STS-114 Report #20 Thursday, Aug. 4, 2005 – 11:45 p.m. CDT Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas Now in their eleventh day of the mission and with three successful spacewalks behind them, the STS-114 crew of Space Shuttle Discovery is slated to begin preparations for undocking and the final day with their International Space Station counterparts. Their activities for the day include final equipment transfers, stowage and return of the robotic arm, boom and cargo container to the Shuttle payload bay. &Acir ...Continue Reading

STS-114 Report #19 Thursday, Aug. 4, 2005 – 4 p.m. CDT Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas Space Shuttle Discovery’s heat shield is cleared for the return to Earth early Monday after mission managers decided today that a fourth spacewalk to deal with a puffed out thermal blanket is unnecessary. Wind tunnel tests overnight at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California showed little chance of any significant debris coming from the blanket at supersonic speeds. Further engineering analysis sh ...Continue Reading

STS-114 Report #18 Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2005 – 11 p.m. CDT Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas After an eventful day supporting the third spacewalk of the mission, a light duty day of transfer activities, special events and time off lies ahead for the Space Shuttle Discovery crew as they begin their tenth day in space. The seven-member Shuttle crew awoke to the well-known country song “Amarillo by Morning,” performed by George Strait, at 10:09 p.m. CDT. Their Station counterparts, the Expe ...Continue Reading

STS-114 Report #17 Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2005 - 7:30 p.m. CDT Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas Despite days of anticipation and intense planning, space-walking astronaut Steve Robinson made it look easy as he gently pulled two protruding gap fillers from between thermal protection tiles on Discovery's underside Wednesday morning. "It looks like this big patient is cured," Robinson told delighted flight controllers. Fellow spacewalker Soichi Noguchi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency helped Ro ...Continue Reading

STS-114 Report #16 Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2005 - 11 p.m. CDT Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas The Space Shuttle Discovery crew begins their ninth day in space with preparations for the third spacewalk of the mission. This extravehicular activity (EVA) was a preplanned activity for the mission, but now includes a new task –repair of two protruding gap fillers between tiles on the bottom the Shuttle. The crew began the day waking up at 10:09 p.m. CDT to "Where My Heart Will Take Me," the theme son ...Continue Reading

STS-114 Report #15 Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2005 - 6 p.m. CDT Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas Space Shuttle mission managers Tuesday cleared Discovery’s wing leading edge heat shield for re-entry as they methodically deal with concerns over the protruding tile gap fillers. The mission management team also discussed a “puffed out” insulating blanket outside the commander’s cockpit window and has decided it poses no risk of overheating during entry. Engineers will continue to analyze whet ...Continue Reading

STS-114 Report #15 Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2005 - 6 p.m. CDT Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas Space Shuttle mission managers Tuesday cleared Discovery’s wing leading edge heat shield for re-entry as they methodically deal with concerns over the protruding tile gap fillers. The mission management team also discussed a “puffed out” insulating blanket outside the commander’s cockpit window and has decided it poses no risk of overheating during entry. Engineers will continue to analyze whet ...Continue Reading

STS-114 Report #14 Monday, Aug. 1, 2005 – 11 p.m. CDT Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas The Space Shuttle Discovery and International Space Station crews will continue transferring equipment and supplies between the two vehicles today. They will also review updated tasks for the third planned spacewalk of the mission. Discovery’s crew was awakened at 10:09 p.m. CDT by the song "Big Rock Candy Mountain," by Harry McClintock for Mission Specialist Andy Thomas. The Space Station crew was ...Continue Reading

STS-114 Report #13 Monday, August 1, 2005 - 7:00 p.m. CDT Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas STS-114 mission managers Monday gave the go-ahead for astronauts to remove two protruding gap fillers in DiscoveryÂ’s heat shield during a Wednesday space walk. Soichi Noguchi and Steve Robinson will attempt to simply pull the thin fabric fillers from between tiles in the forward area of the orbiterÂ’s underside. If the pull method is unsuccessful, the two will have tools to cut the material flush with the ...Continue Reading

STS-114 Report #12 Sunday, July 31, 2005 – 11:15 p.m. CDT Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas Now spacewalk veterans, Astronauts Soichi Noguchi and Steve Robinson will step outside for the second of three planned spacewalks today at 3:14 a.m. CDT. The sole objective of the 6 ½-hour excursion is to replace a failed International Space Station attitude control gyroscope. The pair will have about an hour of setup time after exiting Space Shuttle Discovery’s airlock and positioning them ...Continue Reading