Following a detailed, integrated assessment, NASA has announced
target launch dates for the remaining eight space shuttle missions
on the current manifest in 2009 and 2010. The manifest includes one
flight to the Hubble Space Telescope, seven assembly flights to the
International Space Station, and two station contingency flights,
planned to be completed before the end of fiscal year 2010.
The agency previously selected October 8 and November 10 as
launch dates for Atlantis' STS-125 mission to service Hubble and
Endeavour's STS-126 / ULF-2 mission to supply the space station and
service both Solar Alpha Rotary Joints on the port and starboard
end of its truss backbone that supports equipment and solar
arrays.
The approved target dates are subject to change based on
processing and other launch vehicle schedules. They reflect the
agency's commitment to complete assembly of the station and to
retire the shuttle fleet as transition continues to the new launch
vehicles, including Ares and Orion.
SHUTTLE FLIGHTS IN 2009
February 12 -- Discovery (STS-119 / 15A) will kick off
a five-flight 2009 with its 36th mission to deliver the
final pair of US solar arrays to be installed on the starboard end
of the station's truss. The truss serves as the backbone support
for external equipment and spare components, including the Mobile
Base System. Lee Archambault will command the 14-day flight that
will include four planned spacewalks. Joining him will be pilot
Tony Antonelli and mission specialists John Phillips, Steve
Swanson, Joseph Acaba, Richard Arnold and Japan Aerospace
Exploration Agency astronaut Koichi Wakata. Wakata will replace
Sandy Magnus on the station as a flight engineer. STS-119 marks the
28th shuttle flight to the station.
May 15 -- Endeavour (STS-127 / 2JA) sets sail on its
23rd mission with the Japanese Kibo Laboratory's Exposed
Facility and Experiment Logistics Module Exposed Section, the final
permanent components of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's
contribution to the station program. During the 15-day mission,
Endeavour's crew will perform five spacewalks and deliver six new
batteries for the P6 truss, a spare drive unit for the Mobile
Transporter and a spare boom assembly for the Ku-band antenna. Mark
Polansky will be Endeavour's commander with Doug Hurley as pilot.
Mission specialists will be Christopher Cassidy, Tom Marshburn,
Dave Wolf, Tim Kopra and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Julie
Payette. Kopra will become a station flight engineer replacing
Koichi Wakata, who will return home with the STS-127 crew. It will
be the 29th shuttle flight to the station.
July 30 -- Atlantis (STS-128 / 17A) launches on its
31st flight, an 11-day mission carrying science and
storage racks to the station. In the payload bay will be a
Multi-Purpose Logistics Module holding science and storage racks.
Three spacewalks are planned to remove and replace a materials
processing experiment outside the European Space Agency's Columbus
module and return an empty ammonia tank assembly. The mission
includes the rotation of astronaut Nicole Stott for Tim Kopra, who
will return to Earth with the shuttle crew. The remaining crew
members have yet to be named. STS-128 marks the 30th shuttle flight
dedicated to station assembly and outfitting.
October 15 -- Discovery's (STS-129 / ULF-3) 37th
mission will focus on staging spare components outside the
station. The 15-day flight includes at least three spacewalks. The
payload bay will carry two large External Logistics Carriers
holding two spare gyroscopes, two nitrogen tank assemblies, two
pump modules, an ammonia tank assembly, a spare latching end
effector for the station's robotic arm, a spare trailing umbilical
system for the Mobile Transporter and a high-pressure gas tank.
Canadian Space Agency astronaut Bob Thirsk will return home aboard
Discovery with its crew, which has yet to be named. STS-129 marks
the 31st shuttle mission devoted to station assembly.
December 10 -- Endeavour (STS-130 / 20A) will close
2009 with its 24th mission to deliver the final connecting
node, Node 3, and the Cupola, a robotic control station with six
windows around its sides and another in the center that provides a
360-degree view around the station. At least three spacewalks are
planned during the 11-day mission. The 32nd station assembly
mission by a shuttle does not yet have a crew named.
SHUTTLE FLIGHTS IN 2010
February 11 -- Atlantis (STS-131 / 19A)begins its 32nd mission as the first flight in
2010, carrying a Multi-Purpose Logistics Module filled with science
racks that will be transferred to laboratories of the station. The
11-day mission will include at least three spacewalks to attach a
spare ammonia tank assembly outside the station and return a
European experiment that has been outside the Columbus module. It
will be the 33rd shuttle mission to the station. The crew has yet
to be named.
April 8 -- Discovery's (STS-132 / ULF-4)38th mission will carry an integrated cargo
carrier to deliver maintenance and assembly hardware, including
spare parts for space station systems. In addition, the second in a
series of new pressurized components for Russia, a Mini Research
Module, will be permanently attached to the bottom port of the
Zarya module. The Russian module also will carry US pressurized
cargo. The first Russian Mini Research Module to go to the station
is scheduled to launch on a Russian rocket in the summer of 2009.
Additionally, at least three spacewalks are planned to stage spare
components outside the station, including six spare batteries, a
boom assembly for the Ku-band antenna and spares for the Canadian
Dextre robotic arm extension. A radiator, airlock and European
robotic arm for the Russian Multi-purpose Laboratory Module also
are payloads on the flight. The laboratory module is scheduled for
launch on a Russian rocket in 2011. The mission marks the 34th
mission to the station. The STS-132 crew has yet to be named.
May 31 -- Endeavour's (STS-133 / ULF-5)25th mission will carry critical spare components
that will be placed on the outside of the station. Those will
include two S-band communications antennas, a high-pressure gas
tank, additional spare parts for Dextre and micrometeoroid debris
shields. At least three spacewalks are planned to be carried out by
the crew, which has yet to be named. The 15-day mission will be the
35th to the station.
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