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STS-126: The programs

In advance of shuttle Endeavour's STS-126 mission to the station, managers from both programs discuss the flight.

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STS-126: The mission

A detailed preview of Endeavour's mission to deliver expanded crew accommodations to the station is provided in this briefing.

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STS-126: Spacewalks

Four spacewalks are planned during Endeavour's STS-126 mission to the station.

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STS-126: The Crew

The Endeavour astronauts, led by commander Chris Ferguson, meet the press in the traditional pre-flight news conference.

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Shuttle rollaround

Space shuttle Endeavour switched launch pads on Oct. 23, traveling from pad 39B to pad 39A.

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Two shuttles sighted

Stunning aerial views of shuttles Atlantis and Endeavour perched atop launch pads 39A and 39B on Sept. 20.

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Endeavour to the VAB

For its role as a rescue craft during the Hubble servicing mission and the scheduled November logistics run to the space station, Endeavour is moved to the Vehicle Assembly Building.

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Urine processor repair attempt being planned
BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: November 22, 2008

Engineers troubleshooting problems with a centrifuge in the distillation assembly of hardware designed to convert urine into potable water aboard the international space station believe a relatively simple fix might resolve the trouble. Station commander Mike Fincke will attempt a repair job Sunday, removing vibration dampers from the centrifuge and locking the unit in place. In so doing, engineers believe, thermal expansion after the unit runs and warms up will no longer cause a specific sensor to interfere with the spinning centrifuge.

"The experts on the ground have been meeting throughout the day," lead Flight Director Ginger Kerrick told reporters late Saturday. "They believe we have isolated the source of the problem to the way the centrifuge is mounted in the distillation assembly. It is on isolators and they believe that that is a contributer to the signals that they're seeing that caused the UPA to shut down.

"Their proposal is to remove those isolators and hard mount the distillation assembly. So folks are working on that procedure right now, it'll be scheduled on Mike Fincke tomorrow and we think it's going to be about two hours long. And after that, we will send some commands to it, they're working on that procedure as well, and we'll see if that solves the problem."

The urine processing assembly is a critical component in hardware delivered by the shuttle Endeavour that is designed to convert urine and condensate into potable water. The recycling system is required for NASA to boost station crew size from three to six next May.

The part of the system that processes condensate has been working relatively well, but the UPA has suffered a string of start-up glitches, the most significant being the shut down of the centrifuge in the vacuum distillation assembly after running for about two hours.

Analysis of telemetry led engineers to suspect a thermally induced interference between a speed sensor and the centrifuge that causes the motor to slow down and draw more current than expected.

The centrifuge is mounted on dampers to reduce vibrations and sound as it rotates. Engineers believe the dampers are "possibly allowing the (distillation assembly) to set itself up at a frequency that ultimately causes it to shift around, allowing one of the centrifuge speed sensors to come in contact with the spinning centrifuge," Kerrick said later.

That, in turn, causes the motor to work harder and draw more current, triggering a shut down.

"There is a thermally induced physical interference that seems to be occurring at the exact same time in the processing," Kerrick said at the briefing. "It's also aggravated by the fact that this system is on the isolators. They think that hard mounting this device will resolve the issue."

Even with the on-again, off-again behavior of the UPA, the astronauts successfully collected the first samples of processed water today for return to Earth aboard Endeavour. The objective was a sample comprised of 30 percent processed urine and 70 percent processed condensate. What they got was 90 percent condensate and 10 percent processed urine. But Kerrick said that was sufficient for engineers on the ground to evaluate the system's performance.

With samples in hand, and with work to install a potable water dispenser on track, Kerrck said it does not appear the Endeavour astronauts will need an additional docked day at the station.

But she confirmed there are no spare centrifuge units on the ground and the hardware aboard the station must be coaxed into normal, or near normal, operation to permit the planned boost to six full-time crew members next May. She said engineers are studying options for supporting an expanded crew if Sunday's repair attempt fails and the processor can only be operated for short periods between cool downs.

"There is a second way we can run the urine processor," Kerrick sad. "Right now, it fails after about two hours of running. We may be able to run it for about an hour and 45 minutes and process urine that way, that's how we got the initial 10 percent versus 90 percent distribution of urine to condensate we have right now. So that is an option. It requires a different set of procedures for cooling down and starting up and folks are working on those as well. So if this hardware fix doesn't work, there is a potential for us to process more urine during the mission using that technique."

As for supporting six crew members with that technique, "those numbers have not been crunched yet," she said.

"We did ask that today, because if this is as good as it's going to get, we do need to be able to answer that question. Fortunately, we have at least until (the next shuttle visit in February) to answer that question. Folks will definitely be going off and studying that."

