Members Can Post Anonymously On This Site
55 Years Ago: Preps for Apollo 13 and 14, Apollo 12 Crew on World Tour
-
Similar Topics
-
By NASA
Before Apollo astronauts set foot upon the Moon, much remained unknown about the lunar surface. While most scientists believed the Moon had a solid surface that would support astronauts and their landing craft, a few believed a deep layer of dust covered it that would swallow any visitors. Until 1964, no closeup photographs of the lunar surface existed, only those obtained by Earth-based telescopes.
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, managed the Ranger program, a series of spacecraft designed to return closeup images before impacting on the Moon’s surface. Ranger 7 first accomplished that goal in July 1964. On Feb. 17, 1965, its successor Ranger 8 launched toward the Moon, and three days later returned images of the Moon. The mission’s success helped the country meet President John F. Kennedy’s goal of a human Moon landing before the end of the decade.
Schematic diagram of the Ranger 8 spacecraft, showing its major components. NASA/JPL The television system aboard Ranger 8 showing its six cameras.NASA/JPL. Launch of Ranger 8. NASA. Ranger 8 lifted off from Cape Kennedy, now Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Feb. 17, 1965. The Atlas-Agena rocket first placed the spacecraft into Earth orbit before sending it on a lunar trajectory. The next day, the spacecraft carried out a mid-course correction, and on Feb. 20, Ranger 8 reached the Moon. The spacecraft’s six cameras turned on as planned, about eight minutes earlier than its predecessor to obtain images comparable in resolution to ground-based photographs for calibration purposes. Ranger 8 took its first photograph at an altitude of 1,560 miles, and during its final 23 minutes of flight, the spacecraft sent back 7,137 images of the lunar surface. The last image, taken at an altitude of 1,600 feet and 0.28 seconds before Ranger 8 impacted at 1.67 miles per second, had a resolution of about five feet. The spacecraft impacted 16 miles from its intended target in the Sea of Tranquility, ending a flight of 248,900 miles. Scientists had an interest in this area of the Moon as a possible landing zone for a future human landing, and indeed Apollo 11 landed 44 miles southeast of the Ranger 8 impact site in July 1969.
Ranger 8’s first image from an altitude of 1,560 miles.NASA/JPL. Ranger 8 image from an altitude of 198 miles, showing craters Ritter and Sabine.NASA/JPL. Ranger 8’s final images, taken at an altitude as low as 1,600 feet. NASA/JPL. One more Ranger mission followed, Ranger 9, in March 1965. Television networks broadcast Ranger 9’s images of the Alphonsus crater and the surrounding area “live” as the spacecraft approached its impact site in the crater – letting millions of Americans see the Moon up-close as it happened. Based on the photographs returned by the last three Rangers, scientists felt confident to move on to the next phase of robotic lunar exploration, the Surveyor series of soft landers. The Ranger photographs provided confidence that the lunar surface could support a soft-landing and that the Sea of Tranquility presented a good site for the first human landing. A little more than four years after the final Ranger images, Apollo 11 landed the first humans on the Moon.
Impact sites of Rangers 7, 8, and 9. NASA/JPL. The Ranger 8 impact crater, marked by the blue circle, photographed by Lunar Orbiter 2 in 1966.NASA/JPL. Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter image of the Ranger 8 impact crater, taken in 2012 at a low sun angle.NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center/Arizona State University. The impacts of the Ranger probes left visible craters on the lunar surface, later photographed by orbiting spacecraft. Lunar Orbiter 2 and Apollo 16 both imaged the Ranger 8 impact site at relatively low resolution in 1966 and 1972, respectively. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter imaged the crash site in greater detail in 2012.
Watch a brief video about the Ranger 8 impact on the Moon.
Explore More
5 min read 60 Years Ago: Ranger 7 Photographs the Moon
Article 7 months ago 8 min read 55 Years Ago: Apollo 11’s One Small Step, One Giant Leap
Article 7 months ago 4 min read NASA’s Artemis II Crew Uses Iceland Terrain for Lunar Training
At first glance, it seems like a scene from an excursion on the Moon’s surface…except…
Article 5 months ago View the full article
-
By NASA
Official portrait of NASA Associate Administrator Jim Free, taken on Nov. 22, 2024, at the agency’s headquarters in Washington.Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls NASA Associate Administrator Jim Free announced Wednesday his retirement, effective Saturday, Feb. 22. As associate administrator, Free has been the senior advisor to NASA Acting Administrator Janet Petro and leads NASA’s 10 center directors, as well as the mission directorate associate administrators at NASA Headquarters in Washington. He is the agency’s chief operating officer for more than 18,000 employees and oversaw an annual budget of more than $25 billion.
