posted 01-11-2009 01:00 AM               

This thread is intended for reader comments and questions regarding the STS-119 mission and the reports published as part of collectSPACE's Flight Day Journal.

Tickets to view the STS-119 launch from the NASA Causeway and the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex will go on sale at 9:00 a.m. EST, Monday, Jan. 12 on the KSCVC website, as well as by phone at +1 321-449-4400.

Discovery is scheduled to launch the STS-119 mission on Feb. 12 at 7:32 a.m. EST to deliver the S6 truss segment, as well the fourth and final set of power-generating solar wings for the International Space Station.

posted 01-12-2009 08:23 AM               

I will be at the Press Site for the launch but I hope to get my father on the Causeway for the launch. If you have one ticket you do not need, please let me know.

posted 01-13-2009 02:57 AM               

Same time my girlfriend tried to call the ticket hotline but no luck.

Very disappointed about it and sad for my father who makes the trip from Germany only to see the launch.

posted 01-15-2009 12:50 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by GACspaceguy:
The issue with higher hotel rates are typical for Florida in the winter even without a launch. By Feb. everyone up north has cabin fever and heads south.

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Example, three weeks before 122 launch, I rented a room at Super8 in Titusville. The room charge was $50 per night.

I check the hotel price the day before leaving. They inflated to $120 for a room.

The launches draws people. The hotels make the most the could as long the people are willing to purchase the set price.

posted 02-16-2009 09:16 AM               

If its a night launch, I will drive the 14 hours to see it. There are so few left, night or day.

I thought NASA gave the ballpark of info earlier than this; I realize no decisions until 2.20 on 2.28 or later launch. I cannot find anything, anywhere

Is it correct that there are only a few consecutive orbits in each 24 hour cycle for an efficient launch to ISS?

posted 02-16-2009 11:26 AM               

quote:

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Originally posted by Don119:
Is it correct that there are only a few consecutive orbits in each 24 hour cycle for an efficient launch to ISS?

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posted 02-19-2009 11:49 PM               

NASA, Channel One News Linkup With Next Shuttle Mission; Students Can Submit Questions For Astronauts

In a unique event, NASA and Channel One News will offer students the opportunity to ask questions of the next space shuttle crew. The crew includes two former science teachers, Joseph Acaba and Richard Arnold, who are now fully-trained NASA astronauts. They will make their first journey into orbit on shuttle Discovery's upcoming mission to the International Space Station, currently targeted to launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida no earlier than Feb. 27.

On the mission's fourth day, Channel One News Anchor Steven Fabian will interview Acaba, Arnold, shuttle Commander Lee Archambault and International Space Station Commander Mike Fincke. The questions will be selected from written and videotaped submissions made on the Web.

NASA Television and the agency's Web site will broadcast the interview live.

"This is a great opportunity to recognize the important contribution of teachers inspiring the next generation of explorers," said Joyce Winterton, NASA's assistant administrator for Education at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

"We are thrilled for this special opportunity to connect Channel One students directly to the space shuttle crew," commented Angela Hunter, senior vice president and executive producer for Channel One News. "Providing teens with this type of access to an important journey allows students to share in a unique experience and offers them tools to further explore a fascinating area of science."

The STS-119 mission will deliver the station's final set of giant solar arrays, which will provide the electricity to fully power science experiments and support the station's expanded crew of six in May. The flight also will replace a failed unit for a system that converts urine to potable water.

During the 14-day flight, Acaba will conduct two spacewalks and Arnold will conduct three.

As a complement to the spacewalks, NASA has developed an educational Web site focused on spacesuits and spacewalks. The site includes activity guides for kindergarten through 12th grade teachers; a clickable spacesuit to learn about the parts and functions of the astronauts' personal spacecraft; and a career corner that features profiles on spacesuit designers and technicians.

posted 03-02-2009 01:28 PM               

Public Invited To Submit Questions For NASA's Space Shuttle Launch

Space enthusiasts from across the United States and around the world are invited to submit questions about space shuttle Discovery's upcoming launch, its STS-119 mission to the International Space Station, and NASA space exploration. Questions may be answered on NASA Television during the countdown to launch.

The STS-119 mission will deliver a new crew member to the space station. The crew also will deliver and install a fourth and final set of large solar arrays that will provide electricity to support six-person station crews beginning in May. Currently, three crew members live aboard the station for several months at a time.

Discovery and its seven astronauts are tentatively targeted to launch March 12 at 8:54 p.m. EDT from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA commentary will begin about five hours before liftoff.

posted 03-05-2009 03:21 PM               

Spaceflight Now to host live launch broadcast

Spaceflight Now is excited to be joining forces with veteran space broadcasters Miles O'Brien and David Waters to provide unrivaled video coverage of space shuttle Discovery's next mission, scheduled for launch on Wednesday, March 11.

On launch day Spaceflight Now's acclaimed Mission Status Center will feature a five-hour live video broadcast hosted by Miles and David from the Kennedy Space Center. They will be joined on air by astronaut Leroy Chiao, who flew in space four times and commanded the 10th expedition to the International Space Station.

A daily video podcast, available through Apple's iTune's service and YouTube will cover the mission from countdown to touchdown, starting with the arrival of the seven astronauts at the Kennedy Space Center on Sunday.

Both the live broadcast and podcast will be available free to all readers. Stay tuned to Spaceflight Now for more details.

posted 03-06-2009 10:23 AM               

12:00 AM has changed to 01:00 PM
01:00 AM has changed to 02:00 PM
02:00 AM has changed to 03:00 PM
03:00 AM has changed to 04:00 PM
04:00 AM has changed to 05:00 PM
05:00 AM has changed to 06:00 PM
06:00 AM has changed to 07:00 PM

The new times for the
'Dine w/a Astronaut' buffets are:

12:30 AM DWA is now scheduled for 02:30 PM
Seating begins at 02:15 PM

02:45 AM DWA is now scheduled for 04:45 PM
Seating begins at 04:30 PM

posted 03-11-2009 09:12 AM               

quote:

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Originally posted by MarylandSpace:
[B]Will the shuttle be visible along the east coast?

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Weather permitting, people within about a 500-mile (800-kilometer) radius of the central Florida coast will be able to see the flare from the shuttle's solid-fuel rocket launchers two seconds after launch for about two minutes.

From two to eight minutes after launch, Discovery's main engines will make the shuttle seem to burn like a flickering, yellow-orange star.

People with binoculars may even be able to make out the shuttle's V-shaped tail.

This stage of the event should be visible to sky-watchers as far north as the southern tip of Nova Scotia and as far west as the Appalachian Mountains.

But observers will need an unobstructed view, as the shuttle will appear very low to the horizon -- no higher than the width of a fist on an outstretched arm.

posted 03-12-2009 06:37 PM               

If the replacement is successful, then the countdown will resume Sunday morning for a 7:43 p.m. EDT launch of Discovery on the now 13-day STS-119 mission.

Don't they need the spacewalks? And as the Orbiter will already be docked to the station, and not really in the way of the oncoming crew I don't see why NASA doesn't keep to the 14 day plan?

Maybe just keep the party shuttle crew restricted to their ship.

posted 03-12-2009 06:37 PM               

I can only liken it to twin Gemini missions in 1965.

posted 03-12-2009 07:03 PM               

There is also a safety concern, as were something to go wrong during a docking, which is a real possibility, the desire is to limit the crew potentially affected.

And then there is the inadvertent damage that one vehicle could cause the other during a nominal docking by way of reaction control thruster plume contamination.

So there are several reasons why NASA and Roscosmos preserve a period of time between their vehicles arriving at the space station.

As it is just as important to the space station that Soyuz TMA-14 launches on time so as to maintain crew rotation schedules as it is that STS-119 delivers the S6 truss and Koichi Wakata, the ISS program managers decided it was more important to try to launch Discovery on a shortened mission now than it was to preserve the original slate of four spacewalks by waiting until after the Soyuz docks.

With the exception of the first EVA, which is devoted to the installation of the truss, the other three spacewalks are all get-ahead tasks, which can also be performed by station crew members when the shuttle is not there.

posted 03-13-2009 03:08 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by Mr Meek:
But from listening to the briefing earlier today, it sounds like the leak was in a seal on the "back" (ground) side of the valve.

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posted 03-13-2009 05:26 PM               

We don't have any smoking guns yet. We did see one seal that may have a slight nick on it. Not sure if that's the real cause of the issue yet. That's a first report, you've got to give us another six or eight hours before we can really declare whether that's the culprit or not.

posted 03-14-2009 09:51 PM               

"The proof of the pudding will be when we get into external tank loading, and really once the tank gets pretty full when we get into that topping scenario just like we did on Wednesday," said [Launch Director Mike] Leinbach during a media briefing.

posted 03-15-2009 02:34 AM               

However, I feel something else as part of me is transported back to the first RSS rollback for STS-121 back in 2006. It was my second attempt to view a shuttle launch and my first one at the press site.

After the bus I was on got back from the rollback photo op (without the spotlights as NASA didn't kick those on until the freelancer photographers got on the bus), I went outside the press center to near the countdown clock and just had a look. It was dark, but the stark beauty of Discovery under the floods nearly four miles away on Pad 39B and the darkness around except for the digital numbers of the countdown clock made me pause and take in the sights. It was also dead quiet. I didn't hear a creature stirring outside at all and there was no wind blowing. It felt almost like it was just me there and the shuttle on the horizon having our own private moment together. I spent a few minutes taking in the moment. I silently prayed for a successful launch the next day (as it turned out, it wouldn't fly until Tuesday, July 4th after a couple of launch scrubs) and pondered what the future would bring. I also tried to take a couple night shots with my digital camera before walking back inside to head back to the hotel (without much success).

posted 03-15-2009 07:45 PM               

The ET tank feed provided some nice imagery for this one. It was interesting seeing the shuttle make its own sunrise and sunset in the course of about 10 minutes or so.