STS-127 Crew Completes Fifth and Final Spacewalk

Spacewalkers Tom Marshburn and Chris Cassidy completed a four hour, 54 minute spacewalk at 12:27 p.m. EDT.

Marshburn and Cassidy secured multi-layer insulation around the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator known as Dextre, split out power channels for two space station Control Moment Gyroscopes, installed video cameras on the front and back of the new Japanese Exposed Facility and performed a number of “get ahead” tasks, including tying down some cables and installing handrails and a portable foot restraint to aid future spacewalkers. The deployment of the Payload Attach System on the Starboard 3 truss was deferred to another spacewalk sometime in the future.

This was the fifth and last planned STS-127 spacewalk, the 130th in support of International Space Station assembly and maintenance, totaling 810 hours, 36 minutes. It was the 102nd spacewalk out of space station airlocks and the 218th American spacewalk in history. It was the third for both Marshburn and Cassidy, Marshburn totaling 18 hours, 59 minutes and Cassidy 18 hours, five minutes.

This was the second space station assembly mission to conduct five spacewalks. STS-123 also performed five spacewalks in March 2008. The five STS-127 spacewalks totaled 30 hours, 30 minutes. The five STS-123 spacewalks totaled 33 hours, 29 minutes.

At 6 p.m., NASA Television will air a Mission Status briefing with STS-127 Lead Flight Director Holly Ridings and STS-127 Lead Spacewalk Officer Kieth Johnson.

STS-127 Launch Scrub Number 4

Poor Weather Scrubs Tonight’s Launch Attempt

“We got the vehicle ready, but the weather didn’t cooperate,” Launch Director Pete Nickolenko told Endeavour’s seven astronauts. Today’s launch attempt has been scrubbed.

Tonight’s launch scrub of  Shuttle Endeavour is the fourth time the STS-127 mission has been delayed.

The first launch attempt on June 13, 2009, was scrubbed due to a gaseous hydrogen leak observed during tanking. The Ground Umbilical Carrier Plate (GUCP) on the external fuel tank experienced a potentially hazardous hydrogen gas leak similar to the fault that delayed mission STS-119 in March 2009.

The second launch attempt on June 17 was also scrubbed due to hydrogen leak issues seen from the GUCP.

The third launch attempt on July 11 was scrubbed due to lightning strikes near the launch pad.

NASA has until July 14 to launch the shuttle before ISS safety rules cause NASA to stand down to allow an unmanned Russian Progress cargo ship dock with the station. If NASA can’t launch by the July 14 deadline, the space agency will have to wait till July 27.

The 16-day STS-127 mission will feature five spacewalks and complete construction of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Kibo laboratory. Astronauts will attach a platform to the outside of the Japanese module that will allow experiments to be exposed to space.

STS-127 Launch Weather Conditions Currently “No-Go”

Forecasters at NASA’s Spaceflight Meteorology Group say current conditions violate rules for launching Endeavour because of weather near the Shuttle Landing Facility. The runway would be needed in the unlikely event that Endeavour would have to make an emergency landing back at Kennedy. There is also a seabreeze coming off Florida’s west coast that is making the weather more dynamic.

Lightning Strikes: STS-127 Launch Scrub Number 3

Space shuttle Endeavour’s launch to the International Space Station has been postponed until Sunday to give technical teams more time to evaluate lightning strikes at the launch pad that occurred during thunderstorms Friday. Liftoff is scheduled for 7:13 p.m. EDT.

Sensors indicted there were 11 lightning strikes within 0.35 miles, which is inside the launch pad’s threshold. Teams have seen nothing so far that indicates anything has been affected.

The Mission Management Team will meet at 8 a.m. Sunday to evaluate the latest data. Fueling of the external fuel tank is scheduled to begin at 9:48 a.m. Sunday.

The 16-day STS-127 mission will feature five spacewalks and complete construction of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Kibo laboratory. Astronauts will attach a platform to the outside of the Japanese module that will allow experiments to be exposed to space.