During his tenure as associate administrator since January 2024, NASA added nearly two dozen new signatories of the Artemis Accords, enabled the first Moon landing through the agency’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative to deliver NASA science to the lunar surface, launched the Europa Clipper mission to study Jupiter’s icy ocean moon, and found molecules containing the ingredients for life in samples from asteroid Bennu delivered to Earth by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification and Security–Regolith Explorer) spacecraft.
“Throughout his career, Jim has been the ultimate servant leader – always putting the mission and the people of NASA first,” said Petro. “A remarkable engineer and a decisive leader, he combines deep technical expertise with an unwavering commitment to this agency’s mission. Jim’s legacy is one of selfless service, steadfast leadership, and a belief in the power of people.”
Among the notable contributions to the nation during his NASA career, Free also championed a new path forward to return samples from Mars ahead of human missions to the Red Planet, supported the crews living and working aboard the International Space Station as they conduct hundreds of experiments and technology demonstrations, and engaged industry in new ways to secure a public/private partnership for NASA’s VIPER (Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover) mission on the Moon.
“It has been an honor to serve NASA and walk alongside the workforce that tackles the most difficult engineering challenges, pursues new scientific knowledge in our universe and beyond, develops technologies for future exploration endeavors, all while prioritizing safety every day for people on the ground, in the air, and in space,” Free said. “I am grateful for the opportunity to be part of the NASA family and contribute to the agency’s mission for the benefit of humanity.”
During his more than three decades of service, Free has held several leadership roles at the agency. Before being named NASA associate administrator, Free served as associate administrator of the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate, where he oversaw the successful Artemis I mission and the development of NASA’s Moon to Mars architecture, defining and managing the systems development for the agency’s Artemis missions and planning for NASA’s integrated deep space exploration approach.
Free began his NASA career in 1990 as an engineer, working on Tracking and Data Relay Satellites at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. He later transferred to the agency’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland and served in a variety of roles supporting the International Space Station and the development of the Orion spacecraft before transferring to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston in 2008. Free returned to NASA Glenn in 2009 and was promoted to chief of the Space Flight Systems Directorate, where he oversaw the center’s space work. Free was named deputy center director in November 2010 and then served as center director from January 2013 until March 2016, when he was appointed to the NASA Headquarters position of deputy associate administrator for Technical [sic] in the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate.
A native of Northeast Ohio, Free earned his bachelor’s degree in aeronautics from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and his master’s degree in space systems engineering from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands.
Free is the recipient of the Presidential Rank Award, NASA Distinguished Service Medal, NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal, NASA Exceptional Service Medal, NASA Significant Achievement Medal, and numerous other awards.
For more information about NASA, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov
-end-
Kathryn Hambleton / Cheryl Warner
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
kathryn.hambleton@nasa.gov / cheryl.m.warner@nasa.gov
Share
Details
Last Updated Feb 19, 2025 EditorJessica TaveauLocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms
Leadership View the full article
-
By NASA
Official crew portrait for NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10 mission with NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov.Credit: NASA NASA and its partners will discuss the upcoming Expedition 73 mission aboard the International Space Station during a pair of news conferences on Monday, Feb. 24, from the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
Mission leadership will participate in an overview news conference at 2 p.m. EST live on NASA+, covering preparations for NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10 launch in March and the agency’s crew member rotation launch on Soyuz in April. Learn how to watch NASA content through a variety of platforms, including social media.
NASA also will host a crew news conference at 4 p.m. and provide coverage on NASA+, followed by individual crew member interviews beginning at 5 p.m. This is the final media opportunity with Crew-10 before the crew members travel to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for launch.
The Crew-10 mission, targeted to launch Wednesday, March 12, will carry NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov to the orbiting laboratory.
NASA astronaut Jonny Kim, scheduled to launch to the space station on the Soyuz MS-27 spacecraft no earlier than April 8, also will participate in the crew briefing and interviews. Kim will be available again on Tuesday, March 18, for limited virtual interviews prior to launch. NASA will provide additional details on that opportunity when available.
