May 18, 2007
John F. Kennedy Space Center - America’s gateway to the universe
Spaceport News
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/news/snews/spnews_toc.html
Vol. 46, No. 10
Atlantis returns to pad for STS-117 mission
NASA’s Dawn spacecraft ready for June launch from Cape
(See DAWN, Page 2)
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reparations for Atlantiscontinue toward a scheduledJune 8 launch for missionSTS-117 after the space shuttlereturned to Launch Pad 39A withrepairs to the external fuel tankfrom a February hail storm.Rollout of Atlantis from theVehicle Assembly Building toLaunch Pad 39A began at 5:02a.m. May 15. “The teams havedone a phenomenal job of repair-ing this tank,” said BillGerstenmaier, space operationsassociate administrator.“We’ve done a lot of extrareviews to make sure we didn’tmiss anything and a lot of testingto make sure things were doneright.”John Chapman, manager of theexternal tank repair projectpointed out that the tank has aspeckled appearance but this willnot affect performance or safety.There will be a flight readinessreview May 30-31 during whichsenior managers, both NASA andcontractor, will verify the shuttle isready for launch.The STS-117 mission willcontinue construction of theInternational Space Station. Thecrew members will completesimilar tasks to the last two spaceshuttle missions, such as installingnew solar arrays and retracting anexisting array.The mission will deliver andinstall the 17.5-tonS3/S4 truss segment to thestarboard side of the integratedtruss system of the orbital outpost.The truss, part of the station’sgirderlike backbone, is similiar tothe P3/P4 truss installed duringSTS-115 in September 2006.For updates on the NASAmission, visit
http://www.nasa.gov
.
IN ASTROTECH’S Payload Processing Facility in Titusville, technicianswork on the Dawn spacecraft. Launch is scheduled for June 30.
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ASA’s Dawn spacecraft isscheduled to lift off noearlier than June 30 aboarda Delta II rocket from the CapeCanaveral Air Force Station. Themission is the 51st launch forKennedy Space Center’s LaunchServices Program, which isresponsible for launch vehicle andspacecraft integration, as well aslaunch countdown management.Dawn Mission ManagerArmando Piloto is proud of theteamwork displayed while ready-ing the spacecraft and rocket forflight.“The KSC team has workedvery closely with the Jet Propul-sion Laboratory, Orbital SciencesCorporation and the UnitedLaunch Alliance since early 2003to ensure a successful integrationof the Dawn spacecraft to the DeltaII (heavy) launch vehicle,” Pilotosaid.“Dawn’s ion propulsion systemhas added an extra level of complexity to the integrationeffort. We have a lot of workahead, but the team continues towork aggressively and safely intime to support a June 30 launch.”Dawn’s goal is to characterizethe conditions and processes of thesolar system’s earliest beginningby investigating two of the largestprotoplanets remaining intactsince their formations. Ceres andVesta reside in the zone betweenMars and Jupiter together withmany other smaller bodies, calledthe asteroid belt.Each has followed a very
THE SPACE ShuttleAtlantis slowlymoves along thecrawlerway as itsreflection appears inthe crawlertransporter’s tracks.Frederick Sturckowwill command STS-117. Pilot LeeArchambault joinsSTS-117 MissionSpecialists JamesReilly, PatrickForrester, StevenSwanson and JohnOlivas. SunitaWilliams will returnto Earth from thespace station on themission. The flightwill carry Expedition15/16 FlightEngineer ClaytonAnderson to thestation.
SPACEPORT NEWSMay 18, 2007Page 2
Awards
DAWN . . .
