STS-129
Encyclopedia
Crew seat assignments
| Seat | Launch | Landing | Seats 1–4 are on the Flight Deck. Seats 5–7 are on the Middeck. |
|---|---|---|---|
| S1 | Charles Hobaugh | Charles Hobaugh | |
| S2 | Barry Wilmore | Barry Wilmore | |
| S3 | Leland Melvin | Randolph Bresnik | |
| S4 | Randolph Bresnik | Leland Melvin | |
| S5 | Michael Foreman | Michael Foreman | |
| S6 | Robert Satcher | Robert Satcher | |
| S7 | – | Nicole Stott |
Mission payload
| Location | Cargo | Mass |
|---|---|---|
| Bays 1–2 | Orbiter Docking System EMU Extravehicular Mobility Unit The Space Shuttle/International Space Station Extravehicular Mobility Unit is an independent anthropomorphic system that provides environmental protection, mobility, life support, and communications for a Space Shuttle or International Space Station crew member to perform extra-vehicular activity... 3010 / EMU 3008 |
1800 kilograms (3,968.3 lb) ~260 kilograms (573.2 lb) |
| Bay 3P | Shuttle Power Distribution Unit (SPDU) |
~17 kilograms (37.5 lb) |
| Bay 3S | SPA/S-band Antenna (SASA) | 272 kilograms (599.7 lb) |
| Bay 4P | APC/MISSE 7A | 98 kilograms (216.1 lb) |
| Bay 4S | APC/MISSE 7A | 98 kilograms (216.1 lb) |
| Bays 6–9 | EXPRESS Logistics Carrier ELC-1 | 6396 kilograms (14,100.8 lb) |
| Bay 9P | ROEU umbilical | ~79 kilograms (174.2 lb) |
| Bay 9S | ROEU umbilical | ~79 kilograms (174.2 lb) |
| Bays 10–13 | EXPRESS Logistics Carrier ELC-2 | 6136 kilograms (13,527.6 lb) |
| Starboard Sill | Orbiter Boom Sensor System Orbiter Boom Sensor System The Orbiter Boom Sensor System is a 50-foot boom carried on board NASA's Space Shuttles. The boom can be grappled by the Canadarm and serves as an extension of the arm, doubling its length to a combined total of 100 feet... |
~382 kilograms (842.2 lb) |
| Port Sill | Canadarm 301 | 410 kilograms (903.9 lb) |
| Total: | 16027 kilograms (35,333.5 lb) |
ExPRESS Logistics Carriers 1 and 2
The primary payload of STS-129 was the ExPRESS (Expedite the Processing of Experiments to the Space Station) Logistics Carrier (ELC-1) and the ELC-2. The mass capacity of each ELC is 9800 lbs with a volume of 30 meters cubed (total with spares, ELC-1: 13850 lbs and ELC-2: 13400 lbs). Goddard Space Flight CenterGoddard Space Flight Center
The Goddard Space Flight Center is a major NASA space research laboratory established on May 1, 1959 as NASA's first space flight center. GSFC employs approximately 10,000 civil servants and contractors, and is located approximately northeast of Washington, D.C. in Greenbelt, Maryland, USA. GSFC,...
served as the overall integrator for ELC-1 and ELC-2.
The spare hardware stored on ELC-1 includes an Ammonia Tank Assembly, a Battery Charger Discharge Unit, a station
robotic arm Latching End Effector, a Control Moment Gyroscope, a Nitrogen Tank Assembly, a Pump Module, a Plasma Contactor Unit and two empty Passive Flight Releasable Attachment Mechanisms.
ELC-2 was launched with an oxygen-filled High Pressure Gas Tank (HPGT), a Cargo Transport Container (CTC-1), a Mobile Transporter Trailing Umbilical System Reel Assembly (MT TUS-RA), a Control Moment Gyroscope, a Nitrogen Tank Assembly, a Pump Module, MISSE attach hardware and one empty site for future payloads.
ELC-1 was installed on the Unpressurized Cargo Carrier Attachment System #2 (UCCAS 2) on the P3 (port side) segment of the main truss. ELC-2 was installed on the Upper Outboard Payload Attach System on the S3 (Starboard Segment 3) of the main truss.
