Updates STS-133 Updates

[orb]

Aviation Week: Further Discovery Launch Delay Possible:

HOUSTON — Space shuttle program managers are assessing the need for radius block modification to each of the 108 support stringers on the shuttle Discovery’s external tank (ET), an upgrade that would likely require NASA to push the senior orbiter’s final mission out of an early February launch window.

Managers will consider the additional work during a Program Requirements Control Board meeting on Jan. 6.

{...}

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

NASA TV Video: Shuttle Discovery's External Tank Undergoes Modifications and More.​

 

[orb]

Florida Today - The Flame Trench: NASA To Meet Thursday About Potential Shuttle Modifications.

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

Launch slipping to either NET Feb. 24th or 27th.

NASASpaceFlight: "STS-133: PRCB recommends 103 ET-137 stringer mods – Launch date slipping".

 

[Kyle]

Well makes my life a little better -- a day launch!

 

[orb]

Spaceflight Now: Shuttle Discovery launch delayed to late February / CBS News Space: NASA rules out early February launch for shuttle Discovery:

{...}

Additional meetings are planned next week to review progress with already-ordered crack repairs, potential work to beef up other structural ribs, or stringers, in the external tank and the results of an on-going analysis into the root cause of the eight cracks discovered to date. A new target launch date is expected after a program requirements control board meeting Jan. 13 at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

The next shuttle launch window, the one NASA managers ruled out Thursday, opens Feb. 3 and closes Feb. 10. The next window after that opens Feb. 27 and closes March 6.

The opening of the late-February window is based on plans by the European Space Agency to launch an unmanned cargo ship Feb. 15 to deliver critical supplies to the International Space Station. The normal flight plan calls for ESA's Automated Transfer Vehicle to dock with the lab complex on Feb. 26, clearing the way for Discovery to take off the next day.

If the ATV rendezvous profile can be compressed, it may be possible to launch Discovery a few days ahead of Feb. 27. {...}

SPACE.com: NASA Delays Launch of Shuttle Discovery Again for More Repairs.

Florida Today: Tank troubles adding to delay.

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

My latest NASASpaceflight article: STS-133 launch slip impacts HTV-2 and ATV-2 missions.

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

NASA TV Video: STS-133 Launch Team Practices Liftoff Procedures.​

 

[orb]

Florida Today - The Flame Trench: NASA Looking To Launch Discovery As Early As Feb. 24:

{...}

A robotic European space freighter would need to dock at the international outpost a few days earlier than planned to clear the way for a Feb. 24 shuttle launch. Liftoff time that day would be targeted for 4:50 p.m. EST.

{...}

The next available opportunity at this point is a window that would stretch from Feb. 27 to March 6. Targeted liftoff times during that period would be [timezone is EST - orb]:

++ 3:36 p.m. Feb. 27.

++3:13 p.m. Feb. 28.

++ 2:48 p.m. March 1.

++ 2:25 p.m. March 2.

++ 1:59 p.m. March 3.

++ 1:37 p.m. March 4.

++ 1:11 p.m. March 5.

++ 12:49 p.m. March 6.

{...}

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

NASA Schedules News Conference About Space Shuttle Status.

NASA managers will hold a news conference at 1 p.m. CST Tuesday, Jan. 11, at the agency's Johnson Space Center in Houston. They will discuss Discovery's STS-133 flight to the International Space Station and talk about the progress of repairs since the shuttle's original launch date last November.

The briefing participants are:

-- Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for Space Operations
-- John Shannon, Space Shuttle Program manager
-- Mike Suffredini, International Space Station Program manager

Space Shuttle Program managers briefed senior NASA officials Monday about the status of repairs and engineering evaluations associated with cracks found on 21-foot-long, U-shaped aluminum brackets called stringers on the shuttle's external fuel tank. Managers approved installing small strips of metal, called radius blocks, on the tank's remaining stringers. Testing and analysis show the modification will provide additional strength to the stringers.

The news conference will air live on NASA Television and the agency's website. Reporters may ask questions from participating NASA centers or by calling into a phone bridge. To use the phone bridge, reporters must have valid media credentials issued by a NASA center or specifically for the STS-133 mission. Journalists planning to use the phone bridge must contact the Johnson newsroom at 281-483-5111 no later than 12:45 p.m. Tuesday.

