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For preflight reports from the original launch date up to just before liftoff (nearly a week of scrubs), see
Part 2 of our Mission Journal.
UPDATE: Launch time revealed - 7:39PM EDT (2339
GMT). Thunderstorms threaten tomorrow's
liftoff. Details
to follow.
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28 May 2002 - OK, it's official - the countdown for
STS-111 is underway! Ground personnel
worked through the holiday weekend to
repair a valve in one of Endeavour's Auxiliary Power
Units, enabling the
Shuttle to launch this
Thursday. Now if we could only get rid of the
thunderstorms that threaten to push back the flight.
NASA reports:
Countdown Under Way
The countdown clock has started for STS-111, the 14th space shuttle
mission to the International Space Station. Space Shuttle Endeavour is
slated to lift off May 30. It will deliver the Expedition Five crew and
Mobile Remote Servicer Base System to the station.
All seven crewmembers -- Commander Ken Cockrell, Pilot Paul
Lockhart and Mission Specialists Philippe Perrin, Franklin Chang-Díaz,
Valery Korzun, Peggy Whitson and Sergei Treschev -- arrived at Kennedy
Space Center, Fla., Monday in preparation for Thursday's launch.
During the holiday weekend, workers entered Endeavour's aft
engine compartment and successfully replaced a valve in the Auxiliary
Power Unit's coolant system. Tests of the new valve and a 24-hour leak
check proved the new valve to be functional. Technicians closed out the
aft engine compartment Monday night, and the countdown clock began on
schedule.
Forecasts call for a 40 percent chance of acceptable weather for
Thursday's launch attempt. The main concern is a threat of thunderstorms.
Click here
for a NASA Flash animation of the Space Shuttle's second decade.
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27 May 2002 - Endeavour
is due to launch this
Thursday afternoon - if weekend repairs to one of the orbiter's three
APUs were successful. SpaceflightNow
and Space.com report
that things look good so far, and that the countdown will commence at 11PM
EDT tonight. Due to heightened
security restrictions, NASA
is not revealing the exact launch time until 24 hours before liftoff, so we
won't get confirmation on the countdown
clock until tomorrow morning.
The current Space
Station crew, Expedition 4, is busy
making room for all the supplies that Endeavour will be bringing up.
They will rotate
with a fresh crew and come home on the Shuttle, while Expedition
5 will begin their 4-month
hitch on the orbital
outpost.
This
flight will be unprecedented in its international
scope, with Russian,
French,
Italian, Canadian,
German, Dutch, and Belgian
participants in addition to NASA.
Today is Memorial Day in the USA. Click
here for a message
from NASA Administrator Sean
O'Keefe about the National Moment of
Remembrance.
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24 May 2002 - Ground crews continued to investigate
an issue with one of Endeavour's Auxiliary Power Units today, but the
May 30th launch date is not in jeopardy (so far). Meanwhile, on Space
Station Alpha, the two American astronauts and their
Russian commander are
getting ready for their ride home. NASA reports:
Expedition
Four Prepares Station for STS-111
Station crewmembers spent the week packing and stowing equipment and
personal items, deactivating experiments and preparing the station for the
arrival of STS-111.
Space Shuttle Endeavour will bring a new Mobile Base System that will
allow the station's robotic arm, Canadarm2, to traverse the station's main
truss. STS-111 Mission Specialists Franklin Chang-Diaz and Philippe Perrin
will perform two spacewalks to install the Mobile Base System and a third
spacewalk to replace a wrist roll joint on Canadarm2.
STS-111, also known as ISS
Assembly Flight UF-2, will bring the Expedition
Five crew to the station and return the Expedition
Four crew to Earth.
Check out Expedition Four Memorial Day message videos.
This message from space is being sent as part of the White
House Commission on the National Moment
of Remembrance, established by Congress, honoring those who died for
the nation. Americans are invited to spend a moment of remembrance on
Memorial Day, Monday, May 27, 2002, at 3 p.m. local time.
For Endeavour's launch, the Public
Affairs Office at Kennedy Space Center has set times for news
conferences and other events. Also, NASA has established news
media badging requirements and operating hours for KSC's News Center.
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22 May 2002 - Aboard the International
Space Station, the three long-haul space explorers are getting ready to
join the STS-111 crew.
NASA reports:
ISS Crew Prepares for STS-111
Wednesday, the Expedition Four crew continued to prepare for its return
home on Space Shuttle Endeavour. Commander Yury Onufrienko and Flight
Engineers Dan Bursch and Carl Walz took inventory and prepacked cargo that
will return to Earth with them in June. They also configured tools that
will be used during the STS-111 spacewalks. Endeavour is slated to launch
from Kennedy Space Center, Fla., on May 30 and arrive at the station June 1.
Watch NASA TV on Monday for special
Memorial Day statements from the Expedition Four astronauts.
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21 May 2002 - Preparations continue, both on orbit and
on the ground, for May
30th's Shuttle launch.
NASA reports:
Crew Prepares for STS-111
As they orbited the Earth on Monday, the Expedition Four crew continued to
prepare for STS-111's arrival at the International Space Station. They
spent time prepacking items that will return to Earth, completed the
pre-EVA configuration of the Quest Airlock and checked out spacesuits that
will be used by STS-111 spacewalkers.
