Tag: STS-135
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NASA reviews TPS nose cap damage to STS-135/Atlantis
With the Space Shuttle Program now officially a part of NASA’s past, the agency is continuing the process of getting Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavour ready for their display at museums around the United States. However, following STS-135, NASA did conduct one official post-flight review – an investigation into RCC nose cap/chin strap damage to orbiter…
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STS-135: ET camera functions through ascent – no usable video of reentry
Providing stunning images of the grand finale of the Shuttle Program, the External Tank (ET) camera on ET-138 concluded a 22-flight legacy – beaming back images of the tank’s performance through ascent. However, a camera modification was ultimately unsuccessful in transmitting much more than static footage of the tank as it tumbled into Earth’s atmosphere for its…
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Director Cabana makes emotional tribute to the Kennedy workforce
Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Director Bob Cabana has spoken of his emotions during and after the final NASA Space Shuttle mission, ranging from launch day, through to seeing Atlantis return to her final resting place. Despite being known as a huge advocate of the transition to commercial launches, Mr Cabana chose to focus on the…
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Atlantis into down processing after MER review notes flawless return
Shuttle Atlantis has been given top marks for her return to Earth via the Mission Evaluation Room (MER) landing report – normally a highly technical, emotionless review into vehicle performance. However, as Atlantis begins down processing for her retirement, her team of engineers and controllers signed off on a report which included numerous notes of…
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Atlantis arrives home to Kennedy – An emotional finale for Shuttle
Atlantis has concluded her historic 13-day mission to the International Space Station with a perfect landing at KSC. With a ‘go’ for deorbit and entry operations from Flight Controllers – confirmed thanks to excellent weather conditions at Kennedy – Atlantis’ 0556 EDT landing was saluted with a four minute visible, overhead pass by the ISS just nine…
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STS-135: Atlantis cleared to head home one final time on Thursday
Following the expected clearance of the Thermal Protection System (TPS) – which was re-checked during Late Inspections, along with the successful checkouts of the systems the orbiter will use to carry her crew back to Earth – Atlantis is in the final hours of orbiting the planet, ahead of an expected early morning landing at…
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Atlantis undocks and departs ISS – TriDAR tests continue with flyaround
Space Shuttle orbiter Atlantis has undocked from the ISS for the final time, ahead of carrying out the unique and stunning flyaround. And while the moment resulted in dazzling images of a graceful orbital ballet, as well as a multitude of emotions, Atlantis once again lent a helping hand to future spacecraft as she performed…
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STS-135: The Sun may have contributed to Atlantis’ GPC-4 issue
Teams on the ground are working through possible root causes into the temporary failure of one of Atlantis’ General Purpose Computers (GPC-4), with a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) listed as one of three potential contributing factors. The computer now appears to be functioning normally, as Atlantis and her crew head into the final part of…
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STS-135: GPC-4 issue awakens crew – TPS clearance overview
A master alarm onboard Atlantis woke the crew from their sleep, after a General Purpose Computer (GPC-4) suffered a problem. The issue follows the failure – and subsequent recovery – of GPC-3 earlier in the mission. Meanwhile, the Damage Assessment Team (DAT) provided their full review of the orbiter’s Thermal Protection System (TPS), which has…
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STS-135: GPC-4 issue awakens crew – TPS clearance overview
A master alarm onboard Atlantis woke the crew from their sleep, after a General Purpose Computer (GPC-4) suffered a problem. The issue follows the failure – and subsequent recovery – of GPC-3 earlier in the mission. Meanwhile, the Damage Assessment Team (DAT) provided their full review of the orbiter’s Thermal Protection System (TPS), which has…