STS-129

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Mission emblem
Mission emblem
Mission dates
Mission: STS-129
COSPAR-ID : 2009-062A
Crew: 6 take off
7 land
Begin: November 16, 2009 19:28:10 UTC
Starting place: Kennedy Space Center , LC-39A
Space station: ISS
Coupling: November 18, 2009, 15:51 UTC
Decoupling: November 25, 2009, 09:53 UTC
Duration on the ISS: 6 d, 17 h, 2 min
Number of EVA : 3
Landing: November 27, 2009 14:44:23 UTC
Landing place: Kennedy Space Center
Flight duration: 10 d, 19 h, 16 m, 13 s
Earth orbits: 171
Track height: 360 km
Covered track: 7.2 million km
Payload: EXPRESS Logistics Carrier 1 + 2
Team photo
v.  l.  No.  Leland Melvin, Charles Hobaugh, Michael Foreman, Robert Satcher, Barry Wilmore, Randy Bresnik
v. l. No. Leland Melvin, Charles Hobaugh, Michael Foreman, Robert Satcher, Barry Wilmore, Randy Bresnik
◄ Before / After ►
STS-128 STS-130

STS-129 ( english S pace T ransportation S ystem) is the mission designation for a flight of the US Space Shuttle Atlantis (OV-104) of NASA . The launch took place on November 16, 2009 at 19:28 UTC . It was the 129th space shuttle mission and the 31st flight of the space shuttle Atlantis.

The STS-129 mission brought supplies, spare parts and experiments to the International Space Station with the help of EXPRESS Logistics Carriers (ELC) 1 and 2 . During their mission, the astronauts installed the two ELCs and work performed at three spacewalks upcoming maintenance on the station.

team

The crew was announced on September 30, 2008.

ISS crew return flight

ISS expedition 20

This was the last flight on which a crew member of the ISS was picked up by a space shuttle. After that, the team exchange was carried out exclusively via Soyuz spaceships .

Preparations

The Atlantis after the rollout on October 14, 2009

After returning from the Hubble STS-125 repair mission , the Space Shuttle Atlantis was brought back to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft from Edwards Air Force Base in California . Routine inspections and repairs to the space shuttle took place in the Orbiter Processing Facility .

It turned out that during the last mission of the Atlantis, a knob of a work light had accidentally gotten between the cockpit panel and cockpit window no. 5 and later got stuck there due to the increase in external pressure before landing. The pommel was only removed after the crew cabin was pressurized. If the pane had cracked, the repair would have taken six months, and even decommissioning the Atlantis would have been an option.

The stacking of the solid fuel boosters began in March 2009, and in September the external tank was connected to the boosters. On October 6, the shuttle was transferred to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB), where it was connected to the external tank two days later. The entire launch structure with the Atlantis was driven to the launch pad on October 14th during the so-called rollout . The crew flew to Florida on October 19 for the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test . Because of the upcoming Ares IX test flight, this dress rehearsal was shortened and the rest of the training took place on November 2nd and 3rd. At the flight readiness review (FRR) on October 29th, the start date was officially set for November 16th. In addition, a major structural problem with the suspension of an OMS gondola was discussed during the review , but the engineers managed to find a solution in good time and the countdown could start as planned.

Due to two other unmanned missions that were due to start from Cape Canaveral in early November, the start window for STS-129 was only two days at that time. A few days before the scheduled shuttle start, an Atlas V was to take off from Cape Canaveral, a few days after a Delta IV . If the start of the Atlas V had been postponed by just 24 hours, the shuttle would have only had one day available. However, since the start of the Atlas V AV-024 had to be postponed for a longer period for technical reasons, the other planned starts had no effect on the start window of STS-129. Had the shuttle not been able to start in the specified start window for technical or meteorological reasons, it would not have been possible again until the beginning of December. This is due to the angle of the ISS orbit to the sun, as a docked shuttle would overheat if it took off after November 21st. This phase, which lasted until December 6th, is also called beta angle cutout or beta cutout .

Mission history

The Atlantis takes off.

Start, rendezvous and pairing

The first launch date was set for November 16, 2009. Since there were no major technical problems and the weather cooperated, the Atlantis took off at 19:28:10 UTC. The eight and a half minute ascent also went flawlessly. After the main engines had been switched off, the crew began preparing for the first engine ignition (OMS-2) of the OMS engines , which took place after about 40 minutes. Three quarters of an hour later, the payload bay was opened and the robot arm activated. Shortly afterwards the crew went to sleep and ended the first day of flight.

The second day of flight (November 17) served the usual inspection of the heat shield using the Orbiter Boom Sensor System as well as the preparation of the spacesuits and the coupling device.

The Atlantis approaches the station.

The coupling of the Atlantis took place on the third flight day (November 18) at 15:51 UTC after the Atlantis had carried out the rendezvous pitch maneuver . At 18:28 UTC the hatches between the two spacecraft were opened and the crews greeted each other. With the opening of the hatches, Nicole Stott officially became part of the Atlantis crew. A little later, the crews worked on the assembly of the ELC-1 pallet and attached it to the port side of the station with the help of the robot arms of the shuttle and the station (left in the standard flight direction). However, the ISS will be rotated 180 degrees during the mission to protect the shuttle's sensitive heat shield. They also began transferring equipment for the planned spacecraft operations. In order to reduce the gases (especially nitrogen) dissolved in their bodies, Mike Foreman and Robert Satcher went to the Quest airlock and spent the night there, breathing pure oxygen under reduced air pressure. This process, called campout, is carried out before every exit.

Working on the ISS

Robert Satcher at the station's robotic arm

The exit on the fourth day of flight (November 19) began when the spacesuits were switched to internal energy sources at 14:24 UTC. Foreman and Satcher first worked on adding a spare S-band antenna to the Z1 element . They finished this task an hour before the scheduled time and then split up. Foreman installed a radio antenna on the Destiny module before switching to the Unity module, where he swapped a handrail for a bracket for an ammonia line to the future Tranquility node. Satcher greased the coupling points for the station arm on the mobile base system and for the Kibō arm. After these tasks, they had two hours for further tasks. It was decided to also deploy the bracket for external payloads (PAS) on the earth-facing side of the starboard boom S3 of the station, instead of doing this during the second exit. The exit ended after 6 hours and 37 minutes at 21:01 UTC.

During the exit, the Unity module started to prepare for the arrival of the Tranquility module, which is planned for February. The Expedition 21 -members Frank De Winne and Jeffrey Williams put in this context lines for ventilation, electricity, data and cooling.

Flight day five (November 20) was mainly used for maintenance on Atlantis and the station. Some components were replaced while the material transfer between the spacecraft continued. In the shuttle's payload bay, the ELC-2 platform was coupled with the Atlantis robot arm, so that the next day it was transferred to the station’s robot arm for installation. The day ended with the start of the Foreman - Bresnik duo campout in preparation for the second exit.

ELC 2 is installed.

During the sleep period between flight days five and six (November 21), there was a decompression alarm, which, however, turned out to be a false alarm. In order to compensate the crew for the lack of sleep, some activities on the sixth day of flight were postponed. The mission's second disembarkation began at 14:31 UTC after the ELC-2 was attached to the S3 segment . Foremans and Bresnik's first task was to install an antenna known as a GATOR, which should identify approaching spacecraft and enable radio contact with them. They were able to complete the task with a time saving of 40 minutes and then went to the P1 segment and changed the position of a measuring unit for the electrical potential of the station, so that the alpha magnet spectrometer planned for installation in 2010 could be installed there. The duo then went to the S1 segment and unfolded another holder for external payloads (PAS) before they attached a receiver for the signals from the wireless helmet cameras to the S3 segment. As time could also be gained with this task, the astronauts were instructed to open another PAS at S3. They then worked on some antenna cables that could not be connected during the previous STS-128 shuttle mission . A connection was successful, but the signals from the antennas were not as expected. After a few more tasks on the PMA-1 module , the astronauts completed the six-hour and eight-minute exit at 20:39 UTC.

Flight day seven (November 22) began with the news from Bresnik that his daughter was born on Saturday night. He had learned this shortly before during a private phone call. The crews had been released for the first half of the day and were preparing for the third and final exit of the mission later that day, for which Bresnik and Satcher began a campout.