NASA requires 90 days of testing and analysis before the new system can be declared operational. What impact a lengthy startup delay might have on plans to boost station crew size next spring is not yet known.

While the astronauts inside the space station spent the day Saturday working with the water processing gear and moving equipment to and from the shuttle, astronauts Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper and Stephen Bowen were carrying out a spacewalk to wrap up servicing of the station's right-side solar array rotary joint.

Over the course of three spacewalks this week, the astronauts have been methodically cleaning and lubricating the joint's 10-foot-wide drive gear and replacing trundle bearings to reduce friction and vibration. One of the three bearing races on the gear has suffered extensive erosion because of a lubrication breakdown. By cleaning off metallic debris, installing new bearings and lubricating the races, engineers hope to be able to resume occasional sun-tracking to improve power generation.

Going into Saturday's spacewalk six trundle bearing assemblies remained to be installed. Stefanyshyn-Piper and Bowen managed to replace five of them and left the drive gear with 330 degrees of its bearing races cleaned and lubricated. Lead spacewalk officer John Ray said the remaining 30 degrees, and installation of the final trundle bearing assembly, will be shoehorned into a fourth and final spacewalk Monday.

"I would say the crew executed as perfect and EVA as I've ever seen," Ray sad. "I mean everything went really well, they were right on top of their game right out the door and they just stayed at a very steady, even pace and they got everything we had planned on for the EVA and a little bit more.

"They were getting very close at the end to getting to the point they could finish up the starboard SARJ, but they weren't quite going to make it. We could see that coming and the day was getting pretty long. So although the suits were doing really well and the crew was doing really well, we decided to go ahead and call it a day. We've got plenty of time on EVA-4 to go out and finish up the starboard SARJ."

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Additional coverage for subscribers:
VIDEO: SATURDAY'S MISSION STATUS BRIEFING PLAY
VIDEO: LAST OF OLD BEARINGS REMOVED FROM SARJ PLAY
VIDEO: BOWEN INSTALLS ANOTHER BEARING ASSEMBLY PLAY
VIDEO: SARJ CLEANING TECHNIQUES TO REMOVE CONTAMINATION PLAY
VIDEO: PIPER USES GREASE GUNS ON THE SARJ PLAY
VIDEO: NEW TRUNDLE BEARING ASSEMBLY INSTALLED PLAY
VIDEO: SPACEWALKING DUO GETS TO WORK PLAY
VIDEO: SPACEWALK NO. 3 BEGINS PLAY
VIDEO: WALKTHROUGH OF SPACEWALK NO. 3 PLAN PLAY
VIDEO: SATURDAY MORNING FLIGHT DIRECTOR INTERVIEW PLAY

VIDEO: FLIGHT DAY 8 HIGHLIGHTS MOVIE PLAY
VIDEO: FRIDAY'S MISSION STATUS BRIEFING PLAY
VIDEO: JOINT CREW IN-FLIGHT NEWS CONFERENCE PLAY
VIDEO: FRIDAY MORNING FLIGHT DIRECTOR INTERVIEW PLAY

VIDEO: PROTON ROCKET ROLLS OUT TO THE PAD PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH OF THE ZARYA CONTROL MODULE PLAY
VIDEO: POST-LAUNCH COMMENTS BY NASA AND RSA PLAY
VIDEO: SHUTTLE AND STATION COMMANDERS MARK ANNIVERSARY PLAY

VIDEO: FLIGHT DAY 7 HIGHLIGHTS MOVIE PLAY
VIDEO: THURSDAY'S MISSION STATUS BRIEFING PLAY
VIDEO: MAINTENANCE PERFORMED ON STATION'S ARM PLAY
VIDEO: SPACEWALKERS PULL SECOND RAIL CART FREE PLAY
VIDEO: FIRST CART REMOVED FROM STATION RAILS PLAY
VIDEO: THURSDAY MORNING FLIGHT DIRECTOR INTERVIEW PLAY
VIDEO: WALKTHROUGH OF SPACEWALK NO. 2 PLAN PLAY
VIDEO: FLIGHT DIRECTOR'S SUMMARY OF FLIGHT DAY 7 PLAY

VIDEO: LAUNCH CAMERA REPLAYS
VIDEO: FLIGHT DAY 6 HIGHLIGHTS MOVIE PLAY
VIDEO: WEDNESDAY'S MISSION STATUS BRIEFING PLAY
VIDEO: AP, MINNEAPOLIS AND BOSTON INTERVIEWS WITH CREW PLAY
VIDEO: WEDNESDAY MORNING FLIGHT DIRECTOR INTERVIEW PLAY

