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Complex 36 demolition

The two mobile service towers at Cape Canaveral's Complex 36 that had supported Atlas rockets for decades are toppled to the ground with 122 pounds of explosives.

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Atlas 5's NRO launch

The United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket lifts off June 15 from Cape Canaveral's Complex 41 on the classified NROL-30 mission for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office.

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Booster cameras

Hitch a ride up and down on the twin solid rocket boosters that launched shuttle Atlantis last week. Each booster was outfitted with three cameras to give NASA upclose footage of the vehicle's ascent.

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Shuttle Atlantis blasted off June 8 on its mission to the space station.

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Atlantis due home Thursday
BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: June 20, 2007; Updated at 9:20 p.m.

The Atlantis astronauts packed up today for a hoped-for return to Earth Thursday to close out a dramatic space station assembly mission. Entry flight director Norm Knight said the shuttle's systems are operating normally and the only question mark is the weather, with forecasters calling for low clouds and afternoon showers at the Kennedy Space Center.

NASA's Mission Management Team late today cleared the shuttle Atlantis for entry Thursday, weather permitting, after unanimously resolving a few final technical questions. MMT Chairman John Shannon scheduled an unusual night-before-entry meeting late today to discuss three last-minute issues:

  • A final imagery assessment to determine, if possible, the nature of debris seen floating between the shuttle and the space station after undocking on Monday.

  • An aero-thermal assessment to make sure a small bit of unraveled thread that serves as the upper edge of a "gap filler" between an outboard leading edge panel on the left wing and an adjacent row of heat-shield tiles poses no threat for significantly higher downstream heating during entry.

  • Consideration of a revised analysis of the heat experienced by Atlantis' left-side rocket pod during ascent when one corner of an insulation blanket peeled back. The blanket was repaired during a spacewalk, but because engineers underestimated how hot the underlying structure got during the climb to space, Shannon ordered a final discussion to make sure no one had any concerns.

The evening meeting lasted less than two hours. A NASA spokesman said engineers do, in fact, believe the debris seen after undocking was close to the shuttle and, as a result, small and no threat to the orbiter. As for the rocket pod analysis, the MMT concluded the graphite-epoxy material making up the left-side Orbital Maneuvering System rocket pod is not in any danger of over heating, thanks in part to the repair job carried out during a spacewalk last Friday.

Finally, the MMT concluded the protruding gap filler thread will not cause any problems during entry. The spokesman said the decision to proceed with entry, weather permitting, was unanimous.

"We're just trying to be completely thorough," Shannon said at an afternoon news conference before the meeting. "The reason we're having an MMT is to make sure everybody understands what assumptions were made, what new data we've learned, what the new thermal assessment is. And we also have to get the final aero-thermal analysis for that little bit of fluff that's on the outboard part of the left wing. We're just going to review those, I think we're going to stomp them flat and then we're going to be done with it and be ready to come home."

Weather permitting, of course. As Knight reminded reporters today, "tomorrow's the first day of summer, by coincidence, and we know what summer brings to Florida, and that's afternoon thunderstorms."

The Spaceflight Meteorology Group at the Johnson Space Center in Houston is predicting scattered clouds at 3,000 feet, a broken deck at 5,000 feet and overcast at 12,000 feet. Winds will be out of 240 degrees at 8 knots with gusts to 13 and thundershowers are expected within 30 nautical miles of the runway. NASA's flight rules require ceilings of at least 8,000 feet and no shower activity within 30 nautical miles.

"So those are going to be our challenges tomorrow," Knight said. "Obviously, I would like clear skies, unlimited visibility and little wind. But unfortunately, those are not the cards we're typically dealt. We train to this, we're used to this type of environment in Florida. No landing is easy with weather."

The Florida forecast does not get much better Friday and Saturday, although ceilings improve a bit. Atlantis has enough on-board supplies to stay in orbit until Sunday at the latest.

"We have consumables that will support out through end of mission plus three," Knight said. "What that means in English is, end of mission being Thursday, we also have Friday and Saturday as a weather extension day and we keep Sunday open as a systems wave-off day.

"So based on this, our weather strategy going into tomorrow is that on Thursday we're only going to target the Kennedy Space Center and we have two opportunities to do that. Friday, we're going to target Kennedy Space Center again. However, we may target the Edwards Air Force Base landing site, it will all depend on the weather, how it looks on Saturday. We'll look at the Saturday forecast. If the Kennedy Space Center is still questionable and Edwards is not pristine, then we will call up Edwards on Friday and land the vehicle.

"On Saturday, if we still have not landed, we will bring up all three sites, this is what we call pick 'em day, and we will target Kennedy Space Center, followed by Edwards Air Force Base and if we need to, we will land at Northrup (in New Mexico). Don't expect that to happen."

