Space shuttle Discovery is shown flying below the International Space Station as it prepares to dock with the station in this image from television Monday, Dec. 11, 2006. (AP Photo/NASA TV)
Posted on 12/11/2006 2:48:12 PM PST by NormsRevenge
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - After a two-day journey, space shuttle Discovery reached the international space station Monday for a weeklong stay to continue construction on the orbiting lab and rotate out a crew member.
Discovery commander Mark Polansky closed in on the station at a tenth of a foot per second before latches automatically linked the spacecraft as they flew 220 miles above southeast Asia during a sunrise.
"Capture confirmed," Polansky told Mission Control and the space station.
About an hour before docking, Discovery did a slow back flip so the space station crew could photograph its belly for any signs of liftoff damage.
Polansky executed the maneuver as the shuttle flew about 600 feet beneath the station. The images will be transmitted to Mission Control for analysis.
Six of Discovery's seven astronauts planned to spend a week at the space station. The seventh astronaut, Sunita "Suni" Williams, will live there for six months, replacing German astronaut Thomas Reiter of the European Space Agency.
"You've got a resident and six houseguests that are ready to come aboard," Polansky radioed the space station.
The space station's commander, U.S. astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria responded: "You guys won't even have to wipe your feet when you come in."
The space agency has been especially alert to damage to the shuttle's heat shield since the Columbia tragedy in 2003. A piece of foam broke off Columbia's external fuel tank during liftoff and gashed a wing, allowing hot gases to penetrate the spacecraft during its return to Earth. All seven astronauts died.
NASA on Sunday said the shuttle's heat shield appeared to be in good shape, but it will be a few days before engineers can rule out any damage from Saturday's liftoff, the first nighttime shuttle launch in four years.
As the space station came into view of Discovery, Williams told Mission Control: "It's beautiful."
Mission Control responded: "I don't know what kind of creature comforts you're going to have, but you're going to have a room with a view."
In the hours before the docking, set for Monday evening, Discovery made a series of jet firings to put it on course with the space station.
Discovery's crew members grinned as they waved down to Mission Control via TV camera. Five of Discovery's astronauts are first-time spacefliers.
Polansky told Mission Control: "We're just a little bit happy today."
Discovery was carrying a 2-ton addition to the space station.
The $11 million component will be put into place on Tuesday during the first of the mission's three spacewalks. Astronauts also plan to rewire the space lab, switching it from a temporary source to a permanent one, during the two other spacewalks.
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Associated Press writer Rasha Madkour in Houston contributed to this report.
Space shuttle Discovery is shown flying below the International Space Station as it prepares to dock with the station in this image from television Monday, Dec. 11, 2006. (AP Photo/NASA TV)
Space shuttle Discovery has the International Space Station in the crosshairs as it prepares to dock with the station in this image from television Monday, Dec. 11, 2006. (AP Photo/NASA TV)
Space shuttle Discovery docks with the International Space Station in this image from television Monday, Dec. 11, 2006. (AP Photo/NASA TV)
The Space Shuttle Discovery is seen in this image captured from NASA television with the earth in the background as the orbiter docks with the International Space Station December 11, 2006. Human increases in carbon dioxide emissions are thinning the Earth's outer atmosphere, making it easier to keep the space station aloft but prolonging the life of dangerous space debris, scientists said on Monday. (NASA TV/Reuters)
The space station need to be rewired? I didn't know Airbus built the space station.
Don't forget the real value of the Shuttle.
Deliver groceries, and pick up the trash...
YAWN - NASA better up their PR campaign ASAP - get to the Hubble or find something someone cares about.
Bad PR - real Bad
This should be a pretty impressive mission..
It will significantly alter the appearance of the station, and will involve actual work and assembly in space..
That means lots of spacewalk activity, and possibly some dramatic stuff...
The visible change in appearance alone will garner interest.. Actually seeing the new solar panels being installed..
As for the shuttles, you're sort of right.. They're just glorified taxis..