For the Crew-10 mission, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft will launch from Launch Complex 39A at NASA Kennedy. The three-person crew of Soyuz MS-27, including Kim and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky, will launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
United States-based media seeking to attend in person must contact the NASA Johnson newsroom no later than 5 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 21, at 281-483-5111 or at jsccommu@mail.nasa.gov. U.S. and international media interested in participating by phone must contact NASA Johnson by 9:45 a.m. the day of the event.
U.S. and international media seeking remote interviews with the crew must submit requests to the NASA Johnson newsroom by 5 p.m. on Feb. 21. A copy of NASA’s media accreditation policy is available online.
Briefing participants include (all times Eastern and subject to change based on real-time operations):
2 p.m.: Expedition 73 Overview News Conference
Ken Bowersox, associate administrator, Space Operations Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington Steve Stich, manager, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, NASA Kennedy Bill Spetch, operations integration manager, NASA’s International Space Station Program, NASA Johnson William Gerstenmaier, vice president, Build & Flight Reliability, SpaceX Mayumi Matsuura, vice president and director general, Human Spaceflight Technology Directorate, JAXA 4 p.m.: Expedition 73 Crew News Conference
Jonny Kim, Soyuz MS-27 flight engineer, NASA Anne McClain, Crew-10 spacecraft commander, NASA Nichole Ayers, Crew-10 pilot, NASA Takuya Onishi, Crew-10 mission specialist, JAXA Kirill Peskov, Crew-10 mission specialist, Roscosmos 5 p.m.: Crew Individual Interview Opportunities
Crew-10 members and Kim available for a limited number of interviews Official portrait of NASA astronaut Jonny Kim, who will serve as a flight engineer during Expedition 73.Credit: NASA Kim is making his first spaceflight after selection as part of the 2017 NASA astronaut class. A native of Los Angeles, Kim is a U.S. Navy lieutenant commander and dual designated naval aviator and flight surgeon. Kim also served as an enlisted Navy SEAL. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from the University of San Diego and a medical degree from Harvard Medical School in Boston. He completed his internship with the Harvard Affiliated Emergency Medicine Residency at Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. After completing the initial astronaut candidate training, Kim supported mission and crew operations in various roles, including the Expedition 65 lead operations officer, T-38 operations liaison, and space station capcom chief engineer. Follow @jonnykimusa on X and @jonnykimusa on Instagram.
Selected by NASA as an astronaut in 2013, this will be McClain’s second spaceflight. A colonel in the U.S. Army, she earned her bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, and holds master’s degrees in Aerospace Engineering, International Security, and Strategic Studies. The Spokane, Washington, native was an instructor pilot in the OH-58D Kiowa Warrior helicopter and is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School in Patuxent River, Maryland. McClain has more than 2,300 flight hours in 24 rotary and fixed-wing aircraft, including more than 800 in combat, and was a member of the U.S. Women’s National Rugby Team. On her first spaceflight, McClain spent 204 days as a flight engineer during Expeditions 58 and 59, and completed two spacewalks, totaling 13 hours and 8 minutes. Since then, she has served in various roles, including branch chief and space station assistant to the chief of NASA’s Astronaut Office. Follow @astroannimal on X and @astro_annimal on Instagram.
The Crew-10 mission will be the first spaceflight for Ayers, who was selected as a NASA astronaut in 2021. Ayers is a major in the U.S. Air Force and the first member of NASA’s 2021 astronaut class named to a crew. The Colorado native graduated from the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs with a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and a minor in Russian, where she was a member of the academy’s varsity volleyball team. She later earned a master’s in Computational and Applied Mathematics from Rice University in Houston. Ayers served as an instructor pilot and mission commander in the T-38 ADAIR and F-22 Raptor, leading multinational and multiservice missions worldwide. She has more than 1,400 total flight hours, including more than 200 in combat. Follow @astro_ayers on X and @astro_ayers on Instagram.
With 113 days in space, this mission also will mark Onishi’s second trip to the space station. After being selected as an astronaut by JAXA in 2009, he flew as a flight engineer for Expeditions 48 and 49, becoming the first Japanese astronaut to robotically capture the Cygnus spacecraft. He also constructed a new experimental environment aboard Kibo, the station’s Japanese experiment module. After his first spaceflight, Onishi became certified as a JAXA flight director, leading the team responsible for operating Kibo from JAXA Mission Control in Tsukuba, Japan. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics from the University of Tokyo, and was a pilot for All Nippon Airways, flying more than 3,700 flight hours in the Boeing 767. Follow astro_onishi on X.