Newsroom personnel will verify credentials and transfer reporters to the phone bridge. Capacity is limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis.

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

NASA managers approved a plan to modify all remaining stringers on ET-137 today.

Therefore, out of all 108 stringers on ET-137:

• 8 are made from a stronger aluminium alloy that isn't expected to require additional support.
• 5 have already undergone repairs.
• 32 were approved to be strengthened last week.
• 63 have been approved to be strengthened today.

 

[orb]

CBS News Space: NASA managers order 'radius block' stiffeners for all external tank stringers / Spaceflight Now: NASA orders full round of stiffeners to Discovery tank.

 

[orb]

NASASpaceFlight: ET-137 deep into repairs and modifications – ATV-2 likely to aid launch date.

Spaceflight Now:

• STS-133 Launch Windows (UPDATED)
• STS-133 Flight Plan (UPDATED)

Launch windows for currently planned launch dates:

[table="head"]

DATE​

|

WINDOW OPEN​

|

IN PLANE​

|

WINDOW CLOSE​

|

DOCKING​

02/24/11

 ​

2011-02-24  ​

 ​

|04:45:13 p.m. EST  

 ​

21:45:13 UTC​

 ​

|04:50:13 p.m. EST  

 ​

21:50:13 UTC​

 ​

|04:55:13 p.m. EST  

 ​

21:55:13 UTC​

 ​

|FD 3

 ​

 ​

 ​

02/25/11

 ​

2011-02-25​

 ​

|04:19:31 p.m. EST

 ​

21:19:31 UTC​

 ​

|04:24:31 p.m. EST

 ​

21:24:31 UTC​

 ​

|04:29:31 p.m. EST

 ​

21:29:31 UTC​

 ​

|FD 3

 ​

 ​

 ​

02/26/11

 ​

2011-02-26​

 ​

|03:57:00 p.m. EST

 ​

20:57:00 UTC​

 ​

|04:02:00 p.m. EST

 ​

21:02:00 UTC​

 ​

|04:07:00 p.m. EST

 ​

21:07:00 UTC​

 ​

|FD 3

 ​

 ​

 ​

02/27/11

 ​

2011-02-27​

 ​

|03:31:18 p.m. EST

 ​

20:31:18 UTC​

 ​

|03:36:18 p.m. EST

 ​

20:36:18 UTC​

 ​

|03:41:18 p.m. EST

 ​

20:41:18 UTC​

 ​

|FD 3

 ​

 ​

 ​

02/28/11

 ​

2011-02-28​

 ​

|03:08:46 p.m. EST

 ​

20:08:46 UTC​

 ​

|03:13:46 p.m. EST

 ​

20:13:46 UTC​

 ​

|03:18:46 p.m. EST

 ​

20:18:46 UTC​

 ​

|FD 3

 ​

 ​

 ​

03/01/11

 ​

2011-03-01​

 ​

|02:43:04 p.m. EST

 ​

19:43:04 UTC​

 ​

|02:48:04 p.m. EST

 ​

19:48:04 UTC​

 ​

|02:53:04 p.m. EST

 ​

19:53:04 UTC​

 ​

|FD 3

 ​

 ​

 ​

03/02/11

 ​

2011-03-02​

 ​

|02:20:32 p.m. EST

 ​

19:20:32 UTC​

 ​

|02:25:32 p.m. EST

 ​

19:25:32 UTC​

 ​

|02:30:32 p.m. EST

 ​

19:30:32 UTC​

 ​

|FD 3

 ​

 ​

 ​

03/03/11

 ​

2011-03-03​

 ​

|01:54:05 p.m. EST

 ​

18:54:05 UTC​

 ​

|01:59:05 p.m. EST

 ​

18:59:05 UTC​

 ​

|02:04:05 p.m. EST

 ​

19:04:05 UTC​

 ​

|FD 3

 ​

 ​

 ​

03/04/11

 ​

2011-03-04​

 ​

|01:32:19 p.m. EST

 ​

18:32:19 UTC​

 ​

|01:37:19 p.m. EST

 ​

18:37:19 UTC​

 ​

|01:42:19 p.m. EST

 ​

18:42:19 UTC​

 ​

|FD 3

 ​

 ​

 ​

03/05/11

 ​

2011-03-05​

 ​

|01:06:37 p.m. EST

 ​

18:06:37 UTC​

 ​

|01:11:37 p.m. EST

 ​

18:11:37 UTC​

 ​

|01:16:37 p.m. EST

 ​

18:16:37 UTC​

 ​

|FD 3

 ​

 ​

 ​

03/06/11

 ​

2011-03-06​

 ​

|12:44:05 p.m. EST

 ​

17:44:05 UTC​

 ​

|12:49:05 p.m. EST

 ​

17:49:05 UTC​

 ​

|12:54:05 p.m. EST

 ​

17:54:05 UTC​

 ​

|FD 3

 ​

 ​

 ​

[/table]​

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

Per the just-aired Shuttle Status Briefing on NASA TV:

New STS-133 launch date: Thu 24 Feb at 4:50 PM EST / 9:50 PM GMT.

That will mean a landing on Mon 7 March.

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

