The Final Voyage

Space shuttle Endeavour on the STS-134 mission made its final landing at the Shuttle Landing Facility at Kennedy Space Center, Wednesday, June 1, 2011, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Endeavour, completed a 16-day mission to outfit the International Space Station. Endeavour spent 299 days in space and traveled more than 122.8 million miles during its 25 flights. It launched on its first mission on May 7, 1992.

Image Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

Endeavour's Final Journey Home

A vapor trail follows space shuttle Endeavour as it approaches Runway 15 on the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the final time. Endeavour landed at 2:35 a.m. EDT on Wednesday, June 1, 2011, wrapping up the STS-134 mission. During the 16-day mission, Commander Mark Kelly and crew delivered the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer to the International Space Station.

Photo credit: NASA/Chuck Tintera

Space Shuttle Endeavour Sails To Home Port For Final Time

Michael Curie

Headquarters, Washington     

 

Candrea Thomas

Kennedy Space Center, Fla.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Space shuttle Endeavour and its six-astronaut crew sailed home for the final time, ending a 16-day journey of more than 6.5 million miles with a landing at 2:34 a.m. EDT on Wednesday at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

STS-134 was the last mission for the youngest of NASA's space shuttle fleet. Since 1992, Endeavour flew 25 missions, spent 299 days in space, orbited Earth 4,671 times and traveled 122,883,151 miles.

"We are very proud of Endeavour's legacy, and this penultimate flight of the space shuttle program once again demonstrated the amazing skill and dedication of our astronauts and the entire workforce," said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden. "As we begin the transition from the shuttle program to the commercial transportation of our crews and cargo, our ability to tackle big challenges remains steadfast and will ensure that NASA reaches even more destinations farther in the solar system."

Mark Kelly commanded the flight and was joined by Pilot Greg H. Johnson and Mission Specialists Mike Fincke, Drew Feustel, Greg Chamitoff and the European Space Agency's Roberto Vittori. Endeavour delivered the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer-2 (AMS), beginning a scientific voyage of discovery to our solar system and beyond from the International Space Station. By measuring cosmic rays, AMS is designed to help researchers understand the origin of the universe and search for evidence of dark matter, strange matter and antimatter.

Endeavour also delivered the Express Logistics Carrier-3, a platform carrying spare parts that will sustain space station operations once the shuttles are retired from service. The astronauts performed four spacewalks to maintain station systems and install new components.

These were the last scheduled spacewalks by shuttle crew members and brought the final number of shuttle excursions to 164. During 159 spacewalks for assembly and maintenance of the space station, astronauts and cosmonauts have spent a total of 1,002 hours and 37 minutes outside.

Fincke set a new record for time a U.S. astronaut has spent in space when he reached his 377th day on May 27, surpassing previous record holder Peggy Whitson. With today's landing, Fincke's record now is at 382 days in space.

A welcome ceremony for the astronauts will be held Thursday, June 2, in Houston. The public is invited to attend the 4 p.m. CDT event at Ellington Field's NASA Hangar 990. Gates to Ellington Field will open at 3:30 p.m. Highlights from the ceremony will be broadcast on NASA Television's Video File. For NASA TV downlink information, schedules and links to streaming video, visit http://www.nasa.gov/ntv.

STS-134 was the 134th shuttle flight and the 36th shuttle mission dedicated to station assembly and maintenance. With Endeavour and its crew safely home, the stage is set for the launch of shuttle Atlantis on its STS-135 mission, targeted to begin July 8.

Four veteran astronauts will deliver supplies and spare parts to the space station. The 12-day mission also will install an experiment designed to demonstrate and test the tools, technologies and techniques needed to refuel satellites in space robotically -- even satellites not designed to be serviced.

Chris Ferguson, a veteran of two previous shuttle missions, will command the flight. Doug Hurley will be the pilot, a role he filled on the STS-127 mission in 2009. Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim will be the mission specialists. Magnus spent four and a half months aboard the station beginning in November 2008. Walheim flew on the STS-110 mission in 2002 and the STS-122 mission in 2008.

STS-135 will be Atlantis' 33rd mission and the 37th shuttle flight dedicated to station assembly and maintenance. It will be the 135th and final mission of NASA's Space Shuttle Program.

For more information about the STS-134 mission and the upcoming STS-135 flight, visit http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle.

For information about the space station, visit http://www.nasa.gov/station.

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Endeavour Lands For Final Time at 2:34 a.m. EDT

Space shuttle Endeavour landed for the final time at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center after 248 orbits around Earth and a journey of 6,510,221 miles on STS-134.

Endeavour’s main gear touched down at 2:34:51 a.m. followed by the nose gear at 2:35:04 and wheels stop at 2:35:36 a.m.

A post-landing news conference with managers at Kennedy is expected no earlier than 4:30 a.m. on NASA Television and http://www.nasa.gov/ntv. The participants will be Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for Space Operations, Mike Moses, space shuttle launch integration manager, and Mike Leinbach, space shuttle launch director.

STS-134 was the 25th and final flight for Endeavour, which spent 299 days in space, orbited Earth 4,671 times and traveled 122,883,151 miles.

Space shuttle Atlantis now is about half way complete with its move from NASA Kennedy Space Center's Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Pad 39A.

Currently, the crawler-transporter (CT) with Atlantis and its mobile launcher platform on top is temporarily stopped to allow technicians to preemptively grease some bearings in the CT that were starting to heat up. The rollout will resume shortly.

Atlantis is expected to be secured on the launch pad about 3:30 a.m. EDT.

