Posted on 02/06/2008 7:34:36 PM PST by KevinDavis
Ext tank dropped.
Clean run so far, no anomalies noted.
Normal. Insulation and ice.
Beautiful launch & sep!
Loved the sun in the background from the fuel tank cam...
Preliminary orbit, which they call sub-orbit is good. A second burn will take place in about 45 minutes to circularize the orbit, that is, to raise perigee to match apogee. Perigee is lowest point of orbit, apogee is highest point of orbit. If they do not raise perigee the Shuttle would reenter the atmosphere at the end of the first orbit.
I still try to watch when I can. The difference in the TV shots they get now as compared to just ten years ago is phenomenal for the clarity.
About a minute left to OMS cutoff.
It is exciting, every time I see it. (And very scarey.)
Sorry about your computer. Mine does the same thing - there is a hole where the “n” and “,” are supposed to be on the keyboard - and the durned mouse keeps jumping all over the place, and sometimes deletes whole paragraphs!
Sorry I got off track. Shuttle is still going as planned.
Well, now they’re into replays.
spaceflightnow.com
2020 GMT (3:20 p.m. EST)
T+plus 35 minutes. Atlantis is in the correct configuration for the upcoming OMS 2 burn.
spaceflightnow.com
2025 GMT (3:25 p.m. EST)
T+plus 39 minutes, 45 seconds. The twin Orbital Maneuvering System engines on the tail of Atlantis have been fired successfully to propel the shuttle the rest of the way to orbit. The burn occurred over the Indian Ocean.
2023 GMT (3:23 p.m. EST)
T+plus 37 minutes, 58 seconds. The maneuvering engines have ignited for the orbit raising burn.
I've got NASA TV running in Windows Media Player; gives me a PIP window to follow while running around here.
And my F@H is still running! Hi TB !!
spaceflightnow.com
Atlantis remains on course to reach the space station tomorrow. At present, the shuttle is 5,400 nautical miles behind the station, closing at a rate of 487 miles per orbit.
spaceflightnow.com
1841 GMT (1:41 p.m. EST)
HATCHES OPEN. The hatchway between Atlantis and the space station was opened at 1:40 p.m. EST, and the shuttle crew is being welcomed aboard the outpost now.
spaceflightnow.com
Maiden launch of Europe’s resupply ship gets new date
BY STEPHEN CLARK
SPACEFLIGHT NOW
Posted: February 10, 2008
Europe’s first Automated Transfer Vehicle, an intricate 43,000-pound resupply ship, will have to wait two more weeks to begin its voyage to the international space station after managers ordered a delay to add a “final level of robustness” to the crucial mission, officials said last week.
The ATV has been grounded at its South American launch site since its arrival at the base last summer. After months of assembly, fueling, problem-solving, and packing, the satellite is almost ready to go, said Alan Thirkettle, the European Space Agency’s international space station program manager.
Senior agency leaders met last Wednesday to formally approve a 15-day delay in the mission, which is now scheduled for a March 8 blastoff from Kourou, French Guiana. The first ATV, named Jules Verne, will ride into space at the point of a beefed up Ariane 5 rocket.
Liftoff is set for 0424:47 GMT (11:24:47 p.m. EST March 7) during an instantaneous launch window.
spaceflightnow.com
2210 GMT (5:10 p.m. EST)
The European Space Agency’s Columbus laboratory module was successfully removed from the shuttle Atlantis’ cargo bay today and bolted to its permanent home on the front right side of the international space station to accomplish the primary goal of the year’s first shuttle mission.
spaceflightnow.com
The Atlantis astronauts and their space station crewmates are working through an extension day in orbit today, concentrating on work to activate the European Columbus science laboratory. Atlantis commander Steve Frick plans to oversee a reboost operation this morning, firing Atlantis’ rocket thrusters to increase the station’s altitude,
spaceflightnow.com
The Atlantis astronauts gathered for a final time aboard the international space station today, bidding the lab crew farewell in a tearful ceremony that marked the end of a complex assembly mission. After one last round of hugs and handshakes, the shuttle crew floated back into Atlantis and hatches were sealed at 1:03 p.m. to set the stage for undocking early Monday.
spaceflightnow.com
With pilot Alan Poindexter at the controls, the shuttle Atlantis undocked from the international space station today after a successful three-spacewalk assembly mission to attach a new European research lab to the outpost.
“Alpha and Houston, (this is) Atlantis, we have physical separation,” an astronaut radioed as the the docking systems disengaged. Following naval tradition, station commander Peggy Whitson rang the ship’s bell to signal Atlantis’ departure.
Leaving European Space Agency astronaut Leopold Eyharts behind with Whitson and cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko, Atlantis separated from the space station’s forward docking port at 4:24 a.m., about three minutes ahead of schedule. Joining the shuttle crew for the trip home is outgoing station flight engineer Dan Tani, who is wrapping up an extended four-month stay in space.
spaceflightnow.com
The Atlantis astronauts are putting in a busy final day in space today, testing the shuttle’s re-entry systems packing up loose gear and rigging the ship for landing Wednesday at the Kennedy Space Center. Forecasters are predicting good weather for the shuttle’s return, but NASA plans to staff its backup landing site at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., in a bid to get Atlantis down, on one coast or the other, before a U.S. Navy attempt to destroy a falling spy satellite.
It’s not known when the shoot-down attempt will be made, but amateur satellite trackers monitoring the descent of the crippled NROL-21 satellite say a “notice to airmen,” or NOTAM, issued by air traffic control in Honolulu Monday https://pilotweb.nas.faa.gov/distribution/center.html establishes a restricted zone west of Hawaii that NROL-21 will pass over around 10:30 p.m. EST Wednesday. But the NOTAM does not specify the reason for the restricted airspace and the subject line of an email alerting satellite trackers ended with a question mark.
(Editor’s note: Interested readers can check the current location of NROL-21 (also known by its orbital designation USA 193) at the Heavens Above website.
spacedaily.com
Cape Canaveral (AFP) Feb 20, 2007
The US space shuttle Discovery’s mission to ship part of the Japanese laboratory Kibo up to the International Space Station will be delayed one month to May 25, NASA said Wednesday.
spacedaily.com
Kourou, French Guiana (SPX) Feb 21, 2008
Ariane 5’s largest payload ever has been integrated on the launch vehicle, taking Arianespace’s upcoming historic mission with the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) one step closer to its March 8 liftoff. The integration process at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana began late last week, and was concluded with the spacecraft’s power-up this weekend atop the launcher.
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