STS-135 - The Final Space Shuttle Mission

Cosimo · 8 Jul 2011 at 15:51

sbi5ar said:
Whats the weather forecast now?

Blue skies approaching.

Cosimo · 8 Jul 2011 at 15:59

Freakbro said:
Anyway, definitely not being distracted from doing any work...

I left swmbo on the beach to watch this.

Cosimo · 8 Jul 2011 at 16:15

All GO for launch.

Cosimo · 8 Jul 2011 at 16:17

Weather call is GO.

Cosimo · 8 Jul 2011 at 16:23

3 minutes.

Cosimo · 8 Jul 2011 at 16:28

Oh no.

Cosimo · 8 Jul 2011 at 16:28

Clock Go.

Cosimo · 8 Jul 2011 at 16:29

Go GO GO godspeed Atlantis.

Cosimo · 8 Jul 2011 at 16:31

Solid rocket gone.

Cosimo · 8 Jul 2011 at 16:35

Just fantastic. I never thought I would have tears in my eyes.

Cosimo · 8 Jul 2011 at 16:38

Main engine cut-off and tank separation.

Cosimo · 8 Jul 2011 at 16:50

Merlin5 said:
Doing 4 miles a second. I've got to drive 20 miles tonight. Imagine getting there in 5 seconds.

I'll see if I can get back to the beach at 145km/hr.

Cosimo · 8 Jul 2011 at 18:20

Cosimo · 8 Jul 2011 at 18:36

Andr3w said:
If this shuttle is the last one, and it is going to deliver 1years worth of supplies to the space station, how will the space station get supplies after this?!?

It will be supplied by the Russian Progress spacecraft:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progress_(spacecraft))

Cosimo · 10 Jul 2011 at 07:58

Mission control is back in action, so a couple of stunners from the launch:

Cosimo · 10 Jul 2011 at 08:25

Flight Day 1 highlights

Yesterday we had:

Flight Day 2

• Atlantis’ Thermal Protection System heat shield survey with Shuttle Robotic Arm/ Orbiter Boom Sensor System (OBSS)
• Centerline Camera Installation
• Orbiter Docking System Ring Extension
• Rendezvous tools checkout

The crew will get their wake up call in four minutes and the plan for today is:

Flight Day 3:

• Rendezvous with the International Space Station
• Rendezvous Pitch Maneuver Photography of Atlantis’ Thermal Protection System by Expedition 28 crew members Fossum and Furukawa
• Docking to Harmony/Pressurized Mating Adapter-2
• Hatch Opening and Welcoming
• Canadarm2 robotic arm handoff of OBSS to Shuttle robotic arm

Docking will be at 16:09 BST (11:09 EDT)

Cosimo · 11 Jul 2011 at 07:29

The plan for today is:

Flight Day 4:

• Canadarm2 robotic arm unberth of the Raffaello Multi-Purpose Logistics Module from Atlantis’ payload bay and installation on the nadir port of Harmony
• Ingress into Raffaello for the start of cargo transfer operations
• Spacewalk procedure review

Cosimo · 11 Jul 2011 at 18:59

Yesterday's highlights:

Cosimo · 12 Jul 2011 at 08:22

Yesterday’s highlights:

It's time for the one and only spacewalk. It's due to begin at 13:45 BST (08:45 EDT)

Flight Day 5 :

• In-Suit Light Exercise (ISLE) Preparation and Pre-Breathe by Fossum and Garan
• Spacewalk by Fossum and Garan (Transfer of failed Pump Module from External Stowage Platform-2 (ESP-2) to Atlantis’ cargo bay; transfer of the Robotic Refueling Mission hardware from Atlantis’s payload by to the Enhanced Orbital Replacement Unit Temporary Platform on the DEXTRE robot; installation of the MISSE-8 Optical Reflector Materials Experiment Ram/Wake hardware on ESP-2)
• Cargo transfer from Raffaello to ISS

Cosimo · 12 Jul 2011 at 13:08

Getting ready for the spacewalk: