11/24/09: STS-129 and Expedition 21 crews prepare for hatch closures.
Mission Control Center Status Report #16
1:30 a.m. CST Tuesday, Nov. 24, 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.

The 12 crew members onboard the International Space Station and space shuttle Atlantis will prepare to part today. They will pack up their final items and close the hatches that divide the two spacecraft in preparation for undocking tomorrow.

The crew woke at 12:58 a.m. to the “Marine Corps Hymn,” performed by the U.S. Marine Corps Band and played for STS-129 Commander Charlie Hobaugh.

With six days of docked operations behind them, the astronauts and cosmonauts prepare to say their goodbyes and close the hatches about 11:28 a.m. Once the hatches are closed, the shuttle crew will set up and check out tools and a camera needed for undocking tomorrow.

Before the two crews part, they will join together for a news conference with reporters at NASA centers, Mission Control in Russia and Canada, and TF1 evening news in France. The interactive event will air live at 7 a.m.

Hobaugh, Pilot Barry Wilmore and Mission Specialists Leland Melvin, Mike Foreman, Randy Bresnik, Robert Satcher Jr. and Nicole Stott also will join ISS Commander Frank De Winne and his crew when he hands over his command to NASA astronaut Jeff Williams. Williams will command Expedition 22.

De Winne, who is the first European Space Agency commander of the station, became commander on Oct. 9. He will have served 46 days, the shortest tenure thus far for a station commander. He and Flight Engineers Roman Romanenko and Robert Thirsk are set to depart the station on a Soyuz on Nov. 30 leaving Williams and Flight Engineer Max Suraev to await the next crew.

The next shuttle status report will be issued at the end of the crew’s workday or earlier if events warrant. The crew is due to go to sleep at 4:28 p.m.



Nov 24: The STS-129 crew members pose for a portrait following a joint news conference with the Expedition 21 crew members (out of frame) from the Harmony node of the International Space Station while space shuttle Atlantis remains docked with the station. Pictured (clockwise) from bottom left are astronauts Charles O. Hobaugh, commander; Mike Foreman, Leland Melvin, Robert L. Satcher Jr. and Randy Bresnik, all mission specialists; along with Barry E. Wilmore, pilot; and Nicole Stott, mission specialist. Credit: NASA

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