We need to go back to dedicated "heavy lifters" that deal with cargo, and a small fleet of "tugboats" that remain in orbit with the ISS and do the actual ferrying of supplies, crew, etc., back and forth from low orbit to the ISS high orbit..
Let Richard Branson's "Virgin Galactic" or whatever deal with crew transport.. Stop messing around with a clumsy, undependable and expensive shuttle run by an incompetent government bureaucracy..
WTF is this??
Great pix btw...
Actually, there won’t be any new solar arrays added to the International Space Station (ISS) on this mission. You may be thinking of the last Space Shuttle flight (Atlantis STS-115) which brought up the massive P3/P4 truss segment, weighing 35,000 pounds, with a new set of solar array wings that were unfurled stretching some 240 feet from tip to tip. The new solar arrays added on the Atlantis mission are shown in the picture below running from top to bottom of the picture.
However, the current mission of Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-116) is the most complex series of assembly tasks ever attempted by humans in space. The coordination between ground control, the crew aboard ISS, and the spacewalkers is an astounding ballet of complex tasks. They must all work together in exactly the required sequence to shut down power on the ISS, rewire the station from its initial temporary power configuration to the permanent configuration, and power up the ISS segments again.
Other tasks of special note during this mission will be the addition of the P5 spacer segment on the end of the port truss of ISS and retraction of half of the P6 solar array (the array above the ISS running left to right in the picture below). It must be retracted so that the new solar array added in the last mission can begin to rotate continuously in a complete circle to follow the sun as the ISS orbits the Earth. The rotating solar arrays are something I find very fascinating, as it will resemble a huge paddle-wheel craft in space.
I could have sworn I read / heard that thing about a solar array being added this mission...
Maybe they were talking about "activating" the array..
That alone will be worth the price of admission, seeing those huge wings rotating....
According to the sked, they were to dock at 4:06pm CST. They got within a couple of feet and held position for several minutes before docking. I was watching with the sound down and wondered if there was a last minute problem. Looks like another inspection is to be made because Nission Control had a reading of an impact on the leading edge of the left outboard wing. Hope it's nothing. Anyway, Discovery put on a great show. The backflip was nice but the background scenery was beautiful.
Exactly, I'm sure that's what they meant.
"That alone will be worth the price of admission, seeing those huge wings rotating...."
In the ISS assembly sequence, they eventually move the P6 solar arrays currently above the ISS down to the end of the port truss beside the soon to be rotating arrays. Then they add the same number of solar arrays on the other end of the long power truss on the starboard side. Everything on port and starboard will be rotating all at the same time. It will be an absolutely amazing sight when visitors approach the station from orbit.
The ISS with all the solar arrays rotating like two giant paddle wheels in space reminds me of the space station in the film 2001: A Space Odyssey (see below). Maybe the ISS designers had that in the back of their minds when they developed the concept.
With all that solar array area, the ISS will be one of the brightest objects in the night sky. I believe only the Moon will be brighter when viewed from Earth.
No, it's for a entirely different, very practical reason. The ISS solar arrays have to rotate in order to keep their front surface with its thousands of solar cells aimed at the Sun as the ISS makes its orbits around the Earth. Unless they do that, they only generate power for a limited part of the orbit. All high-power satellites rotate their deployed solar arrays for that same reason.
The station in "2001: A Space Odyssey" rotated to create artificial gravity in the rim part of the wheel. Come to think of it, I don't remember (or maybe it was never stated) how it generated its power ...
Yup, I understood the reason the solar arrays will be rotating on ISS.
I was merely making note of the rough similarity in general appearance between the two spacecraft, two rotating "wheels" connected by an "axle", and wondering out loud if the ISS designers made the same association in their minds to the space station in 2001: A Space Odyssey as they worked on the project. I wasn't very clear, my fault.
So, what did the station in "2001: A Space Odyssey" supposedly use for power? Nuclear? Or did that never come up at all? Can't believe I have never questioned that before, having worked over 24 years in spacecraft power systems (10 of those on ISS) and then 12 years in overall spacecraft systems.