The Crew-10 mission will also be Peskov’s first spaceflight. Before his selection as a cosmonaut in 2018, he earned a degree in Engineering from the Ulyanovsk Civil Aviation School and was a co-pilot on the Boeing 757 and 767 aircraft for airlines Nordwind and Ikar. Assigned as a test cosmonaut in 2020, he has additional experience in skydiving, zero-gravity training, scuba diving, and wilderness survival.
Learn more about how NASA innovates for the benefit of humanity through NASA’s Commercial Crew Program at:
https://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew
-end-
Joshua Finch / Jimi Russell
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov / james.j.russell@nasa.gov
Kenna Pell / Sandra Jones
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
kenna.m.pell@nasa.gov / sandra.p.jones@nasa.gov
Share
Details
Last Updated Feb 18, 2025 LocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms
Humans in Space Anne C. McClain Astronauts Commercial Crew International Space Station (ISS) ISS Research Johnson Space Center Jonny Kim Nichole Ayers View the full article
-
By NASA
On Feb. 11, 2000, space shuttle Endeavour took to the skies on its 14th trip into space on the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM). The international STS-99 crew included Commander Kevin Kregel, Pilot Dominic Gorie, and Mission Specialists Gerhard Thiele of Germany representing the European Space Agency, Janet Kavandi, Janice Voss, who served as payload commander on the mission, and Mamoru Mohri of the National Space Development Agency (NASDA) of Japan, now the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.
During their 11-day mission, the astronauts used the radar instruments in Endeavour’s payload bay to obtain elevation data on a near global scale. The data produced the most complete, high-resolution digital elevation model of the Earth. The SRTM comprised a cooperative effort among NASA with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, managing the project, the Department of Defense’s National Imagery and Mapping Agency, the German space agency, and the Italian space agency. Prior to SRTM, scientists had a more detailed topographic map of Venus than of the Earth, thanks to the Magellan radar mapping mission.
The STS-99 crew patch. Official photo of the STS-99 crew of Janice Voss, left, Mamoru Mohri of the National Space Development Agency of Japan, now the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Kevin Kregel, Dominic Gorie, Gerhard Thiele of Germany representing the European Space Agency, and Janet Kavandi. The Shuttle Radar Topography Mission patch. Schematic of the Space Radar Topography Mission payloads including the deployed mast. The mast antenna during preflight processing. NASA assigned the STS-99 crew in October 1998. For Kregel, selected by NASA as an astronaut in 1992, STS-99 marked his fourth trip to space, having served as pilot on STS-70 and STS-78 and commanded STS-87. Gorie and Kavandi, both selected in 1994, previously flew together as pilot and mission specialist, respectively, on STS-91, the final Shuttle Mir docking mission. Voss, selected in 1990, served as a mission specialist on STS-57 and STS-63, and as payload commander on STS-83 and STS-94. NASDA selected Mohri as an astronaut in 1985 and he previously flew as a payload specialist on STS-47, the Spacelab-J mission. Selected as an astronaut by the German space agency in 1987, Thiele joined the European Astronaut Corps in 1998, completing his first spaceflight on STS-99.
The SRTM used an innovative technique called radar interferometry to image the Earth’s landmasses at resolutions up to 30 times greater than previously achieved. Two of the synthetic aperture radar instruments comprising the SRTM payload had flown previously, on the STS-59 Shuttle Radar Laboratory-1 (SRL-1) and the STS-68 SRL-2 missions in April and October 1994, respectively. A second receiver antenna, placed at the end of a 200-foot deployable mast, enabled the interferometry during SRTM.
The SRTM payload in Endeavour’s cargo bay in the orbiter processing facility. Endeavour rolls out to Launch Pad 39A. The STS-99 crew walks out of crew quarters for the van ride to the launch pad. Workers rolled Endeavour to the Vehicle Assembly Building on Dec. 2 for mating with its external tank and solid rocket boosters, and then out to Launch Pad 39A on Dec. 13. The astronauts traveled to Kennedy to participate in the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test Jan. 11-14, returning afterwards to Houston for final training. They traveled back to Kennedy on Jan. 27 for the first launch attempt four days later. After two launch attempts, the STS-99 mission prepared to liftoff on Feb. 11, 2000.
