04.28.06<br /><br />Katherine Trinidad<br />Headquarters, Washington<br />(202) 358-7239<br /><br />Jessica Rye<br />Kennedy Space Center, Fla.<br />(321) 867-2468<br /><br />STATUS REPORT: S-042806<br /><br />NASA'S SPACE SHUTTLE PROCESSING STATUS REPORT<br /><br />NASA's space shuttle fleet is housed and processed at Kennedy Space <br />Center, Fla. <br /><br />Mission: STS-121 - 18th International Space Station Flight (ULF1.1) - <br />Multi-Purpose Logistics Module <br />Vehicle: Discovery (OV-103) <br />Location: Orbiter Processing Facility Bay 3 <br />Launch Date: Launch Processing Window July 1-19, 2006 <br />Launch Pad: 39B <br />Crew: Lindsey, Kelly, Sellers, Fossum, Nowak, Wilson and Reiter <br />Inclination/Orbit Altitude: 51.6 degrees/122 nautical miles <br /><br />Technicians continue closing out areas of Discovery before it is moved <br />to the Vehicle Assembly Building on May 12. The payload bay doors <br />were closed on Wednesday for the final time prior to flight.<br /><br />Last week, technicians removed the space shuttle main engine in <br />position No. 2 and replaced it with a new one. Engine leak checks <br />were successfully completed on Tuesday. Interface verification tests <br />were completed for sensors No. 1 and 2 on the new orbiter boom sensor <br />system. <br /><br />Mission: STS-115 - 19th International Space Station Flight (12A) - <br />P3/P4 Solar Arrays <br />Vehicle: Atlantis (OV-104) <br />Location: Orbiter Processing Facility Bay 1 <br />Launch Date: No earlier than Aug. 28, 2006 <br />Launch Pad: 39B <br />Crew: Jett, Ferguson, Tanner, Burbank, MacLean and Stefanyshyn-Piper <br />Inclination/Orbit Altitude: 51.6 degrees/122 nautical miles <br /><br />Technicians are performing powered-up system testing on Atlantis for <br />its mission to the International Space Station. Technicians continue <br />installing tires on the shuttle's main landing gear. <br /><br />Work continues on the alignment of the manipulator positioning <br />mechanisms. The positioning mechanisms are the pedestals that hold <br />the orbiter boom sensor system in place in the payload bay while the <br />boom is not in use. Thermal protection system tile, blanket and gap <br />filler work is ongoing. <br /><br />Endeavour (OV-105)<br /><br />Powered-up system testing continues on Endeavour in Orbiter Processing <br />Facility Bay 2 following an extensive modification period. <br />Technicians completed ammonia system leak and functional testing on <br />Wednesday and Thursday. <br /><br />Technicians worked on external airlock fluid line connections late <br />last week and will begin leak checks today. <br /><br />External Tank<br /><br />In the Vehicle Assembly Building, final thermal protection system foam <br />application was completed last week on the aft end of the tank <br />following the change-out of the four liquid hydrogen engine cut-off <br />sensors. On Monday, crane operators lifted the tank from a horizontal <br />position on the transporter and placed it between the twin solid <br />rocket boosters already stacked in High Bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly <br />Building. <br /><br />The Space Shuttle Program management decided Thursday to fly the <br />ice/frost ramps in their current configuration. The rationale for <br />doing so was based on several factors. The past ramp performance, <br />although not desirable, was acceptable. Proposed ramp design changes <br />could introduce more uncertainty instead of reducing the known risk. <br />New cameras will allow us better insight into the current ramps <br />performance which will help in the redesign effort. Flying the <br />current ice/frost ramps limits the design changes on the tank, which <br />has already undergone a significant redesign with the removal of the <br />protuberance air load (PAL) ramp. Shuttle engineers will have a <br />better environment to gather data by flying with only one aerodynamic <br />change to the tank. <br /><br />For previous space shuttle processing status reports on the Web, <br />visit:<br /><br />http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle