Atlantis Heads for Space

At about 1:30 local time this afternoon Atlantis and her crew successfully launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida:
We were fortunate to be able to watch the launch live during my 6th period class.

Atlantis Set to Launch

Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-129) is scheduled to launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida later this afternoon. The 11 day mission to the International Space Station will deal primarily with the task of delivering spare parts that could be used to repair the ISS in the future. NASA plans to retire its shuttle fleet next year, and since the shuttle is the only vehicle capable to delivering large pieces of equipment to the space station, making sure that the ISS is well stocked with spares in the event of breakdown has become one of NASA's top priorities. As far as what sorts of spare parts are going up, NASA has this to say:

The spares are going up on two platforms – called external logistics carriers, or ELCs – to be attached on either side of the station’s truss, in hopes that wherever a failure happens, the necessary spare won’t be too far away. The ELCs carried up on STS-129 will be chocked full with two pump modules, two control moment gyroscopes, two nitrogen tank assemblies, an ammonia tank assembly, a high-pressure gas tank, a latching end effector for the station’s robotic arm and a trailing umbilical system reel assembly for the railroad cart that allows the arm to move along the station’s truss system. There’s also a power control unit, a plasma container unit, a cargo transportation container and a battery charge/discharge unit. In all, that’s 27,250 pounds worth of spares to keep the station going long after the shuttles retire.

Atlantis will carry a crew of 6 astronauts and will dock with the ISS on flight day 3 (Wednesday). Astronaut Nicole Stott, currently a member of the ISS crew, will be returning to Earth aboard Atlantis after spending over two months in space.

Discovery Update

Space Shuttle Discovery is now well into its 14 day mission to the International Space Station (ISS). After lifting off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida late Friday night, the crew of Discovery spent their first day in orbit on Saturday chasing down the ISS and inspecting the orbiter's heat shields for damage. On Sunday, Discovery arrived at, and successfully docked with, the International Space Station.

One of the first items of business after docking was to transfer crew members. Astronaunt Nicole Stott, who rode up on Discovery, became a member of the ISS crew, relieving astronaut Tim Kopra who will be returning to Earth aboard Discovery after spending 44 days aboard the ISS.

On Monday, ISS and shuttle crews worked together to transfer materials from Discovery onto the space station. One of the most touted pieces of equipment transferred was the COLBERT treadmill, which is named after Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert. The heat shield inspection was also completed on Sunday, when mission control confirming that the orbiter is safe for re-entry.

On Tuesday, the first of three planned spacewalks went off without a hitch. astronauts Danny Olivas and Nicole Stott spent a total of 6 hours, 35 minutes outside of the space station.

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.)

Update on Discovery

The crews of Space Shuttle Discovery and the International Space Station have both been busy since Sunday's launch. Discovery's primary mission is to deliver the last set of solar panels to the space station. This will increase the amount of power available up there for scientific experiments. They are about halfway through their two-week mission, and here's a short recap of what's been going on:

Sunday evening: launch

Monday: One of the biggest jobs on Monday was to use specialized cameras mounted on the shuttle's robotic arm to inspect the exterior of the shuttle for any damage that was sustained during launch.

Tuesday: On Tuesday Discovery docked with the International Space Station. The two crews exchanged personnel...one astronaut will be leaving the ISS after several months in orbit and returning to earth aboard Discovery. One member of Discovery's crew will stay aboard the ISS when Discovery departs. (It's like a space version of "Red Rover".)

Wednesday: The shuttle and space station worked together to unload a "truss" which will support the new solar panels.

Thursday: Two astronauts performed a 6-hour spacewalk to install the truss that was deployed on Wednesday.

Friday: The new solar wings were deployed on Friday. They will be installed during later spacewalks.

Saturday: A second spacewalk, this time lasting 6.5 hours. The objectives of this one appeared to be some work in preparation for later missions to the ISS.

Sunday: The shuttle and space station performed a maneuver today that slowed down their combined orbit slightly. This was important to allow them to "dodge" a 4-inch piece of space debris. The third and final scheduled spacewalk will happen tomorrow.

NASA's website has a ton of great information and pictures of this (and other) missions. It's definitely worth taking some time to check it out. Also, if you're really interested in this stuff, there's a 45 minute animated video on YouTube that details the entire mission.

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.