In Orbiter Processing Facility 3 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, STS-128 Pilot Kevin Ford checks out the cockpit windows of space shuttle Discovery.
The crew is at Kennedy for a crew equipment interface test, or CEIT, which provides hands-on training and observation of shuttle and flight hardware.
The STS-128 flight will carry science and storage racks to the International Space Station on Discovery. Launch is targeted for Aug. 7
The open rotating service structure (left) on Launch Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida reveals space shuttle Endeavour poised for launch. The structure was rotated to its open position in preparation for Endeavour’s liftoff on the STS-127 mission with a crew of seven.
The rotating structure provides protected access to the shuttle for changeout and servicing of payloads at the pad. It is supported by a rotating bridge that pivots on a vertical axis on the west side of the pad’s flame trench. After the RSS is rolled back, the orbiter is ready for fuel cell activation and external tank cryogenic propellant loading operations.
(Above) Space Shuttle Discovery orbits above Earth in bottom-to-sun attitude, moments after TDRS-C’s release into space. TDRS-C is seen just below open payload bay (PLB). This artwork was done by Pat Rawlings for NASA.
Space shuttle Endeavour is ready to carry seven astronauts and a key piece of the Japanese laboratory complex to the International Space Station, said Mike Moses, chairman of the mission management team.
“We’re in really good shape to fly,” Moses said. The team carefully reviewed the spacecraft to make sure nothing was overlooked since the launch comes only a few weeks after the end of the STS-125 mission.
The countdown for Saturday morning’s launch at 7:17 continues on pace, said Launch Director Pete Nickolenko.
“We’re not tracking any issues,” Nickolenko said.
Endeavour’s crew is to install a platform to one end of the Japanese Kibo laboratory on the station. The platform will hold experiments designed to work outside the protective confines of the station.
(Above) Columbia STS-2 lands at Edwards Air Force Base, California. This view provides an amazing view of the high temperature protection materials that are exposed to friction on atmospheric entry. Note the trails of smoke from wing tips.
(Above) This artist concept depicts Space Shuttle Columbia docking with Ronald Reagan’s Space Station Freedom. In this painting Columbia is equipped with the Extended Duration Orbiter (EDO) pallet which in this configuration would have allowed the shuttle to remain on orbit for 28 days. Space Station Freedom eventually became the International Space Station.
Image Credit: NASA - Rockwell International
FAST FACT: NASA’s Space Shuttle fleet was built to last 400 missions. The agency had expected to log those flights in only 10 years.
This mosaic includes photos of the people, projects and technologies that have contributed to the space shuttle program over the past three decades.
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.
This 36 percent scale model of the Space Shuttle ( 44 feet long) , photographed above, was fabricated and tested in Ames 40-foot by 80-foot wind tunnel to identify the influence of the TPS on the orbiters’ low-speed aerodynamics.
Currently this model is displayed in front of the former Ames Visitor Center, Moffett Field, Ca.