https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=20070021296 2019-08-30T01:14:12+00:00Z @ Chronology of KSC and KSC Related Events for 2006 Elaine E. Liston NASA/TM-2007-214727 February 2007 Chronology of KSC and KSC Related Events for 2006 Elaine E. Liston, InDyne, Inc., Kennedy Space Center, Florida NASA / TM-2007-214727 February 2007 FOREWORD This 2006 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 compiled 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 Elaine.Liston- [email protected], or (321) 867-1515. Table of Contents January ........................................................................................ 1 February .................................................................................... 20 March ........................................................................................ 35 April .......................................................................................... 64 May ........................................................................................... 82 June ......................................................................................... 103 July.......................................................................................... 141 August ..................................................................................... 170 September ............................................................................... 199 October.................................................................................... 236 November ................................................................................ 250 December ................................................................................ 257 Appendix A .............................................................................273 Appendix B .............................................................................274 JANUARY 2006 January 4: Accident delays GlobablFlyer's visit to KSC A mishap that damaged a fuel-filled wing on the Virgin Atlantic GlobaiFlyer prompted record-setting pilot Steve Fossett to postpone plans to bring the craft to Kennedy Space Center this week. Fossett planned to fly the aircraft from Salinas, Kansas to KSC on Friday. But those plans were dashed when one of the GlobalFlyer's wings was damaged after the plane was fueled for a test flight. Fossett and his team are trying to determine how long it will take to repair the wing and retest the aircraft for the longest nonstop airplane of balloon flight in history. With NASA's shuttle landing strip at KSC serving as his embarkation point, Fassett will attempt to pilot GlobablFlyer around the globe and across the Atlantic Ocean a second time before touching down at an airport outside London. The GlobalFlyer was built by Scaled Composites, Inc., a California company headed by legendary aircraft designer Burr Rutan. The aircraft is a single pilot, ultra-light aircraft designed for non-stop global circumnavigation. Web posted. (2006). [Accident delays GlobalFtyer's visit to KSC [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatodav.com/[2006, January 4].] ["Wing mishap pushes back record try," Florida Today, January 5, 2006, p 1A.] January 5: NASA Announces Next Space Station Crew NASA formally announced the next crew bound for the International Space Station (ISS) Thursday, a two-astronant team set to launch in mid-March aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft. Veteran cosmonaut Pavel Vinogradov, with Russia's Federal Space Agency, will command the ISS Expedition 13 mission with U.S. astronaut Jeffrey Williams serving as both flight engineer and NASA science officer. Also launching toward the ISS with the Expedition 13 crew will be Brazilian Air Force Lt. Col. Marcos Pontes, Brazil's first astronaut slated to fly in space. Pontes is expected to spend about one week performing experiments aboard the ISS before returning to Earth with the station's current crew. Both men will be onboard the ISS in May, when the current launch window opens for NASA's STS-121 shuttle flight aboard Discovery, NASA officials have said. Web posted. (2006). [NASA Announces Next Space Station Crew [Online]. Available WWW: _http://www.space.com/[2006, January 5].] NASA Honors Michoud's Bravery During Hurricane NASA Administrator Michael Griffin awarded the agency'sExceptional Bravery Medal on Thursday to workers who protected a key space shuttle facility from the onslaught of Hurricane Katrina. "Their courage reminds us that not all of NASA's heroes fly in space," Griffin said during a