Materials on International Space Station Experiment (MISSE) carrier
ELC2 also carried MISSE-7, an experiment that will expose a variety of materials and coatings being considered for future spacecraft to the extreme conditions outside the space station. The materials are being evaluated for the effects of atomic oxygen, ultraviolet, direct sunlight, radiation, and extremes of heat and cold. The experimental findings will benefit better understanding, development and to test new materials suitable to better withstand the rigors of space environments with applications in the design of future spacecraft.MISSE-7 is composed of two suitcase-sized Passive Experiment Containers (PECs), identified as MISSE 7A and MISSE 7B. Once installed in the exterior of ISS by space walking astronauts, the PECs are opened. The orientation of MISSE 7A will be space facing/Earth facing while MISSE 7B will face forward/backward relative to the ISS orbit. Both MISSE 7A and MISSE 7B contain active and passive experiments. Passive experiments are designed for pre- and post-flight evaluation in ground-based laboratories.
S-band Antenna Sub-Assembly (SASA) package
Atlantis delivered a repaired S-band Antenna Sub-Assembly (SASA) to the ISS which was returned to Earth during the STS-120STS-120
-Crew notes:As commander of STS-120, Pamela Melroy became the second woman to command a space shuttle mission. Additionally, the Expedition 16 crew that received STS-120 was commanded by Peggy Whitson, the first female ISS commander...
mission in October 2007. SASA is a space station antenna assembly consisting of
- Assembly Contingency Radio Frequency Group (RFG or ACRFG)
- SASA Boom
- Avionics Wire Harness
Major functions of the ACRFG are to transmit/receive radio signals to/from the transponder, amplification of signals to a power level necessary to be acquired by a Tracking Data and Relay Satellite
Tracking and Data Relay Satellite
A Tracking and Data Relay Satellite is a type of communications satellite that forms part of the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System used by NASA and other United States government agencies for communications to and from independent "User Platforms" such as satellites, balloons, aircraft,...
and to broadcast/receive signals through the selected antenna.
The SASA boom assembly consists of a mast, an extra-vehicular activity (EVA) handle, a harness, a connector panel, a mounting surface for the RFG and a baseplate fitting. The fitting will serve as the structural interface for mounting the SASA to the Zenith 1 truss on the ISS.
The Avionics Wire Harness installed on the SASA Boom provides operational and heater power to the RFG. Another function of the harness is to send command/status/RF signals to and from RFG.
SASA package was attached to the sidewall inside the payload bay of Atlantis during the ascent to the ISS. It was transferred from the payload bay to the Zenith 1 truss for installation as a spare by spacewalkers Foreman and Satcher performing EVA 1 on November 19.
SpaceX COTS UHF Communication Unit and Crew Command Panel
In a middeck stowage locker, Atlantis carried the Commercial Orbital Transportation ServicesCommercial Orbital Transportation Services
Commercial Orbital Transportation Services is a NASA program to coordinate the delivery of crew and cargo to the International Space Station by private companies. The program was announced on January 18, 2006...
(COTS) Ultra High Frequency
Ultra high frequency
Ultra-High Frequency designates the ITU Radio frequency range of electromagnetic waves between 300 MHz and 3 GHz , also known as the decimetre band or decimetre wave as the wavelengths range from one to ten decimetres...
(UHF) Communication Unit (CUCU) developed by Space Exploration Technologies
SpaceX
Space Exploration Technologies Corporation, or more popularly and informally known as SpaceX, is an American space transport company that operates out of Hawthorne, California...
(SpaceX) in collaboration with NASA to the ISS. It will be integrated on the space station in preparation for future SpaceX flights to the orbiting complex. The unit allows for communication between ISS and SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft via a UHF radio. Commands from SpaceX can be forwarded through ISS to CUCU and on to Dragon. Similarly, telemetry from Dragon and CUCU can be forwarded down through ISS for monitoring by SpaceX and NASA ground-based mission control. The Crew Command Panel (CCP) provides feedback about the state of the Dragon vehicle to astronauts aboard ISS. It additionally provides some simple commanding capability to the astronauts to be used during the Dragon approach to ISS.
