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STS-118 || Space Shuttle Endeavour |
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Written by Administrator on
Sunday, 05 August 2007
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 Endeavour lands in Florida
21 August 2007 - Endeavour and its crew of seven landed in Florida on Tuesday, wrapping up a nearly two-week orbital drama that centered on a deep gouge in the space shuttle’s belly and an early homecoming prompted by a hurricane. In the end, neither the damage nor the weather posed a problem for Endeavour's 12:32 p.m. ET touchdown at NASA's Kennedy Space Center.
|  Endeavour heads home, hoping to beat storm
20 August 2007 - The space shuttle Endeavour undocked from the international space station a day early on Sunday, as NASA kept a wary eye on Hurricane Dean.
Space agency managers worried that the storm would move toward Houston and force them to evacuate to a smaller-staffed makeshift control center at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Endeavour crew prepared to land on Tuesday as a precaution.
|  Hurricane Dean threatens to disrupt NASA's plans
18 August 2007 - With the the massive storm that is Hurricane Dean forcing its way through the Caribbean Sea, NASA managers are considering cutting the Space Shuttle Endeavour's mission one day short for a landing on Tuesday. The shuttle is currently scheduled to return on Wednesday after a two-week construction mission to the International Space Station, but the approach of Dean is concerning NASA flight controllers in Houston, Texas - not far from the projected path of the hurricane.
|  NASA decides against shuttle repair in orbit
17 August 2007 - NASA decided Thursday that no repairs are needed for a deep gouge in Endeavour’s belly and the space shuttle is safe to fly home. Mission Control notified the seven shuttle astronauts of the decision right before they went to sleep, putting an end to a week of engineering analyses and anxious uncertainty - both in orbit and on Earth.
“Please pass along our thanks for all the hard work,” radioed Endeavour’s commander, Scott Kelly. Mission Control replied, “It’s great we finally have a decision and we can press forward.”
|  Space teacher conducts first orbital lesson
15 August 2007 - Teacher-astronaut Barbara Morgan transformed the space shuttle and space station into a classroom Tuesday for her first education session from orbit, fulfilling the legacy of Christa McAuliffe with joy and also some sadness.
“I’ve thought about Christa and the Challenger crew just about every day since 20-plus years ago,” Morgan said in a series of interviews right before class got under way. “I hope that they know that they are here with us in our hearts.”
|  Gouge penetrates through shielding, NASA weighs repairs
13 August 2007 - After a close-range laser inspection by the astronauts onboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour, NASA has revealed that the 3 1/2 inch-long gouge on the shuttle's belly penetrates all of the way through the fragile inch-thick themal heat sheilding. NASA engineers are calculating what level of repairs will be required, though it seems more than likely that sometime in the next week NASA astronauts will make the first ever spacewalk to repair damage to a spacecraft's heat reentry sheild. The damaged area is exposed to over 2300 degree F heat during atmostpheric reentry; a similar, albeit much larger, hole destroyed the Space Shuttle Columbia during reentry in 2003.
|  Astronauts inspect gash on Endeavour
12 August 2007 - Maneuvering a laser-tipped boom designed for the job, astronauts closely inspected a gash to shuttle Endeavour's belly Sunday, providing 3-D images that NASA hopes will rule out the need for risky spacewalk repairs. A chunk of insulating foam smacked the shuttle at liftoff last week in an unbelievably unlucky ricochet off the fuel tank and carved out the gouge.
| Tile damage spotted on shuttle's underbelly
11 August 2007 - NASA discovered a worrisome gouge on Endeavour’s belly soon after the shuttle docked with the international space station Friday, possibly caused by ice that broke off the fuel tank a minute after liftoff. The gouge — about 3 inches (7.5 centimeters) square — was spotted in zoom-in photography taken by the space station crew shortly before Endeavour delivered teacher-astronaut Barbara Morgan and her six crewmates to the orbiting outpost.
|  Shuttle performs inspection flip, docks with ISS
10 August 2007 - The space shuttle Endeavour docked with the international space station Friday after performing an orbital backflip that permitted a close-up look for any damage from flyaway foam on launch day.