Here is an updated timeline of key events (in EDT; correcting initial times in backup landing timeline):


Rev. 202 Deorbit to KSC

EDT...........EVENT

08:49:54 AM...Begin deorbit timeline
09:04:54 AM...Radiators stowed
09:14:54 AM...Mission specialists seat installation
09:20:54 AM...Computers set for deorbit prep
09:24:54 AM...Hydraulic system configuration
09:49:54 AM...Flash evaporator checkout
09:55:54 AM...Final payload deactivation
10:09:54 AM...Payload bay doors closed
10:19:54 AM...Mission control 'go' for OPS-3 software
10:29:54 AM...OPS-3 transition
10:54:54 AM...Entry switch-list verification
11:04:54 AM...Deorbit PAD update
11:09:54 AM...Crew entry review
11:24:54 AM...Commander/pilot don entry suits
11:41:54 AM...IMU alignment
11:49:54 AM...CDR/PLT strap in; mission specialists don suits
12:06:54 PM...Shuttle steering check
12:09:54 PM...APU pre-start
12:16:54 PM...Toilet deactivation
12:24:54 PM...Vent doors closed for entry
12:29:54 PM...Mission control 'go' for deorbit burn
12:35:54 PM...Mission specialists seat ingress
12:44:54 PM...Single APU start

12:49:54 PM...Deorbit ignition (dV: 199 mph; dT: 2:36)
12:52:30 PM...Deorbit burn complete (alt: 212.8 statute miles)

01:23:48 PM...Entry interface (alt: 75.5 miles)
01:28:46 PM...1st roll command to left
01:40:25 PM...1st left-to-right roll reversal
01:48:44 PM...Velocity less than mach 2.5 (alt: 16.2 miles)
01:50:56 PM...Velocity less than mach 1 (alt: 9.6 miles)
01:51:54 PM...Shuttle on the HAC (alt: 6.9 miles)
01:55:16 PM...Landing


Rev. 203 Deorbit to KSC

02:05:23 PM...MCC 'go' for deorbit burn
02:11:23 PM...MS seat ingress
02:20:23 PM...Single APU start

02:25:23 PM...Deorbit ignition (dV: 201 mph; dT: 2:38)
02:28:01 PM...Deorbit burn complete (alt: 213.8 statute miles)

02:58:41 PM...Entry interface (alt: 75.6 miles)
03:03:37 PM...1st roll command to left
03:14:55 PM...1st left-to-right roll reversal
03:23:35 PM...Velocity less than mach 2.5 (alt: 16.3 miles)
03:25:48 PM...Velocity less than mach 1 (alt: 9.5 miles)
03:26:27 PM...Shuttle on the HAC (alt: 7.7 miles)
03:30:07 PM...Landing

"I'm always optimistic," Knight said. "I know the forecast right now is no-go, but clearly, weather changes. As we get closer, we get a better handle on the forecast models. When I left console today I briefed my team and said 'come in tomorrow with the mindset to land this vehicle. Because we're landing at the Kennedy Space Center tomorrow.' That's what we're prepared to do. If the weather does not cooperate, we'll keep the vehicle safe and the crew safe and obviously go around a day."

Here is a list of all available landing opportunities, at Kennedy (KSC), Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. (EDW), and White Sands Space Harbor, N.M. (NOR), from Thursday through Sunday (all times in EDT and mission elapsed time):


DAY...EDT.......DD...HH...MM...EVENT

06/21/07
Thu  12:50 PM...12...17...12...KSC: Deorbit on rev 202
Thu  01:55 PM...12...18...17...KSC: Landing
Thu  02:25 PM...12...18...47...KSC: Deorbit on rev 203
Thu  03:30 PM...12...19...52...KSC: Landing

06/22/07
Fri  01:14 PM...13...17...36...KSC: Deorbit on rev 218
Fri  02:16 PM...13...18...38...KSC: Landing
Fri  02:50 PM...13...19...12...KSC: Deorbit on rev 219
Fri  03:51 PM...13...20...13...KSC: Landing
Fri  04:19 PM...13...20...41...EDW: Deorbit on rev 220
Fri  05:21 PM...13...21...43...EDW: Landing
Fri  05:55 PM...13...22...17...EDW: Deorbit on rev 221
Fri  06:56 PM...13...23...18...EDW: Landing

06/23/07
Sat  11:59 AM...14...16...21...KSC: Deorbit on rev 233
Sat  01:02 PM...14...17...24...KSC: Landing
Sat  01:31 PM...14...17...53...NOR: Deorbit on rev 234
Sat  02:33 PM...14...18...55...NOR: Landing
Sat  01:35 PM...14...17...57...KSC: Deorbit on rev 234
Sat  02:37 PM...14...18...59...KSC: Landing
Sat  03:05 PM...14...19...27...EDW: Deorbit on rev 235
Sat  04:07 PM...14...20...29...EDW: Landing
Sat  03:06 PM...14...19...28...NOR: Deorbit on rev 235
Sat  04:08 PM...14...20...30...NOR: Landing
Sat  04:40 PM...14...21...02...EDW: Deorbit on rev 236
Sat  05:42 PM...14...22...04...EDW: Landing
Sat  04:43 PM...14...21...05...NOR: Deorbit on rev 236
Sat  05:44 PM...14...22...06...NOR: Landing

06/24/07
Sun  12:20 PM...15...16...42...KSC: Deorbit on rev 249
Sun  01:22 PM...15...17...44...KSC: Landing
Sun  01:52 PM...15...18...14...NOR: Deorbit on rev 250
Sun  02:54 PM...15...19...16...NOR: Landing
Sun  01:56 PM...15...18...18...KSC: Deorbit on rev 250
Sun  02:58 PM...15...19...20...KSC: Landing
Sun  03:26 PM...15...19...48...EDW: Deorbit on rev 251
Sun  04:27 PM...15...20...49...EDW: Landing
Sun  03:28 PM...15...19...50...NOR: Deorbit on rev 251
Sun  04:27 PM...15...20...49...NOR: Landing
Sun  05:02 PM...15...21...24...EDW: Deorbit on rev 252
Sun  06:03 PM...15...22...25...EDW: Landing

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MISSION INDEX