Other items
Astronaut Randolph Bresnik carried a scarf worn by the noted American aviation pioneer and author Amelia EarhartAmelia Earhart
Amelia Mary Earhart was a noted American aviation pioneer and author. Earhart was the first woman to receive the U.S. Distinguished Flying Cross, awarded for becoming the first aviatrix to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean...
. The scarf had been on display at the Ninety-Nines Museum of Women Pilots in Oklahoma City. Bresnik’s grandfather, Albert Louis Bresnik, was the personal photographer for Earhart from 1932 until July 2, 1937—the date of her disappearance. After being returned to Earth, the scarf would be placed in a new display at the Museum dedicated to the astronaut’s grandfather's photographs.
In addition, the official opening toss-coin for Super Bowl XLIV
Super Bowl XLIV
Super Bowl XLIV was an American football game between the American Football Conference champion Indianapolis Colts and the National Football Conference champion New Orleans Saints to decide the National Football League champion for the 2009 season. The Saints defeated the Colts by a score of...
(see "Pregame" section for the actual coin toss itself) as well as a football with all of the Pro Football Hall of Fame
Pro Football Hall of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of professional football in the United States with an emphasis on the National Football League . It opened in Canton, Ohio, on September 7, 1963, with 17 charter inductees...
inductees written on it and various other NFL
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
-related, space-flown memorabilia were flown on STS-129.
Mission experiments
The crew of Atlantis worked with several short-term experiments during their mission. Atlantis also transported new long-term experimentLong-term experiment
A long-term experiment is an experimental procedure that runs through a long period of time, in order to test a hypothesis or observe a phenomenon that takes place at an extremely slow rate....
s to the space station. At the end of the mission, the shuttle will return some of the completed experiments from the ISS.
Short-term experiments included:
- Shuttle Exhaust Ion Turbulence Experiments (SEITE) – The crew of Atlantis carried out the SEITE burn on Flight Day 11. SEITE uses instrumentation on The Communications/Navigation Outage Forecasting System (C/NOFS) satellite for in situ observations of density and electric field disturbances caused by the shuttle Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS) engine exhaust plume. The scope of the research is to enhance the surveillance of space, real-time characterization, detection and tracking and timely surveillance of high interest objects.
- Shuttle Ionospheric Modification with Pulsed Localized Exhaust Experiments (SIMPLEX) – The crew carried out the SIMPLEX burn on Flight Day 11. The experiment investigates plasma turbulence driven by shuttle exhaust in the ionosphere using ground-based radars. The processes by which chemical releases can produce plasma turbulence are quantified with the SIMPLEX measurements. Plasma turbulence can affect military navigation and communications using radio systems. They can also be used to promote communications by opening radio channels at abnormally high frequencies.
New experiments delivered to the space station included:
- Microbe experiment – An experiment developed by Texas Southern UniversityTexas Southern UniversityTexas Southern University is a historically black university located in Houston, Texas, United States....
(TSU) students in Houston that aims to study how microbes (Escherichia coliEscherichia coliEscherichia coli is a Gram-negative, rod-shaped bacterium that is commonly found in the lower intestine of warm-blooded organisms . Most E. coli strains are harmless, but some serotypes can cause serious food poisoning in humans, and are occasionally responsible for product recalls...
i and Bacillus subtilisBacillus subtilisBacillus subtilis, known also as the hay bacillus or grass bacillus, is a Gram-positive, catalase-positive bacterium commonly found in soil. A member of the genus Bacillus, B. subtilis is rod-shaped, and has the ability to form a tough, protective endospore, allowing the organism to tolerate...
