Spaceflight Now




Spaceflight Now +



Subscribe to Spaceflight Now Plus for access to our extensive video collections!
How do I sign up?
Video archive

STS-126: The programs

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

 Play

STS-126: The mission

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

 Play

STS-126: Spacewalks

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

 Play

STS-126: The Crew

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

 Play

Shuttle rollaround

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

 Play

Two shuttles sighted

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

 Play | Hi-Def

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.

 Play

Become a subscriber
More video



Repair work planned today for stalled water system gear
BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: November 23, 2008

Space station commander Mike Fincke and Endeavour astronaut Don Pettit will attempt repairs today that may resolve on-going problems with the station's newly installed urine recycling equipment. The rest of the shuttle crew, meanwhile, will enjoy a half-day off this morning before making preparations for a fourth and final spacewalk Monday by astronauts Stephen Bowen and Robert "Shane" Kimbrough.

Fincke, shuttle commander Christopher Ferguson and pilot Eric Boe will participate in round-robin network interviews beginning at 4:05 p.m. followed by NASA's daily mission status briefing at 4:30 p.m.

One of the major goals of Endeavour's mission was to deliver, install and activate a new water recovery system designed to convert condensate and urine into potable water for drinking, meal preparation, personal hygiene and oxygen generation. An operational recycling system is required before NASA can boost station crew size from three to six next May, a long-awaited milestone in the lab's evolution.

The installation went smoothly, but engineers have been troubleshooting potentially serious problems with the urine processor assembly. After about two hours of operation, the motor powering a centrifuge in the UPA's vacuum distillation sub-assembly shuts down, apparently because of thermal expansion that causes a speed sensor to come in contact with the centrifuge.

The astronauts managed to coax a urine sample through the system Saturday by running it for about an hour and 45 minutes at a time. That sample, and a condensate sample, will be returned to Earth aboard Endeavour for a detailed chemical analysis.

It's a bit confusing as to what engineers believe is actually causing the UPA problem. Flight director Ginger Kerrick said late Saturday that telemetry indicates the problem occurs because of thermal expansion that causes a speed sensor to come in contact with the centrifuge after the system warms up. That causes the motor to work harder and draw more current, triggering a shut down.

One possible solution, she said, was to remove the vibration dampers the centrifuge is mounted on. By "hard mounting" the unit to its shelf in the water recovery system rack, engineers believe they can eliminate a frequency mode that contributes to the problem. How that relates to thermal expansion, however, is not clear.

In any case, Fincke and Pettit plan to remove the vibration dampers today starting around 12:55 p.m. Once the unit is locked down on its shelf, flight controllers then will carry out additional tests to determine if that resolved the problem.

"Yesterday, we successfully collected the first set of samples from the water recovery system, so that was a big milestone," Flight Director Brian Smith said early today. "That accomplishment is sometimes overshadowed by the attention being received to the urine processing assembly that we're still having some trouble with. So it should be noted we had a very successful run of the water processing assembly and we were able to collect our samples."

Smith then added that "the water processing assembly did experience an issue and it did go into a shutdown mode. We're looking into that. This may not prove to be that significant a problem, but we're going to play close attention to it."

Whether Smith was referring to a new problem with a different part of the system or reprising the UPA trouble was not immediately known. The NASA commentator interviewing Smith in mission control did not follow up and no additional details were immediately available.

As for the UPA repair, Smith said the work to lock down the distillation sub-assembly is relatively straight forward.

"Mike is going to execute a maintenance procedure we developed that's essentially going to change the way the distillation assembly is mounted inside the rack," Smith said. "The distillation assembly slides in on a shelf. This shelf is mounted into the rack and the way it's mounted is where we focused our attention. It's current mounting scheme contains some dampers and we're going to remove some of those dampers and re-attach the shelf to the rack. We call that a hard mount, it'll be mounted in a much more rigid way than it was originally. The theory being that that will change the vibrations that occur while the centrifuge is running and if we can change the characterization of those vibrations, we may be able to prevent what we believe is some physical interference with that centrifuge as it spins."

Along with collecting testable samples of reprocessed urine and condensate from the water recovery system, the astronauts also plan to hook up, activate and collect samples from a new potable water dispenser. The water recovery system racks, a new toilet and the potable water dispenser are all connected to a common water bus in the Destiny lab module.

