KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. — NASA, it seems, is having trouble
letting go.
As the agency gets its space shuttles ready to be shipped out to museums, it
will not be sending them off lock, stock and barrel. The crews doing the prep
work have been flooded with requests to squirrel away parts of the spacecraft
for analysis. Valves, flight-control instruments, even the tires and windows —
little is safe from the clutches of NASA engineers.
“I’ve got a list of hundreds of items that have to come off the ship,” said
Stephanie S. Stilson, who is directing the preparation of the shuttle Discovery
for delivery to the Smithsonian Institution next year in what NASA calls its
“transition and retirement” program.
In April, NASA named the permanent old-age homes for its shuttles, which have
been escorting astronauts to space for 30 years. The Endeavour, which completed
its last mission early Wednesday with a pinpoint landing after 16 days in orbit,
will bask in glory only briefly before it is groomed for delivery to the
California Science Center in Los Angeles. The Atlantis, which will make its
final flight next month, is destined to live at the visitors’ center here at the
space center.
The Discovery made its last flight in March and now sits in a maintenance bay,
enclosed by platforms that would normally be crawling with workers inspecting
and maintaining its many systems — including the thousands of thermal tiles that
cover its skin — to be ready for its next liftoff. These days, as the shuttle
program winds down and the staff has been winnowed by layoffs, technicians work
on the Discovery only when there are no more pressing tasks. And rather than
sprucing it up for another trip to space, likely as not they are taking
something out of it.
“We in engineering, we want to hold on to things that we could potentially use,
or we want to study them, which is a smart thing to do,” Ms. Stilson said. The
shuttles are the only spacecraft that have been launched into orbit multiple
times — the Discovery is the most-traveled, with 39 missions — and a better
understanding of how the materials and equipment have fared could help future
aerospace designers.
Ms. Stilson spoke near one of the Discovery’s main landing gears, where the
tires used on the last flight had been removed in favor of what NASA calls
“roll-around tires” — basically a bunch of old spares. On a higher platform,
workers were putting the finishing touches on replacement windows for the
spacecraft, the originals having been taken out so engineers could study what
effect the microdebris encountered in so many trips in space had on the glass.
While those who are to receive the shuttles say they understand the need for
research, they are a little surprised by how much will be missing.
“We’re considered to be the nation’s official repository of our past,” said
Valerie Neal, curator for contemporary human spaceflight at the Smithsonian,
which will display the Discovery at the National Air and Space Museum’s annex
near Dulles Airport. “Our point of view would be to receive an orbiter in as
intact a state as possible.”
Ms. Neal said that when she first started discussing the fate of the shuttle
with NASA several years ago, “I rather naïvely thought it would be intact.”
Some of the removal work is dictated by safety concerns. There are small
explosive charges all around the shuttle, including one designed to blow a latch
and deploy the front landing gear should the normal systems fail. Although the
firing mechanism has been disabled, “We don’t want to take a chance that if it’s
sitting in the Smithsonian it could somehow detonate,” Ms. Stilson said.
The thrusters near the shuttle’s nose and the podlike maneuvering engines in the
rear both contain propellants that are highly toxic and corrosive, even in tiny
amounts. So these components have been removed and sent to a special facility
where workers in hazardous materials suits will “cut and gut” them, removing
much of the insides before shipping them back. “We’ll reinstall them, and from
the outside they’ll look exactly the same,” Ms. Stilson said.
The shuttle’s three main engines have been removed, in part because NASA has
hopes they might be used again. In their place crews will install spare nozzles,
the bell-shaped parts that the public sees protruding from the back of the
spacecraft. But all the exquisitely machined pumps and plumbing that once
handled thousands of gallons of liquid hydrogen and oxygen will essentially be
replaced by an empty box. NASA, with its penchant for abbreviations, even has
one for these: R.S.M.E.’s, for replica shuttle main engines.
Dan Quinn, a technician who works for a NASA contractor and has cared for
shuttles for 23 years, said it was “a little bittersweet” taking out the engines
for the last time, which took about two weeks. But he is still proud that the
Discovery will be on display. “Basically, it will be in flight configuration as
far as we’re concerned, except that it will be a simulated engine,” he said.