) grow under weightless conditions in space. Students at TSU, Center for Bionanotechnology and Environmental Research (CBER) will share experimental data with K-12 students nationwide. Visit http://www.tsu.edu/pages/3611.asp to obtain additional information on the experiment named "URC Microbial 1"or to download fact sheet use - Butterflies in Space Program – The shuttle carried a suitcase sized payload holding larvae of Painted LadyPainted LadyThe Cynthia group of colourful butterflies, commonly called painted ladies, comprises a subgenus of the genus Vanessa in the Family Nymphalidae...
butterflies and MonarchMonarch butterflyThe Monarch butterfly is a milkweed butterfly , in the family Nymphalidae. It is perhaps the best known of all North American butterflies. Since the 19th century, it has been found in New Zealand, and in Australia since 1871 where it is called the Wanderer...
butterflies to the space station. Researchers at the University of Colorado in Boulder expect to compare the space caterpillars with butterfly larvae raised on Earth by students from 100 U.S. elementary and middle schools. Visit http://www.bioedonline.org to follow the ground-based experiment on Earth at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, or to download the Butterflies in Space free teacher's guide for classroom use. - Advanced Plant Experiments on orbit (APEX-Cambium project) – This joint Canadian Space Agency/NASA project aims to help determine the role gravity plays in the formation of reaction wood in trees. APEX-Cambium will also carry out a second experiment to detect the effects of stressors in space on gene expression in higher plants.
- Atlantis transported thousands of the microscopic Caenorhabditis elegansCaenorhabditis elegansCaenorhabditis elegans is a free-living, transparent nematode , about 1 mm in length, which lives in temperate soil environments. Research into the molecular and developmental biology of C. elegans was begun in 1974 by Sydney Brenner and it has since been used extensively as a model...
worm that have been sent from the University of Nottingham, UK to the ISS. The worms are expected to suffer similar muscle loss to humans and will be stored inside the Kibo laboratory. They will be used to study the effect of zero gravity on the human body's muscle development and physiology. Several potential treatments for muscle loss will be tested on the creatures and the research findings will pave the way for treatments to be safely tested on astronauts.
- For a comprehensive list of all STS-129 experiments and more information, see.
Mission background and milestones
The mission marked:- 160th NASA manned space flight
- 129th shuttle mission since STS-1STS-1STS-1 was the first orbital flight of NASA's Space Shuttle program. Space Shuttle Columbia launched on 12 April 1981, and returned to Earth on 14 April, having orbited the Earth 37 times during the 54.5-hour mission. It was the first American manned space flight since the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project...
- 31st flight of Atlantis
- 31st shuttle mission to the ISS
- 5th shuttle flight in 2009
- 104th post-ChallengerSpace Shuttle Challenger disasterThe Space Shuttle Challenger disaster occurred on January 28, 1986, when Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart 73 seconds into its flight, leading to the deaths of its seven crew members. The spacecraft disintegrated over the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of central Florida at 11:38 am EST...
mission - 16th post-ColumbiaSpace Shuttle Columbia disasterThe Space Shuttle Columbia disaster occurred on February 1, 2003, when shortly before it was scheduled to conclude its 28th mission, STS-107, the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated over Texas and Louisiana during re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere, resulting in the death of all seven crew members...
mission
The STS-129 mission marked NASA's fifth tweetup, and its first such event ever held during a Shuttle launch at Kennedy Space Center
Kennedy Space Center
The John F. Kennedy Space Center is the NASA installation that has been the launch site for every United States human space flight since 1968. Although such flights are currently on hiatus, KSC continues to manage and operate unmanned rocket launch facilities for America's civilian space program...
in Cape Canaveral, Florida
Cape Canaveral, Florida
Cape Canaveral is a city in Brevard County, Florida, United States. The population was 8,829 at the 2000 census. As of 2008, the estimated population according to the U.S. Census Bureau was 10,147...
. One hundred members of the general public, representing Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and 21 U.S. states, in addition to the District of Columbia, attended the two-day event and, for a time, the #nasatweetup hashtag reached #3 on Twitter's trending topics.