Randolph Bresnik and Robert Satcher at the oxygen tank

The third exit on the seventh day of flight (November 23) began at 12:24 UTC more than an hour later than planned, so that the EVA was shortened by the mission control. A drinking water valve in Satcher's spacesuit had slipped, but the problem was resolved before the exit began. The astronauts installed an oxygen tank, which was shipped on ELC-2, on the Quest airlock and attached the MISSE- 7 package to ELC-2. They removed several micrometeorite shields from Quest and secured them to the external storage platform ESP-2 . Satcher then worked on an ammonia tank, which he partially loosened in preparation for STS-131 , and installed some heat protection mats on the cameras of the mobile servicing system and on the gripping mechanism of the station robot arm. Bresnik worked on the electronics of the station. The exit ended at 18:06 UTC after 5 hours and 42 minutes.

The eighth day of flight (November 24th) served to prepare for the decoupling of the Atlantis. Frank De Winne also transferred command of the station to Jeffrey Williams. This was the first time that this was done in the presence of a guest crew. The hatches were finally closed at 18:12 UTC.

return

The ISS at the flyaround

On the ninth day of flight (November 25th) at 9:53 UTC, the Atlantis separated again from the space station, which was then circled once to record the state of the station photographically. The crew then began to re- examine the heat shield using the OBSS .

On the 10th day of the flight (November 26th) preparations for the landing were due. Loose items were stowed and the systems required for reentry and landing tested. In addition, a special reclining seat was set up for Nicole Stott to make it easier for her to adapt to gravity after more than 90 days in space . In addition, the crew members had the opportunity to celebrate Thanksgiving with a traditional meal, but they had not brought one with them when they started. Apparently it was donated by the crew of the International Space Station.

The landing of the Atlantis on the Shuttle Landing Facility

The first attempt at landing was planned for the eleventh day of flight (November 27) at the Kennedy Space Center. Since the weather at the landing site was perfect, the landing was initiated at 13:37 UTC by the so-called deorbit burn , which slowed the space shuttle sufficiently to re-enter the earth's atmosphere . The main landing gear touched down on runway 33 of the Shuttle Landing Facility at 14:44:23 UTC after a faultless flight . A short time later, a vehicle convoy reached the space shuttle and began securing it. After a short medical check-up, the crew, with the exception of Nicole Stott, went on the traditional tour around the orbiter. The Atlantis was then transferred back to its hangar to be prepared for its penultimate mission, STS-132 .

See also

Web links

Commons : STS-129  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. NASA Assigns Crew For Space Shuttle Discovery's STS-129 Mission. NASA, September 30, 2008, accessed September 15, 2009 .
  2. ^ Nicole Cloutier-Lemasters, Michael Curie: NASA Announces Change for Return of Station Crew Members. NASA, March 3, 2009, accessed May 22, 2009 .
  3. ^ Knob removed, Atlantis window inspection begins - longerons in cart accident. NASAspaceflight.com, June 29, 2009, accessed October 2, 2009 .
  4. ^ Atlantis Launch Officially Set. NASA October 29, 2009; archived from the original on October 30, 2009 ; accessed on October 30, 2009 .
  5. a b Chris Bergin: STS-129: Main Engine Ignition Acoustic debate leads FRR. NASASpaceflight.com, October 29, 2009, accessed October 29, 2009 .
  6. Chris Bergin: STS-129: Atlantis heads into countdown - no major issues for L-2 MMT. NASASpaceflight.com, November 13, 2009, accessed November 14, 2009 .
  7. Intelsat 14 launch on Atlas V AV-024 scrubbed - STS-129 remains on track. NASASpaceFlight.com, November 14, 2009, accessed November 20, 2009 .
  8. Chris Gebhardt, Chris Bergin: STS-129 may slip several days due to Range battle with Atlas launch. nasaspaceflight.com, October 15, 2009, accessed October 16, 2009 .
  9. STATUS REPORT: STS-129-01. In: STS-129 MCC Status Report. NASA, November 17, 2009, accessed November 17, 2009 .
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