STS-116

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Mission emblem
Mission emblem STS-116
Mission dates
Mission: STS-116
COSPAR-ID : 2006-055A
Crew: 7th
Begin: December 10, 2006, 01:47:35  UTC
Starting place: Kennedy Space Center , LC-39B
Space station: ISS
Coupling: December 11, 2006, 10:12 PM UTC
Decoupling: December 19, 2006, 22:10 UTC
Duration on the ISS: 7d 23h 58min
Landing: December 22, 2006, 10:32:00 p.m. UTC
Landing place: Kennedy Space Center, Lane 15
Flight duration: 12d 20h 44min 25s (until touchdown)
Earth orbits: 203
Track height: 350 km
Covered track: 8.5 million km
Payload: P5 lattice structure , SPACEHAB freight module
Team photo
v. l. No. Front: William Oefelein, Joan Higginbotham, Mark Polansky; Back: Robert Curbeam, Nicholas Patrick, Sunita Williams, Christer Fuglesang
v. l. No. Front: William Oefelein, Joan Higginbotham, Mark Polansky;
Back: Robert Curbeam, Nicholas Patrick, Sunita Williams, Christer Fuglesang
◄ Before / After ►
STS-115 STS-117

STS-116 ( english S pace T ransportation S ystem) is the mission designation for a flight of the US Space Shuttle Discovery (OV-103) of NASA . It was the 117th space shuttle mission and the 33rd flight of the space shuttle Discovery. This 20th flight by a US space shuttle to the International Space Station (ISS) was dedicated to the further expansion of the ISS and provided the P5 grid structure for it .

The launch took place on December 10, 2006 and was the first night launch since November 2002 ( STS-113 ). It was the last scheduled shuttle launch from Pad 39B before the launch pad was deactivated and has since been rebuilt for the new Space Launch System .

team

Shuttle crew

ISS crew outward flight

ISS expedition 14 / ISS expedition 15

ISS crew return flight

ISS expedition 13 / ISS expedition 14

Mission overview

The mission's main payload was the P5 lattice structure with a mass of 1.9 tons, which was mounted on the International Space Station during the first space exit. In addition, the station's energy systems were reconfigured during two additional space missions in order to restore the temporary cabling to the final state planned by the engineers. This enabled the solar cells of the P3 / P4 module installed in September 2006 to be connected to the station's own energy supply. During a fourth exit, which was also ordered, two astronauts repaired a jammed solar panel that did not retract automatically.

The space shuttle brought 2.4 tons of equipment (1.9 tons of it in the Spacehab ) to the station and took 1.7 tons of unneeded parts (completed experiments, equipment, garbage) back to earth. There was also a changing of the guard: the German spaceman Thomas Reiter was replaced by the American Sunita Williams and returned from orbit after spending six months on the ISS. With the five newcomers to spaceflight from STS-116, the number of people who have flown into space rose to 454.

Preparations

The outer tank and the boosters shortly after assembly

Shortly after the end of the last Discovery mission, STS-121 , the orbiter was examined for damage. 93 damage to the heat shield was found, eleven of which were larger than 2.5 centimeters. After opening the cargo hold doors and removing the Leonardo logistics module , further inspections were carried out on the space shuttle, extending from the tip to the main engines . These were dismantled for better investigation. In addition, in August 2006, a fuel cell , a heating element and auxiliary power system No. 3 were replaced.

P5 grid structure is being prepared for takeoff

In addition, some payload loading tests were carried out with the Spacehab freight module, which was loaded into the payload container on November 3, 2006 and driven to the launch pad four days later. In the assembly hall (VAB), after a few tests on October 13, the external tank , which had previously arrived on September 21 with a ship at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC), was installed between the two solid fuel rockets.

On November 1st, the orbiter was transferred to the VAB, in which it was connected to the external tank and the two boosters. The Discovery was finally rolled to launch pad 39B on November 9th. The 6.8-kilometer route was covered in eight and a half hours.