It is not that NASA engineers are hovering over the shuttles like mechanics at a
junkyard, trying to abscond with whatever they can get their hands on. The
agency has a formal vetting process for part requests, and the proposals have to
include bona fide research projects. “I think that they’re trying to install
some checks and balances so the vehicles don’t get totally cannibalized,” Ms.
Neal said.
Jeffrey N. Rudolph, president of the California Science Center, said his
organization also had some concerns, but would “try to turn it into a positive.”
For example, he said, if NASA wants to reuse the main engines, “that’s a story
we can tell.”
Ms. Neal, who said she had “come to peace” that the toxic elements had to be
removed but was “heartbroken” to learn that the main engines were going as well,
said the Smithsonian had asked NASA to document everything it was taking out.
“I appreciate the engineering needs,” she said, adding that there was a
“perfectly reasonable rationale” for removing many parts.
But she noted that in the past NASA engineers had come to the Smithsonian to get
inside the Apollo command module displayed there, to get a firsthand feel for
the design.
“I’m thinking ahead 25, 50, 100 years,” she said. “I’m convinced there will be a
need to get back inside the shuttle. People are going to want to know — how did
they do it? That’s why we need to keep it as intact as possible.”
THE crowd, all facing the same direction, waits nervously. Some fiddle with
cameras on tripods while others sit in camp chairs, slapping at mosquitoes and
checking their cellphones for updates. A voice comes over a loudspeaker: “T
minus 9 minutes and counting.” After hours of excruciating anticipation, the
final checks for the space shuttle launching have been made and all systems are
go.
Parents chase after small children dressed up in orange astronaut suits who can
no longer contain their excitement. There is a collective gasp at T minus 2
minutes, 55 seconds, when the so-called “beanie cap,” or oxygen vent arm,
retracts, making it appear that the shuttle is tipping its hat in farewell. T
minus zero and there is a brilliant burst of billowing flame and a thunderous
roar that shakes the ground and vibrates vital organs.
The spectators gape with unblinking eyes and dropped jaws. Awestruck, many
forget to take pictures. As the shuttle climbs into the air, there are whispers
of “Oh, my God,” along with a few incredulous profanities. As it recedes from
sight, leaving behind a spiraling contrail, there are finally cheers and some
tears along with hugs and slaps on the back. “Did you see that!” exclaimed more
than one viewer.
A space shuttle launching is an unforgettable and intense experience, and there
are just two more opportunities to feel the rush. The program will end this year
after 29 years and 134 missions, so if watching a launching has been on your
to-do list, start planning now.
Just make sure those plans are flexible.
Launchings are scrubbed 60 percent of the time because of weather or a technical
issue — sometimes with just minutes left in the countdown. Indeed, the final
ones from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida were originally scheduled for July
29 and Sept. 16, when the Endeavor and Discovery, respectively, were to
rendezvous with the International Space Station. But a recent change to an
experiment planned for the Endeavor has pushed that one back to November. (The
Discovery date, for now, is still on track.)
“You have to be flexible and grit your teeth if it doesn’t happen when you
thought it was going to happen,” said Todd Sears, a chief financial officer for
a commercial real estate company in Indianapolis. He traveled with his wife and
their two children to see a shuttle launching last August, which was postponed
daily for five consecutive days before it finally blasted into orbit. “I was
tempted to give up, but once I saw the shuttle on the launch pad with all the
spotlights on it, I knew I had to see it go up,” he said. “It was absolutely
worth the hassle.”
Mr. Sears was fortunate to see it from the Kennedy Space Center Causeway, seven
miles from the launching pad on the other side of the Banana River. It is the
closest public viewing area and offers an excellent, unobstructed vantage. The
effect is magnified by the river’s reflection of the fiery rocket boosters.
Tickets sell out within minutes of going on sale, typically three to six weeks
before a launching.
Another viewing option is from the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, about
the same distance from the launching pad as the causeway. Tickets are easier to
come by, but with trees and power lines partly in the way, you have to wait for
the shuttle to climb some distance before getting a clear view.
Still, the shock waves are just as resonant. And with the simulcast on jumbo
video screens, a countdown clock and astronaut appearances, the whole thing has
a campy vibe reminiscent of New Year’s Eve in Times Square. A similar experience
can be found at the Astronaut Hall of Fame, in Titusville, about 12 miles from
the Kennedy Space Center. But the view from there is no better than a spot along
the side of the road, where there is no admittance fee.
