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20060013430.Pdf FOREWORD This 2005 Chronology is published to describe and document KSC’s role in NASA’s progress. Materials for this Chronology were selected from a number of published sources. The document records KSC events of interest to historians and other researchers. Arrangement is by date of occurrence, though the source cited may be dated one or more days after the event. Materials were researched and prepared for publication by Archivist Elaine E. Liston. Comment on the Chronology should be directed to the John F. Kennedy Space Center, Archives, LIBRARY-E, Kennedy Space Center, Florida, 32899. The Archivist may also be reached by e-mail at [email protected], or (321) 867-1515. Table of Contents Photo – Deep Impact Launch............................................................. 1 January..................................................................................................... 2 Photo – Launch Complex 36.............................................................16 February ................................................................................................17 Photo – External Tank arrival ..........................................................37 March.....................................................................................................39 Photo – Orbiter Discovery Rollout ..................................................61 April .......................................................................................................62 Photo – STS-114 Crew .......................................................................82 May........................................................................................................ 83 Photo – Blue MOL Space Suit ........................................................103 June ......................................................................................................104 Photo – Launch of STS-114 Discovery .........................................132 July........................................................................................................133 Photo – Orbiter Discovery and 747 aircraft..................................167 August..................................................................................................168 Photo – KSC Supply Truck with Generator .................................193 September ...........................................................................................194 Photo – Orbiter Endeavour is powered ........................................210 October ...............................................................................................211 Photo – Zero-G Plan at Shuttle Landing Facility.........................226 November ...........................................................................................227 Photo – Technicians working with gap fillers...............................246 December............................................................................................247 Appendix A.........................................................................................266 Appendix B.........................................................................................267 Engulfed by flames and smoke, NASA’s Deep Impact spacecraft lifts off at 1:47 p.m. EST January 5, 2005, from Launch Pad 17-B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. A NASA Discovery mission, Deep Impact is heading for space and a rendezvous 83 million miles from Earth with Comet Tempel 1. After releasing a 3- by 3-foot projectile (impactor) to crash onto the surface July 4, 2005, Deep Impact’s flyby spacecraft will reveal the secrets of the comet’s interior by collecting pictures and data of how the crater forms, measuring the crater’s depth and diameter as well as the composition of the interior of the crater and any material thrown out, and determining the changes in natural outgassing produced by the impact. It will send the data back to Earth through the antennas of the Deep Space Network. 1 JANUARY 2005 January 1: Revamped Shuttle fuel tank begins trip to Space Coast Kennedy Space Center soon will have the missing piece it needs to assemble a space shuttle for launch this spring. The first redesigned external fuel tank, overhauled to prevent the kind of breakaway foam insulation that doomed Columbia, set out of its New Orleans port on Friday (December 31) morning bound for Florida. The 154-foot rust colored tank, lying horizontally on a giant barge, will float across the Mississippi River delta and Gulf of Mexico to the Florida Keys. Once around the southern tip of Florida, the barge will turn north along the Atlantic Coast, bound for Port Canaveral. The Lockheed Martin-built tank should arrive here sometime Wednesday. [“Revamped shuttle fuel tank begins trek to Space Coast,” Florida Today, January 1, 2005, p 1A.] January 4: New Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel Member Dr. Amy Donahue will join the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP), an independent organization advising NASA on the safety of operations, facilities, and personnel. Donahue replaces Dr. Rosemary O'Leary, who recently decided to step down from the panel. Under the Intergovernmental Personnel Act, Donahue serves as Senior Advisor to the NASA Administrator for Homeland Security. She also serves as a member of the Stafford-Covey Return to Flight Task Group, the independent panel overseeing NASA's implementation of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board recommendations. [“NASA Announces New Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel Member,” NASA News Release #05-003, January 4, 2005.] January 5: Deep Impact Spacecraft To Launch Aboard Delta 2 Launch of NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft is scheduled for Jan. 12, 2005, at about 1:48 p.m. EST. Liftoff will occur aboard a Boeing Delta II rocket from Pad 17-B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. On July 4, 2005, the Deep Impact spacecraft will arrive at Comet Tempel 1. [“Deep Impact Spacecraft Launching Aboard Delta 2, January 12,” NASA News Release #02-05, January 5, 2005.] January 6: Elements In Place For Space Shuttle Return To Flight NASA marked a major milestone for the Space Shuttle's Return to Flight, as the redesigned External Tank rolled out today from the barge that carried it to the agency's Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Fla. The tank was taken to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) for a final checkout. It will eventually be attached to the twin Solid Rocket Boosters and the Space Shuttle Discovery for its Return to Flight mission, STS-114. NASA and Lockheed Martin Corp. spent nearly two years modifying the 15-story, rust-colored tank to make it safer. Among dozens of changes is a redesigned forward bipod fitting to reduce the risk to the Shuttle from falling debris during ascent. Reducing the debris risk was a key recommend- dation of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board. The External Tank arrived at KSC after a 900-mile journey at sea. It departed NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans on Dec. 31. It was transported via Pegasus, NASA's specially designed barge. The Solid Rocket Booster retrieval ship Liberty Star brought the barge to Port Canaveral yesterday. The barge was moved by tugs to the KSC Turn Basin, the tank off- loaded and transported to the Vehicle Assembly Building. "The team here at KSC is tremendously excited to receive the final Shuttle element for the Return to Flight mission," said Mike Wetmore, director of Shuttle processing at KSC. "We have an experienced team in place that 2 will complete the final checkout and processing of the tank and prepare it for its final journey out to the launch pad before flight." The Return to Flight mission is targeted for a launch window beginning in May. The seven-member Discovery crew will fly to the International Space Station primarily to test and evaluate new procedures for flight safety, Shuttle inspections and repair techniques. [“All NASA Elements In Place For Space Shuttle Return To Flight,” NASA News Release #05-006, January 6, 2005.] Student pilot questioned after violating NASA airspace A student pilot believed to be from Vero Beach told officials that he was lost in a cloud bank on his way to St. Augustine Airport when he wound up in restricted air space over Cape Canaveral. The pilot corrected course and landed the Piper PA-28-161 at St. Augustine on Thursday, where he was met by deputies with the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office. Web posted. (2005). [Student pilot questioned after violating NASA airspace [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/H [2005, January 7].] NASA Names New Exploration Systems Directorate Deputy Steve Isakowitz has been selected as the Deputy Associate Administrator for the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate. He is currently NASA's Comptroller. Isakowitz will assist with setting priorities, directing the identification, development and validation of exploration systems, and the related technologies needed to support the Vision for Space Exploration. [“NASA Names New Exploration Systems Directorate Deputy,” NASA News Release #05-008, January 6, 2005.] Space policy goes private The White House released its new space-transportation policy Thursday, a blueprint that emphasizes the administration’s support for a long-term move toward commercializing large parts of the industry. In the first wholesale revision of the policy since 1994, the administration orders the Defense Department and NASA to work closely in determining the long-term plan for funding and using heavy-lift rockets being developed by the military for
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