In this image from television shown Monday, Dec. 11, 2006 during a mission status briefing, falling debris is highlighted in a photograph of space shuttle Discovery during launch. After a two-day journey, the shuttle Discovery reached the international space station Monday for a weeklong stay to continue construction on the orbiting lab and rotate out a crew member.(AP Photo/NASA TV)
The left wing of space shuttle Discovery is inspected for possible impact damage in this image from television Monday, Dec. 11, 2006. The shuttle docked with the international space station Monday. (AP Photo/NASA TV)
latest update..
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061212/ap_on_sc/space_shuttle
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Astronauts used the international space station's robotic arm to examine a spot on the shuttle Discovery's left wing Monday where sensors detected a "very low" impact, NASA officials said.
The shuttle crew traveled two days to reach the space station, where, during a weeklong stay, they will continue construction on the orbiting lab and replace one station crew member with another.
The sensor recorded a level of impact not considered worrisome, Shannon said, but managers decided to take a closer look to be safe and perhaps eliminate the need to do a time-consuming focused inspection later in this jam-packed mission. NASA officials have not determined the significance of the blip, though they don't expect it to affect the mission.
"It looks like something happened," said John Shannon, chairman of the mission management team, noting that the wing looked fine during a focused inspection performed Sunday.
The shuttle delivered a 2-ton, $11 million cube-shaped addition to the space station, using the shuttle and the station's robotic arms. The addition will be attached to the station during a spacewalk Tuesday.
To link up with the station, Discovery commander Mark Polansky moved the shuttle a tenth of a foot per second before latches connected it shortly before a sunrise.
"Space shuttle Discovery arriving," space station resident Michael Lopez-Alegria told Mission Control in Houston at 6:54 p.m. EST as the hatch between the two spacecraft opened to the traditional ringing of a bell.
Televised images from the orbiting space lab showed Bob Curbeam, due to perform three spacewalks, bouncing over two hugging astronauts to shake the hand of space station resident Thomas Reiter, who will return to Earth with the shuttle crew. Christer Fuglesang, now the first Swede in space, spoke into a videocamera, then let it float away.
Eventually the two crews gathered for a group shot, all smiles and with some ponytails floating, as they flew 220 miles above Australia.
"You guys all look great," Mission Control radioed up. "We're waving back."
Six of Discovery's seven astronauts planned to spend a week at the space station. The seventh astronaut, Sunita "Suni" Williams, will live there for six months, replacing German astronaut Reiter of the European Space Agency.
The two will swap places before the end of the day, making Williams only the third woman in history to reside long-term at the space station.
About an hour before docking, Discovery did a slow back flip so the space station crew could photograph its belly for any signs of liftoff damage.
Polansky executed the maneuver as the shuttle flew about 600 feet beneath the station.
The space agency has been especially alert to damage to the shuttle's heat shield since the Columbia tragedy in 2003. A piece of foam broke off Columbia's external fuel tank during liftoff and gashed a wing, allowing hot gases to penetrate the spacecraft during its return to Earth. All seven astronauts died.
NASA on said Sunday that the shuttle's heat shield appeared to be in good shape, but that it will be a few days before engineers can rule out any damage from Saturday's liftoff, the first nighttime shuttle launch in four years.
Shannon said at a news conference late Monday that photos taken of the shuttle's underside before docking show white specks on the black tiles, suggesting the tiles were dinged.
"They just want to make sure the chips aren't deep," NASA spokeswoman Brandi Dean later said. Imagery teams are examining the photos and will decide whether a closer look is warranted.
Shannon also said that managers would examine images showing an orange cellophane-like material used to keep nitrogen in place that is sticking out of the shuttle's left external fuel tank door. The material sometimes burns off by the time shuttles land, Shannon said, but engineers want to make sure it isn't blocking the tank door's seal.
The station's new component will be put into place on Tuesday during the first of the mission's three spacewalks. Astronauts also plan to rewire the space lab, switching it from a temporary source to a permanent one, during the two other spacewalks.
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Associated Press writer Rasha Madkour in Houston contributed to this report.
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On the Net:
NASA: http://www.spaceflight.nasa.gov
Solid post - I appreciate your knowledge and your views.
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