September 2006 - Sarex (INACTIVE)

Crew to Conduct Inspections
by Arthur Rowe 17 Sep '06

17 Sep '06

SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468 *Atlantis Undocks From Space Station; Crew to Conduct Inspections* Space Shuttle Atlantis undocked from the International Space Station at 8:50 a.m. EDT Sunday, ending STS-115’s successful stay and setting the stage for future assembly missions. Now, the STS-115 crew members will turn their attention to returning to Earth. Atlantis delivered the P3/P4 integrated truss to the station on Sept. 11. The STS-115 and Expedition 13 crews used the shuttle and station robotic arms to attach the truss to the orbital outpost. Then, STS-115 astronauts conducted three spacewalks in four days to prepare the truss and its solar arrays for operation. After Atlantis undocked, Pilot Chris Ferguson performed a 360-degree fly-around of the station to allow his crewmates to collect imagery of the newly-expanded station. On Monday, the crew will use the robotic arm and boom sensor system to conduct an inspection of Atlantis’ heat shield. The purpose of the post-docking inspection is to look for damage from space junk and micrometeoroids. Atlantis is scheduled to touch down at 5:57 a.m. (1057 UTC).Wednesday at the Shuttle Landing Facility at Kennedy Space Center, Fla. For the latest information on space station activities, please visit: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html

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STS-115 MCC Status Report #17
by Arthur Rowe 17 Sep '06

17 Sep '06

SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468 NASA NEWS 12:30 p.m. CDT Sunday, Sept. 17, 2006 Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas 09.17.06 STATUS REPORT: STS-115-17 STS-115 MCC Status Report #17 The Space Shuttle Atlantis left a space station today markedly different than the one to which it docked less than a week ago. Atlantis undocked from the International Space Station at 7:50 a.m. CDT, completing six days, two hours and two minutes of joint operations with the station crew. As the shuttle departs, a new station crew is preparing to launch to the complex tonight from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan. Atlantis left the station with a new, second pair of 240-foot solar wings, attached to a new 17.5-ton section of truss with batteries, electronics and a giant rotating joint. The new solar arrays eventually will double the station's onboard power when their electrical systems are brought online during the next shuttle flight, planned for launch in December. Atlantis is now aiming for a 4:57 a.m. CDT Wednesday landing at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Meanwhile, the station's Expedition 14 crew -- Commander and NASA Science Officer Michael Lopez-Alegria, Flight Engineer Mikhail Tyurin and spaceflight participant Anoushheh Ansari -- are set to launch in their Soyuz TMA-9 spacecraft from Baikonur at 11:09 p.m. CDT. Lopez-Alegria and Tyurin will begin a six-month stay aboard the station when they dock to the complex on Wednesday. Ansari is visiting the station for eight days under a commercial agreement with the Russian Federal Space Agency. NASA TV coverage of the Expedition 14 launch begins at 10:30 p.m. CDT. After undocking, Atlantis' crew -- Commander Brent Jett, Pilot Chris Ferguson and Mission Specialists Dan Burbank, Joe Tanner, Heide Stefanyshyn-Piper and Steve MacLean -- got a breath-taking view of the station as the shuttle circled the complex. During their stay at the station, the shuttle crew conducted three spacewalks in four days to prepare the new components for operation. As Atlantis performed a full fly-around of the station, the shuttle crew took photographs and video of the complex's new T-shaped solar array configuration. The station's truss now stretches 179 feet. In addition to the new truss section and its arrays, the astronauts transferred 800 pounds of hardware and 1,043 pounds of water to the station in exchange for 1,084 pounds of returning hardware. They also placed about 200 pounds of launch locks, restraints and other unneeded hardware on ISS Progress 21 for disposal. The shuttle astronauts spent five days, 21 hours and 57 minutes with hatches open to the station working with the station's Expedition 13 crew -- Commander Pavel Vinogradov, and Flight Engineers Jeff Williams and Thomas Reiter. The hatches were shut for Atlantis' undoccking at 5:27 a.m. CDT. Vinogradov, Williams and Ansari will land in a Soyuz spacecraft in Kazakhstan Sept. 29. Vinogradov and Williams have been in orbit since March. On Monday, the shuttle crew will use the ship’s robotic arm to grapple the boom sensor system once more to conduct a final inspection of the heat shielding on Atlantis’ wings and nose cap. The additional late inspecting ensures the areas still are in good shape for entry into the atmosphere and landing. Atlantis' crew begins their sleep period at 2:15 p.m. CDT and will awaken at 10:15 p.m. CDT. The next STS-115 mission status report will be issued following crew wakeup, or earlier if events warrant.

