10A Stage (Road to STS-122/1E)

[Testing]

The blankets were eliminated as the source during the STS 120 mission by the ferrous/magnetic test. MLI, Multi layer insulation is either Aluminum or Gold deposition on Mylar film. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[Testing]

Aviation Week<br /><br />Anna Jarvis, lead EVA officer for the upcoming mission, said Nov. 16 there may be an hour or so at the end of the third planned mission to pull another cover off the starboard SARJ for high-resolution photography and sampling. Astronaut Rex Walheim is getting some contingency training for the task, she said.<br /><br />Metallurgical analysis of samples taken from the starboard SARJ during the just-completed STS-120/10A mission shows the ferrous debris came from the 10-foot-diameter race ring that carries the entire starboard end of the station truss as it windmills 360 degrees to follow the sun.<br /><br />That complicates planning for getting the mechanism turning again in time to generate electricity for Japan's big Kibo laboratory module if it arrives on schedule in April. Station engineers had hoped the samples collected by Tani would pinpoint the problem, but Denny Todd, ISS integration and operations manager, said Nov. 16 the material does not appear to be from the original prime suspects -- trundle bearings that hold the two halves of the joint together, or the drive lock assembly (DLA) that turns the geared mechanism.<br /><br />To get a head start on a future repair, mission managers have repacked the Atlantis middeck to preposition a spare DLA and some more trundle bearing assemblies on the station to gain flexibility for a repair next year. But if the problem requires a shift to the backup race ring in the joint, it will take "multiple" spacewalks to make the shift, Todd says.<br /><br />The latest analysis of ISS power levels without a functional starboard SARJ indicates the station can generate enough electricity to support planned activities until the Kibo delivery mission next April. That period encompasses the upcoming shuttle flight to deliver Columbus and another one in February with the logistics module for Kibo and the multipurpose dexterous manipulator for the Canadian-built ISS robotic arm.<br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[bobblebob]

So basically the spares they have put on Atlantis are pointless now, as the metal isnt from the part they thought<br /><br />Can they take them off Atlantis now, or will they just send them up so they do have spares if they ever do need them?

 

[thereiwas]

The metal filings are from the race. But that is no fault of the race itself - it has got to be some misalignment or failure in the parts that ride along it. So those have to be replaced, and that is what they are sending up.<br /><br />They do not need to send another race - there is already a spare built into the structure on orbit.

 

[bobblebob]

Ah right i see. Is the replacement an easy job?

 

[thereiwas]

At the press conference they guessed that replacing the race would take at least 4 EVAs; they have not worked out the details yet. So yes, it is a big job. Just replacing a bearing or two would be less work. It depends on what they find when they take all the covers off and get a good look at it.<br /><br />Remember that this mechanism is what attaches all the solar arrays, and their batteries and radiators, to that end of the main truss. It is a big deal.

 

[bobblebob]

Thanks <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" />

 

[holmec]

Today at NASA:<br />International Space Station Commander Peggy Whitson and Flight Engineer Dan Tani wound up a 7-hour, 16-minute spacewalk to outfit the Harmony node in its new position in front of the U.S laboratory Destiny at 12:26 p.m. EST Tuesday <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#0000ff"><em>"SCE to AUX" - John Aaron, curiosity pays off</em></font></p> </div>

 

[holmec]

Looks like anothe EVA is scheduled.<br /><br />How many more EVAs till next Shuttle launch? <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#0000ff"><em>"SCE to AUX" - John Aaron, curiosity pays off</em></font></p> </div>

 

[tadpoletriker]

It looked like they were a long away, and also went long.<br />Did they do everything needed in the one EVA?

 

[bobblebob]

Just so its on this page. the last EVA:<br /><br />"4 a.m. CST Saturday, Nov. 24 - NASA TV will broadcast live coverage as Whitson and Tani conduct a final 6.5-hour spacewalk to complete the hookup of the mating adapter and Harmony module to the station and leave them ready for the docking of Atlantis and delivery of Columbus. No news conference is planned following the spacewalk. "

 

[bpfeifer]

"Did they do everything needed in the one EVA? "<br /><br />Yes. They completed all of the planned tasks, plus a few extra. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> Brian J. Pfeifer http://sabletower.wordpress.com<br /> The Dogsoldier Codex http://www.lulu.com/sabletower<br /> </div>

 

[erioladastra]

"How many more EVAs till next Shuttle launch?"<br />One Saturday morning.

 

[bobblebob]

So the SARJ in its current config can only support activities until Kibo arrives. They also want to do a reapir sometime next year.<br /><br />Kibo is the first mission of 2008 arent it? So when can they do the repair without delaying Kibo. Would it be possible to attach Kibo to the ISS but dont turn any systems on until the SARJ is fixed?

 

[erioladastra]

"Kibo is the first mission of 2008 arent it? So when can they do the repair without delaying Kibo. Would it be possible to attach Kibo to the ISS but dont turn any systems on until the SARJ is fixed? "<br /><br />Second, the logistics platform is first in Feb, then JEM in April. We could do the mission without the SARJ being repaired but could not activate much and no payloads.

 

[bobblebob]

Ah, my mistake. I just saw "Kibo" on the manifest and assumed it was the module, didnt know they were sending the logistics platform first

 

[bobblebob]

Think it was Mike Suffredini who has stated several times this. Not sure whether thats just his opinion tho or hard facts

 

[erioladastra]

Preliminary analysis is in, waiting for more refined but I don't anticipate it changing much.

 

[MeteorWayne]

Don't we have an EVA coming up this morning? <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[bobblebob]

Starts at 6am ET, 11am GMT Saturday morning<br /><br />Should just be starting for when i get up <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" />

 

[usn_skwerl]

aye. I'm guessing in about 6-7 hours or something? <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[holmec]

They started! Early morning....LOL! <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#0000ff"><em>"SCE to AUX" - John Aaron, curiosity pays off</em></font></p> </div>

 

[bobblebob]

Some great stills of the SARJ just then, showing exactly what the problem is

 

[bobw]

Dan Tani says it looks like a "coating" on the race ring looks pitted, abraded, sandpapery. <br /><br />It is hard for me to imagine what kind of coating would be applied to a part like that. I think a ten foot gear ring should be made of solid metal and ground to a really smooth RMS (few microns) surface finish. Maybe I am thinking of the wrong part.<br /><br />Is it plated or anodized? <br /><br />If something scraped while it turned and then the scrapings went through the bearings it would get flattened like laundry going through an old fashioned wringer type washer machine. If that happened to the extent that it looks like a coating there must be a lot of shavings. <br /><br />Edit:<br />Astros back inside and airlock is being repressurized. 7 hour 4 minute EVA. Harmony cooling is working and they powered up electricity to it while astros were outside. Everything that was planned was accomplished and then some. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[thereiwas]

If just one of the rollers that rides along the race gets jammed, it could grind off these particles. Tani and Whitson reported the particles sticking to the ring as though it was magnetized. I wouldn't be surprised; whipping a 10 foot steel ring through the Earth's magnetic field for a few years undoubtedly induces all sorts off eddy currents.