Liftoff! Space shuttle Endeavour takes to the skies to begin the STS-99 mission. At 12:43 p.m. EST, Endeavour thundered into the sky from Kennedy’s Launch Pad 39A to begin the STS-99 mission. Thirty-seven minutes later, a brief firing of the orbiter’s two engines placed Endeavour in the proper 145-mile orbit for the radar scanning.
The SRTM instruments in Endeavour’s payload bay with the mast holding the second antenna receiver deployed at right. The antenna at the end of the deployed mast. STS-99 astronauts Janet Kavandi, left, Dominic Gorie, and Mamoru Mohri in Endeavour’s middeck. Astronaut Janice Voss in the commander’s seat on Endeavour’s flight deck. Astronauts Kevin Kregel, left, and Gerhard Thiele on Endeavour’s flight deck. Shortly after reaching orbit, the crew opened the payload bay doors and deployed the shuttle’s radiators. Kavandi and Thiele turned on the instruments, deployed the 200-foot mast, and conducted initial checkouts of the radars. The crew split into two shifts to enable data collection around the clock during the mission. After overseeing the initial activation of the radars, the red shift of Kregel, Kavandi, and Thiele began their first sleep period as the blue shift of Gorie, Voss, and Mohri picked up with activation and began the first data takes.
The major crew activity for SRTM involved changing tapes every 30 minutes. The SRTM generated 332 high density tapes during more than 222 hours of data collection and these recordings covered 99.96 percent of the planned observations. Data collection finished on the mission’s 10th flight day, after which the astronauts reeled the mast back into its container in the payload bay.
EarthKAM image of the greater Boston area. The EarthKAM camera mounted in a space shuttle window. STS-99 crew Earth observation photograph of El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. STS-99 crew Earth observation photograph of the Galapagos Islands. STS-99 crew Earth observation photograph of the greater New York area. STS-99 crew Earth observation photograph of Erg Chech, or sand sea, in the Algerian Sahara. NASA’s EarthKAM program enabled middle school students to remotely take photographs of the Earth using an electronic still camera mounted in one of the shuttle’s windows. The University of California at San Diego houses the control center for EarthKAM, linked with middle schools via the Internet. Students choose Earth targets of interest, and the camera takes photos of that region as the shuttle passes overhead. A then-record 75 schools from around the world participated in the EarthKAM project on STS-99, the camera returning 2,715 images of the Earth.
The STS-99 astronauts also spent time taking photographs of the Earth using handheld cameras and the high inclination orbit enabled views of some parts of the Earth rarely seen by shuttle astronauts.
The six-person STS-99 crew pose for their inflight photo. Kevin Kregel guides Endeavour to a smooth touchdown on the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The STS-99 crew poses with NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin under Endeavour at the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Kevin Kregel addresses the crowd at Houston’s Ellington Field during the welcome home ceremony for the STS-99 crew. On Feb. 22, the crew closed Endeavour’s payload bay doors, donned their launch and entry suits, and strapped themselves into their seats for entry and landing. Kregel piloted Endeavour to a smooth landing on Kennedy’s Shuttle Landing Facility. The crew had flown 181 orbits around the Earth in 11 days, 5 hours, and 39 minutes. Enjoy the crew narrate a video about the STS-99 mission.
Postscript
Final coverage map for the SIR-C radar, indicating 99.96 percent coverage of planned land mass targets, with many areas imaged more than once.
False-color image generated from SRTM data of the island of Oahu. False-color image generated from SRTM data of Mt. Cotopaxi in Ecuador, the tallest active volcano in the world. During the 11-day mission, SRTM collected more than one trillion data points, generating 12.3 terabytes of 3-D data of the Earth. Earnest Paylor, SRTM program scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C., called the mission “a magnificent accomplishment.” He cited that SRTM imaged by radar equatorial regions of the Earth previously unmapped due to constant cloud cover.
Explore More
12 min read 30 Years Ago: STS-68 The Second Space Radar Lab Mission
Article 5 months ago 22 min read 35 Years Ago: NASA Selects its 13th Group of Astronauts
Article 4 weeks ago 17 min read 30 Years Ago: NASA Selects its 15th Group of Astronauts
Article 2 months ago View the full article
-
By NASA
On Feb. 8, 2010, space shuttle Endeavour began its 24th trip into space, on the 20A assembly mission to the International Space Station, the 32nd shuttle flight to the orbiting lab. The STS-130 crew included Commander George Zamka, Pilot Terry Virts, and Mission Specialists Kathryn Hire, Stephen Robinson, Nicholas Patrick, and Robert Behnken. During the nearly 14-day mission, they worked jointly with the five-person Expedition 22 crew during nearly 10 days of docked operations. The mission’s primary objectives included delivering the Tranquility module and the cupola to the space station, adding 21 tons of hardware to the facility. Behnken and Patrick conducted three spacewalks to aid in the installation of Tranquility.