With commander Scott Kelly at the controls, Endeavour pulled up to the space station and neatly parked as the two spacecraft soared above the South Pacific. The shuttle and its crew of seven, including teacher-astronaut Barbara Morgan, will remain at the outpost for at least a week.
|  Endeavour launch successful
09 August 2007 - Space shuttle Endeavour roared into orbit Wednesday carrying teacher-astronaut Barbara Morgan, who was finally fulfilling the dream of Christa McAuliffe and the rest of the fallen Challenger crew. Endeavour and its crew of seven rose from the seaside pad at 6:36 p.m. ET, right on time, and pierced a solidly blue sky. They’re expected to reach the international space station on Friday.
| NASA Develops Wireless Tile Scanner for Space Shuttle Inspection
07 August 2007 - A new space shuttle tile inspection method using NASA-built, wireless scanners is replacing manual inspection. The new process begins with the upcoming shuttle mission, STS-118. Endeavour is scheduled to launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, Aug. 8 at 6:36 p.m. EDT.
Technicians have been using six new scanners to look for cracks and other imperfections in some of the 24,000 tiles that cover space shuttle Endeavour. The agency designed and built the new tools at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif. In the past, workers at Kennedy visually analyzed tiles and measured dings and cracks with small hand-held scales.
|  Endeavour launch postponed 24 hours
05 August 2007 - The launch of space shuttle Endeavour on mission STS-118 has been postponed 24 hours to allow the shuttle processing team additional time to complete routine work before liftoff. The launch now is targeted for Wednesday, Aug. 8, at 6:36 p.m. EDT from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
|  NASA scrambles to make shuttle repairs
02 August 2007 - With a launch countdown looming, NASA scrambled to fix a cabin leak aboard the space shuttle Endeavour on Wednesday.
The leak was traced overnight to one of two pressure-relief valves in Endeavour’s crew cabin, located behind the toilet but separate from the bathroom plumbing, said NASA spokesman George Diller. NASA decided late Wednesday afternoon to replace the bad valve with one taken from the space shuttle Atlantis. The newly installed component will be tested Thursday before launch.
| Leak in space shuttle could postpone liftoff
01 August 2007 - A week before Endeavour’s planned liftoff, NASA was analyzing a cabin leak in the space shuttle Tuesday. The leak was detected over the weekend. NASA thought it fixed the problem by tightening a loose bolt, but testing Monday night confirmed that air was still escaping from the crew cabin, said NASA spokeswoman Tracy Young. Engineers have yet to pinpoint the leak, which could require so much work that NASA might not be able to launch Endeavour on Aug. 7.
|  NASA gives 'GO' for Shuttle Endeavour launch on August 7
27 July 2007 - On Thursday, NASA managers set Aug. 7 as the official launch date for space shuttle Endeavour's STS-118 mission to the International Space Station. Liftoff from NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla., is scheduled for 7:02 p.m. EDT.
Endeavour's launch date was announced following the traditional Flight Readiness Review at Kennedy. During the two-day meeting, top NASA and contractor managers assessed any risks associated with the mission and determined that the shuttle's equipment, support systems and procedures are ready for flight.
| Sabotaged wires won't delay space shuttle launch
26 July 2007 - Sabotaged wires inside a computer box bound for the International Space Station (ISS) won't delay the planned Aug. 7 launch of NASA's shuttle Endeavour, the agency said Thursday. NASA's Inspector General Office has launched an investigation into intentionally cut wires in a data relay box slated to launch aboard Endeavour next month and be installed inside the space station's U.S.-built Destiny laboratory, NASA's associate administrator Bill Gerstenmaier told reporters Thursday.
| Endeavour moves to launch pad
12 July 2007 - Space shuttle Endeavour arrived at its launch pad early Wednesday for a flight to send teacher-turned-astronaut Barbara Morgan and six crewmates to the international space station. It's been a nearly five-year wait for Endeavour, and the shuttle has nothing on Morgan: She's been waiting 22 years.
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"Medically speaking, there's no accounting for taste."
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