Launch window
The November 2009 launch window of Atlantis, between November 16 and November 20, was complicated by the launch of the Mini-Russian Research Module 2 (MRM-2) aboard a Soyuz-USoyuz-U
The Soyuz-U launch vehicle is an improved version of the original Soyuz LV. Soyuz-U is part of the R-7 family of rockets based on the R-7 Semyorka missile. Members of this rocket family were designed by the TsSKB design bureau and constructed at the Progress Factory in Samara, Russia....
rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome
Baikonur Cosmodrome
The Baikonur Cosmodrome , also called Tyuratam, is the world's first and largest operational space launch facility. It is located in the desert steppe of Kazakhstan, about east of the Aral Sea, north of the Syr Darya river, near Tyuratam railway station, at 90 meters above sea level...
in Kazakhstan. Further conflict was caused by Eastern Range constraints with two other satellite launches from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
Cape Canaveral Air Force Station is an installation of the United States Air Force Space Command's 45th Space Wing, headquartered at nearby Patrick Air Force Base. Located on Cape Canaveral in the state of Florida, CCAFS is the primary launch head of America's Eastern Range with four launch pads...
, one at the beginning of the shuttle's launch window and the other at the end. The Eastern Range had been reserved on November 14 and 15, 2009, for the launch of the communications satellite Intelsat 14
Intelsat 14
Intelsat 14 is a communications satellite owned by Intelsat located at 45° West longitude, serving the Americas, Europe, and African markets. Intelsat 14 replaced Intelsat 1R which was at the end of its design life...
aboard an Atlas-V
Atlas V
Atlas V is an active expendable launch system in the Atlas rocket family. Atlas V was formerly operated by Lockheed Martin, and is now operated by the Lockheed Martin-Boeing joint venture United Launch Alliance...
rocket. A Delta-IV rocket carrying a Wideband Global SATCOM
Wideband Global SATCOM system
The Wideband Global SATCOM system is a satellite communications system planned for use in partnership by the United States Department of Defense and the Australian Department of Defence. The system is composed of the Space Segment satellites, the Terminal Segment users and the Control Segment...
satellite was also expected to lift off on November 19, 2009.
On November 10, 2009, MRM-2 was successfully launched, docking with the ISS on the 12th, while on the same day the Delta-IV rocket team announced that they had delayed their launch to a future date, allowing the shuttle to gain additional launch opportunities at the end of the window if it required. Atlas V's launch with the Intelsat 14 was scrubbed on the 14th due to a technical issue requiring a rollback. The scrub, lasting more than 24 hours, meant that Atlantis also avoided a possible postponement of its launch slipping into November 17, 2009.
Shuttle processing
Atlantis was towed from its hangar in Orbiter Processing Facility-1Orbiter Processing Facility
An Orbiter Processing Facility was one of three hangars where U.S. space shuttle orbiters underwent maintenance between flights. All three such facilities, OPF-1, OPF-2 and OPF-3, were located at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida at Launch Complex 39.They were located west of the Vehicle...
to the Vehicle Assembly Building
Vehicle Assembly Building
The Vehicle Assembly Building, or VAB, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center was used to assemble and house American manned launch vehicles from 1968-2011. It is the fourth largest building in the world by volume...
(VAB) on October 6, 2009 at about 07:00 EDT. The move, known as rollover, was completed at 08:25 when Atlantis arrived in the VAB transfer aisle. Atlantis was initially scheduled to roll out to Launch Pad 39A on October 13, 2009. However, an issue with a crane that was being used to transfer Atlantis for attachment to its external fuel tank and two solid rocket boosters caused a delay in operations forcing the shuttle managers to add extra 24-hours to the rollout preparations.
Atlantis rolled out from the VAB to the Launch Complex 39A on October 14, 2009, at 06:38 EDT in a slow drive on the top of the Crawler-transporter
Crawler-Transporter
The crawler-transporters are a pair of tracked vehicles used to transport spacecraft from NASA's Vehicle Assembly Building along the Crawlerway to Launch Complex 39. They were originally used to transport the Saturn IB and Saturn V rockets during the Apollo, Skylab and Apollo–Soyuz programs....
. The 3.4 miles (5.5 km) rollout was completed with the launch platform secured in place at about 13:31 EDT.