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Atlantis Undocks From Space Station
by Arthur Rowe 17 Sep '06

17 Sep '06

SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468 Atlantis Undocks From Space Station Space Shuttle Atlantis undocked from the International Space Station at 8:50 a.m. EDT today, ending STS-115’s successful stay and setting the stage for future assembly missions. Atlantis delivered the P3/P4 integrated truss to the station. The STS-115 and Expedition 13 crews used the shuttle and station robotic arms to attach the truss to the orbital outpost. Then, STS-115 astronauts conducted three spacewalks in four days to prepare the truss and its solar arrays for operation. The hatches between the station and Space Shuttle Atlantis closed at 6:27 a.m. EDT. After Atlantis undocked, Pilot Chris Ferguson performed a 360-degree fly-around of the station to allow his crewmates to collect imagery of the newly-expanded station. Atlantis is scheduled to touch down at 5:57 a.m. Wednesday at the Shuttle Landing Facility at Kennedy Space Center, Fla. For the latest information on space station activities, please visit: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html

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Expedition 14’s Soyuz Rocket at Pad for Monday’s Launch
by Arthur Rowe 17 Sep '06

17 Sep '06

SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468 *Expedition 14’s Soyuz Rocket at Pad for Monday’s Launch * The Soyuz rocket that will launch the Expedition 14 crew into orbit is now at the launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Launch is scheduled for 12:09 a.m. EDT Monday. Expedition 14 Commander Michael Lopez-Alegria and Flight Engineer Mikhail Tyurin are scheduled to arrive at the station at 1:24 a.m. Wednesday. Flying to the station with Lopez-Alegria and Tyurin will be American Anousheh Ansari, the first female spaceflight participant to visit the orbiting laboratory. She is flying under contract with the Russian Federal Space Agency. Lopez-Alegria and Tyurin will replace Expedition 13 Commander Pavel Vinogradov and NASA Science Officer Jeff Williams, who are wrapping up a six-month stay on the station. European Space Agency Astronaut Thomas Reiter will stay on the station and join Expedition 14. Meanwhile on the station, Expedition 13 is close to ending a busy week of joint operations with STS-115. The six-member STS-115 crew arrived at the station Sept. 11 aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis. The STS-115 crew used the shuttle and station robotic arms to install the P3/P4 truss and its solar arrays on to the station. The crew then conducted three spacewalks to prepare the addition for operation. Atlantis’ undocking is set for 8:50 a.m. Sunday. STS-115 is the first construction mission to visit the station since late 2002. STS-116 is the next construction mission and it is scheduled to visit the station and Expedition 14 as early as December. The Expedition 13 crew is also preparing for the departure of the Progress 21 cargo ship, which is filled with trash and other unneeded items. The Progress will undock at 8:28 p.m. Monday. It will then be commanded to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere to burn up harmlessly. For the latest information on STS-115, please visit: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html <http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html> + Expedition 13 Briefing Materials, August 22, 2006 <http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition13/exp13_br…> + Expedition 14 Preflight Briefing Materials, August 22, 2006 <http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition14/exp14_pr…> + Next station assembly mission -- 12A <http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/iss_assembly_12a.html> + Previous station assembly mission -- ULF 1.1 <http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/iss_assembly_ulf1_1.html> + Read more about Expedition 13 <http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition13/index.ht…> + Read more about Expedition 14 <http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition14/index.ht…>

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Hatches Close, Atlantis Set to Leave Station
by Arthur Rowe 17 Sep '06

17 Sep '06

SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468 The STS-115 crew bid farewell to its host and left the International Space Station. The hatches between the station and Space Shuttle Atlantis closed at 6:27 a.m. EDT. (1027 UTC) The two crews will conduct leak checks before Atlantis undocks at 8:50 a.m. EDT. (1250 UTC) Following undocking, Pilot Chris Ferguson will do a 360-degree fly-around of the station to allow his crewmates to collect imagery of the newly-expanded station. The fly-around will begin about 9:15 a.m. and conclude about 10:30 a.m. STS-115 is the first of a series of the shuttle missions that will perform on-orbit construction of the station. Atlantis delivered the P3/P4 integrated truss to the station. The crews used the shuttle and station robotic arms to attach the truss to the orbital outpost. Then, STS-115 astronauts conducted three spacewalks in four days to prepare the truss and its solar arrays for operation. Atlantis is scheduled to touch down at 5:57 a.m. Wednesday at the Shuttle Landing Facility at Kennedy Space Center, Fla. For the latest information on space station activities, please visit: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html

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NASA TV SCHEDULE
by Arthur Rowe 17 Sep '06