The STS-130 crew patch. Official photograph of the STS-130 crew of Nicholas Patrick, left, Terry Virts, Robert Behnken, Kathryn Hire, George Zamka, and Stephen Robinson. The International Space Station 20A assembly mission payload patch. In the Vertical Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers prepare to lift Endeavour to mate it with its external tank and solid rocket boosters. Space shuttle Endeavour rolls out of the assembly building for its journey to Launch Pad 39A. The STS-130 astronauts leave crew quarters for the ride to Launch Pad 39A. Liftoff of space shuttle Endeavour on STS-130. Endeavour rolled out to Launch Pad 39A on Jan. 6, 2010, targeting a Feb. 7 launch. The crew arrived at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Feb. 3 to prepare for launch. Inclement weather delayed the initial launch attempt by 24 hours. On Feb. 8, at 4:14 a.m. EST, space shuttle Endeavour lifted off, carrying its six-person crew. The flight marked Robinson’s fourth trip into space, previously serving as a mission specialist on STS-85, STS-95, and STS-114, Zamka’s, Hire’s, Patrick’s, and Behnken’s second time in space, having flown on STS-120, STS-90, STS-116, and STS-123, respectively, while Virts enjoyed his first taste of weightlessness.
STS-130 Commander George Zamka, left, Mission Specialist Stephen Robinson, and Pilot Terry Virts on Endeavour’s flight deck on the mission’s first day in space. The shuttle robotic arm grasps the Orbiter Boom Sensor System for the wing leading edge inspection. Endeavour as seen from the space station during the rendezvous. View of the space station from Endeavour during the rendezvous. After reaching orbit, the astronauts opened the payload bay doors, deployed the shuttle’s radiators, and removed their bulky launch and entry suits, stowing them for the remainder of the flight. They spent six hours on their second day in space conducting a detailed inspection of Endeavour’s nose cap and wing leading edges, taking turns operating the shuttle remote manipulator system, or robotic arm, and the Orbiter Boom Sensor System.
On the mission’s third day, Zamka assisted by his crewmates brought Endeavour in for a docking with the space station. During the rendezvous, Zamka stopped the approach at 600 feet and completed a pitch maneuver so astronauts aboard the station could photograph Endeavour’s underside to look for any damage to the tiles. Zamka then manually guided Endeavour to a docking at the Pressurized Mating Adapter-2 attached to the Harmony module. After docking, the crews opened the hatches and the five-person station crew welcomed the six-member shuttle crew. Patrick and Expedition 22 Flight Engineer Timothy “T.J.” Creamer used the space station robotic arm to remove the inspection boom and hand it off to the shuttle arm operated by Hire and Virts. At the end of the day, Behnken and Partick entered the station’s airlock, reduced its pressure and breathed pure oxygen for an hour before and an hour after sleep to rid their bodies of nitrogen to prevent the bends.
Transfer of the Tranquility and cupola modules from the space shuttle to the space station. Robert Behnken, left, and Nicholas Patrick during the mission’s first spacewalk. STS-130 astronauts Stephen Robinson, top left, and Terry Virts and Expedition 22 Flight Engineer Soichi Noguchi of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) in the newly installed Tranquility module. Nicholas Patrick, left, and Robert Behnken during the mission’s second spacewalk. The astronauts completed the major transfer activity of the mission on flight day five, a highly choreographed spacewalk and robotics effort to move the Tranquility and cupola modules from the shuttle to the station. Behnken and Patrick exited the airlock to begin the mission’s first excursion, first venturing to the shuttle payload bay to remove launch locks from Tranquility. Virts and Hire used the station arm to remove the joined modules from the payload bay and attach it to the Unity module’s port side. Behnken and Partick connected temporary heater and data cables to the new module. This first spacewalk lasted six hours 32 minutes. The next day, the joint crews began outfitting Tranquility and preparing to relocate the cupola from the end of the module to its Earth-facing port.
