A Historical Overview of Endeavour (OV-105) 2011
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Launching 1992 Endeavour
• Authorized by Congress in August 1987 after the Challenger tragedy • Final (and best!) addition to the orbiter fleet • The first time a national competition involving students in elementary and secondary schools produced the name of the new orbiter Endeavour’s Namesake
• Named after the first ship commanded by James Cook – 18th century British explorer, navigator and astronomer • Cook's voyage on the Endeavour: – Established the usefulness of sending scientists on voyages of exploration – Observed the Transit of Venus at Tahiti, enabling astronomers to find the distance of the Sun from the Earth – Charted New Zealand and Australia – Navigated the Great Barrier Reef – Observed thousands of new plant and animal species Endeavour by the Numbers Through STS-130 • Missions: 24 • Orbits completed: 4,429 • Miles flown: 103,149,636 • Time spent in space: 280 days, 9 hours, 39 minutes, 44 seconds • Times landed at Edwards AFB: 7, the fewest of all orbiters • Rolled back from the launch pad: 2 – STS - 68, Pad Abort - R&R of all 3 SSMEs in the VAB – STS - 69, Threat of severe weather from Hurricane Erin • Night launches: 10 As Only Endeavour Can Through STS-130 • The last orbiter to sit at and start S0007 at Launch Complex 39B – Launch on Need for STS-125, was not required • Never launched in the month of October • Has only flown once during the months of August and October – STS- 68 (September 30 - October 11, 1994) – STS-118 (August 8 - 21, 2007) • STS-113 landing was waived off a record 3 days, landing on the 4th day due to weather • The first orbiter to use the Station to Shuttle Power Transfer System (SSPTS) to allow for extended time spent at station (STS-118) Flow Processing Records
• Shortest OPF flow post Challenger: 52 workdays (STS-57)
• Tied for Shortest VAB flow post Columbia: 7 workdays (STS-123)
• Shortest Pad flow post Challenger: 17 workdays (STS-47)
• Longest total flow of all time: 1703 workdays (STS-118) Construction of Endeavour February 15, 1982 Start of Structural Assembly of the Crew Module July 31, 1987 Contract Awarded September 28, 1987 Start Structural Assembly of Aft-Fuselage December 22, 1987 Wings Arrive at Palmdale, CA from Grumman August 1, 1987 Start of Final Assembly July 6, 1990 Final Assembly Completed April 25, 1991 Rollout from Palmdale May 7, 1991 Delivery to Kennedy Space Center on new Shuttle Carrier Aircraft April 6, 1992 Flight Readiness Firing, LC 39-B May 7, 1992 First Flight (STS-49), LC 39-B First in the Fleet to Have…
• 40-foot diameter drag chute • Plumbing and electrical connections needed for Extended Duration Orbiter (EDO) modifications to allow up to 28-day missions • Updated avionics systems • Improved nose wheel steering mechanisms • Improved version of the Auxiliary Power Units (APU) 19 Years, 25 Missions STS-49 – The Maiden Voyage
• May 7-16, 1992 • Firsts: – Flight of Endeavour – Three person EVA (first and only time) – Time four EVAs were performed during a mission – First and second longest EVAs to date – 8 hours and 29 minutes (held the record until 2001) – 7 hours and 45 minutes – Shuttle mission requiring three rendezvous with an orbiting spacecraft (Stranded communications satellite, INTELSAT VI) – Use of the drag chute during landing STS-47
• September 12-20, 1992 • 50th Space Shuttle Mission • Spacelab-J • Joint mission between NASA and National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA) • International crew, consisting of the: – First Japanese astronaut to fly aboard the shuttle – First African-American woman to fly in space – First married couple to fly on the same space mission 1993
• STS-54 (January 13-19) – First crew to dress in Star Trek uniforms – 5th Tracking and Data Relay System (TDRS) deployment
• STS- 57 (June 21 – July 1) – First flight of SPACEHAB
• STS-61 (December 2 – 13) – First reservicing mission of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) – First time five EVAs were performed during a mission – First use of a computer-controlled space tool, the Power Ratchet Tool (PRT) 1994
• STS-59 (April 9 - 20) – Launch was chronicled by the 1994 Discovery Channel special about the Space Shuttle Program – Space Radar Laboratory-1 ( SRL-1)
• STS- 68 (September 30 – October 11) – Final time a Pad Abort occurred at the pad (T-1.9s) – Adjustments made to Endeavour’s orbit brought her within 10 meters (33 ft) of where she first flew SRL six months before on STS-59 1995
• STS-67 (March 2 - 18) – Longest shuttle flight to date without station: • 16 days , 15 hours, 8 minutes, 48 seconds • 6.9 million miles
• STS- 69 (September 7 - 18) – Rollback to VAB due to Hurricane Erin – Fuel Cell R&R required at the pad – First time two different payloads were retrieved and deployed during the same mission – Dog Crew II: • Walker - Red Dog Cockrell - Cujo • Voss - Dog Face Newman - Pluto • Gernhardt - Under Dog 1996
• STS-72 (January 11-20) – Primary objective was to capture and return a Japanese microgravity research spacecraft known as Space Flyer Unit (SFU)
