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USA in Space, 3rd Edition Space Shuttle Mission STS-114 Date: July 26 to August 9, 2005 Type of Mission: Piloted spaceflight STS-114, originally scheduled to fly in March, 2003, on Atlantis, was delayed by the February, 2003, Columbia reentry accident. The mission, rescheduled for 2005 on board Discovery, represented NASA's return to piloted spaceflight. The payload module would contain supplies and equipment for the International Space Station (ISS), and the mission implemented new safety features. Considerable crew time was spent inspecting exterior tiles using equipment previously uintested in real orbit condition. Key Figures Eileen M. Collins (b. 1956), mission commander James M. Kelly (b. 1964), pilot Stephen K. Robinson (b. 1955), flight engineer Charles J. Camarda (b. 1952), mission specialist Wendy B. Lawrence (b. 1959), mission specialist Soichi Noguchi (b. 1965), mission specialist Andrew S. W. Thomas (b. 1951), payload specialist Summary of the Mission The STS-114 mission was originally scheduled to fly during March, 2003, on the space shuttle Atlantis. It would have carried an Italian-made Raffaello Multi-Purpose Logistics Module to the International Space Station (ISS). In addition, STS-114 would have rotated the ISS crew by delivering astronauts Aleksandr Kaleri, Edward T. Lu, and Yuri Malenchenko (Expedition Seven) to the Space Station and returning Kenneth Bowersox, Nikolai Budarin, and Donald R. Pettit (Expedition Six) to Earth. Eileen M. Collins, James M. Kelly, Soichi Noguchi, and Stephen K. Robinson made up the originally scheduled crew. From October 18, 2002, when Atlantis landed after the STS-112 mission, until January 31, 2003, preparations of Atlantis for STS-114 proceeded normally. On February 1, the Columbia orbiter on STS-107 disintegrated during reentry, killing the entire crew. In the wake of the accident, all shuttle flights, including STS-114, were postponed until the cause of the accident could be determined and fixed. With the shuttle fleet grounded, Russian Soyuz spacecraft were used for crew transfers and Progress spacecraft for resupplying the ISS. Shuttle flight STS-114 was both postponed and modified. For greater safety, launch windows are constrained by the additional requirement that both the launch and fuel tank separation occur in daylight. In October, 2004, officials at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) postponed STS-114 from the projected launch planning window in March, 2005, to a launch window extending from May 12 to June 3, 2005. Four hurricanes struck Florida in rapid succession during the 2004 hurricane season and hindered launch preparations. Discovery was designated to replace Atlantis for flight STS-114, with some of the mission tasks transferred to a newly added flight, STS-121, on Atlantis. The transfer was expected to allow STS-114 to perform tasks related to testing new safety systems. In addition, STS-114 would not carry a replacement crew to the ISS. Hence, there was room for three additional crew members to help perform these new tasks: Mission Specialists Charles J. Camarda, Wendy B. Lawrence, and Andrew S.W. Thomas. Many of the modifications to flight STS-114 were related to new safety requirements and testing new safety equipment. The Columbia Accident Investigation Board had concluded that there was a breach in Columbia's thermal protection system on the leading edge of the left wing, caused by a piece of insulating foam which separated from the left bipod ramp section of the External Tank at 81.7 seconds after launch. Although this foam is very light in mass, it struck the wing traveling at about 855 kilometers per hour near the vicinity of the lower half of reinforced carbon-carbon (RCC) panel number 8. The breach in the RCC panel, close to the orbiter body, permitted hot plasma to enter the wing during reentry. The hot gases continued to burn through the lightweight aluminum wing structures, large sections of the left wing collapsed, and the wing separated from the orbiter. The daylight launch requirement allows better monitoring of similar debris during launch. To reduce the amount of debris hitting the shuttle during launch, some of the foam insulating the fuel tank, in the region where it attaches to the shuttle, was replaced with heating elements to prevent ice from forming on the cold liquid-fuel tank. The modified shuttle also includes sensors on the wings and several new cameras to monitor the debris striking the shuttle during launch. For the first two return-to-flight missions, STS-114 and STS-121, NASA decided to use, on an experimental basis, ground-based radar and two jets to monitor the debris flow. The jets would also monitor the reentry. To ensure that there would be no external damage, the crew was assigned to spend the second day of the mission inspecting the external wing and nose structure via the newly designed 30-meter long orbiter boom sensor