Spaceflight Now




Initial survey ends; more inspections ordered
BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: September 20, 2006

An impromptu robot arm inspection of the shuttle Atlantis early today revealed no obvious problems with the ship's critical heat shield, but mission managers ordered additional inspections with a long sensor boom to make absolutely sure.

The initial inspection, using a camera on the end of the shuttle's robot arm to look for signs of damage that might be associated with an unusual object that apparently floated away from the shuttle Tuesday, took four-and-a-half hours to complete.

While the astronauts took a lunch break, NASA managers assessed downlinked video and ultimately decided to press ahead with a second round of inspections, this one using a 50-foot-long sensor boom attached to the end of the arm. The boom is a post-Columbia upgrade designed to provide close-up laser scans and high-resolution photography of the shuttle's nose cap and wing leading edge panels to look for signs of post-launch impact damage.

For today's survey, the boom will be used to inspect areas that can't be seen well with the robot arm, which is mounted on the left side of the shuttle's cargo bay, starting with the right wing's leading edge panels, the right side of the shuttle's nose cap, the left side of the nose, then the underside of large steering elevons at the back of both wings. New hardware was installed in the elevon areas before launch and engineers want to make sure those systems are sound. The boom also will be used to inspect both sides of the rudder/speedbrake on the shuttle's tail fin.

Time needed to unberth the orbiter boom sensor system, or OBSS, carry out the additional inspections and re-berth the boom will add about three hours to the overall inspection procedure. NASA managers said Tuesday an OBSS inspection could extend the crew's day and push landing to Friday. But as of this writing, no final decisions have been made on when Atlantis will be cleared for entry.

Engineers still don't know what might have floated away from Atlantis Tuesday, prompting an initial 24-hour landing delay from Wednesday to Thursday. The first object in question was seen flying below the shuttle shortly after pre-landing tests of the shuttle's re-entry systems.

Engineers speculated that whatever it was, the object got shaken off during the tests, which generated a fair amount of vibration. One possible candidate was a plastic shim spotted earlier in the flight extending up from between two tiles on the shuttle's belly. But during today's inspection, the shim apparently was still in place, engineers said.

A second piece of debris spotted by the astronauts shortly after noon Tuesday remains a mystery as well.

Assuming the OBSS inspection goes smoothly, no problems are found and the crew gets done in time, NASA managers could opt to press ahead with plans to bring Atlantis back to Earth on Thursday. In that case, commander Brent Jett and pilot Chris Ferguson would fire Atlantis' twin braking rockets around 5:19 a.m. Thursday for a day-late touchdown around 6:21 a.m. at the Kennedy Space Center.

But if today's OBSS inspection keeps the crew up late, NASA managers may opt to "give them another day on orbit to rest up before the critical entry phase" to make sure "we have a well rested and prepare crew to fly the critical phases of entry," said shuttle Program Manager Wayne Hale. "We don't want to do that with folks who are tired or overly concerned about anything."

Atlantis has enough on-board supplies to remain in orbit until Saturday if absolutely necessary. Good weather is expected Thursday and Friday at the Kennedy Space Center.

Spaceflight Now Plus
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VIDEO: SUNDAY'S STATUS BRIEFING DIAL-UP | BROADBAND
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VIDEO: STATION SLIDES BY EARTH'S HORIZON PLAY
VIDEO: SPACE STATION FLYAROUND BY ATLANTIS PLAY
VIDEO: ATLANTIS UNDOCKS FROM THE STATION PLAY
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VIDEO: LAUNCH AS SEEN BY HIGH-ALTITUDE WB-57 AIRCRAFT PLAY
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VIDEO: SOLID ROCKET BOOSTER CAM: PORT UPWARD PLAY
VIDEO: SOLID ROCKET BOOSTER CAM: PORT DOWNWARD PLAY

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VIDEO: SECOND SOLAR WING EXTENDED ONE SECTION PLAY
VIDEO: FIRST SOLAR WING EXTENDED ONE SECTION PLAY

VIDEO: POST-EVA 2 STATUS BRIEFING DIAL-UP | BROADBAND
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VIDEO: HELMETCAM OF BURBANK REMOVING SARJ RESTRAINT PLAY
VIDEO: SPACEWALKERS PAUSE FOR PICTURE TIME PLAY
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VIDEO: ROTARY JOINT LOCK REMOVED BY SPACEWALKER PLAY
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VIDEO: NARRATED ANIMATION PREVIEWING THE DOCKING PLAY
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LAUNCH REPLAYS:
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VIDEO: CAMERA IN FRONT OF PAD PLAY
VIDEO: BANANA CREEK VIEWING SITE PLAY
VIDEO: VEHICLE ASSEMBLY BUILDING ROOF PLAY
VIDEO: PAD 39B SIDE PERIMETER PLAY
VIDEO: PLAYALINDA BEACH TRACKER PLAY
VIDEO: PLAYALINDA BEACH ZOOM PLAY
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VIDEO: MISSION SPECIALIST 3 HEIDE PIPER BOARDS PLAY
VIDEO: MISSION SPECIALIST 2 DAN BURBANK BOARDS PLAY
VIDEO: MISSION SPECIALIST 1 JOE TANNER BOARDS PLAY
VIDEO: PILOT CHRIS FERGUSON BOARDS PLAY
VIDEO: COMMANDER BRENT JETT BOARDS PLAY

VIDEO: ASTRONAUTS EMERGE FROM CREW QUARTERS PLAY
VIDEO: CREW SUITS UP FOR LAUNCH TO SPACE PLAY
VIDEO: FINAL INSPECTION TEAM CHECKS ATLANTIS PLAY
VIDEO: ASTRONAUTS READY FOR SECOND LAUNCH TRY PLAY
MORE: STS-115 VIDEO COVERAGE
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The official crew patch for the STS-115 mission of space shuttle Atlantis to resume orbital construction of the International Space Station.
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