STS-121 Press Kit STS-121 Press Kit CONTENTS Section Page STS-121 MISSION OVERVIEW: CONTINUING ON-ORBIT TESTING AND STATION MAINTENANCE......................................................................................................... 1 STS-121 TIMELINE OVERVIEW ............................................................................................... 5 MISSION OBJECTIVES............................................................................................................ 9 LAUNCH AND LANDING ........................................................................................................... 11 LAUNCH............................................................................................................................................... 11 ABORT-TO-ORBIT (ATO)...................................................................................................................... 11 TRANSATLANTIC ABORT LANDING (TAL)............................................................................................. 11 RETURN-TO-LAUNCH-SITE (RTLS)....................................................................................................... 11 LANDING ............................................................................................................................................. 11 ABORT ONCE AROUND (AOA)............................................................................................................... 11 MISSION PROFILE................................................................................................................... 12 STS-121 DISCOVERY CREW ................................................................................................... 13 KEY MISSION PERSONNEL...................................................................................................... 18 RENDEZVOUS AND DOCKING .................................................................................................. 19 UNDOCKING, SEPARATION AND DEPARTURE....................................................................................... 22 SPACEWALKS ......................................................................................................................... 23 EVA 1................................................................................................................................................... 23 EVA 2 .................................................................................................................................................. 29 EVA 3 (TENTATIVE) ............................................................................................................................. 30 PAYLOAD OVERVIEW .............................................................................................................. 34 EXPERIMENTS......................................................................................................................... 44 DETAILED SUPPLEMENTARY OBJECTIVES (DSO) ................................................................................. 44 DETAILED TEST OBJECTIVES (DTO)..................................................................................................... 47 SHUTTLE (SORTIE) EXPERIMENTS....................................................................................................... 50 EXPERIMENTS DELIVERED TO ISS ....................................................................................................... 51 May 2006 CONTENTS i Section Page FUNGAL PATHOGENESIS, TUMORIGENESIS AND EFFECTS OF HOST IMMUNITY IN SPACE (FIT).......... 52 ANALYSIS OF A NOVEL SENSORY MECHANISM IN ROOT PHOTOTROPISM (TROPI).............................. 53 SPACE SHUTTLE SAFETY ENHANCEMENTS............................................................................. 54 OVERVIEW........................................................................................................................................... 54 PREPARING THE EXTERNAL TANK RETURN TO FLIGHT EXTERNAL TANK, ET-119 .................................. 55 ENHANCED SHUTTLE-BASED CAMERA VIEWS...................................................................................... 59 IN-FLIGHT INSPECTION AND REPAIR .................................................................................................. 66 IMAGERY AND DATA COLLECTION FOR SPACE SHUTTLE LAUNCH AND LANDING ................................ 72 TILE REPAIR ABLATOR DISPENSER (T-RAD).......................................................................... 82 CONTINGENCY SHUTTLE CREW SUPPORT (CSCS) ................................................................ 83 SHUTTLE REFERENCE DATA .................................................................................................... 85 ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS ......................................................................................... 98 MEDIA ASSISTANCE ............................................................................................................... 115 PUBLIC AFFAIRS CONTACTS.................................................................................................. 116 May 2006 CONTENTS ii FIGURES Figure Page DISCOVERY CREW..................................................................................................................................... 1 FULL VIEW OF INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION ....................................................................................... 2 STEVE LINDSEY.......................................................................................................................................... 2 DISCOVERY UNDERSIDE VIEW................................................................................................................... 3 ASTRONAUT MICHAEL E. FOSSUM ............................................................................................................. 3 RAFFAELLO IN THE AFT BAY OF DISCOVERY............................................................................................... 4 OBSS INSPECTION OF DISCOVERY’S NOSE CAP HEAT SHIELD................................................................... 5 INSTALLATION OF LEONARDO WITH CANADARM2 ..................................................................................... 7 DISCOVERY UNDOCKING FROM ISS WITH THE OBSS IN THE HAND-OFF POSITION ................................... 7 STS-121 DISCOVERY CREW....................................................................................................................... 13 STS-121 PATCH ......................................................................................................................................... 14 COMMANDER STEVEN LINDSEY.................................................................................................................. 14 PILOT MARK KELLY.................................................................................................................................... 14 MIKE FOSSUM ........................................................................................................................................... 15 LISA NOWAK.............................................................................................................................................. 15 STEPHANIE WILSON .................................................................................................................................. 16 PIERS SELLERS.......................................................................................................................................... 16 THOMAS REITER........................................................................................................................................ 16 LÉOPOLD EYHARTS .................................................................................................................................... 17 STS-121 AT ANGLE..................................................................................................................................... 19 RPM START (800 MM LENS) ..................................................................................................................... 19 SHUTTLE BELLY-UP (400 MM LENS).......................................................................................................... 19 ZVEZDA SERVICE MODULE ......................................................................................................................... 20 RENDEZVOUS APPROACH PROFILE............................................................................................................. 20 APPROACH PROFILE .................................................................................................................................. 21 IMAGERY OF DISCOVERY UPPER SURFACE USING 400 AND 800 MM DIGITAL CAMERA LENSES............... 21 IMAGERY OF DISCOVERY BELLY USING 400 AND 800 MM DIGITAL CAMERA LENSES ............................... 21 IUA WITH TUS CABLE ROUTED THROUGH MECHANISM ............................................................................. 24 ASTRONAUT PIERS J. SELLERS PARTICIPATES IN A SIMULATION ............................................................. 24 ENGINEERING MODEL OF THE APFR AND LOAD CELL CONFIGURATION....................................................... 25 ROBOTIC ARM CLIMB POSITION ............................................................................................................... 26 FIRST POSITION OF THE ROBOTIC ARM ...................................................................................................