system. During the docking with the ISS, space station crew members would photograph the underside of the shuttle to look for possible damage. In the event of external damage to the shuttle on this or future flights, procedures for repairing the thermal protection tiles were developed by NASA. Crew members Stephen K. Robinson and Soichi Noguchi were assigned to test these tile repair procedures during the first of three planned extravehicular activities (EVAs, or spacewalks) on day five of the mission. The first Return-to-Flight mission began with a near-perfect launch on July 26, 2005, at 14:39:00.07 Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) (10:39 a.m. EDT) from the Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39B. Launch video taken from a digital camera mounted on the external tank revealed two so-called debris events. One image showed what appeared to be a small fragment of tile coming from Discovery's underside on or near the nose gear doors. A later image about the time of solid rocket booster separation showed an unidentified piece departing from the tank and exiting away, apparently not striking the orbiter. The crew was notified of these observations and told that imaging experts would be analyzing the pictures. On day two of the mission, Discovery's crew members completed a camera survey of the heatshields of the leading edges of the orbiter's wings and its nose cone using the Orbiter Boom Sensor System (OBSS) laser-scanner. Preparations for docking included a checkout of rendezvous tools and the extension of the Orbiter Docking System ring that would make first contact with the station. On July 28, the first shuttle to visit the International Space Station since late 2002 linked with the orbiting laboratory over the southern Pacific Ocean west of the South American coast. The approach included the first rendezvous pitch maneuver, a slow backflip by Discovery about 200 meters below the station immediately before docking. After the initial hugs and handshakes, Station Commander Sergei Krikalev gave a safety briefing for the new arrivals. Among early tasks for the joint crews was preparation for additional robotic arm surveys of the orbiter. Kelly and Lawrence, with help from Phillips, used the station's Canadarm2 to lift the Orbiter Boom Sensor System from Discovery and hand it to the shuttle arm. Camarda and Thomas steered the shuttle arm, which could not grasp the boom directly with the station in the way. Shuttle and station crew members installed the Raffaello Multi-Purpose Logistics Module and began unloading the pressurized cargo carrier on the fourth day of the mission. They also carried out a survey of selected areas of Discovery's thermal protection system and continued preparations for the next day's spacewalk. Astronauts Steve Robinson and Soichi Noguchi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency made a successful 6-hour, 50-minute spacewalk on Saturday, July 30, completing a demonstration of shuttle thermal protection repair techniques and enhancements to the station's attitude control system. For the repair demonstration, they worked with tiles and reinforced carbon-carbon intentionally damaged on the ground and brought into space in Discovery's payload bay. They tested an emittance wash applicator for tile repair and non-oxide adhesive experimental (NOAX) for the reinforced carbon-carbon samples. They also installed a base and cabling for a stowage platform and rerouted power to the ISS's Control Moment Gyroscope-2 (CMG-2), one of four 600-pound gyroscopes that control the orientation of the station in orbit. Discovery's heat-protective tiles and thermal blankets were pronounced fit for entry after engineers reviewed the imagery and other data to judge their health. About 25 dings were seen on Discovery, compared to a mission average of 145 in missions before Columbia's loss. Mission managers also decided to extend the STS-114 mission by one day to spend more time docked with the station. Astronauts transferred additional water and supplies to the ISS in case the next shuttle mission (STS-121) were to be delayed. During the sixth and seventh day of the mission, approximately six metric tons of hardware and equipment were moved from Discovery to the station. Just over three and a half tons of material, including experiment packages and trash, would return to Earth aboard Discovery. On Monday, July 31, Robinson and Noguchi replaced a 275-kilogram gyroscope on the ISS, giving the orbiting laboratory a complete, functional set of four. Called "control moment gyros," or CMGs, the devices maintain the station's orientation in space. The 7-hour, 14-minute spacewalk began at 8:42 UTC. After leaving the Discovery airlock, Noguchi and Robinson made their way hand-over-hand to the station's Z1 Truss atop the Unity Node, where the four CMGs are housed. There the spacewalkers removed CMG-1, which had failed in June, 2002, and installed its replacement. Later, controllers on the ground began the process of spinning the CMG to its normal operating speed. On Wednesday, August 3, astronaut Steve Robinson made the first-ever inflight repair of a shuttle orbiter. Despite days of anticipation and intense planning, Robinson made it look easy as he gently pulled two protruding gap fillers from between thermal protection tiles on Discovery's underside. Gap fillers are used in areas to restrict the flow of hot gas into the gaps between Thermal Protection System components. They consist of a layer of coated Nextel fabric and are normally about 0.5 millimeter thick. Pilot Jim Kelly worked with Mission Specialist Camarda on an inspection of the repair demonstration tiles in Discovery's cargo bay. Using the Orbiter Boom Sensor System, they looked at tiles brought up for an experimental repair by Robinson and Noguchi on the mission's first spacewalk. On mission day ten, Discovery and International Space Station crew members delivered a moving tribute to members of the Columbia crew and others, astronauts and cosmonauts, who had lost their lives in the human exploration of space. Each crew member, wearing a red shirt with Columbia's STS-107 mission patch, spoke during the tribute as the docked spacecraft flew over the southern Indian Ocean approaching a sunset. Station Science Officer John Phillips said, "To the crew of Columbia, as well as the crews of Challenger, Apollo 1, Soyuz 1 and 11, and to those who have courageously given so much, we now offer our enduring thanks." Mission Specialist Soichi Noguchi repeated Phillips's words in Japanese, and Station Commander Sergei Krikalev spoke them in Russian. Using the station arm, the Discovery astronauts undocked the Raffaello Multi-Purpose Logistics Module from the station's Unity Node on August 5 and reberthed it in the shuttle's cargo bay. After Raffaello was secured in Discovery's cargo bay, Camarda and Thomas used the shuttle arm to hand off the Orbiter Boom Sensor System to the station arm. Lawrence and Kelly reberthed the OBSS in its position on the starboard sill of the cargo bay. After more than a week of working together in space, the space shuttle Discovery and the International Space Station crews bid each other farewell during a ceremony on August 7, at 04:36 UTC. Hatches between the spacecraft were closed thirty minutes later. Pilot Jim Kelly was at the controls as latches between the two vehicles were released and Discovery began to back gently away from the station. Undocking occurred at 07:24 UTC as the two spacecraft flew high over the Pacific Ocean, west of Chile. As Discovery moved away to a distance of about 125 meters, Kelly began a slow fly-around of the station. Cameras on each spacecraft captured video and still images of the other. After the fly-around, Kelly executed the first of two separation burns to move Discovery away from the station and begin its trip home. Onboard the station, Expedition Eleven crew members Krikalev and Phillips returned to their normal schedule. Discovery's first two opportunities to land in Florida were waved off on Monday, August 8, because of unpredictable cloud cover at the landing site. Persistent thunderstorms the following day resulted in a second wave-off of two opportunities to return to KSC. Flight controllers decided to land Discovery in California to avoid any further delay in completing the mission. Commander Collins and Pilot Kelly, assisted by Mission Specialist Robinson, began Discovery's return to Earth by firing the spacecraft's orbital maneuvering system engines to slow its speed and begin its descent. Discovery's ground track took it over the western Indian Ocean, around Australia, then northeast across the Pacific, across the California coast north of Los Angeles, and then to Edwards. Discovery glided to a pre-dawn landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California on Tuesday morning, August 9, concluding a journey of 9.3 million kilometers as it touched down at 12:11:22 UTC. The landing marked the sixth night landing at Edwards Air Force Base, and the fiftieth time overall that a shuttle had concluded its mission in the California desert. The thirteen-day, 21-hour, 32-minute, 22-second flight was considered a complete success, despite the loss of insulating foam on the external tank and minor damage to Discovery's heatshield. The orbiter returned to the Kennedy Space Center atop a modified Boeing 747 called the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft on August 21. It was taken to the Orbiter Processing Facility to be readied for mission STS-121, scheduled for spring, 2006. Contributions STS-114 carried important equipment and supplies to continue the construction of the International Space Station. The external storage platform will store equipment needed future assembly and wiring of solar panels to provide electrical power to the station. The Multi-Purpose Logistics Module also carried badly needed supplies and equipment to the Space