Portions of the Beach Line Expressway, otherwise known as State Road 528, that
cross the Indian and Banana Rivers offer as good a view. There are decent
sightlines, too, off U.S. 1 along the Indian River and on State Road A1A along
the Atlantic. Some landowners on those roadways may charge parking fees of $20
for a car and $30 for a van.
But Space View Park in Titusville, less than 15 miles from the shuttle launching
pad, directly across the Indian River, probably offers the best view beyond the
confines of the Space Center. Shuttle spotters start arriving about 12 hours
early to stake out a spot. The park turns into a patchwork of blankets and
sleeping bags as people nap, play cards and picnic while they wait.
Jim McGiness, a retired chemical engineer from Midland, Mich., has witnessed two
shuttle launchings, one from the causeway two years ago and another from Space
View Park last month. He said he thoroughly enjoyed both. “It’s impossible to
describe how tremendous and fantastic it is to see in person,” he said.
“Television doesn’t come close to capturing what it’s like.”
Both Mr. McGiness and Mr. Sears stayed at hotels in Orlando, about 44 miles from
the Kennedy Space Center, during their visits. Despite the distance, Orlando may
be the best bet for accommodations. Titusville, about 10 miles from space
center, is a small, sleepy and, some might say, seedy town with a handful of not
too luxurious motels and hotels that jack up their prices whenever there is a
scheduled shuttle liftoff. And don’t expect much more than fast food for dining
options.
Cocoa Beach, 19 miles away, is where NASA engineers, astronauts and their
families tend to stay. The town has a larger selection of accommodations and
restaurants, but it isn’t a dream destination either (read: crowded, touristy
and tacky) and there, too, prices are astronomical during shuttle launchings.
There are options for activities if a launching is delayed. The area around the
Kennedy Space Center features the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and
Canaveral National Seashore. But most people who travel to see a launching are
oblivious to anything other than finding a good spot to watch the liftoff and
hear the sonic boom.
“You come and camp and pray, ‘Please go up, please go up,’ ” said Mary Beth
Ford, a mother of two from Lorida, Fla., who has seen two shuttles go up in the
last two years, from Space View Park. “And when it finally does, the ground
shakes and you get goose bumps and realize nothing is impossible.”
IF YOU GO
Tickets to view a launching from the Kennedy Space Center Causeway ($56; $46 for
ages 3 to 11), the Visitor Complex ($38 and $28) and the Astronaut Hall of Fame
($17 and $13) are available by phone (866-737-5235) or at kennedyspacecenter.com
three to six weeks before a launch, and they sell out quickly. You can sign up
for an e-mail alert to know when they will go on sale.
Tour operators offering viewing packages include Florida Dolphin Tours
(floridadolphintours.com) and Gator Tours (gatortours.com), with prices starting
at $115 for adults, and $105 for children. The package includes Kennedy Space
Center Causeway tickets as well as round-trip transportation from Orlando area
hotels.
To get an idea of the views from various locations, visit launchphotography.com,
which has pictures and video of shuttle launchings taken from different sites.
May 14, 2010
Filed at 2:21 p.m. ET
The New York Times
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) -- Space shuttle Atlantis is on its way to orbit
for the last time.
Atlantis and an experienced crew of six blasted off Friday afternoon. More than
40,000 guests gathered at the Florida launch site, all of them eager to catch
one of the few remaining shuttle flights. NASA said it was the biggest
launch-day crowd in years.
The shuttle is bound for the International Space Station. It should reach the
orbiting complex Sunday.
Atlantis is carrying a full shipment of space station gear.
Only two shuttle flights remain after this one. Discovery is due to fly in
September, followed by Endeavour in November. The fleet is being retired so NASA
can pursue more ambitious exploration.
April 19, 2010
Filed at 11:15 a.m. ET
The New York Times
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) -- Rain and overcast skies prevented space shuttle
Discovery from returning to Earth on Monday, and Mission Control instructed the
astronauts to spend a 15th day circling the world and awaiting better weather.
Mission Control radioed up the disappointing news after passing up two landing
attempts.
''The folks really worked it hard down here. There was a lot of cause for
optimism ... but in the end of the day'' the clouds remained too low and too
thick, Mission Control radioed.
''We appreciate everything you've done,'' replied shuttle commander Alan
Poindexter, ''and we'll be hopeful for better weather tomorrow.'' He urged
flight controllers to get some rest.
