06.23.06 Tracy Young Kennedy Space Center, Fla. 321-867-2468 STATUS REPORT: S-062306 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. This report does not necessarily reflect the chronological order of future space shuttle missions. 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-121 - 18th International Space Station Flight (ULF1.1) - Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Vehicle: Discovery (OV-103) Location: Launch Pad 39B Target Launch Date: July 1, 2006, 3:49 p.m. EDT Launch Pad: 39B Crew: Lindsey, Kelly, Sellers, Fossum, Nowak, Wilson and Reiter Inclination/Orbit Altitude: 51.6 degrees/122 nautical miles Aft closeouts of Discovery are nearing completion. Workers are preparing to install the engine compartment access doors. Aft confidence testing will take place today. This involves power up and testing of all aft systems, such as the main propulsion system circuits. Workers are preparing the orbiter for pressurization of the orbital maneuvering system and main propulsion system, scheduled for this weekend. Also planned for this weekend are micro inspections of the orbiter windows. All checkouts of the external tank and solid rocket boosters are complete and those components are closed for flight. Mission: STS-115 - 19th International Space Station Flight (12A) - P3/P4 Solar Arrays Vehicle: Atlantis (OV-104) Location: Orbiter Processing Facility Bay 1 Launch Date: No earlier than Aug. 28, 2006 Launch Pad: 39B Crew: Jett, Ferguson, Tanner, Burbank, MacLean and Stefanyshyn-Piper Inclination/Orbit Altitude: 51.6 degrees/122 nautical miles In Orbiter Processing Facility bay 1, the Crew Equipment Integrated Test with the crew of STS-115 is under way and will continue on Saturday. The test allows crew members to familiarize themselves with the vehicle, perform fit checks and verify hardware configurations that will be used on orbit. Closeout work in the aft and mid-body areas of Atlantis continues. Freon coolant loop No. 2 is serviced, and preparations for servicing water coolant loop No. 1 continue. The coolant loop is part of the system that cools the avionics bays in the mid-body and the aft of the orbiter. In high bay No. 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building, stacking of the STS-115 solid rocket boosters fuel segments is complete. The forward assembly sections are mated, and joint closeouts are in progress. Processing of the external fuel tank for STS-115, designated ET-118, continues in the Vehicle Assembly Building. Workers from the Michoud Assembly Facility in Louisiana are at KSC and have completed replacing the tank's liquid hydrogen engine cutoff sensors, or fuel gauges. This week, while workers repaired a minor nick on the side of the ET-118 tank facing away from the shuttle, they noticed a couple of beads of water come out of the foam. It appears the water got into the stringers of the intertank during Hurricane Katrina. An inspection is under way and is planned to be completed this weekend or early next week. The work is not expected to affect the launch-on-need support for STS-121 or STS-115. Endeavour (OV-105) Powered-up system testing continues on Endeavour in Orbiter Processing Facility bay 2 following an extensive modification period. Mass spectrometer leak checks are complete on the orbiter's oxygen lines. Work continues on the orbiter boom sensor system manipulator positioning mechanisms, which are the pedestals that support the boom. Installation of the reinforced carbon-carbon panels on the orbiter's wing leading edges is under way, as is functional testing of the docking mechanism. The engine No. 1 dome heat shield is being installed today. Elevon cove leak checks are complete. -end- To subscribe to the list, send a message to: ksc-subscribe@newsletters.nasa.gov To remove your address from the list, send a message to: ksc-unsubscribe@newsletters.nasa.gov
