There are 2 messages totalling 75 lines in this issue

Topics of the day:

1. STS-134 MCC Status Report #05
2. STS-134 MCC Status Report #06

Date: Wed, 18 May 2011 16:30:21 -0500 From: info@JSC NASA GOV Subject: STS-134 MCC Status Report #05

STS-134 Report #05 4:30 p m CDT Wednesday, May 18, 2011 Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas

HOUSTON � Endeavour docked with the International Space Station at 5:14 a m CDT Wednesday, bringing an advanced scientific instrument that could answer basic questions about our universe, perhaps shedding light on dark matter and antimatter

Also in the payload bay was Express Logistics Carrier 3 (ELC3), a cargo platform loaded with spare parts for the station The shuttle Endeavour also brought additional equipment, experiments and supplies for the orbiting laboratory

Hatches between the two vehicles were opened at 6:38 a m allowing Endeavour crew members, Commander Mark Kelly, Pilot Greg H Johnson and Mission Specialists Mike Fincke, Roberto Vittori, Andrew Feustel and Greg Chamitoff, to go into the station

After a welcoming ceremony by the Expedition 27 station crew, Commander Dmitry Kondratyev and Flight Engineers Paolo Nespoli, Cady Coleman, Andrey Borisenko, Alexander Samokutyaev and Ron Garan, the Endeavour astronauts got the required station safety briefing

The docking had gone just as planned As the shuttle slowly approached the station, with both spacecraft moving at 17,500 mph, it paused about 600 feet below it to do the standard back flip, beginning at 4:15 a m Nespoli, Coleman and Kondratyev used cameras with 400 mm, 800 mm and 1,000 mm lenses to take numerous pictures of the shuttle�s thermal protection system

Over 500 images have been received in mission control Experts are continuing to analyze the images and determine if any further inspection is required

Fincke and Vittori used the shuttle�s robotic arm to lift the ELC3 cargo carrier from Endeavour�s cargo bay and hand it off to the station�s Canadarm2, operated by Johnson and Chamitoff They installed it robotically on the station�s port 3 truss That task was completed at 11:18 a m

Meanwhile, Fincke and Feustel transferred the spacesuits that will be used on the four spacewalks scheduled during Endeavour�s stay at the station They and Chamitoff will alternate in two-man teams for the 6 5-hour excursions for installation and maintenance Kelly transferred oxygen from Endeavour to the station and then began moving cargo to the orbiting laboratory

Kelly, with help from Johnson and other crew members, then maneuvered the shuttle to a point about 300 feet ahead of the station He slowly maneuvered Endeavour to its 12th and final International Space Station docking

During the process an advanced system called STORMM (Sensor Test for Orion Rel-nav Risk Mitigation) gathered data that could help future spacecraft dock to the station It also will be used again during undocking and a subsequent test rendezvous

On Thursday astronauts are scheduled to install the $2 billion, 15,251- pound Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer-2, an advanced particle physics detector, atop the starboard 3 truss There it is expected to automatically send information to scientists on Earth for the life of the station

The next status report will be issued after crew wakeup or earlier if warranted

#

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: Wed, 18 May 2011 22:38:16 -0500 From: info@JSC NASA GOV Subject: STS-134 MCC Status Report #06

STS-134 Report #06 10:30 p m CDT Wednesday, May 18, 2011 Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas

HOUSTON � On tap today is the top scientific priority of the STS-134 mission, installing Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer-2 (AMS-2) on the International Space Station�s truss, where it can sift through cosmic particles, seeking the answers to fundamental questions of physics

The $2 billion, 15,251- pound instrument will be plucked from Endeavour�s payload bay by Mission Specialists Andrew Feustel and Roberto Vittori using the space shuttle�s robotic arm They�ll hand it off to the space station�s Canadarm2 at 2:01 a m CDT Thursday, and Pilot Greg Johnson and Mission Specialist Greg Chamitoff will then install it on the starboard side of the station�s truss

From its new perch on top of the station�s truss, it will begin observations of the cosmos and automatically send information to scientists on Earth for the life of the station

Endeavour�s crew and Expedition 27 Flight Engineer Ron Garan, who is matching schedules with the shuttle crew, were awakened at 9:56 p m The wake-up song �Luna,� performed by Jose Serrano for his friend Chamitoff, was transmitted about 30 minutes later after a communications drop-out cleared

Endeavour docked with the International Space Station at 5:14 a m CDT Wednesday, and installed Express Logistics Carrier, a cargo platform loaded with spare parts for the station Overnight, robotics experts in Mission Control moved the station�s Mobile Transporter from a worksite on the far end of the port side of the truss to a site on the far starboard side to prepare for the AMS-2 handoff Installation should be complete by 2:41 a m

The combined crew also will begin preparations for the first spacewalk of the mission by Feustel and Chamitoff, which is scheduled for Friday The team will review plans for the spacewalk, which will involve retrieval of one materials experiment and installation of another, installation of a floodlight, some cooling loop fill equipment and a wireless communications antenna

Feustel and Chamitoff will camp out in the Quest airlock overnight to prepare their bodies for action in the reduced pressure of their spacesuits on the following day The spacesuits were among the first items transferred from the shuttle to the station after docking and hatch opening

Meanwhile, mission managers are continuing to review more than 500 images taken by Expedition 27�s Dmitry Kondratyev, Paolo Nespoli and Cady Coleman Several areas of thermal protection tile were shown to be damaged, and managers are waiting for analysis to be completed before deciding whether to seek additional focused inspection of those areas later in the mission

The next status report will be issued before the crew goes to sleep at 1:26 p m , or earlier if warranted

#

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 - 18 May 2011 to 19 May 2011 (#2011-55)

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