On November 17, 2006, a solid-state shuttle rocket of the current configuration was tested in a test stand of the manufacturer in Utah under the eyes of thousands of onlookers . The booster was fired at 01:00 UTC (18:00 local time on November 16). NASA thought this two-minute test run was necessary because the orbiter was supposed to make a night launch for the first time since the Columbia crash. The burn-off was documented with 31 cameras and 658 data channels in order to obtain comparison values ​​that could be compared with the images and measurements from STS-116.

At the end of November, the traditional two-day readiness check was held at KSC. Following this so-called flight readiness review, in which those responsible for the flight took part, all systems of the space shuttle were declared ready for take-off on November 29th. At the same time, the preliminary start date, December 8th, was confirmed.

Mission history

First attempt to start

31 hours after the crew of seven arrived in Florida, the countdown to this mission began on December 5, 2006 . Initially, NASA meteorologists assumed with a 70 percent probability that the weather conditions were acceptable for a start on the morning of December 8th. Then a cold front came up and the weather worsened.

On December 6th, two technical problems had meanwhile occupied the NASA officials: A test gave unusual results and raised the question of whether the correct segment connection adhesive was used with the two solid rocket rockets. In addition, a brief voltage spike had occurred in the power lines supplying the space shuttle with energy on the launch pad. Both incidents were examined and classified as harmless.

Bad weather prevents the first attempt to take off on December 8, 2006

Although NASA only gave a 40 percent chance for December 8th that the launch would not be endangered by low clouds and rain showers in the launch area, the countdown continued. However, the cloud cover remained closed, which is why the launch attempt had to be stopped at the last minute, because in an emergency during the ascent, poor visibility would have prevented the space shuttle from returning to the launch site. In the scheduled countdown hold at T-9 minutes, which will be used for a final check of the start criteria, it was decided to make another stop at T-5 minutes if the cloud conditions persist. During this additional holding phase, the weather did not improve and the end of the start window was reached. The take-off was canceled at 2:36 UTC.

Because the meteorologists of the space agency predicted a 90 percent probability of a restart abort for the next day, NASA set a delay of 48 hours. The weather forecast for December 10th was only slightly better.

begin

With a two-day delay, the Discovery set off for the second launch attempt on December 10, 2006 in the direction of the International Space Station. Although the weather forecast initially assumed favorable conditions only to 30 percent and the probability of rain was 20 percent, the countdown resumed the day before at 8:52 UTC at the T-11 hour mark.

Start of the discovery

Due to unspecified problems with the RSS access framework, this so-called rotating service structure could only be swiveled away from the orbiter ten hours later. This messed up the schedule and meant that refueling of the rust-brown external tank could also only be initiated with a two-hour delay. Due to the built-in buffer times, called holds, there was enough leeway in the countdown to be able to finish all work by the planned start time.

In addition to the weather at the launch site in Florida, the meteorological factors also had to be taken into account at the emergency landing sites in Spain and France. During the first attempt at take-off, the weather conditions at the three alternative locations were similar to those at the Kennedy Space Center. This time the situation in Europe looked better. But NASA was worried about strong cross winds at the Shuttle Landing Facility that were close to the permissible limit. Since the weather improved in the last hours before take-off and the NASA meteorologists finally even predicted 70 percent for good weather conditions, the Discovery was able to take off punctually at 01:47:35 UTC. It was the first night start in four years.

Inspection and coupling

The crew began their first full working day in space 14 hours after take-off. The check of the sensitive heat shield , which has been mandatory since STS-114, was on the agenda . With the help of the OBSS inspection arm , which is connected to the robot arm of the shuttle and has precision cameras, the sensitive areas of the orbiter were examined. The right wing, nose and left wing were examined one after the other. Initial evaluations by NASA engineers in Houston did not reveal any damage to the heat protection tiles.

Docking with the International Space Station (ISS) took place on December 11th at 10:12 UTC. Prior to this, shuttle commander Mark Polansky carried out the “somersault backward maneuver” in order to have the entire underside of the orbiter photographed by the ISS crew in order to uncover even the smallest possible damage to the heat shield.

Shortly after greeting the two crews, ground control ordered a change to the flight plan. An accelerometer in the starboard wing had indicated a possible impact around 10:30 UTC, twelve hours before docking while the shuttle crew was asleep. The astronauts therefore performed an additional visual inspection of the left wing leading edge using the ISS's robotic arm . The suspicion of damage was not confirmed. Only then could the main payload of the Discovery be lifted out of the cargo hatch with the shuttle gripper arm and the P5 connector transferred to the ISS arm.

Working on the ISS

The P5 element on the gripper arm

December 12th (fourth day of flight) was all about the first space exit (EVA) of this mission. US astronaut Bob Curbeam and his Swedish colleague Christer Fuglesang left the space station at 20:31 UTC via the American ISS airlock Quest . The preparation of this EVA included the “camping” practiced during the last shuttle flight, with the two astronauts spending the night in the airlock (details in the STS-115 article).

After the protective covering was removed from the P5 structure, the ISS gripper arm maneuvered the new component to its intended position, past the existing structure of the space station, which left little room for maneuver. Suni Williams and Joanie Higginbotham , the “operating personnel” of the robotic arm, could only act on call because they had no video image available. Then Fuglesang and Curbeam screwed the 1.9 ton aluminum adapter onto the P4 solar module . The two "dropouts" then connected the power and data connections between P4 and P5 and replaced a defective video camera on the S1 element . The mission ended after 6 hours and 36 minutes.

During the EVA, ground control informed the astronauts that the evaluation of the images taken of the heat shield had been completed and that there was no evidence of damage. Therefore, no additional examinations would have to be scheduled.

At the top right you can see the solar panel that jammed when driving in

The gradual retraction of a solar wing was on the program for December 13th. While Fuglesang and Curbeam rested from their first spacecraft mission, the other astronauts were asked to fold one half of the P6 solar panel . The module was brought to the ISS with STS-97 in December 2000 and has since provided the entire power for the space station. It was temporarily mounted on the Z1 element , with the solar cell surfaces being attached parallel to the "backbone" of the ISS. In this way, the P6 port panel blocks the path of the wings of the P4 module, which are attached at a 90-degree angle, if they have to be aligned with the sun.

The canted strips of the sun wing

The 35 meter long sun wing 4B should be folded in three steps from 18:30 UTC . Although it was not known how the material would behave after six years in space, NASA was faced with more problems than expected. The first step - folding 3 of the 31 strips together - went as planned. Then the one-meter-long “blind slats” tilted again and again. The control center rolled the wing out and in several times, but couldn't get the old sail to fully retract into the shipping canister. Houston broke off the project after six and a half hours and 44 attempts and left the sun wing 4B with 14 retracted strips half extended. According to NASA, this would have been enough to give the sun wing installed with the last shuttle mission in September enough space to pivot to align with the sun. Then the collector P4 delivered with STS-115 was moved for the first time and the cooling system was activated.

On the sixth day of the flight (December 14), Christer Fuglesang and Robert Curbeam made so good progress with the preparations for their second spacecraft that they were able to leave the airlock half an hour earlier than planned. At 19:41 UTC, the two astronauts floated out of Quest and began the complex task of rewiring the ISS power grid. Before that, parts of the space station had to be disconnected from the power supply.

Curbeam and Fuglesang first went to the S0 segment , which is located above the Destiny module . They had to remove 19 plugs with their bulky gloves and connect 17 of them to other sockets to make the desired circuits on power lines 2 and 3. The floor control was relieved when two of the four MBSU distributors in the S0 element could be activated without any problems after the “cable work” . It was the first time since the structure was launched in April 2002 that the MBSUs were turned on. Shortly afterwards, the engineers in Houston started up the associated cooling circuit to dissipate the heat produced by the MBSUs. This program point also worked flawlessly.

Curbeam (left) and Fuglesang move a CETA transport cart

The two “electricians” then moved the two ISS transport carts so that space is created on the starboard side of the space station for the S3 / S4 module delivered with the next shuttle mission . The two astronauts completed their workload so quickly that the second EVA of the mission, at exactly five hours, was 55 minutes shorter than planned.

Because of the unsuccessful attempt to roll up the port-side solar panel of the P6 module two days earlier, NASA's flight control had put the stubborn sun sail on the work program for December 15th (seventh day of flight). The tilted slats were brought to grips with slight shaking movements. Astronauts had previously observed that vibrations caused by daily fitness training continued in the filigree sun wings. What was previously seen as an undesirable side effect could now be used to advantage.

By activating the alignment motors of the solar cell boom, it was moved back and forth ten degrees around its longitudinal axis. This should smooth out the "creases" in the panel and straighten jammed tension wires. NASA engineers have now identified these as the main reason why the wing cannot be rolled up. The first wobble test was at 13:49 UTC, followed by more. When the hoped-for success did not materialize, Thomas Reiter became active and hopped on the IRED training device (Interim Resistive Exercise Device) around 18:00 UTC. And even though the German was in the Unity module , directly below panel 4B, he couldn't achieve any effect either.

After further attempts to let the wing wobble along its longitudinal axis, the ground control activated the pull-out mechanism of the wing to see whether the tilted solar cells could now be smoothed out. It appeared that a dozen slats were glued together and the experiment was stopped. Finally, it was decided that if there was time during the third exit, the astronauts would deal with the solar panel. NASA originally wanted to avoid integrating additional work into the planned EVAs because laying the power lines was exhausting enough. However, during the second exit, the astronauts had progressed so well that a decision was made.

The mission's third spacecraft mission completed the work on the space station's power system that had begun two days earlier on the eighth flight day (December 16). If the ISS power lines 2 and 3 were reconfigured, this time Robert Curbeam and Sunita Williams put lines 1 and 4 into operation. To do this, the astronauts switched off parts of the station two hours before the EVA began.

Williams (above) and Curbeam inspect the stubborn panel

At 19:25 UTC, Curbeam left the Quest airlock, followed by Williams, who floated out feet first. As with the first part of the energy network expansion, the astronauts connected the MBSUs to the solar panels on the S0 segment in just under two hours. Immediately afterwards, the deactivated areas of the ISS and the cooling circuit were activated. The next task was to mount a micrometeorite shield on the third coupling adapter . This protection, known as the Service Module Debris Panel (SMDP), was attached to a support structure in the hold of the Discovery. The ISS residents should said because of his appearance "Christmas tree" SMDP at a later spacewalk to its final location on the Russian module Zvezda install.

Again Williams and Curbeam worked so quickly that they were able to try to straighten the jammed solar panel 4B in the last three hours of getting out. Around three dozen times they hit the solar cell container and wobbled on the mast of the sail. Folding was then attempted lamellar, but only succeeded with six strips before the field mission ended at 2:56 UTC the next morning. At 7 hours and 31 minutes, the mission lasted almost an hour and a half longer than expected.

During the exit, NASA decided to include a fourth EVA in the flight plan two days later. The only task of the Curbeam-Fuglesang duo was to completely fold the panel. At the same time, the landing of the Discovery was postponed by 24 hours.

After a day that was filled with arranging repair procedures, repacking the last items of equipment and preparing for the mission's last spacecraft, Robert Curbeam and Christer Fuglesang began the disembarkation on December 18 (tenth day of flight) at 19:00 UTC. With the exception of two men from the crew of ISS Expedition 14 , the flight engineers Michail Tjurin and Thomas Reiter, all astronauts were involved in the “rescue operation”: Sunita Williams and Joan Higginbotham operated the ISS gripper arm, Michael López-Alegría and Nicholas Patrick controlled it Motors of the wing, William Oefelein paid attention to the schedule and Mark Polansky documented what was happening.

Curbeam straightens the slats

Curbeam worked from the ISS robotic arm that had previously been brought into the "operating area". After a detailed visual inspection, during which he found that the spacers for the guide ropes were showing signs of wear, he tried to clean these spacers with an insulated scraper, which is actually on board for the repair of heat protection tiles. An hour later he finished the first cleanup. Then Patrick and López-Alegría activated the roll motor to retract the panel 4B around a slat. Fuglesang shook the sail to help prevent the wires from getting tangled. Then this procedure was repeated: Curbeam cleaned, Fuglesang wobbled, then both moved the panel or loosened the wires.

At 23:54 UTC, after four and a half hours, they did it - all 31 slats were folded in the box. Finally, a wire protruded from the container, which had not rolled up correctly. Curbeam was also able to solve this problem. He and Fuglesang finished the EVA after a total of 6 hours and 38 minutes. (The other wing should be retracted on the next shuttle flight. The plan was to move the solar module to its final position on the outermost port side of the ISS and to unfold the two wings again in autumn 2007.)

return

The ISS after disconnecting the Discovery: Above you can see the retracted solar panel

On the eleventh mission day (December 19) the two crews said goodbye after a week of difficult work and closed the hatches at 19:42 UTC. After the last checks, the Discovery undocked from the space station after exactly eight days at 22:10 UTC. For the next six months it was the home of the American Suni Williams, who arrived on the US space shuttle. In return, the German Thomas Reiter, who had been researching on board the ISS since July, returned to Earth. Reiter flew home as a "half NASA astronaut", because when he left ISS commander Mike López-Alegría made him an honorary member of the US astronaut corps.

The last inspection of the Discovery's heat shield was on the program for December 20 (12th day of flight), although NASA had considered doing without this because of the flight extension. At around 17:00 UTC, the several-hour procedure for the detailed inspection of the heat protection tiles began. As at the beginning of the mission, the OBSS inspection arm sequentially scanned the starboard wing, the orbiter nose and the left wing. No evidence of damage was found.

The last item on the agenda of the day was the launching of two mini-volunteers, which were housed on a structure in the cargo hold of the space shuttle: MEPSI (MicroElectromechanical system-based PicoSat Inspector) was launched on December 21st at 0:19 UTC and consists of two connected by a rope connected cube-shaped small satellites - MEPSI 2A and 2B, side length about ten centimeters - of a total of 3.5 kilograms ( COSPAR designation 2006-055B). It should prove that it can be used for cheap maintenance and monitoring of other satellites.

One and a half hours later, at 1:58 UTC, RAFT (RAdar Fence Transponder) followed. This is an amateur radio satellite (Navy OSCAR 60), which was developed by students at the US Naval Academy (2006-055C). At the same time, MARScom ( Military Affiliate Radio System communications) was suspended (2006-055D). These two satellites also have a cube shape - sides about 13 centimeters - and a total mass of 7 kilograms.

In addition to the preparations for landing, another double satellite was launched on December 21. The launch took place at 18:23 UTC from a cannon-shaped device via a spring mechanism. ANDE (Atmospheric Neutral Density Experiment) was developed by the US marine research laboratory and consists of two small satellites: ANDE-FCal (Fence CALibration, OSCAR 62, 2006-055J) with a mass of 75 kilograms and ANDE-MAA (Mock ANDE Active, OSCAR 61, 2006-055F) with 50 kilograms are intended to determine the atmospheric density and composition in low-altitude orbits.

The Discovery lands in Florida

Due to the 24-hour postponement of the landing, NASA only had one reserve day, December 23. Since the attempt was made to land the day before, all three CONUS landing sites (CONtinental United States) were made ready: the Kennedy Space Center in Florida , Edwards Air Force Base in California and White Sands in New Mexico . The weather conditions for the west (cross wind) and east coast (rain) looked so bad that they even called in White Sands, where a shuttle last landed 24 years ago. And although NASA meteorologists only forecast favorable weather for New Mexico, flight control kept all options open and only decided at the last moment which landing site should be used.

