Date: December 31st 2010

There are 2 messages totalling 127 lines in this issue

Topics of the day:

NEWEST SPACE STATION CREW MEMBERS LAUNCH FROM KAZAKHSTAN
NASA TELEVISION WILL AIR SPACE SHUTTLE DISCOVERY TANKING TEST

Date: Wed, 15 Dec 2010 14:06:32 -0600 From: info@JSC NASA GOV Subject: NEWEST SPACE STATION CREW MEMBERS LAUNCH FROM KAZAKHSTAN

December 15, 2010

Kelly Humphries Johnson Space Center, Houston 281-483-5111

Michael Curie Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100

Report #H10-330

NEWEST SPACE STATION CREW MEMBERS LAUNCH FROM KAZAKHSTAN

WASHINGTON -- NASA astronaut Cady Coleman, Russian cosmonaut Dmitry Kondratyev, and European Space Agency astronaut Paolo Nespoli launched to the International Space Station from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 2:09 p m EST Wednesday (1:09 a m local time, Dec 16)

Coleman, Kondratyev and Nespoli are scheduled to dock their Soyuz TMA-20 spacecraft to the station's Rassvet docking port at 3:12 p m , Friday, Dec 17 They will join Expedition 26 Commander Scott Kelly and Flight Engineers Alexander Kaleri and Oleg Skripochka aboard the orbiting laboratory

On Friday, NASA Television will air docking coverage beginning at 2:30 p m Coverage of the hatches opening and a welcoming ceremony aboard the station will begin at 5:30 p m For NASA TV streaming video, schedule and downlink information, visit:

http://www nasa gov/ntv

During Expedition 26, the six-person crew will continue scientific research, perform station maintenance and welcome several visiting vehicles

Kondratyev and Skripochka will conduct two spacewalks, which are scheduled for Jan 21 and late February They will install an antenna to complete an information transfer system that sends large computer files to and from the station The spacewalkers also will perform work on the outside of the Russian station modules

In addition to space shuttle Discovery's planned STS-133 visit in February, the Expedition 26 crew is expecting the arrival of three resupply vehicles in January and February

The second Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency H-II Transfer Vehicle, called Kounotori, or white stork, is scheduled to launch Jan 20 from the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan It will be attached robotically to the Earth-facing docking port on the station's Harmony module on Jan 27

The second European Space Agency Automated Transfer Vehicle, named for famed mathematician and astronomer Johannes Kepler, is scheduled to launch from Kourou, French Guiana, on Feb 15 It will dock to the aft port of the Zvezda service module on Feb 26 The Russian Progress 41 resupply craft is scheduled to launch from Baikonur on Jan 28 and dock to the Pirs docking compartment on Jan 31

Kelly, Kaleri and Skripochka, who launched to the station on Oct 7, are scheduled to return to Earth in March Before departing, Kelly will hand over command of the station to Kondratyev for Expedition 27

NASA astronaut Ron Garan and Russian cosmonauts Andrei Borisenko and Alexander Samokutyaev will join Coleman, Kondratyev and Nespoli aboard the station on April 1 to complete the Expedition 27 crew Their launch is set for March 30

For updates about the space station and Expedition 26/27 crew members, visit:

http://www nasa gov/station

To view the new official International Space Station page on Facebook and follow crew member posts from space, visit:

http://www facebook com/ISS

To follow Twitter updates from Expedition 26/27 crew member Coleman, visit:

http://twitter com/Astro_Cady

#

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 To unsubscribe, send an e-mail to listserv@listserver jsc nasa gov with the following command in the body of your e-mail message: "unsubscribe hsfnews" (no quotes) or from another account, besides the account used to subscribe: "unsubscribe hsfnews youremail@yourdomain com" (no quotes)

Date: Wed, 15 Dec 2010 15:37:27 -0600 From: info@JSC NASA GOV Subject: NASA TELEVISION WILL AIR SPACE SHUTTLE DISCOVERY TANKING TEST

Dec 15, 2010

Kyle Herring Johnson Space Center, Houston 281-483-5111

Joshua Buck
Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1100

Candrea Thomas Kennedy Space Center, Fla 321-867-2468

Report #M10-173

NASA TELEVISION WILL AIR SPACE SHUTTLE DISCOVERY TANKING TEST

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla -- NASA will conduct a tanking test at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Friday, Dec 17, to evaluate repairs made to space shuttle Discovery's external fuel tank Managers decided Dec 3 to perform more tests and analysis before proceeding with Discovery's STS-133 mission to the International Space Station

The test will air live on NASA Television beginning at 6:45 a m EST Discovery's external tank will be filled with liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, as it is before launch Technicians placed 89 instruments on the tank to assess its performance during the fuel loading

Strain and thermal sensors will record movement and temperatures from the tank's ribbed intertank area as it chills and warms during fuel loading and emptying The tank holds super-cold liquid oxygen chilled to minus 297 degrees Fahrenheit and liquid hydrogen at minus 423 F The cryogenic propellants cause the tank to shrink by about one-half inch

The test will help verify repairs associated with cracks on the tops of two 21-foot-long, U-shaped aluminum brackets, called stringers, on the external tank It also will help engineers determine what caused the cracks during Discovery's launch countdown on Nov 5 Technicians repaired the cracks and reapplied foam insulation on the stringers last month

Results of the instrumented test will not be known immediately Managers and engineers will review the test data and determine the next course of action Discovery's next launch opportunity is no earlier than 1:34 a m on Feb 3

For NASA TV streaming video, downlink and scheduling information, visit:

http://www nasa gov/ntv

For STS-133 crew and mission information, visit:

http://www nasa gov/shuttle

-end-

To subscribe to the list, send a message to: hqnews-subscribe@mediaservices nasa gov To remove your address from the list, send a message to: hqnews-unsubscribe@mediaservices nasa gov

#

End of HSFNEWS Digest - 11 Dec 2010 to 16 Dec 2010 (#2010-133)

The following information is a reminder of your current mailing list subscription:

You are subscribed to the following list: [list_name]

using the following email: example@example.com

You may automatically unsubscribe from this list at any time by visiting the following URL:

https://aus-city com/cgi-bin/dada/mail cgi/u/NASA_REPORTS/example/example com/

If the above URL is inoperable, make sure that you have copied the entire address Some mail readers will wrap a long URL and thus break this automatic unsubscribe mechanism

You may also change your subscription by visiting this list's main screen:

<[program_url]/list/[list]>

If you're still having trouble, please contact the list owner at: