NASA’s Space Shuttle Status Report: 12-2-2005

Mission: STS-121 - 18th ISS Flight (ULF1.1) - Multi-Purpose Logistics
Module

Vehicle: Discovery (OV-103)
Location: Orbiter Processing Facility Bay 3

Launch Date: No earlier than May 2006
Launch Pad: 39B
Crew: Lindsey, Kelly, Sellers, Fossum, Nowak, Wilson and Reiter
Inclination/Orbit Altitude: 51.6 degrees/122 nautical miles

Technicians continue to process Discovery for NASA's second return-to-flight test mission, STS-121. Powered-up system testing and
drag chute door installation continue. Once the cure on the door is
complete, it will be opened to verify proper cure, and the flight
pins will be installed.

The orbiter boom sensor system is in the transfer aisle of the
processing facility awaiting installation. Final work will be
completed soon on the manipulator positioning mechanism, the
pedestals that hold the boom in place in the payload bay, and the
boom will be installed next week.

Mission: STS-115 - 19th ISS Flight (12A) - P3/P4 Solar Arrays

Vehicle: Atlantis (OV-104)
Location: Orbiter Processing Facility Bay 1

Launch Date: TBD
Launch Pad: 39B
Crew: Jett, Ferguson, Tanner, Burbank, MacLean and Stefanyshyn-Piper
Inclination/Orbit Altitude: 51.6 degrees/122 nautical miles

Atlantis processing continues on schedule. Thermal protection system
gap-filler pull tests are complete. Work will begin soon to replace
selected gap fillers identified during pull tests and analysis. This
work is being performed due to two gap fillers that protruded from
the underside of Discovery during STS-114. New installation
procedures are being developed to ensure the gap fillers stay in
place and do not pose a hazard during re-entry.

Preparations to install the forward reaction control system continue.
The cavity closeout photos were completed Thursday, and the
installation of the system is scheduled for early next week. This
control system provides the thrust for attitude maneuvers, pitch, yaw
and roll, and for small velocity changes along the orbiter axis.

Endeavour (OV-105)

Body-flap power drive-unit installation continues in Orbiter
Processing Facility Bay 2, with work focused on safety wire and
insulation. The main landing gear was cycled this week to support
environmental seal compression testing on compartment doors. The
vehicle will remain powered down for work on the new modification,
called the "station to shuttle power transfer system." The system
will allow the shuttle to remain docked to the station longer.

External Tank

At NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, engineers continue
evaluating the causes of the foam loss during Discovery's launch in
July. Detailed inspections of the Protuberance Air Load ramp of
external tank #120 show at least one crack that extends all the way
to the tank's base foam layer. Evaluation continues on the cracks,
their cause and the possibility of flying STS-121 without the ramp.

Preliminary analysis indicates it is aerodynamically feasible, but
additional wind-tunnel testing will be scheduled to ensure flight
integrity. Work continues to meet a May launch window. If additional
testing shows the ramp is needed, external tank processing will be
stopped until requirements are assessed.

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