NASA Sets Launch
Dates For Remaining Space Shuttle Missions
(7 July 2008) Following a detailed,
integrated assessment, NASA selected target launch dates for the remaining
eight space shuttle missions on the current manifest in 2009 and
2010.
The manifest includes one flight to the Hubble Space
Telescope, seven assembly flights to the International Space Station, and two
station contingency flights, planned to be completed before the end of fiscal
year 2010. The agency previously selected Oct. 8 and Nov. 10 as launch dates
for Atlantis' STS-125 mission to service Hubble and Endeavour's STS-126 / ULF-2
mission to supply the space station and service both Solar Alpha Rotary Joints
on the port and starboard end of its truss backbone that supports equipment and
solar arrays.
The approved target dates are subject to change based on
processing and other launch vehicle schedules. They reflect the agency's
commitment to complete assembly of the station and to retire the shuttle fleet
as transition continues to the new launch vehicles, including Ares and
Orion.
Shuttle Flights In 2009
Feb. 12 -- Discovery
(STS-119 / 15A) will kick off a five-flight 2009 with its 36th mission to
deliver the final pair of U.S. solar arrays to be installed on the starboard
end of the station's truss. The truss serves as the backbone support for
external equipment and spare components, including the Mobile Base System. Lee
Archambault will command the 14-day flight that will include four planned
spacewalks. Joining him will be pilot Tony Antonelli and mission specialists
John Phillips, Steve Swanson, Joseph Acaba, Richard Arnold and Japan Aerospace
Exploration Agency astronaut Koichi Wakata. Wakata will replace Sandy Magnus on
the station as a flight engineer. STS-119 marks the 28th shuttle flight to the
station.
May 15 -- Endeavour (STS-127 / 2JA) sets sail on its 23rd
mission with the Japanese Kibo Laboratory's Exposed Facility and Experiment
Logistics Module Exposed Section, the final permanent components of the Japan
Aerospace Exploration Agency's contribution to the station program. During the
15-day mission, Endeavour's crew will perform five spacewalks and deliver six
new batteries for the P6 truss, a spare drive unit for the Mobile Transporter
and a spare boom assembly for the Ku-band antenna. Mark Polansky will be
Endeavour's commander with Doug Hurley as pilot. Mission specialists will be
Christopher Cassidy, Tom Marshburn, Dave Wolf, Tim Kopra and Canadian Space
Agency astronaut Julie Payette. Kopra will become a station flight engineer
replacing Koichi Wakata, who will return home with the STS-127 crew. It will be
the 29th shuttle flight to the station.
July 30 -- Atlantis (STS-128 /
17A) launches on its 31st flight, an 11-day mission carrying science and
storage racks to the station. In the payload bay will be a Multi-Purpose
Logistics Module holding science and storage racks. Three spacewalks are
planned to remove and replace a materials processing experiment outside the
European Space Agency's Columbus module and return an empty ammonia tank
assembly. The mission includes the rotation of astronaut Nicole Stott for Tim
Kopra, who will return to Earth with the shuttle crew. The remaining crew
members have yet to be named. STS-128 marks the 30th shuttle flight dedicated
to station assembly and outfitting.
Oct. 15 -- Discovery's (STS-129 /
ULF-3) 37th mission will focus on staging spare components outside the station.
The 15-day flight includes at least three spacewalks. The payload bay will
carry two large External Logistics Carriers holding two spare gyroscopes, two
nitrogen tank assemblies, two pump modules, an ammonia tank assembly, a spare
latching end effector for the station's robotic arm, a spare trailing umbilical
system for the Mobile Transporter and a high-pressure gas tank. Canadian Space
Agency astronaut Bob Thirsk will return home aboard Discovery with its crew,
which has yet to be named. STS-129 marks the 31st shuttle mission devoted to
station assembly.
Dec. 10 -- Endeavour (STS-130 / 20A) will close 2009
with its 24th mission to deliver the final connecting node, Node 3, and the
Cupola, a robotic control station with six windows around its sides and another
in the centre that provides a 360-degree view around the station. At least
three spacewalks are planned during the 11-day mission. The 32nd station
assembly mission by a shuttle does not yet have a crew named.
Shuttle
Flights In 2010
Feb. 11 -- Atlantis (STS-131 / 19A) begins its 32nd
mission as the first flight in 2010, carrying a Multi-Purpose Logistics Module
filled with science racks that will be transferred to laboratories of the
station. The 11-day mission will include at least three spacewalks to attach a
spare ammonia tank assembly outside the station and return a European
experiment that has been outside the Columbus module. It will be the 33rd
shuttle mission to the station. The crew has yet to be named.
April 8 --
Discovery's (STS-132 / ULF-4) 38th mission will carry an integrated cargo
carrier to deliver maintenance and assembly hardware, including spare parts for
space station systems. In addition, the second in a series of new pressurised
components for Russia, a Mini Research Module, will be permanently attached to
the bottom port of the Zarya module. The Russian module also will carry U.S.
pressurised cargo. The first Russian Mini Research Module to go to the station
is scheduled to launch on a Russian rocket in the summer of
2009.
Additionally, at least three spacewalks are planned to stage spare
components outside the station, including six spare batteries, a boom assembly
for the Ku-band antenna and spares for the Canadian Dextre robotic arm
extension. A radiator, airlock and European robotic arm for the Russian
Multi-purpose Laboratory Module also are payloads on the flight. The laboratory
module is scheduled for launch on a Russian rocket in 2011. The mission marks
the 34th mission to the station. The STS-132 crew has yet to be
named.
May 31 -- Endeavour's (STS-133 / ULF-5) 25th mission will carry
critical spare components that will be placed on the outside of the station.
Those will include two S-band communications antennas, a high-pressure gas
tank, additional spare parts for Dextre and micrometeoroid debris shields. At
least three spacewalks are planned to be carried out by the crew, which has yet
to be named. The 15-day mission will be the 35th to the
station.
(source: NASA)