The final flight readiness review (FRR) meeting for the STS-129 mission took place at Kennedy Space Center during the last week of October 2009. The FRR had approved the installation of a special minicam pointing out of window 4 on Atlantis' flight deck. The camera will film the forward portion of the External Tank during the shuttle's ascent to orbit, in order to capture the behavior of the LO2 Ice Frost Ramps (IFRs) located on the upper part of the tank during potential liberation events.
NASA managers held a post news conference to brief about the outcomes of the FRR on October 30, 2009. The briefing was broadcasted on NASA TV and was attended by William Gerstenmaier, NASA's Associate Administrator for Space Operations, Michael Moses, Launch Integration Manager, Space Shuttle Program and Michael Leinbach
Michael D. Leinbach
Michael D. Leinbach was the Shuttle Launch Director at NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center , Florida. He was responsible for activities in the overall shuttle launch countdown, including planning, policy, and execution.-Early life:...
, space shuttle launch director. Mr. Gerstenmaier and Mr. Moses mentioned about two issues related to ongoing shuttle processing that had been discussed during the FRR: (1) Effects of vibrations and acoustics associated with the Main Engine ignition—a potential issue with a stinger (bolt) structure on the aft of the shuttle, which may be susceptible to the stresses of Main Engine ignition (2) Shuttle's toilet – a new Aluminum bracket used to help anchor the toilet to the crew module structure had been installed. For future flights, NASA plans to use a redesigned Titanium
Titanium
Titanium is a chemical element with the symbol Ti and atomic number 22. It has a low density and is a strong, lustrous, corrosion-resistant transition metal with a silver color....
bracket.
The payload for the mission was moved to Launch Pad 39A on the October 29, 2009 and was installed into the shuttle's payload bay on November 4, 2009.
During the post-flight interview on November 16, shuttle launch director Mike Leinbach told that Atlantis officially beat shuttle Discovery on the record low amount of Interim Problem Reports, with a total of just 54 listed since returning from the STS-125
STS-125
STS-125, or HST-SM4 , was the fifth and final space shuttle servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope .Launch occurred on 11 May 2009 at 2:01 pm EDT...
. He continued to add "It's due to the team and the hardware processing. They just did a great job. The record will probably never be broken again in the history of the Space Shuttle Program, so congratulations to them".
Launch preparations
Final launch preparations commenced at Pad 39A with technicians closing Atlantis' payload bay doors during the morning hours on November 13, 2009. On the same day, NASA's official launch countdown clock began at 1 pm and the crew flew to Kennedy's Shuttle Landing Facility in a Shuttle Training Aircraft Gulfstream II jet at 12:35 EST to prepare for the launch.On November 14, 2009, after the L-2 Mission Management Team (MMT) meeting, space shuttle launch integration manager Michael Moses announced that the MMT gave the official "go" for Atlantis’s launch on Monday, and Hobaugh and Wilmore practiced landings in the Shuttle Training Aircraft. On the evening at about 5.30 pm the Rotating Service Structure that protects the shuttle from adverse weather conditions was rolled back anticipating next day's launch.
The MMT again met at 04:30 EST on November 16, 2009 and gave a "go" to begin loading shuttle Atlantis’ external tank. The tanking began at 05:03 EST and was completed at 08:00 EST. The final unanimous "go" for launch directive from the mission management team, mission control and the launch team came during the countdown clock holding at T-9 minutes.
The initial launch day weather forecast called for a 90% chance of favorable launch conditions. As the launch preparations continued, due to lower cloud cover ceilings it was changed to 70% and at liftoff to 80%.
Mission timeline
Nov. 16 (Flight Day 1 – Launch)
Atlantis launched on time at 14:28 EDTEastern Time Zone
The Eastern Time Zone of the United States and Canada is a time zone that falls mostly along the east coast of North America. Its UTC time offset is −5 hrs during standard time and −4 hrs during daylight saving time...
(19:28:10 UTC), with launch commentator George Diller
George Diller
George Diller is a specialist in the NASA public affairs office at the Kennedy Space Center. He provides public announcements and commentary before and during launches from the Kennedy Space Center, including the space shuttle and unmanned spacecraft such as the Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity...
