11/19/09: Mike Foreman and Robert Satcher prepare for first STS-129 spacewalk.
Mission Control Center Status Report #06
3:30 a.m. CST Thursday, Nov. 19, 2009 , Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas

Mission: STS-129

Orbiter: Atlantis

Launch Pad: 39A

Launch Date: NET Nov 16, 2009, 14:28:09 EST (19:28:09 UT)

Landing: Nov 27, 2009

Main gear touchdown: 09:44:23 EST

Nose gear touchdown: 09:44:36 EST

Wheels stop: 09:45:05 EST

Orbital Altitude: 122 nautical miles (140 miles)

Orbital Insertion: 191 nautical miles (220 miles)

Orbital Inclination: 51.6 degrees

Distance traveled: ~4.5 million miles

Crew:- Commander: Charles O. Hobaugh; Pilot: Barry E. Wilmore; Mission Specialists:- MS1 Leland D Melvin, MS2 Randolph Bresnik, MS3 Michael Foreman, MS4 Robert Satcher, MS5 (landing) Nicole Stott.
Primary Payload: ExPRESS (Expedite the Processing of Experiments to the Space Station) Logistics Carriers ELC1 and ELC2:-

ExPRESS Logistics Carrier-1 manifest:- Ammonia Tank Assembly; Battery Charge Discharge Unit; Space Station Remote Manipulator System Latching End Effector; Control Moment Gyro; Nitrogen Tank Assembly; Pump Module; Plasma Contactor Unit; two empty Passive Flight Releasable Attachment Mechanisms.

ExPRESS Logistics Carrier-2 manifest:- High Pressure Gas Tank; Cargo Transport Container 1 (CTC-1) mounted to a Small Adapter Plate Assembly; Mobile Transporter/Trailing Umbilical System; Control Moment Gyro; Nitrogen Tank Assembly; Pump Module; Utility Transfer Assembly (UTA) Flight Support Equipment (FSE); one empty Payload Passive Flight Releasable Attachment Mechanism.

After a night spent camping out in the Quest airlock, Mission Specialists Mike Foreman and Robert Satcher are awake and into the final preparations for the first spacewalk of the STS-129 mission.

Foreman, Satcher and the rest of Atlantis’ crew were awakened at 3:28 a.m. to the sound of The Newsboys’ song “In Wonder.” It was played for Mission Specialist Randy Bresnik, who will be choreographing today’s spacewalk from inside the station.

The spacewalk is scheduled to begin at 8:18 a.m. and last 6.5 hours. During that time, Foreman and Satcher will be installing a spare S-band antenna structural assembly brought up in Atlantis’ cargo bay. The equipment will be stored on the Z1 segment of the station’s truss system, and to get it there Satcher will be riding the station’s robotic arm, driven by Mission Specialist Leland Melvin, Commander Charles Hobaugh and Pilot Barry Wilmore.

Other tasks on the spacewalkers’ agenda include the installation of a set of cables for a future space-to-ground antenna on the Destiny laboratory and the replacement of a handrail on the Unity node with a bracket that will be used to route an ammonia cable required for the Tranquility node when it is delivered next year. Foreman and Satcher will also reposition a cable connector on the Unity node, troubleshoot a cable connection and lubricate two latching end effectors – one on the Japanese robotic arm and one on the mobile base that allows the station’s main robotic arm to travel to different worksites.

Meanwhile, inside the station, further work will be going on to prepare the station for the arrival of the Tranquility node. While Satcher and Foreman are making adjustments on the exterior of the station, station Commander Frank De Winne and Flight Engineer Jeff Williams will be working at the port hatch of the Harmony node to rewire data, power and cooling lines and air flow connections that will be connected to Tranquility. Their task is also scheduled to take about 6.5 hours today, however that won’t be the end of it; De Winne and Williams will continue working on the project over several days during the STS-129 mission.

The next shuttle status report will be issued at the end of the crew’s workday or earlier if events warrant.


Nov 18: STS-129 and Expedition 21 crew members are pictured shortly after Space Shuttle Atlantis and the International Space Station docked in space and the hatches were opened on Nov. 18, 2009. Pictured are NASA astronauts Jeffrey Williams (foreground), Expedition 21 flight engineer; Robert L. Satcher Jr. (left), STS-129 mission specialists; and Nicole Stott, Expedition 21 flight engineer. Pictured on the right are Russian cosmonaut Roman Romanenko and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Robert Thirsk, both Expedition 21 flight engineers; along with European Space Agency astronaut Frank De Winne, Expedition 21 commander. NASA astronaut Leland Melvin (partially obscured), STS-129 mission specialist, is visible in the background.

- courtesy of NASA

Space and Astronautics News is completely opposed to the use of any animals in science experiments, including in space missions.

Timezones:
EST = (UT - 5 hours)
EDT = (UT - 4 hours) = (CDT + 1 hour)
CST = (UT - 6 hours)
CDT = (EDT - 1 hour) = (UT - 5 hours)
PST = (UT - 8 hours)
PDT = (UT - 7 hours)
MDT = (UT - 6 hours)
UT [GMT] = (EDT + 4 hours)
BST = (EDT + 5 hours) or (CDT + 6 hours) = (UT + 1 hour)
CEST = (UT + 2 hours) = (BST + 1 hour)

EDT, CDT, PDT, MDT daylight saving time = EST, CST, PST, MST +1hr. From 2007, this begins on the second Sunday in March, and ends on the first Sunday in November.

[Until 2007, EDT, CDT, PDT, MDT used to start at 02:00 local time on the first Sunday in April. EST, CST, PST started at 02:00 local time on the last Sunday in October.]

UT is also known as GMT (Greenwich Mean Time), Z, and UTC (Coordinated Universal Time). It is the time set on the International Space Station.

*Where '/' appears in dates, this site follows the following format: mm/dd/yr

Copyright © Space and Astronautics News 1999 - 2010 All Rights Reserved.