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Recovering 3.5 years after the tragedy...
2006: The American Shuttle Fleet Returns
Flight details: 2003 flight » 2005 flight » 2006 flights » 2007 flights »
Discovery flight STS-121. A year after its previous flight, a new crew took shuttle Discovery to space in flight STS-121 on July 4, 2006, from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, to the International Space Station.
Discovery flight STS-116 lit up the night sky on December 10, 2006, UTC, as it took off for a 12-day mission to the international space station.
It was the first nighttime shuttle launch in four years. NASA must launch shuttles at night to finish construction of the ISS by 2010.
It also was the third shuttle flight of 2006, the fourth since the Columbia disaster in 2003, the 33rd flight for shuttle Discovery, and the 117th shuttle flight.
During their 12-day trip, the crew members are continuing construction of the orbiting laboratory by adding a two-ton segment to its massive integrated truss structure and rewiring the ISS.
Discovery is expected to return to Earth at 3:36 p.m. EST on Thursday, December 21, 2006.
NASA wants the shuttle back on the ground by New Year's Eve because, while in flight, its computers can't change from day 365 of the old year to day one of the new year. If Discovery were to be still in space on New Year's Eve, it would have to be be docked at the space station and not flying independently.
STS-121 was NASA's first manned launch on a July 4th Independence Day holiday and its second shuttle flight since the Columbia disaster on February 1, 2003. STS-121 also was the 115th space shuttle flight and the 32nd flight of Discovery.
Landing. Discovery and its crew returned to Earth on July 17, 2006, after a flight of 12 days 18 hours 38 minutes, a 5.3 million-mile journey in space. STS-121 succeeded in testing shuttle safety improvements, repairing a rail car on the outside of the ISS and producing never-before-seen, high-resolution images of the shuttle during and after launch.
Discovery's landing descent began above the Indian Ocean. The shuttle then passed over Guatemala, Mexico, the Gulf of Mexico and the southwest Florida coast on the way to landing at Kennedy Space Center.
Shuttle Columbia had flown over the West Coast and then had broken up 203,000 feet over Texas that February morning in 2003 as it descended from orbit into the atmosphere toward a landing at Kennedy Space Center. Seven astronauts aboard the shuttle were lost in the disaster.
The STS-121 mission completed NASA's return-to-flight objectives begun in July 2005 on the STS-114 mission. They included flying an improved external tank, testing on-orbit shuttle repair procedures, preparing the space station for additional assembly in the future, and increasing the number of people living on the station to three.
SEE SIDEBAR: STS-121 Fixes »
Station crew ferry. The shuttle delivered European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Reiter to the station to join the Expedition 13 crew.
STS-121 Spacewalks Shuttle astronauts Piers Sellers and Mike Fossum took three spacewalks.
They tested the use of the shuttle's 50-foot robotic arm boom extension as a work platform. They also began maintenance of the station's Mobile Transporter (MT) rail car by replacing a cable cutter unit to allow the station's mobile robotic system. The rail car is used to move a platform containing the station's robotic arm along the truss of the space station complex.
They removed and replaced a detached rail car cable, which previously had been cut inadvertently, and its reel assembly. The cable provides power as well as command, data and video connections to the rail car. They also installed a spare part for the station's thermal control system for future use.
The third spacewalk went ahead only after ground controllers determined there was enough electrical power to add another day to the shuttle flight. The astronauts tested techniques for inspecting and repairing the reinforced carbon-carbon segments that protect the shuttle's nose cone and leading edge of the wings.
Reiter joined Russian cosmonaut Pavel Vinogradov and American astronaut Jeff Williams on the Expedition 13 crew. Reiter's arrival marked the first time since May 2003 that the station crew had three members.
The shuttle astronauts completed three spacewalks, one to restore the station's rail car to full capability and two to develop shuttle repair techniques.
Safety testing. The STS-121 crew members delivered more than 28,000 lbs. of equipment and supplies and made repairs on the station.
They continued testing equipment and procedures designed to increase the safety of space shuttles during missions to the space station.
