assessed the risks associated with the mission and determined the shuttle’s equipment, support systems and procedures are ready.
The Nov. 16 target date depends on the planned Nov. 14 launch of an Atlas V rocket from nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The Atlas has reserved the Eastern Range on Nov. 14 and 15. If the Atlas launch is delayed to Nov. 15, the shuttle’s liftoff will move to no earlier than 2:02 p.m. on Nov. 17.
The STS-129 mission will focus on storing spare hardware on the exterior of the space station. The flight will include three spacewalks and install two platforms on the station’s truss, or backbone. The platforms will hold spare parts to sustain station operations after the shuttle fleet is retired.
Commander Charlie Hobaugh and his crew of five astronauts are scheduled to arrive at Kennedy at approximately 5 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 12, for final launch preparations. Joining Hobaugh on STS-129 will be Pilot Barry Wilmore and Mission Specialists Leland Melvin, Randy Bresnik, Mike Foreman and Bobby Satcher. Nicole Stott, an astronaut who currently resides on the station, will return home with the Atlantis crew after living in space for more than two months. Her return on the shuttle is slated to be the final time it is used to rotate space station crew members.
STS-129 will be Atlantis’ 31st mission and the 31st shuttle flight dedicated to station assembly and maintenance.
NASA is targeting Nov. 16 for the launch of space shuttle Atlantis’ STS-129 mission from the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Senior managers met Monday and decided to adjust Atlantis’ target launch date to optimize the agency’s ability to launch both Ares I-X and Atlantis before the end of the year. The same launch team at Kennedy is supporting both the shuttle and the flight test of the Ares I-X rocket, which is targeted to lift off on Oct. 27.
Atlantis’ new target launch date will give Ares I-X launch opportunities Oct. 27, 28 and 29. NASA has yet to schedule Atlantis’ new target liftoff date on the Eastern Range.
The change to Atlantis’ targeted launch will affect the launch countdown dress rehearsal for the shuttle’s six astronauts. The astronauts arrived at Kennedy on Monday for the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test and related training. The simulated countdown has been rescheduled to Nov. 3. The astronauts will practice emergency escape and other related training while they are at Kennedy this week and return there Nov. 2 to conclude their rehearsal work.
The agency’s Flight Readiness Review meeting for STS-129 is set for Oct. 29. NASA will schedule an official launch date for Atlantis at that meeting.
The orbiter drag chute deploys after Space Shuttle Atlantis lands on KSC runway 15 at the conclusion of the nearly 11-day STS-86 mission.
This was the 40th landing of the Shuttle at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. During the mission the Space Shuttle program reached a major milestone: The total flight time of the Shuttle passed the two-year mark.
Defense Support Program (DSP) satellites provide early warning for Intercontinental Ballistic Missile launches. Every DSP satellite has been launched on an Expendable Launch Vehicle (ELV) with one exception.
DSP-16 was launched aboard NASA’s Space Shuttle Atlantis in November 1991 on an unclassified Department of Defense Shuttle mission.
(Above) DSP-16 is released from Space Shuttle Atlantis’ payload bay high above the Earth.
(Above) The STS-36 vehicle and launch platform were rolled out to Launch Pad 39A on January 25 after the shortest stay in the Vehicle Assembly Building since return-to-flight.
The distance between the VAB and Pad 39A is about 3.4 miles. Atlantis’ STS-36 mission was dedicated to the Department of Defense.
STS-125 Atlantis lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on NASA’s final Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission.
Space Shuttle Atlantis touches down on Runway 15 of the KSC Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF) to complete the nearly 11-day STS-86 mission. This was the 40th landing of the Shuttle at KSC.
Space Shuttle Atlantis’ Thermal Protection System (TPS) tiles sustained severe damage during the STS-27 flight. Upon landing, over 700 damaged tiles were noted, and one tile was missing. Luckily for the crew the missing tile was located over a dense aluminum mounting plate for the L-band antenna.
This was the worst case of TPS damage ever incurred on a shuttle flight until the tragic loss of Columbia in 2003.
STS-27 was only the second flight after the 1986 Challenger Disaster.