On the mission’s seventh day, some of the astronauts continued outfitting and configuring the new modules. In the meantime, Behnken and Patrick stepped outside for a five-hour 54-minute excursion, to install ammonia coolant loops and thermal blankets to protect the ammonia hoses, and outfitted Tranquility’s Earth-facing port to accept the cupola.
Relocation of the cupola to Tranquility’s Earth-facing port. Kathryn Hire, left, Terry Virts, and Expedition 22 Commander Jeffery Williams operate the space station’s robotic arm to relocate the cupola. During the mission’s third spacewalk, Nicholas Patrick, left, and Robert Behnken remove thermal blankets from the cupola. Terry Virts, left, and Jeffery Williams in the cupola after opening the windows for the first time. The next day, Hire and Virts, assisted by Expedition 22 Commander Jeffery Williams, used the station’s robotic arm to relocate the cupola. On flight day 9, Behnken and Patrick operated the station arm to relocate the Pressurized Mating Adapter-3 from Harmony to Tranquility. The crews continued internal cargo transfers and began outfitting the cupola.
On the mission’s 10th day, Patrick and Behnken completed their third and final spacewalk. During the five-hour 48-minute excursion, they removed thermal blankets and launch locks from the cupola, installed handrails, connected the second cooling loop on Tranquility, and connected heater and data cables. Inside the cupola, Hire and Virts installed the robotics workstation. Across their three spacewalks, Behnken and Patrick spent 18 hours 14 minutes outside.
Stephen Robinson, left, Soichi Noguchi of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), and Nicholas Patrick transfer an environmental control system rack into Tranquility. George Zamka cuts the ribbon to officially open Tranquility for business, as Jeffery Williams looks on. The 11 members of STS-130 and Expedition 22 pose for a final photograph before saying farewell. The STS-130 crew poses in the cupola. Fisheye lens view of the two crews enjoying a meal together. The crews spent flight day 11 outfitting Tranquility with systems racks and other equipment moved from the Destiny U.S. Laboratory module. Virts finished installing robotic workstation equipment in the Cupola. Behnken and Partick transferred their spacesuits back to the shuttle for return to Earth. The crew received a phone call from President Barack Obama and several schoolchildren. Zamka and Virts used the shuttle’s thrusters to reboost the space station.
The next day, after holding a news conference with reporters on the ground, shuttle commander Zamka and station commander Williams held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to formally declare Tranquility and the cupola open for business. After a final meal together, the two crews held a farewell ceremony, returned to their respective spacecraft, and closed the hatches.
The space station seen from Endeavour during the fly-around with the Tranquility and cupola modules. Endeavour as seen from the space station during the fly-around, with a now empty payload bay. Endeavour touches down at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Workers ensure that Endeavour is safe after landing. The STS-130 astronauts pose on the runway at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The welcome home ceremony for the STS-130 crew at Ellington Field in Houston. On flight day 13, with Virts at the controls, Endeavour undocked from the space station, having spent nearly 10 days as a single spacecraft. The astronauts used the shuttle’s arm and boom sensors to perform a late inspection of Endeavour’s thermal protection system. On flight day 14, Zamka and Virts tested the orbiter’s reaction control system thrusters and flight control surfaces in preparation for the next day’s entry and landing.
On Feb. 22, Hire and Robinson closed Endeavour’s payload bay doors. The six astronauts donned their launch and entry suits and strapped themselves into their seats. Zamka and Virts fired Endeavour’s two Orbital Maneuvering System engines to bring them out of orbit and Zamka guided Endeavour to a smooth touchdown at Kennedy’s Shuttle Landing Facility. The landing capped off a successful mission of 13 days, 18 hours, six minutes and 217 orbits of the Earth. Workers at Kennedy towed Endeavour to the processing facility to prepare it for its next and final flight, STS-134 in May 2011, and the astronauts returned to Houston for a welcoming ceremony at Ellington Field.
Watch the crew narrate a video about the STS-130 mission.
Read More
Explore More
10 min read 15 Years Ago: STS-129 Delivers Cargo on the Third Utilization and Logistics Flight
Article 3 months ago 11 min read 15 Years Ago: STS-128 Delivers Cargo to Enable Six-Person Space Station Crew
Article 6 months ago 13 min read 15 Years Ago: STS-127 Delivers Japanese External Platform to Space Station
Article 7 months ago View the full article
-
-
Check out these Videos
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.