17 Sep '06

SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468 NASA Television is now carried on an MPEG-2 digital signal accessed via satellite AMC-6, at 72 degrees west longitude, transponder 17C, 4040 MHz, vertical polarization. A Digital Video Broadcast (DVB) - compliant Integrated Receiver Decoder (IRD) with modulation of QPSK/DBV, data rate of 36.86 and FEC 3/4 is needed for reception. NASA TV Multichannel Broadcast includes: Public Services Channel (Channel 101); the Education Channel (Channel 102) and the Media Services Channel (Channel 103). 2006 September The NASA TV schedule for STS-115 is available at: http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/mission_schedule.html September 16, Saturday 12 p.m. - Expedition 14/Ansari Pre-Launch Activities and Soyuz TMA-9 Rollout B-Roll Feed - JSC (Media Channel) September 17, Sunday 12 p.m. - Expedition 14/Ansari Final Pre-Launch News Conference Replay - JSC (All Channels) 10:30 p.m. - Expedition 14/Ansari Pre-Launch B-Roll Feed from Baikonur, Kazakhstan - Baikonur (Media Channel) 11:30 p.m. - Expedition 14/Ansari Launch Coverage Begins (Launch scheduled at 12:09 a.m. Sept. 18) - Baikonur (All Channels) September 18, Monday 2:30 a.m. - Expedition 14/Ansari Post-Launch Interviews and Post Launch Video File - JSC (Media Channel) September 20,Wednesday 12:30 a.m. - Expedition 14/Ansari Docking to the ISS Coverage (docking scheduled at 1:24 a.m.) – Korolev, Russia (All Channels) 4:10 a.m. - Expedition 14/Ansari/Expedition 13 Hatch Opening and Welcoming Ceremony (Hatch opening scheduled at 4:20 a.m.) – Korolev, Russia (All Channels) September 21, Thursday 12:15 p.m. - Expedition 14/Expedition 13/Ansari Crew News Conference - JSC (All Channels) September 22, Friday 12:05 p.m. - Expedition 14/Expedition 13 In-Flight Interviews with ABC News and Wisconsin Public Radio - JSC (Media Channel) September 25, Monday 5:40 a.m. - Expedition 14/Expedition 13/Ansari In-Flight Interviews with Russian Media (in native language) - JSC (Media Channel) 6:30 a.m. - Interpreted Replay of Expedition 14/Expedition 13/Ansari In-Flight Interviews with Russian Media - JSC (Media Channel) 12:15 p.m. - Expedition 14/Expedition 13 In-Flight Interviews with CBS News and Associated Press Television - JSC (Media Channel) September 26, Tuesday 10:23 a.m. - Expedition 14/Expedition 13 In-Flight Interviews with the Houston Chronicle, PBS Wired Program and CNN Espanol - JSC (Media Channel) September 27, Wednesday 12:25 p.m. -Expedition 14/Expedition 13 Change of Command Ceremony - JSC (All Channels) September 28, Thursday 2:15 p.m. - Expedition 14/Expedition 13/Ansari Farewells and Hatch Closure (hatch closure scheduled at 2:45 p.m.) - JSC (All Channels) 5:30 p.m. - Expedition 13/Ansari Undocking from the ISS Coverage (undocking scheduled at 5:54 p.m.) - JSC (All Channels) 8 p.m. - Expedition 13/Ansari Deorbit Burn and Landing Coverage (deorbit burn scheduled at 8:20 p.m.; landing scheduled at 9:10 p.m.) - JSC (All Channels) September 29, Friday 5:30 a.m. - Expedition 13/Ansari Video B-Roll of Landing Site Activities and Welcoming Ceremony in Kustanai, Kazakhstan - JSC (All Channels) 10 a.m. -Expedition 13/Ansari Video B-Roll of Return to Chkalovsky Airbase, Star City, Russia - JSC (All Channels) All times Eastern. Programs may be pre-empted without advance notice.

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STS-115 MCC Status Report #16
by Arthur Rowe 17 Sep '06