On December 22nd, rain and low clouds meant that the first landing opportunity planned for 20:56 UTC on the 14th mission day for Florida had to be canceled two hours beforehand. After a “lap of honor” by Discovery, the rain front had moved south of KSC and NASA gave the green light for a landing. The re-entry was initiated at 21:27 UTC with the ignition of the brake engines ( deorbit burn ). The landing took place as planned at 22:32:00 UTC, when the space shuttle touched down with the main landing gear on runway 15 of the KSC at sunset. After the backup work, the Discovery was driven to the Orbiter Processing Facility a few hours later in preparation for its next space flight ( STS-120 ).

Conclusion

This mission is one of the most complex in the history of manned space travel. During the mission, the expansion of the ISS was taken an important step forward by connecting the new P3 / 4 awnings. The problems that arose when pulling in the P6 solar panel could be solved by an additional exit of the American Curbeam and the Swede Fuglesang in cooperation with the flight control in Houston. It was the first time that a spaceman had ventured into free space four times and a European three times during a space shuttle mission. With the STS-116, Thomas Reiter and Christer Fuglesang, two ESA astronauts, flew back to Earth.

See also

Web links

Commons : STS-116  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

swell

  1. ↑ NASA: Space Shuttle Processing Status Report , July 17, 2006 (English)
  2. ↑ NASA: Space Shuttle Processing Status Report , October 13, 2006 (English)
  3. ↑ NASA: NASA's Space Shuttle Discovery Rolls to Vehicle Assembly Building , November 1, 2006 (English)
  4. ↑ NASA: Rocket Motor Test Helps NASA's Shuttle and Ares I November 17, 2006 (English)
  5. ↑ NASA: NASA Gives 'Go' for Space Shuttle Discovery Launch November 29, 2006 (English)
  6. ↑ Florida Today Blog: Discovery countdown under way at KSC ( Memento of April 30, 2015 in the Internet Archive ), December 4, 2006 (English)
  7. ↑ Houston Chronicle: Forecast for launch turns partly cloudy , December 6, 2006 (English)
  8. ↑ NASA will try to launch Saturday. Florida Today, December 7, 2006
  9. ↑ NASA: NASA Reschedules Space Shuttle Launch for Saturday , December 7, 2006 (English)
  10. ↑ NASA: NASA's Shuttle Discovery Begins Mission to the Space Station , December 9, 2006 (English)
  11. ↑ Houston Chronicle: Discovery shows no signs of damage , December 11, 2006 (English)
  12. ↑ NASA: STS-116 MCC Status Report # 05 , December 11, 2006 (English)
  13. ↑ NASA: STS-116 MCC Status Report # 07 , December 12, 2006 (English)
  14. ↑ NASA: STS-116 MCC Status Report # 09 , December 13, 2006 (English)
  15. ↑ NASA: STS-116 MCC Status Report # 11 , December 14, 2006 (English)
  16. ↑ Astronauts to finish rewiring. Florida Today, December 16, 2006
  17. ↑ NASA: STS-116 MCC Status Report # 15 , December 16, 2006 (English)
  18. ↑ NASA: STS-116 MCC Status Report # 19 , December 18, 2006 (English)
  19. ↑ NASA: STS-116 MCC Status Report # 21 , December 19, 2006 (English)
  20. ↑ NASA: STS-116 MCC Status Report # 23 , December 20, 2006 (English)
  21. ↑ NASA: STS-116 MCC Status Report # 25 , December 21, 2006 (English)
  22. ↑ NASA: STS-116 MCC Status Report # 27 , December 22, 2006 (English)
This article was added to the list of excellent articles on January 30, 2007 in this version .