Meanwhile, the STS-111 and Expedition Five crews were at Kennedy Space
Center, Fla., last week to participate in Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test
activities. This week, late-stow items will be placed in the Leonardo
Multi-Purpose Logistics Module and the Extravehicular Mobility Unit
spacesuits will be checked out and installed.
The Press Kits for STS-111
and Expedition
5 are now available at ShuttlePressKit.com.
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20 May 2002 - Evening Update - The folks who run Space
Station Alpha say, "Don't Panic!"
NASA reports:
Space Station Systems Operating Smoothly
The
International Space Station experienced an automatic and orderly system
shut-down on Sunday for three hours. All systems are currently operating
smoothly and the space station crew experienced no danger or discomfort.
The lights and navigation control operated continuously. NASA managers
believe bad computer data triggered the shut-down to compensate for
problems with the cooling system in the Russian-built living quarters.
STS-111 is slated to lift off from Kennedy Space Center, Fla., on May 30.
Space Shuttle Endeavour is delivering the Expedition Five crew to the station
and will return Expedition Four to Earth.
The cooling-system
problem follows a recent glitch, now
corrected, with the Station's oxygen-producing
system.
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20 May 2002 - Don't forget to tune into NASA TV at
9:00AM EDT today (1300 GMT) to catch STS-111 crew news briefings.
Space Shuttle Endeavour will launch in less than two weeks on a mission to
the International Space
Station.
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16 May 2002 - Endeavour will launch May
30th, and dock
with the International Space Station on June 1st.
NASA reports:
Space
Station Crew Reviews STS-111 Timeline
Thursday
was another busy workday aboard the International Space Station for the
Expedition Four crew. Commander Yury Onufrienko and Flight Engineers Dan
Bursch and Carl Walz reviewed the timeline for when STS-111 visits the
station in early June. STS-111, which is also known as Space Station
Assembly Flight UF-2, will deliver the Expedition Five crew to the station
and return the Expedition Four crew to Earth.
Meanwhile, the ISS crew is fighting to get their primary oxygen system
back online. They are using backup
supplies, and officials in Russia and the
US contend that the space trio is in no
danger.
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14 May 2002 - Long-distance conference call: The Space
Station crew discussed the timeline for Shuttle Endeavour's flight to the
ISS with the STS-111 crew today. NASA reports:
Expedition Four Talks to STS-111, Expedition Five Crews
Aboard the International Space Station, the Expedition Four crewmembers
spent time Tuesday focusing on the arrival of their replacements.
Expedition Four Commander Yury Onufrienko and Flight Engineers Carl Walz
and Dan Bursch held a teleconference with the Expedition Five and STS-111
crews. During the one-hour conference, the crews discussed the STS-111
timeline, spacewalks and cargo transfers. Expedition Five Commander Valery
Korzun and Flight Engineers Peggy Whitson and Sergei Treschev will take
command of the station from Expedition Four during STS-111's stay at the
orbital outpost in early June.
The Space Shuttle is scheduled to launch on May 30th.
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13 May 2002 - Endeavour's payload bay is buttoned up
for this month's launch.
NASA reports:
STS-111
Launch Preparations Continue
With
Space Shuttle Endeavour's launch day drawing closer, preparations continue
to roll along at Kennedy Space Center, Fla. Workers have completed the
Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module interface verification test and
inspections of 13 T-0 umbilical connector savers -- metal coverings that
protect the umbilicals. Only one of the savers needed to be replaced.
Meanwhile, Endeavour's payload bay doors are now closed and the payload
closeouts were set to begin Monday.
Endeavour will deliver the Expedition Five crew to the
International Space Station and return the Expedition Four crew to
Earth. STS-111 is slated to lift off May 30.
While at the ISS, astronauts will make repairs
and additions to the Station's robotic arm.
-
02 May 2002 - Endeavour is on the
pad, and
preparations continue for launch at the end of this month.
NASA reports:
Main
Engine Flight Test Complete
At Kennedy Space Center, Fla., workers continue to prepare Space
Shuttle Endeavour for STS-111. They have completed launch pad
validations and the Space Shuttle Main Engine Flight Readiness
Test. Currently, helium signature test preparations are under way.
One of STS-111's payloads, the Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module,
is scheduled to be installed into Endeavour's payload bay Monday.
STS-111, an International Space Station assembly mission, is slated to lift
off from Kennedy on May 30 between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. CDT [4PM-8PM
EDT/2000- 0000 GMT]. In addition to delivering Leonardo, STS-111 will ferry
the Expedition Five crew to the station, return the Expedition
Four crew to Earth and install the Mobile Base System onto the
orbital outpost.
Preflight photos here.
Rollout video here.
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23 April 2002 - Endeavour, the newest of NASA's
four-orbiter fleet, has been moved from the
OPF to the
VAB for assembly.
NASA reports:
Space
Shuttle Endeavour Moves to Vehicle Assembly Building
Preparations are under way at Kennedy Space Center, Fla., for the
launch of STS-111. On Monday, Space Shuttle Endeavour moved from
the Orbiter Processing Facility to the Vehicle Assembly Building,
where it will be attached to the External Tank and the Solid
Rocket Boosters. Meanwhile, the Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics
Module has arrived at Launch Pad 39A.
STS-111 will be the 14th shuttle mission to visit the
International Space Station. It will deliver the Expedition Five
crew, Leonardo and the Mobile Base System to the orbital outpost.
Endeavour is slated to lift off no earlier than May 30.
Orbiter prep began in December
2001, after Endeavour's return from her STS-108
flight.
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