(Continued from Page 1)
Bill ParsonsCenter Director
Director’sUpdate
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e are nearly one monthremoved from the tragicviolence that transpiredat the Johnson Space Center onApril 20. Following the boldleadership of Linda Beverly, ourresilient NASA family movedswiftly from mourning a death tocelebrating the life of her latehusband and NASA engineerDavid Beverly.As we continue to support andencourage our teammates inHouston, we press on with thenoble work that lies ahead.Nevertheless, let us remember thewords of Robert F. Kennedy whenhe said, “Tragedy is a tool for theliving to gain wisdom.”As Kennedy Space Centeremployees, we take great pride inour many world-class achieve-ments, but we also take time tolearn in times of great loss.The phrase “senseless vio-lence” is often used to describeevents like those we saw inHouston and Blacksburg, Va.Violence of any kind in theworkplace is senseless, but itsabsolute failure to solve problemsmakes it particularly futile.No one wins and trouble isonly multiplied for the aggressorand innocent bystanders.The overwhelming majority of us strive daily to do the right andproper thing when it comes to ourwork and work relationships. Still,I urge the entire Kennedy team tobe mindful of the many resourcesfor comfort, discussion andconflict resolution that areavailable across our center.I do believe that the mostimportant tool we possess is ineach of us. That is, simply, thespirit of caring.We will take care of each other,offer peaceful support and lead byexample.
Kennedy Space CenterDeputy Director Janet Petro
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he May NASA employees of the month include, from left, Matthew Mattingly, Engineering Directorate;Leonard Duncil, Launch Services Program; Brian Burns, Information Technology and CommunicationsServices; Ginny Kinslow, Engineering Directorate; Joyce McDowell, Procurement Office; Mark Biesack,International Space Station and Spacecraft Processing; Bill Roy, Launch Integration Office; David Diaz,Launch Vehicle Processing; and John Shaffer, Center Operations. Not pictured are Patricia Nicolik, Constella-tion Project Office and Richard Lamoreaux, Safety and Mission Assurance.
May NASA employees of the month
different evolutionary pathconstrained by the diversity of processes that operated during thefirst few million years of solarsystem evolution.Dawn has much to offer thepublic. The mission brings imagesof varied landscapes on previouslyunseen worlds, including moun-tains, canyons and, possibly,ancient lakebeds and gullies.Students can follow themission over an entire kindergar-ten through 12th grade experienceas the mission is built, and thespacecraft cruises to Vesta andCeres and returns data. The publicwill be able to participate throughthe Solar System AmbassadorsProgram at
www2.jpl.nasa.gov/ ambassador/index.html
and via theWeb at
http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov
.The primary question themission addresses is what role sizeand water play in determining theevolution of the planets. Ceres andVesta are the right two bodies withwhich to address this question, asthey are the most massive of theprotoplanets, baby planets whosegrowth was interrupted by theformation of Jupiter.Ceres is very primitive and wetwhile Vesta is evolved and dry.The instruments to be flown areflight-proven and similar to thoseused for missions involvingMercury, Mars, the moon, Eros andcomets.There are three principalscientific drivers for the mission.The first is that it captures theearliest moments in the origin of the solar system, helping tounderstand the conditions underwhich these objects formed.Second, Dawn determines thenature of the building blocks fromwhich the terrestrial planetsformed, improving mankind’sunderstanding of this formation.Finally, it contrasts the formationand evolution of two small planetsthat followed very differentevolutionary paths to helpunderstand what controls thatevolution.
Petro begins tenureas deputy director
J
anet Petro has joined theKennedy Space Centersenior management team asdeputy director. She resides inIndian Harbor Beach with herdaughter, Hannah, and son,Andrew.
SPACEPORT NEWSPage 3May 18, 2007
Kennedy directors brief community leaders on future
CENTER DIRECTOR Bill Parsons (at podium) talks to politicians, policeand other members of the area during the Community Leaders Breakfastheld May 11 in the Dr. Kurt H. Debus Conference Facility.
