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NASA's Space Shuttle Discovery is Home

09 August 2005

Launch of next shuttle depends on data analysis, possible repairs, agency says

By Cheryl Pellerin
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- NASA’s space shuttle Discovery (STS-114) landed safely in the early morning hours of August 9 at Edwards Air Force Base in California, after flying 9.3 million kilometers during nearly 14 days in orbit.

Rain showers prevented the orbiter from landing during the first and second opportunities at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

“Today we honored the Columbia crew,” Space Shuttle Program Manager Bill Parsons said during a post-landing press briefing at Johnson Space Center in Houston. “We brought Discovery home safely, it’s a great day.”

“On July 26 we all sat here and said the only thing better than [Discovery’s] launch would [be] landing day, and I’m here to tell you it was truly better,” said NASA Launch Director Mike Leinbach. “Discovery’s home, the crew is safe and we’ve come full circle.”

Discovery returned to Earth after a nine-day stay at the International Space Station. STS-114 is the first shuttle mission to fly since the seven-member crew of Columbia was lost 16 minutes before landing on February 1, 2003.

THE RETURN HOME

As Discovery approached and touched down on runway 22 at Edwards, NASA capsule communicator Ken Ham described its progress: “Landing gear’s down and locked, main gear touchdown, drag chute deployed, nose gear touchdown, and Discovery is home.”

“Houston, Discovery, wheels stop,” Commander Eileen Collins said.

“Roger wheel stop, Discovery,” Ham said, “and congratulations on a truly spectacular test flight. Stevie Ray, Soichi [Noguchi], Andy [Thomas], Vegas, Charlie [Camarda], Wendy [Lawrence] and Eileen [Collins], welcome home, friends.”

After the landing, a convoy of landing support trucks and equipment moved onto runway 22 to begin “safing,” or securing, the orbiter and helping the flight crew.

Seventy-eight people from the Kennedy Space Center were in the convoy, and a turnaround team of 174 will fly to Edwards from Kennedy August 10 to help prepare Discovery for its ferry flight back to Florida.

It will take seven or eight days to ready the orbiter for a return flight atop NASA's shuttle carrier aircraft, a modified Boeing 747, and the trip to Florida will take about two days, Leinbach said.

From the International Space Station, NASA astronaut John Phillips and Russian cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev offered congratulations to the Discovery crew on a successful landing.

“We’ve looked forward to this for a long time,” said NASA Ascent/Entry Flight Director LeRoy Cain -- the flight director who oversaw space shuttle Columbia’s fatal reentry in 2003 -- during an August 7 press conference at Johnson Space Center in Texas. “We had a great test flight, we’ve learned a lot about the vehicle and ... in the last couple of years we’ve learned a lot about ourselves.

“There’s been a lot of good change,” Cain added. “We’re looking forward, we’re not looking back.”

Discovery undocked from the International Space Station in the early morning hours of August 9. Pilot Jim Kelly flew the orbiter in a loop around the station, and the shuttle crew photographed the orbiting outpost before a final separation burn moved Discovery away from the station.

During a farewell ceremony before closing the hatches, Commander Eileen Collins thanked the station crew for being "such great hosts."

"We thank them for being part of such a successful mission," she said. "These are memories we'll have forever."

DISCOVERY’S MISSION, MANNED SPACE FLIGHT FUTURE

The Discovery crew spent nearly nine days in joint operations with the International Space Station's Expedition 11 crew before undocking. Together, they transferred tons of supplies and equipment to and from the station, conducted three spacewalks and made spacewalk history by repairing a problem with two gap fillers that were protruding from between the shuttle's heat shields.

The launch planning window for space shuttle Atlantis (STS-121), originally set for September 9-24, is on hold until data gathered from the Discovery mission can be analyzed and possible modifications made to the external tank and other areas of the shuttle.

During Discovery’s July 26 launch, five pieces of insulating foam came loose from the external tank. High-resolution cameras added to the shuttle after the loss of Columbia in 2003 photographed the material falling away from the spacecraft.

The Columbia accident was caused by damage that resulted after foam from the external tank hit the orbiter during launch.

There was no indication that the largest chunk of foam – 61-84 centimeters long, 25-33 centimeters wide and 6-20 centimeters thick – had damaged Discovery, but the shuttle underwent an unprecedented close inspection by the Discovery and International Space Station crews to check for damage.

One problem – gap fillers that protruded from between heat shield tiles on Discovery’s underbelly – was fixed during a spacewalk by astronaut Steve Robinson and crewmates. (See related article.)

NASA officials have said the space shuttle will not fly again until the foam and other potential issues are addressed.

“Now that we have Discovery on terra firma,” Parsons said, “we’ll go work on those other issues. Right now we’ve got the teams in place to give us that information and in the next week or so we’ll get some preliminary findings about where we’re headed.”

“We’re going to try as hard as we can to get back in space this year,” said NASA Administrator Mike Griffin, “because we have a big construction project we’re working on and we need the shuttle to do it. But we’re not going to go until we’re ready to go.”

Space Operations Associate Administrator Bill Readdy likened the return-to-flight process as a relay race.

“The torch is now passed to Atlantis and the STS-121 crew and we’re going to continue the test mission that we set out to do two and a half years ago,” Readdy said. “We’re about half way through. We’ve got some more work to do but ... now we have some data to work with and, for the first time in the shuttle era, we’ve got a real solid place to start.”

Atlantis, NASA's fourth orbiter, went into service with its first launch on October 3, 1985, and has flown 26 missions. The orbiter received updated safety modifications during its preparation for STS-121, also designated (along with Discovery) a return-to-flight mission to the International Space Station.

The crew includes mission commander Steven Lindsey, pilot Mark Kelly, and mission specialists Michael Fossum, Lisa Nowak, Stephanie Wilson, and Piers Sellers from the United Kingdom.

STS-114, called the most photographed spaceflight, set a new precedent for future test flights. Never-before-seen imagery helped engineers assess the shuttle’s external tank performance and ensure a safe heat shield for the return to Earth.

Discovery also carried the orbiter's boom sensor system on its maiden flight and performed the first back-flip in spaceflight. Discovery was the first space shuttle to visit the space station since late 2002.

“This is not an enterprise where one can predict the outcome with certainty,” Griffin said. “We’re in the very early stages of learning how to do space flight. It’s just barely possible to do it. If anything goes wrong, it’s not possible to do it ... [but] it’s important to learn how.”

Manned space flight, he added, “is an important enterprise for America and the world, for humanity to engage in, but it is not easy. What the American people can count on from us is our very best effort to make it a little bit easier each time.”

After exiting Discovery and inspecting the vehicle, Commander Eileen Collins addressed media waiting on the runway.

"We have had a fantastic mission," Collins said. "We are so glad to be able to come back and say it was successful."

She added, "This is a wonderful moment for all of us."

Additional information is available on NASA’s “Return to Flight” Web site.

(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)