KENNEDY
SPACE CENTER, Florida -- Despite the recent decision to delay the shuttle's
return to flight by another two months, morale here remains strong with workers
determined to get shuttle crews back into Earth orbit soon, but as safely as
possible.
"It's
a speed bump. But everybody feels that it was a good upper management call.
We're going to keep on pressing forward like we have been," said Jody Tobin,
Site Test Conductor in Orbiter Processing Facility Bay 1 for United Space
Alliance, the prime shuttle contractor.
"We
all want to see launch...and we will see a launch...but it will be safer," Tobin
added.
In
addition to the preparations for Discovery's launch NASA also must contend with
preparing the space shuttle Atlantis for its projected liftoff in the
mid-September timeframe, Tobin said. Within the vast innards of the Vehicle Assembly Building,
dual solid rocket motors and a huge external tank are now ready to be attached
to Atlantis.
Launch on need
Tobin
said Atlantis has to be prepped and ready for flight within 35 to 40 days after
Discovery's takeoff.
This
"Launch on Need" approach give NASA a rescue capability in the event that
Discovery is found incapable of safe reentry to Earth. In that case it would
remain with its seven-person crew sheltered on the International Space Station
until help arrives.
"If
something does happen, then that means we have the capability to go up and
return with the crew onboard the International Space Station," Tobin said. Discovery
has gone through a full-blown Orbiter Maintenance Modification to ready it for
return-to-flight duties, he said.
NASA
announced in late April that July 13 to 31 is the new launch planning window
for the shuttle Discovery's return-to-flight mission. It will be the first
shuttle flight since Columbia
tragically broke apart during reentry killing its seven-person crew in February
2003.
The
delay in Discovery's launch was prompted by the need for more work to validate
engineering analyses of debris and ice hazards during a shuttle's liftoff, as
well as propulsion system troubleshooting.
The extra time also will be used to make additional modifications to
Discovery's large external fuel tank -- changes meant to reduce the risk of
insulating foam hitting the space plane during ascent.
The
physical cause of the loss of Columbia and its astronauts was a breach on the
leading edge of the space plane's left wing when it was struck by a piece of
insulating foam coming from the external tank during takeoff.
NASA
still has to decide whether repairs right on the launch pad are possible to
avoid rolling the shuttle transportation system back into the Vehicle Assembly
Building (VAB).
Putting on the
speed brakes
During
Discovery's flight, safety improvements such as the new Remote Manipulator
System/Orbiter Booster Sensor System - designed to survey the orbiter's wing
leading edge for damage - will be appraised by engineers.
The
results of those assessments, Tobin advised, will be carried over into readying
Atlantis and Endeavour for future flights.
Meanwhile,
shuttle Atlantis is now surrounded by an elaborate skeleton of work platforms
and scaffolding holding work personnel. The space plane is already outfitted with
its thermal protection system of tiles, as well as a set of ready-for-flight
wheels.
Rudder
speed brake hardware in Atlantis' tail section is slated for checkout and their
control rates will be set, Tobin said. Rudder speed brake mechanisms were discovered
last year to have been improperly installed and also, found to be suspect on
all three remaining orbiters, he said.
Safety first
Out
on launch pad 39B, Discovery patiently sits mostly cloaked within fixed and
rotating service structure. That launch pad equipment has undergone a blasting
of crushed coal slag -- stripping it of old pealing paint and rust flakes -- and
is now freshly recoated, said Tracy Yates, a United Space Alliance spokeswoman.
The
refurbishment was on the need-to-do list. It also met one of the requirements
of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board, which stressed the need to reduce
foreign object debris, Yates said. As the prime shuttle contractor, some 6,500
employees of United Space Alliance are at the Kennedy Space
Center supporting the
effort, she said.
Regarding
the Discovery launch slip, Yates said that employees remain upbeat and
committed to achieving a return-to-flight of the shuttle system. The attitude
is safety first, she emphasized.
"The
saying around here is no orbiter will fly before its time," Yates said.
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