Clearer skies are expected over Kennedy Space Center on Tuesday. If the clouds
linger, however, NASA will try for the backup landing site in Southern
California. The first landing opportunity is at 7:34 a.m., shortly after sunrise
in Florida.
Discovery and its seven astronauts can remain in orbit until Wednesday. They're
wrapping up a resupply mission to the International Space Station.
If Discovery aims for Kennedy, it should provide a rare visual treat. The
streaking, glowing trail will be visible from below, weather permitting, as the
shuttle zooms down the Eastern Seaboard toward Cape Canaveral.
The last time a returning shuttle flew over a large portion of the United States
was in 2007. No further re-entries like this are planned as the shuttle program
draws to a close. NASA has tried to keep continental flyovers to a minimum for
public safety reasons, ever since space shuttle Columbia shattered over Texas in
2003.
Typically, a shuttle returns from the southwest, zooming up over the South
Pacific, Central America, and the Gulf of Mexico. NASA changed Discovery's
flight path before liftoff on April 5, to maximize the crew's work time in orbit
and reduce fatigue. Monday's landing attempts would have had Discovery crossing
North America, coming in from the Pacific Northwest.
A touchdown at Edwards Air Force Base in California would eliminate a
coast-to-coast flyover.
The volcanic eruption in Iceland, at least, was not interfering with NASA's
effort to bring Discovery home. The re-entry path does not go anywhere near the
European airspace threatened by volcanic ash.
Discovery undocked from the space station Saturday, leaving behind tons of
science experiments and equipment so the orbiting outpost can operate for years
to come. The astronauts' biggest contribution was a new tank full of ammonia
coolant, which took three spacewalks to hook up.
A pressure valve in the space station's cooling system got stuck after the
ammonia tank was plugged in. Astronauts will have to deal with the problem on a
future spacewalk. For now, though, the lab complex is being cooled properly.
This is Discovery's next-to-last flight. NASA has only three shuttle flights
left before retiring the fleet. Atlantis is next up in less than four weeks. The
final shuttle mission -- by Discovery -- is scheduled for September.
CAPE
CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - The U.S. space shuttle Atlantis lifted off on
Thursday to deliver Europe's $1.9 billion Columbus laboratory to the
International Space Station. Here's a look at the mission:
*NASA's 121st shuttle flight is an 11-day mission, with an extra day likely.
*Three spacewalks are scheduled to install Columbus, Europe's first permanent
space laboratory, as well as to attach external experiments and tackle some
space station maintenance tasks.
*It is the 29th flight of Atlantis. Its final mission is currently scheduled for
August to the Hubble Space Telescope.
*After the current flight, there are 12 missions remaining for the shuttle
program. The spacecraft are due to be retired in 2010.
*Europe paid NASA for Columbus' launch by providing two connecting nodes for the
$100 billion space station.
October 20,
2007
Filed at 2:53 p.m. ET
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
The New York Times
CAPE
CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) -- A giant leap is about to be made for womankind.
When space shuttle Discovery blasts off Tuesday, a woman will be sitting in the
commander's seat. And up at the international space station, a female skipper
will be waiting to greet her.
It will be the first time in the 50-year history of spaceflight that two women
are in charge of two spacecraft at the same time.
This is no public relations gimmick cooked up by NASA. It's coincidence, which
pleases shuttle commander Pamela Melroy and station commander Peggy Whitson.
''To me, that's one of the best parts about it,'' said Melroy, a retired Air
Force colonel who will be only the second woman to command a space shuttle
flight. ''This is not something that was planned or orchestrated in any way.''
Indeed, Melroy's two-week space station construction mission was originally
supposed to be done before Whitson's six-month expedition.
''This is a really special event for us,'' Melroy said. ''... There are enough
women in the program that coincidentally this can happen, and that is a
wonderful thing. It says a lot about the first 50 years of spaceflight that this
is where we're at.''
Whitson -- the first woman to be in charge of a space station -- arrived at the
orbital outpost on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft on Oct. 12. She flew there with
two men, one a Russian cosmonaut who will spend the entire six months with her.
Before the launch, an official presented her with a traditional Kazakh whip to
take with her. It's a symbol of power, Whitson explained, because of all the
horseback and camel riding in Kazakhstan.
