Updates STS-135 Updates

[orb]

STS-135 astronauts have arrived at KSC for the launch.

Spaceflight Now:

• Mission Status Center:

  1845 GMT (2:45 p.m. EDT)
  This was it. The last time a space shuttle crew will jet into the Kennedy Space Center to begin their countdown. And no one knows when the next time astronauts will come to the Florida spaceport to be launched from the planet.
  
  Commander Chris Ferguson, pilot Doug Hurley and mission specialists Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim today traveled from their home base in Houston to the Kennedy Space Center launch site in sleek T-38 jets, trained and ready to take Atlantis on the final space shuttle mission.
  
  "We're delighted to be here after a very arduous nine-month training flow. We're thrilled to finally be here in Florida for launch week," Ferguson said.
  
  On this Fourth of July, each of the crew members had American flags waving in their hands as they addressed the large crowd of reporters at the runway.
  
  "We have a very event-filled mission ahead of us. We have 12 days. We'll be very, very busy. As you can tell we have an abridged crew (of just four). And when it's all over I think we'll all be proud to put the righthand bookend on the space shuttle program," Ferguson said.
  
  The crew will have some study time this afternoon before heading to sleep at 8 p.m. EDT, then be awakened at 4 a.m. Tuesday for Ferguson and Hurley to fly landing approaches into KSC's runway using Shuttle Training Aircraft. The entire crew will spend time later in the day reviewing the flight data files and checking their launch and entry spacesuits.
  
  Atlantis' three-day launch countdown sequence begins Tuesday at 1 p.m. EDT. All activities remain on schedule for Friday's 11:26 a.m. EDT blastoff.

  
  
• NASA TV Schedule Rev. 0 (PDF)

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[ky]

Well until NASA or a private industry for that matter,develops a new spacecraft,we'll have to hitch a ride on Soyuz.

 

[IronRain]

STS-135 crew arrives at kSC

 

[IronRain]

Official weather issue
(From Spaceflight Now)

The early weather outlook issued moments ago by the launch meteorology team gives a 40 percent chance for Atlantis to fly on Friday as planned. The potential for showers and thunderstorms plus cumulus clouds around Kennedy Space Center will be concerns to watch.

The specifics call for scattered low- and mid-level clouds, a broken deck of high clouds, isolated showers and thunderstorms in the vicinity, good visibility, southeasterly winds of 8 knots and a temperature of 81 degrees.

"The Bermuda high pressure ridge is slightly north of the area, and weak, east winds will cause showers and thunderstorms to develop along the sea breeze inland today. The majority of the weather will remain inland, with just a 30 percent chance a storm will move into the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) area this afternoon. Weather will be similar tomorrow, as well," forecasters report.

"A tropical wave in the vicinity of the Turks and Caicos Islands is moving west-northwest and will impact Florida on Thursday, increasing moisture and bringing scattered showers and isolated thunderstorms by Thursday afternoon and evening.

"By Friday, the wave will move off to the northwest, but the residual moisture will provide the ingredients necessary for showers and thunderstorms to develop as the sea breeze forms Friday late morning. Our primary concerns for launch are showers and thunderstorms within 20 nautical miles of the Shuttle Landing Facility and cumulus clouds near the flight path.

"The same concerns exist for the following two days, but due to the launch time moving earlier and a slightly dryer atmosphere on Sunday, the threat of sea breeze development during the launch window decreases each day; therefore, the probability of KSC weather prohibiting launch decreases as well," forecasters say.

If Atlantis' launch slips to Saturday for some reason, the odds of acceptable weather increase to 60 percent and then improve to 70 percent on Sunday.

 

[garyw]

The crew arrived in style - posted on Twitter:

 

[Fabri91]

It's cool to imagine that those very same aircraft once ferried astronauts around that went on to fly to the moon.

 

[Thunder Chicken]

T-38s are beautiful aircraft. I saw the Thunderbirds in them when I was a kid, got me hooked into aircraft, Air Force, and space in general. Crisp, clean aircraft.

 

[IronRain]

 

[orb]

NASASpaceflight: STS-135: Atlantis moving through S0007 tasks – Weather a concern for launch


Spaceflight Now:

• Shuttle Atlantis prepares to take flight for a final journey
• Countdown commences for shuttle Atlantis' blastoff
  
  
• Photo Gallery: Tribute to Atlantis' final journey (PHOTO GALLERY #1)
• Photo Gallery: Tribute to Atlantis' final journey (PHOTO GALLERY #2)
• Photo Gallery: Tribute to Atlantis' final journey (PHOTO GALLERY #3)
  
  
• Photo Gallery: Atlantis three days from launch (PHOTO GALLERY)

CBS News Space:

• Countdown begins for final shuttle flight; stormy weather likely
• STS-135 Mission Preview

Roscosmos: Roscosmos Delegation to Witness Final Shuttle Launch

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

Here's my latest NASASpaceflight article: STS-135: Enabling a new era of robotic satellite refuelling in space.