VIDEO: FLIGHT DAY 5 HIGHLIGHTS MOVIE PLAY
VIDEO: RIDE ALONG WITH ASTRONAUTS "RACK-CAM" PLAY
VIDEO: COMBUSTION SCIENCE HARDWARE MOVED INTO STATION PLAY
VIDEO: AIRLOCK CAMCORDER FOOTAGE AFTER SPACEWALK PLAY
VIDEO: TUESDAY'S MISSION STATUS BRIEFING PLAY
VIDEO: EVA NO. 1 CONCLUDES PLAY
VIDEO: SOLAR ALPHA ROTARY JOINT REPAIRS BEGIN PLAY
VIDEO: TOOL BAG ACCIDENTALLY FLOATS AWAY PLAY
VIDEO: GREASE GUN SPILL MAKES MESS IN TOOL CARRIER PLAY
VIDEO: SPARE FLEX HOSE COUPLER DELIVERED TO STATION PLAY
VIDEO: EMPTY NITROGEN TANK MOVED FROM STATION TO SHUTTLE PLAY
VIDEO: TUESDAY MORNING FLIGHT DIRECTOR INTERVIEW PLAY
VIDEO: SHOW-AND-TELL OF SOLAR ALPHA ROTARY JOINT WORK PLAY
VIDEO: WALKTHROUGH OF SPACEWALK NO. 1 PLAN PLAY
VIDEO: NARRATED ANIMATION OF SPACEWALK SWAPOUT PLAY
VIDEO: FLIGHT DIRECTOR'S SUMMARY OF FLIGHT DAY 5 PLAY

VIDEO: FLIGHT DAY 4 HIGHLIGHTS MOVIE PLAY
VIDEO: CREW OPENS HATCH AND ENTERS LEONARDO PLAY
VIDEO: ATLANTA AND BOSTON TV STATIONS INTERVIEW CREW PLAY
VIDEO: MONDAY'S MISSION MANAGEMENT TEAM UPDATE PLAY
VIDEO: MONDAY'S MISSION STATUS BRIEFING PLAY
VIDEO: LEONARDO MODULE SUCCESSFULLY MOUNTED TO STATION PLAY
VIDEO: MONDAY MORNING FLIGHT DIRECTOR INTERVIEW PLAY
VIDEO: PREVIEW ANIMATION OF LEONARDO MODULE ATTACHMENT PLAY
VIDEO: SUMMARY OF CARGO BEING DELIVERED TO SPACE STATION PLAY

VIDEO: FLIGHT DAY 3 HIGHLIGHTS MOVIE PLAY
VIDEO: SUNDAY'S MISSION STATUS BRIEFING PLAY
VIDEO: SHUTTLE CREW WELCOMED ABOARD STATION PLAY
VIDEO: SPACE SHUTTLE ENDEAVOUR DOCKS TO SPACE STATION PLAY
VIDEO: ENDEAVOUR PERFORMS THE 360-DEGREE BACKFLIP PLAY
VIDEO: VIEWS OF THE SHUTTLE APPROACHING FROM BELOW PLAY
VIDEO: FLIGHT DIRECTOR'S SUMMARY OF FLIGHT DAY 3 PLAY
VIDEO: PREVIEW ANIMATION OF RENDEZVOUS AND DOCKING PLAY

VIDEO: FLIGHT DAY 2 HIGHLIGHTS MOVIE PLAY
VIDEO: SATURDAY'S MISSION STATUS BRIEFING PLAY
VIDEO: SATURDAY'S MISSION MANAGEMENT TEAM UPDATE PLAY
VIDEO: FLIGHT DIRECTOR'S SUMMARY OF FLIGHT DAY 2 PLAY
VIDEO: PREVIEW ANIMATION OF HEAT SHIELD INSPECTIONS PLAY
VIDEO: NARRATED TOUR OF ENDEAVOUR'S PAYLOAD BAY PLAY

VIDEO: FLIGHT DAY 1 HIGHLIGHTS MOVIE PLAY
VIDEO: SPACE SHUTTLE ENDEAVOUR BLASTS OFF! PLAY
VIDEO: SPACEFLIGHT NOW'S LAUNCH PAD CAMERA PLAY
VIDEO: THE FULL STS-126 LAUNCH EXPERIENCE PLAY
VIDEO: INSIDE MISSION CONTROL DURING LAUNCH PLAY
VIDEO: POST-LAUNCH NEWS BRIEFING PLAY