Station. The supplies were especially important because the Space Station crew began to run low on supplies during late 2004 and early 2005. The mission also retrieved experimental packages containing materials that had been exposed to space. Upon their return to Earth, analysis of these materials could reveal how various materials react to the harsh environment of space. Such knowledge is important for engineers designing equipment to be used in space. The most important result of STS-114, however, came from the tests of the new safety features. Analysis of the performance of new camera and sensor systems, tested for the first time on this mission, allowed NASA engineers to improve their designs to increase the safety of future missions. The additional monitoring by these systems of debris flow during the launch phase of the mission told NASA that additional design modifications were needed to reduce the flow of debris during launch. The mission determined that a tile repair system could be used in the event that tile damage was detected. The highest-priority EVA during STS-114 tested the tile repair procedures. The results will guide NASA engineers seeking to improve the tile repair process. Context The STS-114 mission was originally scheduled to fly about a month after Columbia completed the STS-107 mission in 2003. After the accident occurred, all shuttle flights were postponed until the Columbia Accident Investigation Board could determine the cause of the accident and recommend the changes needed to prevent a recurrence. NASA also needed time to implement the recommendations, and an unusually heavy hurricane season in 2004 slowed the work. Hence, STS-114 became the first shuttle flight in more than two years. This special status placed an extra burden on the mission and crew of STS-114. While the shuttles were grounded, Russian Soyuz craft were the only flights available to rotate station crew and ferry supplies. By late 2004, station supplies had started to run low. The resupply mission therefore became especially important. In addition to the original mission of ferrying equipment and supplies to the International Space Station, STS-114 assumed the mission of testing and implementing new safety features, and considerable crew time was spent inspecting the exterior tiles using equipment previously untested in real orbital conditions. Finally, STS-114 was the first shuttle mission to have last-resort contingency plans of using the Space Station as a safe haven in the event of an emergency. After the Challenger accident in 1986, NASA also suspended shuttle flights until the accident cause could be determined and fixed. As the first flight after a major accident, STS-114 shares many characteristics with Discovery's September, 1988, flight, STS-26, which was the first after the Challenger accident. Once again, Discovery was designated to lead NASA's return to space after a major setback. The completion of all mission objectives and an inflight orbiter repair made STS-114 as successful a mission as NASA could hope to attain. A pair of NASA engineering Tiger Teams investigated the External Tank foam loss during Discovery's launch. The teams identified the major areas of concern in order to deal with the problems. See Also International Space Station: 2004; National Aeronautics and Space Administration; Space Shuttle Flights, 2002; Space Shuttle Mission STS-107; Space Shuttle Activity, 2003-2004. Further Reading Cabbage, Michael, and William Harwood. Comm Check: The Final Flight of Shuttle Columbia. New York: Free Press, 2004. Chapter 11 is about returning to flight after the Columbia accident. This book is based in part on interviews with people involved, including interviews with the crew of flight STS-114. Godwin, R. Columbia Accident Investigation Report. Burlington, Ont.: Apogee Books, 2003. This Apogee edition of the accident investigation report not only reproduces the official government report but also contains a CD-ROM not found in the government edition. Reading the original report gives insight into the cause of the Columbia accident and the extra safety components of the STS-114 mission. Jenkins, Dennis R. Space Shuttle: The History of the National Space Transportation System--The First 100 Missions. 3d ed. Cape Canaveral, Fla.: Author, 2001. This book is a well written history of the space shuttle. The third edition eliminates some history of the development found in the second edition but nonetheless provides comprehensive background on the space shuttle. World Spaceflight News. 2003 Space Shuttle Columbia Tragedy: NASA Plan for Space Shuttle Return to Flight, Response to the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB). Report by the Gehman Board. Progressive Management, 2003. The rather lengthy title says it all. Covers NASA's plans for the return to space, including the STS-114 mission. Paul A. Heckert, updated by Russell R. Tobias |
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