Deorbit Burn Complete; Endeavour Headed to Kennedy Space Center

Space shuttle Endeavour has completed the deorbit burn, setting it on a course to return to Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Entry interface, the point at which the shuttle begins entering the Earth’s atmosphere, will occur at 2:03 a.m. EDT. Peak heating begins at 2:12 a.m., the first roll reversal to slow the spacecraft will take place at 2:16 a.m., and peak heating should end about 2:22 a.m.

Endeavour will head to the northeast across the west coast of Florida near Fort Meyers Beach, triggering dual sonic booms minutes later when it slows to subsonic speeds at about 2:31 a.m. Commander Mark Kelly will align Endeavour with Kennedy’s northwest to southeast runway 15 and touch down at 2:35:23 a.m.

The STS-134 ground track for the orbit 248 landing is posted here http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts134/news/landing.html.

Space shuttle Atlantis now is about half way complete with its move from NASA Kennedy Space Center’s Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Pad 39A.

Currently, the crawler-transporter (CT) with Atlantis and its mobile launcher platform on top is temporarily stopped to allow technicians to preemptively grease some bearings in the CT that were starting to heat up. The rollout will resume shortly.

Atlantis is expected to be secured on the launch pad about 3:30 a.m. EDT.

Endeavour Given "Go" for Deorbit Burn

Mission Control Capcom Barry Wilmore gave space shuttle Endeavour Commander Mark Kelly a "go" for the deorbit burn. The shuttle’s two Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS) engines will fire at 1:29 a.m. EDT for two minutes, 38 seconds and slow Endeavour by 201 miles per hour. Landing is expected at 2:35 a.m. at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, runway 15.

You can track Endeavour during landing in Google Earth using real-time data from Mission Control: http://bit.ly/lw9VCg

Weather is observed and forecast “go.”

Space shuttle Atlantis now is about half way complete with its move from NASA Kennedy Space Center’s Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Pad 39A.

Currently, the crawler-transporter (CT) with Atlantis and its mobile launcher platform on top is temporarily stopped to allow technicians to preemptively grease some bearings in the CT that were starting to heat up. The rollout will resume shortly.

Atlantis is expected to be secured on the launch pad about 3:30 a.m. EDT.

The Real Space Saver: NC State Students Look To Support Manned Mission To Mars

Release Date: 05.31.2011

What would it take to make a manned mission to Mars a reality? A team of aerospace and textile engineering students from North Carolina State University believe part of the solution may lie in advanced textile materials. The students joined forces to tackle life-support challenges that the aerospace industry has been grappling with for decades.

“One of the big issues, in terms of a manned mission to Mars, is creating living quarters that would protect astronauts from the elements – from radiation to meteorites,” says textile engineering student Brent Carter. “Currently, NASA uses solid materials like aluminum, fiberglass and carbon fibers, which while effective, are large, bulky and difficult to pack within a spacecraft.”

Using advanced textile materials, which are flexible and can be treated with various coatings, students designed a 1,900-square-foot inflatable living space that could comfortably house four to six astronauts. This living space is made by layering radiation-shielding materials like Demron™  (used in the safety suits for nuclear workers cleaning up Japan’s Fukushima plant) with a gas-tight material made from a polyurethane substrate to hold in air, as well as gold-metalicized film that reflects UV rays – among others. The space is dome-shaped, which will allow those pesky meteors, prone to showering down on the red planet, to bounce off the astronauts’ home away from home without causing significant damage.

“We’re using novel applications of high-tech textile technology and applying them to aerospace problems,” explains Alex Ray, a textile engineering student and team member. “Being able to work with classmates in aeronautical engineering allowed us to combine our knowledge from both disciplines to really think through some original solutions.”

Students also tackled another major issue preventing a manned mission to Mars – water supply. Currently, astronauts utilize something called a Sabatier reactor to produce water while in space. The Sabatier process involves the reaction of carbon dioxide and hydrogen, with the presence of nickel, at extremely high temperatures and pressure to produce water and methane.

“We wanted to find a way to improve the current Sabatier reactor so we could still take advantage of the large quantities of carbon dioxide available on Mars, and the fact that it is relatively easy to bring large quantities of hydrogen on the spacecraft, since it is such a lightweight element,” says recent aerospace engineering graduate Mark Kaufman, who was also on the design team.

Current Sabatier reactors, Kaufman explains, are long, heavy tubes filled with nickel pellets – not ideal for bringing on a spacecraft. The student groups worked to develop a fiber material to which they applied nickel nanoparticles to create the same reaction without all the weight and volume. They believe their redesigned Sabatier reactor would be more feasible to carry along on a future space shuttle.

In addition to Carter, Ray and Kaufman, the team also included Kris Tesh, Grant Gilliam, Kasey Orrell, Daniel Page and Zack Hester. Textile engineering professor and former aerospace engineer, Dr. Warren Jasper, served as the faculty sponsor. The team also received valuable feedback from Fred Smith, an advanced life support systems engineer with NASA.

Jasper and the student team will present their project at the NASA-sponsored Revolutionary Aerospace Systems Concepts Academic Linkage (RASC-AL) competition, held June 6-8 in Cocoa Beach, Fla. The project will be judged by NASA and industry experts against other undergraduate groups from across the country. RASC-AL was formed to provide university-level engineering students the opportunity to design projects based on NASA engineering challenges, as well as offer NASA access to new research and design projects by students.

Contributed by Bob Johnson's Computer Stuff