STS 133 LAUNCHED!

Yesterday, just before 10:00pm, (Discovery shuttle) STS 133 finnaly launched after a wait of around 7 months for me! I of course watched it live with the live feed widget from spaceflightnow.com and after such a long wait it was stunning and fantastic to finaly see the shuttle leave pad 39A and soar into space to dock on the ISS.

Image courtesy of NASA


This shall be the last important post on STS 133.blogspot and I hope you appreciated the launch as much as I have.

For more information, see http://spaceflightnow.com/


For the official NASA website, see http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html


For my main blog, see http://astrostevesblog.blogspot.com/

STS 133 launch today!

Six astronauts will strap aboard the space shuttle today to take Discovery on her last orbital voyage before retirement, soaring toward the International Space Station to deliver one final module. Liftoff is planned for 4:50 p.m. EST (2150 GMT) from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Watch live streaming video from spaceflightnow at livestream.com

Read more at http://www.spaceflightnow.com/

Or go to the official NASA website at http://www.nasa.gov/

Significantly postponed

With repairs to its external tank complete, engineers began hauling the shuttle Discovery back to launch pad 39A Monday evening for work to ready the ship for blastoff Feb. 24 on a flight to deliver critical spare parts, supplies and a final U.S. module to the International Space Station.

STS 133 is expected to launch on Feb. 24 at 4:50:19 p.m. Florida time, still from launch pad 39A.

For more information, see http://spaceflightnow.com/

For the official NASA website, see http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html

For my main blog, see http://astrostevesblog.blogspot.com/

Significantly postponed

The launch of STS-133 has been postponed again until febuary 3, 2011 at 1:34 am EST from launch pad 39A. It will be landing on febuary 13 at approx. 8:38 pm EST.

For more information, see http://spaceflightnow.com/

For the official NASA website, see http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html

For my main blog, see http://astrostevesblog.blogspot.com/

Postponed

GUCP Work Delayed by Rain to be Finished Today

Tue, 30 Nov 2010 01:04:50 PM UTC

At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians plan to install reference dots on space shuttle Discovery's ground umbilical carrier plate, or GUCP, to monitor for movement during tanking. The work was expected to be completed yesterday, but was delayed by rain.

The shuttle's crew is practicing on-orbit tasks today in the motion base simulator at the astronauts' training base at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Discovery's launch is currently targeted for no earlier than Dec. 17, after shuttle managers determined more tests and analysis are needed.

The Program Requirements Control Board reviewed on Nov. 23 repairs and engineering evaluations associated with cracks on two 21-foot-long, U-shaped aluminum brackets, called stringers, on the shuttle's external tank. Managers decided the analysis and tests required to launch Discovery safely are not complete. The work will continue through this week.

The next status review by the PRCB will be Thursday, Dec. 2. If managers clear Discovery for launch on Dec. 17, the preferred time is about 8:51 p.m. EST.

(report from official NASA website)

In summary, the Ground umbilical carrier plate is being updated and further test are being taken, so launch has been postponed until december 17th at the earliest.

For more information, see http://spaceflightnow.com/

For the official NASA website, see http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html

For my main blog, see http://astrostevesblog.blogspot.com/

Mission Status Center

By Justin Ray

In preparation for the launch of STS 133, i've embedded a live feed from kennedy space centre (provided by spaceflightnow.com) to the bottom of this blog, which will go online in time to watch it launch from pad 39A in 3 days.

Significantly Postponed

Postponed until November 30th.


Today's liftoff of space shuttle Discovery has been postponed due to a "significant" leak in the gaseous hydrogen venting system between the launch pad and external fuel tank. This is the same problem that delayed a pair of shuttle missions last year. NASA says the next launch attempt won't be made until the next window opens on November 30 at 4:05 a.m. EST.

For more information, see http://spaceflightnow.com/

For the official NASA website, see http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html

For my main blog, see http://astrostevesblog.blogspot.com/