• STS- 77 (May 19-29) – Casper spoke from Endeavour on orbit with Mir cosmonaut and U.S. astronaut Shannon Lucid, who was entering her 65th day aboard the Mir space station – Four rendezvous activities with two different payloads 1998
• STS-89 (January 22-31) – First orbiter other than Atlantis to dock with Mir – Transferred more than 8,000 pounds of equipment from Endeavour to Mir • STS- 88 (December 4-15) – First International Space Station Flight – Dec. 10, Cabana and Krikalev floated into the new station together – New spacewalk record • Ross completed his seventh walk, totaling 44 hours, nine minutes – Dog Crew III • Cabana - Mighty Dog Sturckow - Devil Dog • Ross – Hooch Currie - Laika • Newman – Pluto Krikalev - Spotnik 2000
• STS-99 (February 11-22) – Last solo flight of Space Shuttle Endeavour, all further OV-105 launches became International Space Station missions
• STS- 97 (November 30 - December 11) – Paid the first visit to the Expedition One crew residing in the space station – Delivered and connected the first set of U.S.-provided solar arrays to the International Space Station 2001
• STS-100 (April 19 - May 1) – First EVA by a Canadian, Chris Hadfield – Installed the Canadarm 2 on the ISS – Carried MPLM, Raffaello
• STS- 108 (December 5-17) – Paid tribute to the heroes of the September 11 attacks on New York and the Pentagon – Endeavour performed a burn to boost the station out of the path of a spent Russian rocket upper stage launched in the 1970s – Deployed a small satellite called STARSHINE 2 from a canister located in the payload bay 2002
• STS-111 (June 5-19) – June 7, Mission Specialist Franklin Chang-Diaz equaled a space flight record with his seventh shuttle flight, tying astronaut Jerry Ross
• STS- 113 (November 23-December 7) – Installed the new P1 truss to the ISS – Transferred supplies and equipment between the two spacecraft • Endeavour brought more than 2,500 pounds of material to the station – Final mission for Endeavour before entering OMM – Last shuttle mission before Columbia accident As tragedy struck the world with the loss of Columbia and her crew, Endeavour went through OMM at KSC OMM at KSC
• 194 Modifications completed • 13156 Operational Requirements and Specifications (OMRS) completed • 2045 tiles / blankets removed and replaced • 3223 gap fillers removed and replaced • After 5 years, Endeavour is ready to fly again! 2007
• STS-118 (August 8-21) – Only time Endeavour has flown in the month of August – First flight for Barbara Morgan, twenty-two years after first being selected as Christa McAuliffe’s backup in the Teacher in Space Project – First use of the of the Station to Shuttle Power Transfer System (SSPTS), a new system designed to let the shuttle use electrical power from the station – Installation of the S5 Truss – Final flight to include SPACEHAB Logistics Single Module 2008
• STS-123 (March 11-26) – Longest mission to the ISS to date – Marked the beginning of Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) presence on station with delivery of the Japanese Experiment Logistics Module, Pressurized Section (JEM PS), the first JAXA module – Delivered the Canadian Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator (SPDM), Dextre robotics system • STS-126 (November 14-30) – First female Shuttle Test Director, Charlie Blackwell-Thompson – Service and repair the Solar Alpha Rotary Joints (SARJ) – Fifth flight of the Leonardo MPLM – First female lead space walker, Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper 2009
• STS-127 (July 15-31) – 6 launch attempts, Ground Umbilical Carrier Plate (GUCP) leak and weather delays – For the first time, live status updates about the FRR were published periodically during the meeting via NASA's Twitter stream – Delivered and installed the final two components of the Japanese Experiment Module: • The Exposed Facility (JEM EF) • The Exposed Section of the Experiment Logistics Module (ELM-ES) – When Endeavour docked with ISS, it set a record for the most humans in space at the same time in the same vehicle, the first time thirteen people have been at the station at the same time – Tied the record of thirteen people in space at any one time – First time two Canadians have been in space at the same moment 2010
• STS-130 (February 8-21) – Delivered the Tranquility module and the Cupola • Tranquility was named by a NASA poll – Kay Hire, a former Test Project Engineer (TPE) at KSC, was part of the crew STS-134 – The Final Voyage
• To Be Flown • Launch NET: April 29th – Planned 14 day mission – Deliver Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) • Study the formation of the universe – EXPRESS Logistics Carrier 3 (ELC-3) – Final flight of Endeavour “Endeavour is the positive spirit that resides in all of us. She is the exuberant pride that is seen on the men and women’s faces as she heads toward the sky. She is the majestic eagle that provided safe passage to those that sought to fly high on the wings like eagles.”
~Michael L. Parrish (OV-105 Team Member)