There are 3 messages totalling 88 lines in this issue

Topics of the day:

1. STS-128 MCC Status Report #17
2. STS-128 MCC Status Report #18
3. STS-128 MCC Status Report #19

Date: Sun, 6 Sep 2009 01:12:28 -0500 From: info@JSC NASA GOV Subject: STS-128 MCC Status Report #17

STS-128 Report #17 1:30 a m CDT Sunday, Sept 6, 2009 Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas

HOUSTON – Discovery’s astronauts have now finished all of their work outside the station for the STS-128 mission

Mission Specialists Danny Olivas and Christer Fuglesang spent 7 hours and 1 minute outside the International Space Station on Saturday in the third and final spacewalk of this trip to the station, bringing the total for the mission to 20 hours and 15 minutes

Inside the station, crewmembers replaced one of 16 common berthing mechanism bolts used to secure the Leonardo cargo carrier to the station The bolt had not operated as expected early in the mission The crew also opened an oxygen generation assembly water filter that was replaced before the shuttle arrived, and saw that it was 70 to 80 percent blocked The inspection increases confidence that the filter replacement has restored the system to full functionality

As with the mission’s previous spacewalks, Olivas and Fuglesang accomplished everything they set out to do, including the set up of a payload attachment system on the station’s truss to be called into service on the next mission They also replaced a rate gyro assembly and a remote power control module, installed two GPS antennas and removed a slide wire on the Unity module

The spacewalkers were not able to connect two avionics cables that eventually will be connected to Tranquility, the final U S module to be delivered to the station Connectors on one of the cables would not mate, and so they were wrapped in insulation and left for a future spacewalk

At the end of the spacewalk, Fuglesang’s helmet-mounted video camera and headlight system became unlatched Olivas helped Fuglesang connect a tether to the equipment and planned to inspect its latches after they got back inside

The rest of the mission’s work will take place inside the station and shuttle More transfer work is on the slate for tomorrow, as well as some off-duty time for the crew and interviews with reporters on the ground

Discovery’s crew is scheduled to go to sleep around 2:30 a m and wake up at 10:29 a m The next shuttle status report will be issued after they get their wakeup call or earlier if events warrant

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NASA Johnson Space Center Mission Status Reports and other information are available automatically by sending an Internet electronic mail message to listserv@listserver jsc nasa gov In the body of the message (not the subject line) users should type "subscribe hsfnews" (no quotes) This will add the e-mail address that sent the subscribe message to the news release distribution list The system will reply with a confirmation via e-mail of each subscription Once you have subscribed you will receive future news releases via e-mail

Date: Sun, 6 Sep 2009 10:48:34 -0500 From: info@JSC NASA GOV Subject: STS-128 MCC Status Report #18

STS-128 Report #18 Sunday, Sept 6, 2009 - 11 a m CDT
Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas

HOUSTON – The astronauts aboard the International Space Station and space shuttle Discovery turn their focus to final packing today After nearly seven days of busy joint activities and three spacewalks, the shuttle crew will also get a half-day off

The crew awoke at 10:35 a m to “Rocket” performed by Andrew Peterson The song was played for Mission Specialist Pat Forrester

Shuttle commander Rick Sturckow, pilot Kevin Ford, Forrester and mission specialists Jose Hernandez, Danny Olivas, Tim Kopra and Christer Fuglesang are slated to spend the morning packing up the Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module with supplies and equipment that will be returned to Earth They will also install control panels on the Node 2 common berthing mechanism

Their station counterparts, Commander Gennady Padalka and flight engineers Mike Barratt, Nicole Stott, Roman Romanenko, Robert Thirsk and Frank De Winne will assist with the transfer and perform station maintenance

Early in the crew day, Kopra and Olivas have time set aside for a media opportunity with journalists from Texas and the military At 1:54 p m , their interviews with KFOX-TV, KXAN-TV and the Military Times will air live on NASA TV

Toward the end of the crew day, European Space Agency astronauts Fuglesang and De Winne will join in the Columbus module for a special event with representatives from Sweden The event will air on NASA TV as they speak with former ESA astronaut Jean Francois Clervoy, Lotta Bouvain of Swedish television, Swedish Minister for Education Jan Björklund, American Finnish journalist and talk show host Mark Levengood, and Swedish opera singer Malena Ernman

The next shuttle status report will be issued near the end of the crew’s workday, or earlier if events warrant The station crew is due to go to sleep about 2 a m Monday and the shuttle crew follows thirty minutes later

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NASA Johnson Space Center Mission Status Reports and other information are available automatically by sending an Internet electronic mail message to listserv@listserver jsc nasa gov In the body of the message (not the subject line) users should type "subscribe hsfnews" (no quotes) This will add the e-mail address that sent the subscribe message to the news release distribution list The system will reply with a confirmation via e-mail of each subscription Once you have subscribed you will receive future news releases via e-mail

Date: Sun, 6 Sep 2009 14:50:15 -0500 From: info@JSC NASA GOV Subject: STS-128 MCC Status Report #19

STS-128 Report #19 3 p m CDT Sunday, Sept 6, 2009 Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas

HOUSTON – The 13 crew members aboard space shuttle Discovery and the International Space Station completed final transfer work between the two spacecraft Sunday in preparation for Monday afternoon’s scheduled return of the high-tech moving van “Leonardo” back to the orbiter’s payload bay

With Leonardo packed with items for return to Earth, the crew planned to spend some free time together this evening before Monday’s careful return of the Italian-built logistics module to Discovery for return home and refurbishment before it is used again to deliver more supplies to the station

With seven days of docked operations behind them, the astronauts and cosmonauts prepared to say their goodbyes and close the hatches Monday about 9:30 p m CDT

Earlier today, Danny Olivas and Tim Kopra talked about their missions with hometown television stations in El Paso and Austin, Texas, respectively Kopra is returning home after nearly two months aboard the space station Olivas performed three spacewalks outside the station on this mission and has performed five total accumulating more than 34 hours of spacewalking time

Toward the end of the crew day, European Space Agency astronauts Christer Fuglesang and Frank De Winne will gather in the Columbus module for a special event with representatives from Sweden The event will air on NASA TV as they speak with former ESA astronaut Jean Francois Clervoy, Lotta Bouvain of Swedish television, Swedish Minister for Education Jan Björklund, American Finnish journalist and talk show host Mark Levengood, and Swedish opera singer Malena Ernman

The crews are scheduled to go to bed about 2 a m Monday followed by their musical wakeup call from Mission Control at 10:29 a m The next status report will be issued after that call

#

NASA Johnson Space Center Mission Status Reports and other information are available automatically by sending an Internet electronic mail message to listserv@listserver jsc nasa gov In the body of the message (not the subject line) users should type "subscribe hsfnews" (no quotes) This will add the e-mail address that sent the subscribe message to the news release distribution list The system will reply with a confirmation via e-mail of each subscription Once you have subscribed you will receive future news releases via e-mail

End of HSFNEWS Digest - 6 Sep 2009 to 7 Sep 2009 (#2009-100)

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