HOUSTON - NASA's space shuttle Atlantis appears
to be in good health as it ferries six astronauts and a hefty payload towards the
International Space
Station (ISS), mission managers said Sunday.
"We have a
really good start to this very complex mission," John Shannon, head of Atlantis'
STS-115
Mission Management Team, said in a briefing here at NASA's Johnson Space Center. "The teams certainly have their game faces on."
Commanded
by veteran shuttle flyer Brent
Jett, Atlantis' six-astronaut crew launched
spaceward Saturday on an 11-day mission to outfit the ISS with a new
pair of 17.5-ton port-side trusses and unfurl two wing-like solar panels. The
space shuttle is scheduled to dock at the ISS at 6:46 a.m. EDT (1046 GMT) on
Monday. [Watch the docking LIVE via SPACE.com's NASA TV feed here.]
"It was fun
today, we got a big day tomorrow though," Jett told Mission Control at the end
of his orbital work day. "So we've got to get some rest."
Jett and
his STS-115 crewmates spent a busy day today scanning
their spacecraft for any signs of damage from foam insulation debris, which
fell from Atlantis' external tank late during launch well after they could have
been a hazard concern. But initial analysis of imagery from the shuttle's sensor-tipped
inspection boom has found no blemishes of concern, Shannon said.
"Atlantis looks
great," Shannon said, adding that aside from a few minor glitches the orbiter
is performing as expected.
A couple of
microswitches for automated motors that open Atlantis' shell-like payload bay doors
did not return proper signals, but are part of a redundant system with adequate
backups, Shannon said. Engineers also found that one of four hydraulic system
channels for the speed brake that pops out of Atlantis' tail during landing was
also acting up, but has three redundant channels, he added.
Pinpointing
foam loss
Image
analysts have been able to pinpoint where some foam insulation fell free from
Atlantis' external tank during launch using images taken by the shuttle's crew.
NASA official reported several instances of foam debris shedding during the
shuttle's 8.5-minute flight to orbit, but none at a time when they could pose a
threat to Atlantis' vital heat shield.
Shannon
said an early look shows that small pieces of foam fell from at least one
insulated bracket - known as an ice
frost ramp - while another bit originated near a similar structure. Ice
frost ramps are known to shed some foam during liftoff, and the new data
from STS-115's external tank will be rolled into a redesign of the ramps
already underway.
"I would
say the ice frost ramps performed exactly as we expected them to...there were no
surprises on this flight at all," Shannon said, adding that another bit of foam
fell from an area repaired later in the tank's preparations. "I think it will
provide some good data for the team that's doing the redesign."
Atlantis'
STS-115 mission marks NASA's second to fly with exposed ice frost ramps after
engineers removed a protective,
foam-covered wind screen after a large piece fell from the shuttle
Discovery's fuel tank during 2005's
STS-114 launch. Foam shedding during liftoff has been a prime focus for NASA
since 2003, when a chunk of insulation pierced the heat shield of Columbia during launch and critically damaged the spacecraft, which was later lost with its crew during reentry.
Post launch
heat shield inspections are now standard task in NASA's shuttle flight plan,
and the integrity of Atlantis' precious heat-resistant tiles and
carbon-composite panels has been deemed "not suspect", Shannon said.
Space
station beckons
Meanwhile, Atlantis
six-astronaut crew is bearing down on the ISS with its $371.8-million cargo of
solar arrays and the Port 3/Port 4 truss segments to be attached to the orbital
laboratory during the STS-115 mission.
Aboard the
space station, Expedition
13 commander Pavel
Vinogradov and flight engineers Jeffrey
Williams and Thomas Reiter
have readied their orbital home for its second visiting shuttle in three
months. NASA's Discovery orbiter ferried Reiter and fresh supplies to the ISS
in July's STS-121
mission.
"It's like preparing
your house for a bunch of relatives to come over people who are also going to
help you build the house while they're staying with you," said NASA's Kirk
Shireman, who chairs the ISS Mission Management Team for the STS-115
spaceflight.
Atlantis'
Monday docking will mark the delivery of the first major piece of ISS hardware since
late
2002. Construction of the orbital laboratory stalled as NASA recovered from
the Columbia accident.
"Tomorrow
is an extremely busy day and a very big day for the International Space Station,"
Shireman said.
NASA will
broadcast Monday's docking of the Atlantis shuttle at the ISS live, with
rendezvous operations beginning at 1:35 a.m. EDT (0535 GMT). You are invited to
follow the shuttle's progress using SPACE.com's NASA
TV feed by clicking
here.
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