The astronauts plan to hook up the potable water dispenser after the final spacewalk Monday.

"We have met the original goal for this mission with the samples that we collected yesterday," Smith said. "But all along, we have been challenged to hook up the potable water dispenser and collect some samples associated with that. So we are still on track to do that. The crew's got some more work to do to continue hooking up the potable water dispenser and then we will do another run of the water processing assembly and be able to generate the samples. So we've got a plan that will accomplish that before the hatch is closed and that's what we spent some of tonight doing, figuring out where some of those activities are going to go.

"We talked to the crew for quite a while before they went to bed last night about what they experienced when they started the routing procedure for the hoses associated with the potable water dispenser and based on their feedback, we think the remaining routing that needs to be done is going to be a little more complicated and a little more intrusive to some systems we're going to need for EVA-4. So we made the decision to postpone the continuation of that routing work for the potable water dispenser until after EVA-4 is done. Even with that postponement, we still have time to get it hooked up, run some water through it, collect our samples and we've got margin in case we experience a problem."

Bowen and Kimbrough plan to spend six-and-a-half hours outside the station Monday to complete the cleaning and lubrication of the lab's damaged right-side solar array rotary joint; to prepare the Japanese Kibo module for attachment of an external experiment platform next year; to install GPS antennas on the module; and to lubricate the station's left-side rotary joint.

Work to finish up the starboard alpha rotary joint servicing includes installation of a final bearing assembly and the cleaning and lubrication of a 30-degree segment of bearing races on the 10-foot-wide drive gear. In one bit of added work, problems with the retraction of a berthing latch needed next year to lock down the Kibo experiment platform will be manually retracted by one of the astronauts.

"The fourth spacewalk has changed a little bit from what we envisioned it to be pre flight," Smith said. "The first thing we need to get taken care of is the remaining work on the starboard solar alpha rotary joint. This is the work that wasn't completed on EVA-3. We left covers 17 and 18 off on the starboard SARJ. We had pulled trundle bearing three out. So on EVA-4, we need to go back to that location, clean the area, install a new trundle bearing assembly number three and then lubricate, reinstall the covers and then we'll be complete with the starboard SARJ work.

"Also added onto EVA-4 is a new task," he said. "The other day, our colleagues in the Japanese control center were checking out the exposed facility berthing mechanism (on the Kibo lab module). One of the structural latches deployed as planned but did not retract and that's an issue on assembly mission 2J/A. The exposed facility is going to be brought up by the shuttle and it's going to be berthed using this mechanism. That latch needs to be retracted before the start of that operation. So we have added in a new task to have the crew member, who was already going to be in that vicinity installing a cover over that mechanism, use his pistol grip tool ... to drive a bolt that will retract that latch manually."

Here is an updated timeline of today's activity (in EST and mission elapsed time; includes revision I of the NASA television schedule):


EST........DD...HH...MM...EVENT

08:55 AM...08...13...00...Crew wakeup
10:40 AM...08...14...45...ISS daily planning conference
11:05 AM...08...15...10...Flight director conference
12:05 PM...08...16...10...Crew off duty time begins
12:55 PM...08...17...00...Urine system maintenance (Fincke/Pettit)
04:05 PM...08...20...10...Crew meal
04:05 PM...08...20...10...CBS News/ABC News/NBC News interviews
04:30 PM...08...20...35...Mission status briefing on NASA TV
05:05 PM...08...21...10...Cargo transfers resume
05:20 PM...08...21...25...Spacesuit swap
05:25 PM...08...21...30...SAFER jet backpack checkout
06:05 PM...08...22...10...Equipment lock preps
06:50 PM...08...22...55...Tools configured
08:50 PM...09...00...55...EVA-4: Procedures review
09:50 PM...09...01...55...Evening planning conference
11:20 PM...09...03...25...EVA-4: Nitrogen purge protocol

11/24/08
12:05 AM...09...04...10...EVA-4: Airlock depress to 10.2 psi
12:25 AM...09...04...30...ISS crew sleep begins
12:55 AM...09...05...00...STS crew sleep begins
01:00 AM...09...05...05...Flight day 10 highlights
07:30 AM...09...11...35...Flight director update
08:30 AM...09...12...35...HD flight day 10 highlights
08:55 AM...09...13...00...Crew wakeup

Spaceflight Now Plus
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
SUBSCRIBE NOW