STS-116/12A.1 Status

[tronchaser]

Should be the new avionics change. DynoCorp got the contract from NASA to upgrade the weather avionics. This happened about 8 years ago.

 

[emerrill]

Hello Hubble.... <br /><br />Glad to hear they are going to give her more time <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[erioladastra]

Nice sentiment - wrong thread <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" />

 

[emerrill]

Yeah yeah yeah. This thread is slow right now anyways <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[MeteorWayne]

So far the early Dec launch is on track?<br /><br />Good news. So far it's just a NET date AFAIK.<br />Every step forward is a step forward <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /><br /><br /> <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>

 

[erioladastra]

"OH yes, the Dec. date is very doable. We have something like 8 contingency days in the schedule for a Dec. 7 launch."<br /><br />And because of the pad, Dec 6 is now being evaluated as a POSSIBLE launch date to avoid year end roll over issues.

 

[llivinglarge]

I kinda wish the PAL ice-ramp modification was included for this launch.

 

[SpaceKiwi]

Interesting. I think I kinda have the opposite view to you about the next set of mods. Of course the expectation and hope is that the Ramp mods will result in a safer STS, which I'm also hoping for.<br /><br />But, there is also the nagging thought in my mind about better the Devil you know. I like how the System has been working the last three flights, with really clean Orbiters coming back to Earth. There's a part of me that thinks they shouldn't mess with the current 'winning formula' until they get through this especially difficult sequence of ISS construction. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><em><font size="2" color="#ff0000">Who is this superhero?  Henry, the mild-mannered janitor ... could be!</font></em></p><p><em><font size="2">-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</font></em></p><p><font size="5">Bring Back The Black!</font></p> </div>

 

[ozspace]

I agree with you Kiwi, in fact I don't think it is set in stone that the mods will fly. I may have this wrong but I think there is still some review and formal decision to be made, I am sure SG will know.<br /><br />

 

[erioladastra]

"BUT you JSC weenies will be home having your turkey "<br /><br />Yes, but Christmas the roles will be reversed <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" />

 

[tronchaser]

Yeah, we will be doing Ku deploys and turnarounds when they get back.

 

[bobw]

Hi shuttle_guy.<br /><br />Did the new bolt fix it? Was the old one too soft? Were the mount points misaligned? Curiosity is killing me and I can't find any news about the bolt anywhere, NASA, FlameTrench, etc. Thanks. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[jschaef5]

Whats this about a hydrazine leak? Thats some nasty stuff. What is it they say, if you can smell it, its already doing damage? <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[llivinglarge]

What the hell is The Inq talking about now... Shuttle delayed due to New Year's Eve bug?<br /><br />http://theinq.net/default.aspx?article=35570

 

[llivinglarge]

S_G, are the orbiters any "cleaner" than pre-Columbia?

 

[mrmorris]

<font color="yellow">"Shuttle delayed due to New Year's Eve bug?"</font><br /><br />Shades of Y2K mania. There's some (minor) worry about the onboard electronics behavior if the year changes in mid-mission. I don't know if there's actually solid information behind the fears (the avionics computers onbord the shuttles are, after all, 1980's upgrades of 1970s tech), or if it's more of the new gun-shy NASA starting at shadows.

 

[llivinglarge]

I assume any such bug would be corrected for Orion... Right S_G?

 

[mrmorris]

SG isn't really associated with Orion... unless there's something he's not telling us. <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /><br /><br />However -- no one is writing code anymore that has date uncertainties of this nature. Much pre-90's code, and most pre-80's code was written in environments where the software was very resource-limited: RAM, disk, and CPU. Lots of coding techniques were designed to minimize the footprint of the software wherever possible (including only keeping track of immediately relevant date info). The hardware has advanced to the point where this is no longer an issue. If anything -- coding has gone too far the other direction -- software is getting sloppier all the time because it's possible to 'fall back' on ample memory, disk, and CPU resources. There's more interest in being 'first to market' rather than 'best in the market'.<br /><br />Anyway -- if Orion ends up having a similar concern, this will mean that a programmer somewhere really needs to be strung up by his thumbs.

 

[erioladastra]

"Even so NASA does not want to fly past Dec. 17 and take a risk of being in orbit over New Years"<br /><br />However, the program has requested us to evaluate and see if we can launch after Dec 17. I have not heard any real show stoppers.

 

[MeteorWayne]

You guys get paid for all this fun? <img src="/images/icons/laugh.gif" /> <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>

 

[llivinglarge]

When I say cleaner, I mean with regard to TPS damage.

 

[jschaef5]

"A safety check found 60 PPM of Hyrdazine in the OPF bay."<br /><br />Wait a sec, I just had to have hydrazine training last month and they told us the alarms in the hangar go off at 1 PPM and if you are around 100 ppm for too long you can have serious side affects. Maybe the safety people had their numbers off (or i wasn't paying attention and am remembering the numbers wrong)... I am assuming that all hydrazine (N2H4) is the same and that the stuff in the shuttle is the same that we got in the ER-2's and other planes APUs. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[erioladastra]

"Mr. Hale said yesterday he thinks that we will not try to launch after the 17/18th of December."<br /><br />Try is the keyword. I anticipate that if delays push us towards the end of the year he may push really hard to launch since that will really hurt. The FRR tomorrow will be really interesting since ops will say they are not ready to launch (new constraints on solar arrary management is a big open issue right now).

 

[haywood]

"The last 2 flights have shown very good results with less TPS damage than which was "normal" however they are not the cleanest that we have had. "<br /><br />Do you mean there were cleaner flights pre STS-107?<br /><br />

 

[erioladastra]

"I think that moving the launch to the window that opens Jan 14, 2007 would not hurt the manifest at all, except for STS-116"<br /><br />Spoken like a non ops guy! <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> To complete the tasks of 12A.1 there are 3 EVAs that have to happen right after the mission. This sucks up a lot of time and requires Suni Williams to be there (delivered on 12A.1). Any slip of 12A.1 slips that out and pushes everything else to the right (e.g., Oxygen Generation System) and slips into Expedition 15, which depending on the tak may not be trained, or have time since they have stuff that has to be done by certain dates or missions as well. The Soyuz won't slide so you have to be careful what tasks slide where. So the Shuttles might be ok, but it is a HUGE impact to operations, training etc. Really, over the next 12 months, literally a 1-2 week of slip will be very painful, a month will be very serious. And that doesn't take into account yet that you slip to January and poof, weather or some other delay comes up. Suddenly, you are into April when the Soyuz launches and your crew changes out and you are just plain screwed at that point.