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NASA's Space Shuttle Processing Status Report
Note: NASA's Kennedy Space Center issues Space Shuttle Processing Status Reports periodically and is the source for information regarding processing activities associated with the vehicles and payloads. If you are a member of the media and would like further information, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/news/index.html
Mission: STS-120 - 23rd International Space Station Flight - U.S. Node 2
Vehicle: Discovery (OV-103)
Location: Orbiter Processing Facility Bay 3
Launch Date: Targeted for Oct. 23, 2007
Launch Pad: 39A
Crew: Melroy, Zamka, Parazynski, Wheelock, Wilson, Nespoli and Tani
Inclination/Orbit Altitude: 51.6 degrees/122 nautical miles
In Orbiter Processing Facility bay No. 3 this week, forward and aft closeout work continues. The midbody closeouts are complete. Closeout of the crew cabin airlock is under way. The orbiter's main engines have been configured for rollover. Workers are installing hard covers on the orbiter's windows.
Stacking and closeout of the STS-120 solid rocket boosters in the Vehicle Assembly Building are finished. Mating of the external fuel tank to the boosters is targeted for Sept. 5, pending completion of foam repair work that is being done on the tank's liquid oxygen feedline support brackets.
Mission: STS-122 - 24th International Space Station Flight - Columbus Module
Vehicle: Atlantis (OV-104)
Location: Orbiter Processing Facility Bay 1
Launch Date: Targeted for Dec. 6, 2007
Launch Pad: 39A
Crew: Frick, Poindexter, Schlegel, Eyharts, Love, Melvin and Walheim
Inclination/Orbit Altitude: 51.6 degrees/122 nautical miles
In Orbiter Processing Facility bay No. 1, workers continue making modifications to the orbiter's engine cutoff sensor wiring. This work involves rerouting new wires and installing new resistors. Inspections of the main propulsion system flow liners are complete, and the drag chute door has been installed. Orbiter power system validation will begin next week after the vehicle is powered up.
Mission: STS-123 - 25th International Space Station Flight - Kibo Logistics Module, Dextre Robotics System
Vehicle: Endeavour (OV-105)
Location: Orbiter Processing Facility Bay 2
Launch Date: Targeted for Feb. 14, 2008
Launch Pad: 39A
Crew: Gorie, Johnson, Linnehan, Doi, Behnken, Foreman and Reisman
Inclination/Orbit Altitude: 51.6 degrees/122 nautical miles
In Orbiter Processing Facility bay No. 2, two tiles damaged during the flight of STS-118 have been removed for inspection and testing. The orbiter structure beneath the tile impact area has been inspected, and engineers have found no evidence of heat-related damage. Additionally, three-dimensional measurements of the damage site found no appreciable change in volume resulting from heat affects.
Also during inspections, two micro-meteorite impacts were observed on the payload bay door radiators. They did not damage any of the radiator Freon coolant loops and did not reach the outer skin of the payload bay doors. These impact areas can be repaired.
Spacehab, part of the STS-118 payload, was removed from Endeavour's payload bay and returned to the Space Station Processing Facility. Validation of the orbiter's main engine pneumatics and power systems is complete. Workers have completed post-flight thermography inspection of the reinforced carbon-carbon, or RCC, on the nosecap.
Thermography inspection of the left- and right-hand wing leading edge RCC panels is under way. Preparations are being made for the forward reaction control system functional test. Workers are deservicing the hypergolic fuel system today. The orbiter's three main engines will be removed next week.
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