STS-121 was the most photographed shuttle mission ever, with more than 100 high definition, digital, video and film cameras documenting the launch and climb to orbit. Data from those images helped ground controllers assess whether the orbiter suffered any damage during launch that risked to Discovery's return to Earth.
Inspections of the orbiter's heat shield with a 50-foot-long Orbiter Boom Sensor System (OBSS) were carried out in space before Discovery arrived at the station and again near the end of the mission, on the day before and the day of undocking from the space station.
Italy's Leonardo. Discovery ferried up the Italian-built Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM) Leonardo, as well as more than two tons of equipment and supplies aboard.
It was the fourth trip to the station for Leonardo, the first of three Italian-built MPLMs.
Equipment and supplies no longer needed on the station was moved to Leonardo before it was unberthed on Flight Day 10 and put back into Discovery's cargo bay for return to Earth.
Third crewman. Discovery transported a third crewmember to the station, European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Reiter. When Discovery departed, Reiter remained on the station to work with the station crew for six months under a contract between ESA and the Russian Federal Space Agency.
STS-121 Fixes Numerous repairs and updates were made to the shuttle in the year since its last flight:
- Stronger cabin windows were installed.
- New tires and upgraded landing gear were mounted on Discovery.
- More than 5,000 fillers were replaced in the gaps between the shuttle's heat-resistant tiles.
- Additional sensors were attached to monitor launch temperatures, acceleration and other flight stresses.
- Electric heaters were rewired.
- Foam shields over metal fuel tank clips were extended, while two long wedges of foam insulation were cut from the external fuel tank.
- Loudspeakers blared noise to scare away birds.
- Additional radar systems supplemented the digital tracking cameras and video recorders on land and airborne.
His presence created the first three-person crew aboard the ISS since the Expedition 6 crew returned to Earth May 4, 2003.
Previously, without shuttles to ferry equipment to the station after the Columbia accident, only two people could be supported onboard until the necessary provisions were in place. Now, with shuttles back in flight, three crew members can be supported.
Discovery crew. Steve Lindsey, an Air Force colonel, was commander of Discovery. He made his fourth spaceflight, and second as commander.
The pilot was Navy Cmdr. Mark Kelly, who made his second flight.
Others aboard, in addition to Reiter, were mission specialists Mike Fossum, Stephanie Wilson, Piers Sellers and Navy Cmdr. Lisa Nowak. STS-121 was the first spaceflight for Fossum, Wilson and Nowak. Sellers made his second spaceflight.
Naming Discovery. Shuttle Discovery has sailed through Outer Space 32 times since it first was launched in 1984. The spaceship was named after two historic ocean sailing ships – one in which English sea explorer and navigator Henry Hudson in 1610-1611 attempted to search for a northwest passage between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and instead discovered Hudson Bay, and another ship in which British explorer, navigator and cartographer Capt. James Cook voyaged the South Pacific in the 1770s. He discovered the Hawaiian Islands and explored southern Alaska and western Canada. He also discovered the east coast of Australia and circumnavigated Newfoundland and New Zealand.
In addition, two British Royal Geographical Society ships also carried the name Discovery on expeditions to the North Pole and the Antarctic.
A river, a strait, and the North American bay also are named for Hudson. Also named for Cook were the first higher education institution in North Queensland, Australia – James Cook University – and numerous other institutions, landmarks and places.
Returning to space. After shuttle Columbia broke up over Texas on February 1, 2003, killing seven astronauts, the fleet of three remaining shuttles – Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour – were grounded for more than two years.
Discovery flight STS-114. After more than two years of no shuttle flights, Discovery lifted America's hopes and dreams into space again on July 26, 2005 – the first shuttle flight after the loss of Columbia in 2003.
That flight was STS-114, the 114th shuttle flight and the 31st flight for Discovery. It was the 17th shuttle flight to the International Space Station and the 145th U.S. human space flight.
Unfortunately, NASA was forced to ground the shuttle fleet the next day because two large pieces of insulating foam had fallen away from Discovery's external fuel tank during lift-off from Kennedy Space Center. Discovery continued its mission in space and landed on August 9.
