CAPE
CANAVERAL, FL - Two NASA astronauts are
preparing for a multitasking mission aboard the space shuttle Discovery when
the orbiter rockets into space later this year.
Veteran
astronaut Wendy Lawrence and first-time flyer Charles Camarda have a busy flight
ahead of them when they launch aboard Discovery, NASA's first space shuttle to
launch since the Columbia accident.
"Quite
honestly, the hardest thing about flying in space is that you can't fly there
routinely," Lawrence told reporters in a preflight interview. "If you're trying
to design a new aircraft, you can fly a whole bunch of test flights, but
unfortunately for us, we have to rely on computer models for spacecraft...and it
takes awhile to do the correct engineering analysis."
In fact,
NASA has delayed
Discovery's flight, STS-114, from a May 22 target to no earlier than July 13 to
allow additional time for launch debris verification analysis and external tank
adjustments. The shuttle is set to be NASA's first return to flight launch
since Columbia broke apart while reentering the Earth's atmosphere on Feb. 1,
2003, killing its seven-astronaut crew.
The
Loadmaster
A captain
in the U.S. Navy as well as an accomplished helicopter pilot, Lawrence, 45, is
no stranger to space shuttle flights.
The Jacksonville , Florida native was selected as an astronaut in 1992 and has flown aboard all
three of NASA's remaining space shuttles. Two of those missions, STS-86 aboard
Atlantis and - most recently - STS-91 aboard Discovery, flew to the Russian
space station Mir. She also trained for a four-month stint aboard Mir, and has
amassed a total of 894 hours in space.
For
STS-114, Lawrence will serve as Mission Specialist 4, operating of the space station
robotic arm to maneuver
a cargo module laden with supplies from Discovery's payload bay to an ISS port.
She credits her helicopter experience, which totals about 1,500 hours of flight
in six types of rotorcraft, with preparing her for the robotic arm work ahead.
"When
you're flying, you always have to think in three dimensions, and flying the
robotic arm is the same thing," Lawrence said. "You have to get used to both
your arms making control inputs."
Lawrence also serves as STS-114's loadmaster,
in charge of negotiating the meticulous transfer of about 2,600 pounds (1,170
kilograms) from the Raffaello
cargo module into the ISS, then filling the empty pod up with trash and other
unnecessary equipment. Included in her duties is overseeing fellow shuttle and
ISS crewmembers in the cargo transfer, as well as making sure Discovery
astronauts have much-needed items in the event the orbiter suffers critical
damage and its crew must take refuge
aboard the space station.
"It's like
packing for a long trip, we have a lot of hygiene stuff," Lawrence said, adding
that she took care to make sure that additional waste collection units were
included in Discovery's cargo manifest. "What scares me the most about staying
on station is, well, think about living in a house with nine people and only
one bathroom."
That's
Dr. Astronaut to you
Making his
first spaceflight with the STS-114 mission, Camarda is one of three STS-114
astronauts with an engineering doctorate - Stephen Robinson and Andrew Thomas
are the others - and a veteran working inside NASA.
Hailing
from Queens, New York, Camarda, 52, joined the space agency's ranks in 1974 as
a research scientist at Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. After
serving in the Thermal Structures Branch of the Structures and Materials
Division, Camarda was tapped to head the department in 1994 and, two years
later, reported to Johnson Space Center as an astronaut candidate. He has
served as a backup crewmember for Expedition 8 to the ISS.
With an
expertise in thermal systems for the STS-114 mission, Camarda will serve as
Mission Specialist 5 during the spaceflight.
During the
upcoming shuttle flight, Camarda will not only support cargo transfer between
the Raffaello module and the ISS, but will also help operate Discovery's new orbital
boom, a sensor-tipped extension to the shuttle's robotic arm designed to
scan sensitive thermal protection areas for damage.
"This is
really drawing on my own background," Camarda said of the mission during a
preflight interview, adding that STS-114's goals of demonstrating repair
methods for thermal protective tiles and reinforced carbon carbon (RCC) panels
are breaking new ground. "[Before now] we never thought we'd be able to repair
the orbiter in space."
During one
of the three spacewalks
scheduled for the STS-114 flight, Camarda's fellow mission specialists Robinson
and Soichi Noguchi will try to demonstrate two methods to repair
tile and carbon panels. Camarda has said he doesn't believe NASA's current
repair methods are mature enough to ride home on if they are needed during STS-114. However, the additional preparation time due to the launch delay could help move the efforts forward.
"We have other
[thermal protection system] repair concepts," Camarda said during a press
briefing at Discovery's Pad 39B launch site Tuesday, adding that with the
proper prioritizing and funding, progress could be made. "I think we would be
able to mature some of these concepts."
But regardless
of whether tile and RCC methods mature in the next two months is Discovery's
STS-114 mission, like its successor STS-121, is still a test flight at heart.
"Our job is
to collect as much information as possible," said Camarda, a father of four.
"And I hope to come back and help use that information to ensure that we have a
safe vehicle for the future."
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