Welcome Home, Discovery

Space shuttle Discovery touched down safely at Kennedy Space Center yesterday afternoon at 3:14 p.m. EDT. This brought a safe conclusion to its mission, referred to as STS-119. Here are some interesting facts about the mission:

-Astronaut Sandra Magnus returned to Earth aboard Discovery. She had spent a total of 134 days in space, with 129 of them being aboard the Internation Space Station (ISS).
-Discovery spent 13 days in space. 8 of those days were spent docked to the ISS.
-Astronauts aboard discovery completed 3 spacewalks. Each spacewalk lasted about 6.5 hours.
-During the mission, Discovery traveled 5.3 million miles and completed 202 orbits of Earth.
-This was the 125th space shuttle mission. It was Discovery's 36th trip into space.

That's not TANG they're drinking

The crew of Space Shuttle Discovery has just finished their 8th day in orbit. The highlight of the day was a completion of the mission's 3rd spacewalk, which had two astronauts outside of the shuttle for 6.5 hours.

One of the snags that this mission to the International Space Station has encountered has to do with the station's Urine Processor Assembly:

Two hundred and fifty miles above the Earth puts you a long way from the nearest kitchen tap. And at $15,000 a pint, the cost of shipping fresh water aboard the space shuttle is, well, astronomical.

So astronauts on the International Space Station have to recapture every possible drop. That includes water evaporated from showers, shaving, tooth brushing and hand washing, plus perspiration and water vapor that collects within the astronauts' space suits. They even transfer water from the fuel cells that provide electric power to the space shuttle.

And, since last November, they are able to tap a previously unused source of water: the astronauts' own urine.

The Water Recovery System...can transform ordinary pee into water so pure it rivals the cleanest on Earth.
[...]
Under the new system, urine undergoes an initial distillation process and then joins the rest of the recovered fluids in the water processor. The processor filters out solids such as hair and lint and then sends the wastewater through a series of multifiltration beds, in which contaminants are removed through adsorption and ion exchange.

"What's left over in the water are a few non adsorbing organics and solvents, like nail polish remover, and they go into a reactor that breaks them all down to carbon dioxide, water and a few ions," said [David] Hand, a professor of civil and environmental engineering.

After a final check for microbes, the water is again clean and ready to drink.

According to a post from yesterday on NASA's shuttle mission blog:

International Space Station Commander Mike Fincke just replaced a filter assembly in the Urine Processor Assembly (UPA). Mission Control hopes this will increase the rate of urine flowing into the UPA, after a slower-than-expected rate was noted earlier today. This issue is not related to the newly-installed Distillation Assembly.

Fincke is filling the UPA with urine and, if all goes well, will begin to process a sample. It takes four to five hours to process a complete sample.

Apparently the processor was experiencing a slower-than-expected output a few days ago. Hopefully Mr. Fincke will get the thing filled (in whatever manner he and NASA deem is appropriate) and output levels will be better. And we can all marvel at the wonders of space age technology. Now let's just hope that the good folks at Dasani don't get ahold of this technology.

(And, for those of you keeping score, this is now the second time this blog has made reference to peeing astronauts...I think I might need counseling.)

Sunday at the Earliest

The word from NASA:

Space shuttle Discovery’s launch to the International Space Station now is targeted for no earlier than March 15. NASA managers postponed Wednesday’s planned liftoff due to a leak associated with the gaseous hydrogen venting system outside the external fuel tank. The system is used to carry excess hydrogen safely away from the launch pad.

Liftoff on March 15 would be at 7:43 p.m. EDT. The exact launch date is dependent on the work necessary to repair the problem. Managers will meet Thursday at 4 p.m. to further assess the troubleshooting plan.

Shuttle Launch Director Mike Leinbach said Wednesday that workers will take their first up-close look Thursday afternoon at the gaseous hydrogen vent line that began leaking during the countdown to Wednesday night’s launch attempt. The leak prompted a postponement of the STS-119 launch to the International Space Station.

The inspection could set a course for repair options that would allow another launch attempt as soon as Sunday.

Leinbach said the leak developed on the piping that runs from the fixed service structure, or launch tower, to a valve at the intertank section of the shuttle’s external tank. The pipe moves hydrogen gas away from the shuttle and to a flare stack near the launch pad that burns it away safely. He said there was never any danger to the shuttle while it was being fueled, but that the leak allowed too much gaseous hydrogen to escape the vent line.

I guess that big bird will be sitting for a few days at least.

"No go" for Discovery

Tonight's scheduled launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery was postponed earlier this afternoon when crews discovered a hydrogen fuel leak that had the potential to be "catastrophic". The launch was tentatively rescheduled for just before 9:00 p.m. (eastern time) tomorrow (Thursday).

A press conference should be held at any time now to discuss the status of Discovery's launch. You can follow the updates on NASA's website.

T-minus 12 hours

The countdown is proceeding for this evening's launch of the space shuttle Discovery. The actual launch time has been adjusted four seconds to 9:20:14 Eastern time, which will put it after dark. Nighttime shuttle launches are beautiful...

NASA personnel will meet later this morning to give a final "go" or "no go" to begin filling the big orange external tank.

Countdown to Discovery

The countdown to Wednesday's launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery (STS 119) began yesterday at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The two-week mission will be primarily focused on adding the last set of solar panels to the International Space Station, and will feature up to four spacewalks. In addition, one of Discovery's crew members (Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata) will remain on the International Space Station at the completion of the mission, and one of the ISS crew members (Sandra Magnus) will be hitching a ride home on Discovery after being in space since November 14th.