KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL - Space shuttle program managers officially set Endeavour's launch for 7:55 p.m. EDT on November 14 following a smooth executive level Flight Readiness Review held this week at Kennedy Space Center. While preparations for STS-126 are going well, NASA also announced that STS-125, the final mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope, which was supposed to launch in October, is being indefinitely delayed while new telescope hardware is being certified for flight.
VIDEO: STS-126 POST-FLIGHT READINESS REVIEW PRESS CONFERENCE AUDIO: STS-125 HUBBLE REPAIR MISSION STATUS TELECONFERENCE Hubble's operations were crippled just days before Atlantis was due to launch on Servicing Mission-4. SM-4 was originally manifested to carry two new science instruments as well as replace aging guidance and control equipment, allowing the telescope to operate until at least 2013. Now the mission is being re-manifested. The failure of side A of Hubble's Science Data Formatter, which helps to route data from the telescope's instruments to the communication system, left the telescope unable to perform astronomical observations until the B string was activated this week. A new data formatter is being added to Atlantis' manifest, using a spare unit that has been in storage since the telescope was built. However, the new unit requires refurbishment and certification before it can be installed in Hubble. It was hoped that the process could be complete in order to allow Atlantis to fly next February, with Discovery standing by as the rescue shuttle as it's being readied for STS-119. However, the new Hubble equipment won't be ready in time and the earliest the Hubble mission can take place will be May 2009. This has ramifications for the Ares I-X test flight, which had been targeted for a March 15 launch. Ares I-X and Atlantis will use the same Mobile Launch Platform (MLP). The MLP requires modifications in order to support the Ares flight, which has a different booster configuration than the shuttle. NASA intended to fly the Hubble mission and then turn the MLP over to the Constellation program for modifications once it was no longer needed. It will take up to six months to ready the MLP to support Ares I-X. With the agency holding out hope for a February launch of Atlantis, that would have kept the MLP tied up with the shuttle until March, too late to meet the Ares target date. Instead, Atlantis will be de-stacked from the MLP and the platform will be turned over to Constellation to be readied for the Ares flight. By doing so, it gives NASA a chance to fly Ares I-X by July 12 of next year, which is months sooner than would be possible had the shuttle program required the MLP for a February launch of STS-125. There was one dissenting opinion in the FRR this week. An engineer wanted additional inspections in the shuttle's turbopumps to be conducted before launch, an inspection that requires removal of the engines from the orbiter. The inspections will be added for future flights, after the shuttles land and the engines are removed for refurbishment. The lone engineer thought it was prudent to perform the inspections on Endeavour's engines also, but managers and other engineers decided it wasn't necessary for the safety of the vehicle and crew, even though the process will be performed before future missions. In the end, however, the engineer concurred with the final decision to give the go-ahead for Endeavour's launch. Endeavour remains on track to launch on a 15 day mission to repair and outfit the International Space Station. Endeavour's seven member crew will deliver over 32,000 pounds of new hardware to the orbiting complex. The new equipment is being carried in the Italian-built "Leonardo" pressurized Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM). The new equipment includes additional sleeping quarters, a new galley with a refrigerator, an experimental freezer, a second toilet and a resistance exercise device. Endeavour will also carry the first (partially) closed-loop life-support system ever to be used in space, a regenerative water reclamation system. After the new hardware is installed on the station, it will undergo several months of checkout to ensure it's operating correctly before the station's crew size is doubled in the middle of next year. On STS-126, Endeavour's crew will also conduct vital repairs to the joints of the solar arrays, which rotate to keep the arrays always facing the Sun. The starboard Solar Alpha Rotary Joint has been in limited use since September of last year when contamination and damage was discovered inside the 10-foot wide mechanism. The repairs, to be conducted over four spacewalks, are critical for the station's future ability to house a larger crew size and full science complement. Endeavour's crew is led by commander Chris Ferguson (Captain, U.S. Navy). He is a veteran of one spaceflight, STS-115 in 2006. 47 years old and married with three children, he is also the drummer for the astronaut rocket band Max Q. He is accompanied by his pilot on STS-126, first-time flier Eric Boe (Colonel, U.S. Air force). Completing the STS-126 crew are mission specialists Donald Pettit, Steve Bowen, Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper, Shane Kimbrough and Sandra Magnus. Pettit is a veteran who flew as science officer on ISS Expedition 6. Piper will be making her second flight, having flown with Ferguson on STS-115. Magnus flew one time previously, on STS-112 in 2002. (The Spacearium / Space Medi Corporation)
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