By Linda HerridgeStaff Writer
K
ennedy Space CenterDirector Bill Parsonsexpressed his optimismabout the center’s future to a fullaudience during the annualCommunity Leaders Breakfast onMay 11 at the KSC VisitorComplex’s Dr. Kurt H. DebusConference Center.The program included high-lights of the past year’s accom-plishments, as well as current andfuture work. “It’s a great time to beat Kennedy Space Center,” Parsonssaid. Parsons noted that KSC has a$3.7 billion impact on BrevardCounty and each KSC job createsanother 2.45 jobs in the county.He said partnerships with theEconomic Development Commis-sion of Florida’s Space Coast, theU.S. Air Force 45th Space Wing,Space Florida and others areimportant to the center.Rita Willcoxon, director of theLaunch Vehicle ProcessingDirectorate, gave an overview of processing highlights and chal-lenges for missions STS-121, STS-115 and STS-116. She discussedthe outstanding work techniciansperformed to repair hail damage tothe external tank for mission STS-117, targeted for launch June 8.Russell Romanella, director of the International Space Station/ Spacecraft Processing Directorate,said there have been 20 spaceshuttle missions to the spacestation between November 1998and April 2007, and 15 Expeditioncrews.More than 200,000 pounds of space station elements, includingNode 2, the European SpaceAgency’s Columbus module, theJapan Aerospace ExplorationAgency’s Japanese ExperimentModule and the Cupola, are in theSpace Station Processing Facilityawaiting delivery to the orbitinglaboratory.Steve Cain, project manager forKSC’s Commercial OrbitalTransportation System, said twocompanies — SpaceX in ElSegundo, Calif., and RocketplaneKistler headquartered in OklahomaCity, Okla. — were selected byNASA to develop and demonstratecommercial transportation launchvehicles for low-Earth orbit andbeyond.SpaceX will use the Falcon 9for its cargo flight demonstrationin 2008 at KSC, while the com-pany Rocketplane Kistler will usea K-1 for its cargo flight demon-stration in 2008-2009 in Woomera,Australia.Pepper Phillips, deputydirector for KSC’s ConstellationProject Office, said the group ispreparing several facilities for theAres 1-X test flight and beyond.The Young-Crippen Firing Room1 is dismantled and ready formodifications for the new program.The Launch Equipment TestFacility, originally used for spaceshuttle testing, will be convertedto a vehicle motion simulator forthe Constellation Program.Phillips said plans are in thereview stage for an emergencyegress rail system and launch padconfigurations for the Ares 1 crewlaunch vehicle and the Ares Vcargo launch vehicle.“Our role is to get our custom-ers’ payloads safely to space,” saidSteve Francois, manager of theLaunch Services Program. Francoissaid future expendable launchvehicle missions include DAWN,scheduled for no earlier than June30, and Phoenix, scheduled for anearly August launch to Mars.Francois said the program will usesome new vehicles.Lisa Malone, director of External Relations, completed theprogram with an overview of thenew Shuttle Launch Experience atthe KSC Visitor Complex. Theattraction is scheduled to open tothe public May 25.
I
n conjunction with the Memorial Day holiday weekend and thelaunch of the new Shuttle Launch Experience at the Kennedy SpaceCenter Visitor Complex, badged KSC employees will have a uniqueopportunity to join the celebration and enjoy free admission.From Saturday to Monday, May 26 to 28, there will be 1,000 ticketsavailable each day on a first-come, first-served basis at the NASAexchange stores. Badged employees can get up to six tickets. The ticketsare marked for early entry by 10 a.m. each day. An additional 3,000tickets will be available for admission after 3 p.m. on May 26 andinclude the opportunity to attend that evening’s performance of Mannheim Steamroller at 9 p.m.This unique offer is in addition to other KSC employee benefitsthroughout the year, including:• Discounts at Camp Kennedy Space Center for summer camp• Free daily limited admission with a KSC badge• Access to the Visitor Complex during KSC Family Day• Brevard “free weekend” each fall• Special events throughout the year• 30-percent December discounts at Visitor Complex stores• Daily and promotional discount tickets for employees and families
Shuttle Launch Experience offers employees free opening celebration
THE SHUTTLE Launch Experience at the Visitor Complex will offerbadged employees the opportunity to enjoy the thrill of a simulatedlaunch from May 26 to 28.
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