17 Sep '06

SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468 NASA NEWS 2 a.m. CDT Sunday, Sept. 17, 2006 Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas 09.17.06 STATUS REPORT: STS-115-16 STS-115 MCC Status Report #16 It's undocking day. The Space Shuttle Atlantis is scheduled to begin moving away from the International Space Station at 7:50 a.m. CDT. Crew members will get a look at the results of their STS-115 mission, which resumed assembly of the station. They'll do a full fly-around, the first in four years, to photograph the station with its new truss segments and solar arrays. Before undocking, the STS-115 crew -- Commander Brent Jett, Pilot Chris Ferguson and Mission Specialists Dan Burbank, Joe Tanner, Heide Stefanyshyn-Piper and Steve MacLean -- will say farewell to Expedition 13 -- Commander Pavel Vinogradov, and Flight Engineers Jeff Williams and Thomas Reiter -- about 5 a.m. before closing the hatches between the two vehicles. Then, with Ferguson at the controls, Atlantis will slowly move away from the station. The fly-around is scheduled to start at about 8:15 a.m. Atlantis is to leave the area a little after 9:30 a.m. Meanwhile, on the ground, preparations are under way for the launch of the next inhabitants of the station. The Expedition 14 crew, Commander Michael Lopez-Alegria and Flight Engineer Mikhail Tyurin, and spaceflight participant Anousheh Ansari, are scheduled to launch in their Soyuz TMA-9 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 11:09 p.m. CDT. They are scheduled to dock with the orbital laboratory two days later. NASA TV coverage of the Expedition 14 pre-launch activities and launch begins at 10:30 p.m. The shuttle and station crews woke at 11:15 p.m. to "Danger Zone" by Kenny Loggins, played for Ferguson. In his reply, Ferguson thanked soon-to-retire STS-115 lead guidance, navigation and control flight controller Charles Alford for his 40 years of NASA service. The shuttle pilot also thanked all those in Mission Control for helping to make spaceflight possible. The next STS-115 mission status report will be issued Sunday afternoon, or earlier if events warrant.

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STS-115 MCC Status Report #15
by Arthur Rowe 16 Sep '06

16 Sep '06

SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468 p.m. CDT, Saturday, Sept. 16 Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas 09.16.06 STATUS REPORT: STS-115-15 STS-115 MCC Status Report #15 Astronauts on board Space Shuttle Atlantis today got a much deserved day off having completed three highly successful space walks that put the International Space Station back under construction. After seven days in space, the STS-115 crew -- Commander Brent Jett, Pilot Chris Ferguson and Mission Specialists Dan Burbank, Joe Tanner, Heide Stefanyshyn-Piper and Steve MacLean -- got its first chance to sleep late. The crew then joined ISS Expedition 13 Commander Pavel Vinogradov, and Flight Engineers Jeff Williams and Thomas Reiter for a joint crew press conference. During the morning, the crew also was interviewed by CBS News, NBC News and ABC News, completed transferring the last of the supplies and equipment to the station, including 90 pounds of oxygen, and removed the REBA, Rechargeable EVA Battery Assembly. Atlantis will undock from the station at 7:50 a.m. CDT(1250 UTC) Sunday, circling the orbiting complex once as it departs to perform the first fly-around of the station in four years. The crew of STS-112 performed a partial fly-around to photo-document the station's exterior condition in Oct. 2002. Tomorrow, all nine crew members will gather for a televised farewell ceremony at 4:43 a.m. CDT(0943 UTC). Hatch closure between the station and shuttle will immediately follow. The next STS-115 mission status report will be issued Sunday morning, or earlier if events warrant.

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Next space tourist seeks understanding in stars
by Arthur Rowe 16 Sep '06

16 Sep '06

SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468 *Sept. 15, 2006, 11:07PM* Next space tourist seeks understanding in stars As launch nears, Dallas exec wishes for peace between United States and her native Iran By IRENE KLOTZ Reuters News Service The spacesuit Anousheh Ansari will wear when she blasts off for a 10-day orbital vacation to the international space station has been stripped of the flag of Iran, her native country. At the insistence of the Russian and U.S. governments, she has also promised there will be no political messages during her trip, although Ansari is painfully aware of the deep divide between the governments of her adopted U.S. home and the land she left at age 16. FOR THE REST OF THE STORY SEE: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/space/4191085.html

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Crews Hold News Conference; Atlantis to Undock Sunday
by Arthur Rowe 16 Sep '06

16 Sep '06

SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468 Crews Hold News Conference; Atlantis to Undock Sunday \The STS-115 and Expedition 13 crews are close to wrapping up a constructive week aboard the International Space Station. Today is the last full day of joint operations. The STS-115 crew arrived Sept. 11 and resumed the assembly of the station with the installation of the P3/P4 truss structure. The crew conducted three spacewalks in four days to prepare the P3/P4 and its solar arrays for operation. The crews held the traditional joint news conference earlier today. STS-115 Commander Brent Jett said this mission is a good start to the series of upcoming construction flights. “All of the rest of the assembly missions are going to be challenging.” Jett said. “We have similar payloads flying in the future. We are off to a good start on assembly. I think we can pass along a lot of the lessons to the future crews.” The STS 115 crew enjoyed some much-deserved off duty time this morning. For the remainder of the day, the crews will transfer cargo between Space Shuttle Atlantis and the station. Atlantis is slated to undock from the station at 8:50 a.m. EDT Sunday. Atlantis is scheduled to land 5:57 a.m. on Wednesday at the Space Shuttle Landing Facility at Kennedy Space Center, Fla. For the latest information on space station activities, please visit: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html

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