My latest NASASpaceflight article: STS-133 launch slip impacts HTV-2 and ATV-2 missions.

Here's a good description of the ATV-2 issue from ESA's ATV-2 blog:

Traffic jam in space version 2.0.

 

[orb]

Florida Today - The Flame Trench: NASA confident Discovery's tank problems are solved.

CBS News Space: NASA zeroes in on root cause of shuttle tank cracks / Spaceflight Now: NASA zeroes in on root cause of shuttle tank cracks:

{...}

"We're on the road to bringing this tank to a hundred percent," said shuttle Program Manager John Shannon. "It's been two months of very vigorous activity, it took a lot of investigation to piece the different components of how this could be happening together, but I'm very confident we've finally got this figured out and we have a fix that's easy to implement and will be 100 percent effective."

{...}

[table="width=430"]

Normal aluminum-lithium alloy, using in external tank stringers, is shown in the top sample. Mottled material in the lower sample was used in Discovery's external tank. It has a lower fracture strength. (Photo: NASA)

 ​

Engineers successfully duplicated a crack in a stringer using a test rig that subjected the U-shaped stringer to the forces experienced during fueling. (Photo: NASA)[/table]​

 

[markweasal]

these delays are getting rediculous

 

[SiberianTiger]

I'm beginning to hope she WON'T be allowed to fly... If a crappy metal was used to manufacture these stringers, who knows what and where might break during the ascent? We all know that would cost too dear.

 

[N_Molson]

It demonstrates that the Shuttle program has become over-expensive. I guess those delays are costing a lot of money...

Remember that the Shuttle program was promoted as "allowing to bring payload in LEO at 10% of the cost of a rocket launch* " (they didn't foresaw that the maintenance of the Orbiter and its engines would be awfully expensive).

*Alain Dupas, Une autre histoire de l'espace, Gallimard, 2000

 

[DaveS]

I'm beginning to hope she WON'T be allowed to fly... If a crappy metal was used to manufacture these stringers, who knows what and where might break during the ascent? We all know that would cost too dear.

Don't worry, they're strengthening all 108 stringers on ET-137 using a well-proven mod called "radius blocks". It will beef up the flange-ends of the stringers, even perfectly healthy ones 3-4 times their normal strength.

They have used these radius blocks on past ETs to repair various cracks with no ill effects. All the analysis done to date have shown that the radius blocks will prevent any more cracks from forming on the stringers.

---------- Post added at 08:31 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:29 AM ----------

It demonstrates that the Shuttle program has become over-expensive. I guess those delays are costing a lot of money...

Remember that the Shuttle program was promoted as "allowing to bring payload in LEO at 10% of the cost of a rocket launch* " (they didn't foresaw that the maintenance of the Orbiter and its engines would be awfully expensive).

*Alain Dupas, Une autre histoire de l'espace, Gallimard, 2000

Actually, the real cost is fixed costs, about 200 million USD per month. This is due to the workforce. Scrubs and delays are just some tiny additional costs.