presentation to 38 employees at the Michoud Assembly Facility near New Orleans, where the giant shuttle external fuel tanks are built. ["NASA Honors Michoud Workers For Bravery During Hurricane," NASA News Release #06-003, January 5, 2006.] January 6: Space Shuttle Processing Status Report Mission: STS-121 - 18th ISS Flight (ULF1.1) - Multi-PurposeLogistics Module ; Vehicle: Discovery (OV-103); Location:Orbiter Processing Facility Bay 3; LaunchDate: NET May 2006; Launch Pad: 39B; Crew: Lindsey, Kelly, Sellers, Fossum, Nowak, Wilson and Reiter; Inclination/Orbit Altitude: 51.6 degrees/122 nautical miles. On Tuesday, the vehicle was powered up so technicians could open the payload bay doors and deploy the Ku-band antenna, putting the vehicle back into a processing configuration. Crew module leak checks were successfully performed. Fuel cell No. 2 was removed and replaced on Thursday. The fuel cells are located under the forward portion of the payload bay. They make power for the orbiter by mixing hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity. The fuel cells also create potable water for the crew. Technicians continue to remove and replace gap fillers at a rate of about 100per day. New installation procedures ensure the gap fillers stay in place and pose no hazard during re-entry to the atmosphere. Mission: STS-1!5 - 19th ISS Flight (12A) - P3/P4 Solar Arrays; Vehicle: Atlantis (OV- 104); Location: Orbiter Processing Facility Bay 1 Launch Date: TBD; Launch Pad: 39B; Crew: Jett, Ferguson, Tanner, Burbank, MacLean and Stefanyshyn-Piper; Inclination/ Orbit Altitude: 51.6 degrees/122 nautical miles. Atlantis' payload bay doors were opened and the Ku-band antenna was deployed this week. On Tuesday, the shipping lid for the remote manipulator system was removed and preparations continue for installation. Endeavour (OV-105) - Technicians began processing Endeavour in Orbiter Processing Facility Bay 2. The vehicle was powered up Wednesday to support the opening of the payload bay doors. Body flap installation is complete. Work continues on the thermal protection system blanket for the reinforced carbon-carbon nose cap. Endeavour is in a scheduled two-week, power down period to make modifications on the "station to shuttle power transfer system." The new system will allow the vehicle to stay docked to the International Space Station longer than on previous missions. Owner-press-release. (2006). Space Shuttle Processing Status Report #S06-001 [Online]. Available E-mail: [email protected] [2006, January 6].] Expendable Launch Vehicle Status Report Mission:New Horizons; LaunchVehicle: LockheedMartin Atlas V 551 (AV-010); LaunchPad:Complex 41, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station,Fla.;LaunchDate: NET Jan. 17,2006; Launch Window:Jan. 17 to Feb. 14, 2006. The borescope inspection of the Atlas V RP-1 propellanttank was successfully completed this week, and no defects were observed.The results of the inspection serve to increase confidence in launch success, but further testing andmodeling of the vehicle continuesin order to provide confidencein proceeding to launch. Launchvehicle ordnance installationwas completed today.Thirdstage closeouts are scheduledfor Monday.The safe and arm devices will be installedon the solid rocket boosters Tuesday.New Horizons spacecraft closeouts and finaldocumentationare planned for Jan. 11 to 13. The final power-on integrated test is set forJan. 12. The fairing doors will be installedfor flight Jan. 14. Mission: Space Technology 5 (ST5); LaunchVehicle: Orbital Sciences PegasusXL; LaunchDate: Feb. 28, 2006; LaunchWindow: 8:57:21 a.m. - 10:19:21a.m. EST (5:57:21 a.m. - 7:19:21 a.m. PST). The wings and aft skirt of the Pegasuslaunchvehicle are installed. Launch vehicle flight software is installed.Flight SimulationNo. I is under way today. Flight SimulationNo. 2 is scheduledfor Jan. 25 to 26. Spacecraftsoftware loading with associatedtesting took place Wednesday. A spacecraftfunctionaltest was successfully conductedThursday.A 12-hourST5 spacecraftoperationstest is under way today. Mission:Cloud-Aerosol Lidarand InfraredPathfinderSatellite Observationand 2 CloudSat (CALIPSO/CloudSat); Launch Vehicle: Boeing Delta 7420 with Dual Payload Attach Fitting; Launch Pad: Space Launch Complex 2, Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.; Launch Date: No Earlier Than February 2006 Launch Window: TBD. CALIPSO and CloudSat are installed in the Dual Payload Attach Fitting at the Astrotech payload processing facilities on north Vandenberg. They will remain there until a launch