While
NASA's Discovery astronauts prepare for the agency's first shuttle flight in
more than two years, another orbiter crew is also training hard for its own
launch - now less than three months away.
"We're
working really hard, and it's getting busier," said Mark Kelly, pilot for
NASA's STS-121 mission, in a telephone interview. "You would think that a
two-month launch slip would give you a lot of extra time, but it doesn't."
Kelly and
his STS-121 crewmates are set to ride the space shuttle Atlantis into orbit
between Sept. 9-24 in what NASA hopes will be its second orbiter launch since
the 2003 Columbia disaster. The spaceflight's earlier launch window, which
stretched from July 13-31, is now reserved
for NASA's first return to flight mission, STS-114 aboard Discovery.
Both
shuttle missions are test flights to demonstrate new safety
tools and procedures put in place after the loss of seven STS-107 astronauts
aboard the Columbia
orbiter, which broke apart during reentry on Feb. 1, 2003. Wing damage
sustained from external tank foam debris at launch was later identified by
investigators as the accident's cause.
"To me,
professionally, it's just about getting the space shuttle program back to where
we were before the accident," Kelly said of the STS-121 spaceflight. "The fact
is we learned from Columbia and will hopefully operate [the shuttle] safer than
before."
Kelly, an
experienced pilot and U.S. Navy commander, said that while he is aware of the
risks posed by human spaceflight, he believes space exploration is a worthy
endeavor.
"I,
personally, would not take a lot of risk with something that has little benefit
to me or the country as a whole," he said. "And spaceflight has given our
country and the rest of the world a lot of technology we might not have had
otherwise."
More
return to flight tasks
Many of the
return to flight tasks during STS-121, such as external tank photography, will
be simple repeats of STS-114 experiments. But Atlantis' mission is expected to
take some tasks, especially orbital repair tests, to the next level.
"Our
flights work together," STS-121 commander Steven Lindsey said of the two
upcoming shuttle missions in an earlier interview. "The [return-to-flight]
objectives the STS-114 crew don't get to, we'll do...that's where we fit in."
Like
Discovery's STS-114 spaceflight, the STS-121 crew will test a 50-foot
(15-meter) orbital boom
designed to scan sensitive shuttle areas for damage using a laser and camera
sensor package. But while the STS-114 mission will test new instrument's
utility, the STS-121 crew will put one its spacewalking astronauts at the tip
of boom for additional tests.
STS-121
astronauts said the manned orbital boom test is slated for the mission's first
extravehicular activity (EVA) with the boom attached to the end of Atlantis'
robotic arm.
"We want to
test the feasibility of the structural loads," Lindsey said. "We need to
determine if the arm and boom together is a stable enough platform for orbital
repair...with a crewmember attached."
All three
of the STS-121 mission's 6.5-hour spacewalks, to be executed by Fossum and
Sellers, will test some facet of return-to-flight hardware, ranging from the
manned orbital boom test to repair
methods for Atlantis' protective thermal tiles and reinforced carbon carbon
(RCC) panels.
The second
spacewalk includes space station support activities, in which Fossum and
Sellers will attach spare parts to an exterior platform.
"In the
middle of that we'll test the CIPAA tile repair goo gun," Kelly said. "And EVA
3 will be dedicated to RCC repair tests."
Short for
Cure in Place Ablator Applicator, the backpack-mounted CIPAA device is designed
to mix and deliver a pink, ablative goop known as STA-54 into damaged shuttle
tiles.
During
STS-121's third spacewalk, RCC plug experiments and additional tests of a
black, heat-resistant substance called non-oxide adhesive experimental (NOAX)
are scheduled, Kelly added.
One
astronaut short
Unlike
Discovery's upcoming flight, which will rely on its entire seven-astronaut crew
to accomplish NASA's return-to-flight goals, the STS-121 crew must make do with
six astronauts.
The final
seat aboard Atlantis is currently reserved for European Space Agency (ESA)
astronaut Thomas Reiter, who will join
the two astronauts aboard the ISS for a long-duration mission instead of
returning home with the STS-121 crew.
"We've got
the same amount of work [as STS-114] with one less person," Kelly said, adding
that Reiter will help with some standard shuttle tasks in the three days before
ISS docking. "So we're going to be pretty busy, but we're ready."
In addition
to Kelly and Lindsey, STS-121's crew complement includes mission specialists
Lisa Nowak, Stephanie Wilson, Michael Fossum and Piers Sellers.
As shuttle
engineers ready Atlantis for launch - the orbiter and its crew must be prepared
to launch to the ISS within about 35 days after Discovery as part of an emergency
rescue plan - the STS-121 crew is preparing for a July 19th
check on their Italian-built Leonardo cargo
pod, Kelly said. A launch countdown
dress rehearsal is slated for mid-August, he added.
Space
station or bust
The
inevitable target of the STS-121 spaceflight is the orbiting space station,
where Expedition 11 commander Sergei Krikalev and flight engineer John Phillips
will be awaiting the arrival of both Reiter and the cargo aboard the Leonardo
module.
"The shuttle
is a capable workhorse not only to conduct a lot of science on its own, but
also to build the space station," Lindsey said.
NASA
grounded its three remaining shuttles after the Columbia accident, leaving only
Russian Soyuz spacecraft available to launch fresh crews to the ISS, and
Russian unmanned Progress vehicle to deliver vital food and other supplies.
Additional ISS construction has been delayed because many of the new trusses
and modules can only be launched via NASA's shuttles.
"I was originally
training for the STS-119 mission, with Commander Steven Lindsey and Michael
Fossum, and we were going to deliver a big piece of truss to the station,"
Kelly said. "We need the space shuttle to complete the space station."
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