VIDEO: FINAL PRE-LAUNCH POLLS GIVE "GO" FOR LIFTOFF PLAY
VIDEO: SHUTTLE'S CREW MODULE HATCH CLOSED FOR FLIGHT PLAY
VIDEO: MISSION SPECIALIST DON PETTIT BOARDS PLAY
VIDEO: MISSION SPECIALIST SHANE KIMBROUGH BOARDS PLAY
VIDEO: PILOT ERIC BOE BOARDS ENDEAVOUR PLAY
VIDEO: COMMANDER CHRIS FERGUSON BOARDS ENDEAVOUR PLAY
VIDEO: ASTROVAN TAKES CREW TO LAUNCH PAD 39A PLAY
VIDEO: CREW DEPARTS QUARTERS FOR LAUNCH PAD PLAY
VIDEO: ASTRONAUTS DON SPACESUITS FOR LAUNCH PLAY
VIDEO: NARRATED RECAP OF ENDEAVOUR'S PRE-FLIGHT CAMPAIGN PLAY
VIDEO: NARRATED RECAP OF PAYLOADS' PRE-FLIGHT CAMPAIGN PLAY

VIDEO: PAD 39A SERVICE GANTRY RETRACTED FOR LAUNCH PLAY
VIDEO: THURSDAY'S COUNTDOWN STATUS AND WEATHER UPDATE PLAY
VIDEO: WEDNESDAY'S PRE-LAUNCH NEWS CONFERENCE PLAY
VIDEO: ENDEAVOUR ASTRONAUTS ARRIVE FOR LAUNCH PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: TUESDAY'S COUNTDOWN STATUS AND WEATHER UPDATE PLAY

VIDEO: STATION ASTRONAUTS PREPARE FOR SHUTTLE ARRIVAL PLAY
VIDEO: ENDEAVOUR'S PAYLOADS READIED FOR TREK TO SPACE PLAY

VIDEO: UPDATE ON SHUTTLE AND STATION PROGRAMS PLAY
VIDEO: STS-126 MISSION OVERVIEW PLAY
VIDEO: PREVIEW BRIEFING ON MISSION'S SPACEWALKS PLAY
VIDEO: THE ASTRONAUTS' PRE-FLIGHT NEWS BRIEFING PLAY

VIDEO: INTERVIEW WITH COMMANDER CHRIS FERGUSON PLAY
VIDEO: INTERVIEW WITH PILOT ERIC BOE PLAY
VIDEO: INTERVIEW WITH MS1 HEIDEMARIE PIPER PLAY
VIDEO: INTERVIEW WITH MS2 STEPHEN BOWEN PLAY
VIDEO: INTERVIEW WITH MS3 DON PETITT PLAY
VIDEO: INTERVIEW WITH MS4 SHANE KIMBROUGH PLAY
VIDEO: INTERVIEW WITH MS5 SANDY MAGNUS PLAY

VIDEO: INTERVIEW WITH SPACE STATION'S EXPEDITION 17 CREW PLAY

VIDEO: ENDEAVOUR COMMANDER AND PILOT PRACTICE LANDINGS PLAY

VIDEO: ISS PROGRAM MANAGER UPDATES SOYUZ INVESTIGATION PLAY
VIDEO: ISS PROGRAM MANAGER DESCRIBES SARJ REPAIR PLAN PLAY
VIDEO: ISS PROGRAM MANAGER DISCUSSES RADIATOR DAMAGE PLAY
VIDEO: EXPEDITION 18 PRE-FLIGHT MISSION BRIEFING PLAY

VIDEO: AERIAL VIEWS OF ATLANTIS AND ENDEAVOUR PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: ENDEAVOUR AT SUNRISE ON LAUNCH PAD 39B PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: AERIAL VIEWS OF ENDEAVOUR AFTER ROLLOUT PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: ENDEAVOUR ROLLS FROM VAB TO LAUNCH PAD PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: TIME-LAPSE MOVIE OF ARRIVAL AT PAD 39B PLAY
VIDEO: TIME-LAPSE MOVIE OF ENDEAVOUR LEAVING VAB PLAY

VIDEO: SHUTTLE HOISTED FOR ATTACHMENT TO TANK PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: ENDEAVOUR'S DEPARTURE FROM HANGAR PLAY | HI-DEF

VIDEO: TIME-LAPSE MOVIE OF ENDEAVOUR GOING VERTICAL PLAY
VIDEO: TIME-LAPSE MOVIE OF BEING HOISTED OFF TRANSPORTER PLAY
VIDEO: TIME-LAPSE MOVIE OF ENDEAVOUR MOVING TO VAB PLAY
MORE: STS-126 VIDEO COVERAGE
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