Smiling, she said she took the gift as a compliment and added: ''I did think it
was interesting though, that they talked a lot about the fact that they don't
typically let women have these.''
At least it wasn't a mop. The whip stayed behind on Earth.
Eleven years ago, just before Shannon Lucid rocketed to the Russian space
station Mir, a Russian space official said during a live prime-time news
conference that he was pleased she was going up because ''we know that women
love to clean.''
''I really haven't heard very much like that at all from the Russian
perspective,'' Whitson said in an interview with The Associated Press last week.
''Russian cosmonauts are very professional and having worked and trained with
them for years before we get to this point, I think makes it better because then
it doesn't seem unusual to them either.''
''So I think I'm luckier. Shannon was probably breaking more barriers in that
way than I have been,'' added Whitson, who spent six months aboard the space
station in 2002.
Melroy, 46, a former test pilot from Rochester, N.Y., and Whitson, 47, a
biochemist with a Ph.D. who grew up on a hog farm near Beaconsfield, Iowa, are
among 18 female astronauts at NASA. Seventy-three astronauts are men.
What's more, Melroy is the only female shuttle pilot left at NASA. Eileen
Collins, who in 1999 became the first woman to command a shuttle, quit NASA last
year. Susan Kilrain, who flew as a shuttle pilot but never as a commander,
resigned in 2002. Both have children.
Melroy and Whitson are married to scientists, and neither has children.
The countdown started Saturday for Discovery's launch. There was concern about
rain on Tuesday morning, but meteorologists put the odds of acceptable weather
at liftoff time at 60 percent. No major technical problems were being tracked.
This will be Melroy's third shuttle flight; her first two were as co-pilot. She
became an astronaut in 1995, Whitson in 1996.
Their 1 1/2 weeks together in orbit will be extraordinarily busy and the work
exceedingly complex. The shuttle is hauling up a pressurized compartment that
will provide docking ports for the European and Japanese laboratories that will
be launched over the next few months.
The 10 space fliers, seven of them men, will attach the new compartment, named
Harmony, to the space station and move a girder and set of solar wings from one
spot to another. Five spacewalks will be conducted, including one to test a
repair technique on deliberately damaged shuttle thermal tiles.
Melroy and Whitson will oversee it all.
Their male crewmates offer plenty of praise. One of them -- Daniel Tani -- will
report to both. He'll fly up on Discovery and swap places with an astronaut who
has been living on the space station since June, and stay on board until another
shuttle comes up in December.
''The joke has been that my life recently is run by women,'' said Tani, who is
married with two young daughters. ''I have two bosses at work. I've got three
bosses at home and as it was pointed out recently, much of the time when we're
running the robotic arm, I'm the assistant to Stephanie'' Wilson, a shuttle crew
member.
''So far, I've survived all of it so we'll see if I can get through the next
couple months,'' he said with a laugh.
It's more of a novelty for Melroy's co-pilot, Marine Col. George Zamka. He never
served with or for a woman in any of his military flying units.
''I understand it's a wonderful thing for young women to see Pam flying, but in
terms of her, I look at her as an individual with some tremendous skills,''
Zamka said.
Melroy and Whitson said they don't know of any men -- American or Russian -- who
would refuse to serve on their crews. It wasn't always that way at NASA, which
didn't accept women as astronauts until 1978.
DISCOVERY’S crew, delighted over its success
on the first day, launched a second communications satellite yesterday, a Nasa
spokesman said.
The satellite has been placed in its preliminary orbit. The crew is due to
deploy the third and last satellite today.
The second satellite, the Syncom 4, will be leased to the US Defence Department
for military communications, the spokesman said.
The 3.5 ton cylindrical satellite was rolled out of the cargo bay. About 45
minutes later a rocket motor fired to push it towards an orbit 22,300 miles
high.
The crew members, including Judith Resnik, the second American woman in space,
capped the first day of their six-day flight with a launch of the first
satellite, owned by Satellite Business Systems.
Thursday’s success delighted the crew and ground control because similar
rockets, known as Payload Assist Modules, misfired on a mission in February,
sending two satellites into useless orbits.
The satellite launched yesterday is not equipped with a module and has a
different type of booster, but the satellite to be deployed today has a module
and belongs to American Telephone and Telegraph.
Discovery is due to land at Edwards Air Force Base in California on Wednesday.