A review of videotapes after the launch showed powerful blast-off vibrations had ripped at least two and possibly four pieces of foam insulation from the external fuel tank. The largest piece was estimated to be 24 to 33 inches long, 10 to 14 inches wide, and from 2.5 to 8 inches thick. That's slightly smaller than the chunk of foam that had damaged Columbia's wing in 2003.
Before the Columbia accident in 2003, a total of 28 shuttle flights had been planned to complete the space station. Upon returning the shuttle fleet to flight in 2005, NASA reduced expectations to sending only 15-20 missions to the station before retiring the shuttle fleet in 2010. When it became necessary to work on the fleet again after Discovery STS-114, the future flight schedule became murky.
SEE 2005 FLIGHT: STS-114 Mission »
2006 flights. NASA launched three space shuttle missions in 2006:
Discovery flight STS-121. A year after its previous flight, Discovery returned America to space again when flight STS-121 took off from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, bound for the International Space Station on July 4, 2006.
During their flight and visit at the space station, the astronauts continued the testing of equipment and procedures designed to increase the safety of space shuttles during missions to the space station. Discovery returned to Earth on July 17, 2006.
Atlantis flight STS-115. More than a year after the successful Discovery STS-114 flight, NASA launched shuttle Atlantis on flight STS-115 on September 9, 2006, to deliver additional truss segments to the space station. It was the 19th shuttle flight to the space station. Atlantis had not flown since October 2002.
The Atlantis crew – commander Brent Jett, pilot Chris Ferguson and mission specialists Dan Burbank, Heide Stefanyshyn-Piper, Joe Tanner and Steve MacLean, a Canadian Space Agency astronaut – delivered and installed the so-called P3/P4 truss, which is a port-side girder with solar arrays that will double the International Space Station's power capability.
Port is the left side of a ship, aircraft or spacecraft to someone facing the bow or nose of the vessel. Starboard is the right side.
Discovery flight STS-116. Discovery lit up the night sky as flight STS-116 took off for the international space station on December 10, 2006, UTC.
It was the first nighttime shuttle launch in four years. It also was the third shuttle flight of 2006, the fourth since the Columbia disaster in 2003, the 33rd flight for shuttle Discovery, the 117th shuttle flight, and the 20th shuttle flight to the space station.
The Discovery crew delivered a third port-side truss, know as P5, and a SPACEHAB module. During their 12-day trip, the crew members continued construction of the orbiting laboratory by adding the two-ton segment to its massive integrated truss structure and rewiring the ISS.
2007 flights. NASA has scheduled several flights in 2007:
Proposed shuttle flights Atlantis STS-117 March 2007 Endeavour STS-118 June 2007 Atlantis STS-120 September 2007 Discovery STS-122 October 2007 Endeavour STS-123 December 2007
Atlantis flight STS-117. Atlantis is scheduled for mission STS-117 early in 2007. During the 21st flight to the ISS, the crew will deliver a second starboard-side truss – the so-called S3/S4 segment – and a third set of solar arrays and batteries.
Endeavour flight STS-118. Endeavour is scheduled for mission STS-118 in summer 2007. The 22nd mission to the ISS will deliver the so-called S5 Truss.
Atlantis flight STS-120. Atlantis is scheduled for mission STS-120 in summer 2007. The 23rd mission to the ISS will deliver the U.S. Node 2.
Discovery flight STS-122. Discovery is scheduled for mission STS-122 in fall 2007. The 24th mission to the ISS will deliver the Columbus European Laboratory Module.
Endeavour flight STS-123. Endeavour is scheduled for mission STS-123 in fall 2007. The 25th mission to the ISS will deliver the pressurized section of the Kibo Japanese Experiment Logistics Module.
Learn more: STS-114 STS-121 STS-115 STS-116 STS-117 STS-118 The Tragedy of Space Shuttle Columbia (STO) » Space Shuttle Milestones (CNN) » Shuttle recovery flights: Index 2003 » 2005 » 2006 » NASA space shuttle main page » NASA space station main page »
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