RRM will certainly be a very exciting payload. :thumbup:

 

[agentgonzo]

Weather is now at a 70% change of no-go.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14056219

More interestingly is the chance that if it is a scrub, it may be a 48-hour turnaround rather than the usual 24:

Local police expect half-to-three-quarters of a million people to try to get near the spaceport to take up a good vantage point.

But if a delay is called because of the weather or a last-minute technical gremlin then launch teams might find it hard to get home for sufficient rest before returning to the spaceport to resume the countdown.

In that case, a "scrub" might prompt managers to simply skip a day and call the second attempt for Sunday. That would provide everyone with more time, but its added bonus would be that the weather looks better the deeper the forecasters look into the weekend.

 

[orb]

More interestingly is the chance that if it is a scrub, it may be a 48-hour turnaround rather than the usual 24:

But if they would scrub on Sunday too, then next launch window opens on July 16, due to range conflict with Delta IV.




Spaceflight Now:

• Iffy weather forecast clouds Friday's shuttle launch plans
• Mission preview: Shuttle finale brings uncertain future
• Soyuz capsules would rescue Atlantis crew in dire scenario
• Atlantis' astronaut crew faces tight mission timeline
• Station crew to do spacewalk chores on Atlantis visit
• The final shuttle re-entry

CBS News Space: Shuttle forecast 70 percent 'no go' for Friday launch (UPDATED)

 

[C3PO]

More interestingly is the chance that if it is a scrub, it may be a 48-hour turnaround rather than the usual 24:

Sounds like they're not quite happy to tank/de-tank too many times. The broken stringers rattled a few people.

 

[DaveS]

Sounds like they're not quite happy to tank/de-tank too many times. The broken stringers rattled a few people.

No, the reason is crew rest. They're expecting so many spectators(500k-750k) that the roads leading to/from KSC is going to be jammed. So in order to give the crews time to get home to rest and then get back in time, they may elect to go with a 48hr scrub T/A.

It has nothing to do the with the stringers, it's purely a crew rest issue.

 

[orb]

NASA: MILA Tracks its Last Launch and Landing:

With its beginnings rooted deeply in the historic days of Apollo, the MILA Spaceflight Tracking and Data Network Station has played a key role throughout the 30 years of the Space Shuttle Program. But just as the shuttle program is drawing to a close, so is the long history of MILA.

"The end of MILA is officially six weeks from wheelstop. That's it. We hand the keys back to Kennedy Space Center and we walk away," says MILA Station Manager Martyn Thomas. "The MILA mission ends."

{...}

 

[agentgonzo]

No, the reason is crew rest. They're expecting so many spectators(500k-750k) that the roads leading to/from KSC is going to be jammed. So in order to give the crews time to get home to rest and then get back in time, they may elect to go with a 48hr scrub T/A.

It has nothing to do the with the stringers, it's purely a crew rest issue.

Which it said in the same quote that he was referring to!

 

[iamwearingpants]

Please, PLEASE no 48-hour scrub, I'll be on vacation by Sunday

 

[ky]

Launch Weather Forecast Remains Unchanged

NASA: Launch Weather Forecast Remains Unchanged

With the scheduled launch of space shuttle Atlantis just one day away, Jeff Spaulding, NASA test director, Joe Delai, STS-135 payload manager, and Kathy Winters, shuttle weather officer, conducted the last countdown status briefing of the Space Shuttle Program.

Winters reported that the launch weather forecast remains unchanged, with a 30 percent chance of favorable weather for the 11:26 a.m. EDT liftoff. The forecast is a more favorable 80 percent when the filling of the huge external fuel tank is set to begin.

"Our teams here and really all around the world have been working extremely hard for quite awhile on this particular mission to make sure the vehicle and the payload are ready for hopefully a magnificent launch on Friday," said NASA Test Director Jeff Spaulding.

At 5 a.m. this morning, the countdown entered a planned hold at the T-11 hour mark, and will resume at 7:01 p.m. tonight.

The astronauts had an early wakeup call as they continue to prepare for tomorrow's launch of Atlantis on the STS-135 mission to the International Space Station.

 

[C3PO]

Which it said in the same quote that he was referring to!

I did read it!

I just find it weird to keep friday with 30% weather (that you can't do anything about) and exclude saturday because of traffic (that you can do something about) leaving only one more day in this window.
With the complexity of a shuttle launch I would have thought that launch crew rest was one of the more easier problems to solve.

I understand that there are several reasons to skip a launch opportunity (better weather forecast, time to fix eventual technical problems, etc.) but I wouldn't have pegged expected traffic jams as the clincher.

 

[garyw]

I wouldn't have pegged expected traffic jams as the clincher.

In this case it is because of the excessive numbers of people going to KSC in the hopes of seeing the last shuttle to fly. What shoudl be a 30 min drive home for a flight controller might turn into many hours. This is classic NASA playing it very safe.