's words upon launch being "liftoff of space shuttle Atlantis, on a mission to build, re-supply and to do research on the International Space Station". Powered flight conformed to the standard timeline (see Space Shuttle – Mission Profile – Launch), with main engine cutoff (MECO) occurring at eight minutes and 24 seconds Mission Elapsed Time (MET) and the external tank separating from the shuttle at eight minutes and 38 seconds MET into the flight. A further boost from the Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS) engines was not required due to the nominal MECO and Atlantis settled into its planned preliminary orbit. A subsequent NC-1 engine firing adjusted the orbital path of the shuttle to the ISS, by altering the shuttle's velocity, resulting in a new orbit of 147 by 118 statute miles.
At the post-launch news conference, NASA officials reported that three foam events were seen in the external fuel tank (ET) video camera footage. They further quoted that the events weren't a concern since the foam loss events occurred after the aerodynamic sensitive time period. Later in the day, based on a quick-look review of the launch video, crew communicator (CAPCOM) astronaut Christopher Ferguson
Christopher Ferguson
Christopher J. Ferguson is a United States Navy captain and a NASA astronaut. He was the pilot of Space Shuttle Atlantis on his first mission to space, STS-115, which launched on September 9, 2006 and returned to Earth on September 21, 2006...
also informed the shuttle crew that there were no ascent debris events of concern.
Flight day 1 on-orbit operations included, opening of the both payload bay doors of Atlantis at 21:12 GMT, deploying the radiators, deploying Ku-Band antenna to gain favorable communications, opening of the protective doors covering the star trackers on the nose of the shuttle, setting up the onboard computer network, downlinking imagery and data collected during the flight into orbit, getting out of their launch and entry spacesuits and stowing away the mission specialists' seats.
The crew also completed a thorough checkout of the shuttle's robotic arm earlier in preparation for the survey of Atlantis' wing leading edge panels and nose cap on flight day 2. Some of the crew started their sleep period around 21:45 pm EST about an hour or so later than originally planned.
Nov. 17 (Flight Day 2 – TPS survey)
The crew members aboard space shuttle Atlantis began their first full day in space at 09:28 UTC. The day was primarily devoted to inspect Atlantis’s thermal protection systemSpace Shuttle thermal protection system
The Space Shuttle thermal protection system is the barrier that protects the Space Shuttle Orbiter during the searing heat of atmospheric reentry...
to look for any signs of launch damage. Using the shuttle's robotic arm and the Orbiter Boom Sensor System
Orbiter Boom Sensor System
The Orbiter Boom Sensor System is a 50-foot boom carried on board NASA's Space Shuttles. The boom can be grappled by the Canadarm and serves as an extension of the arm, doubling its length to a combined total of 100 feet...
(OBSS), the crew performed a six hour inspection of the reinforced carbon nose cap and wing leading edge panels of the shuttle. After releasing its grasp on the inspection boom, the robotic arm grappled the ExPRESS Logistics Carrier 1 (ELC1) as a preparatory step for installation on Flight Day 3.
The images and video from the thermal protection system survey would be reviewed by the image analysis team on the ground. During the day's Mission Management Team (MMT) briefing, chairman LeRoy Cain noted that a preliminary assessment of ascent imagery and data beamed down during the thermal protection inspection showed no signs of any significant heat shield damage.
The crew also made progress to dock with the space station on Flight Day 3. The mission’s spacewalkers worked inside the middeck to test and ready the spacesuits that would be used during the spacewalks. The crew extended the ring of the orbital docking system in preparation for linkup with the ISS. Commander Charles Hobaugh also installed the docking system's centerline camera that was used during the rendezvous with the station in the docking port. Two Rendezvous burns were performed (NC-2 and NC-3) on the path to reach the station. The NC-2 burn was scheduled for earlier in the day and once again Atlantis' reaction control jets were fired for NC-3 burn later in the day. The NC-3 burn lasted for 12s.
Nov. 18 (Flight Day 3 – Docking)
Atlantis' crew awoke at 09:28 UTC and began the rendezvous operations two hours into the day. Guided by a series of maneuvers—NH, NC-4 and the Terminal Insertion burns to refine the shuttle's trajectory—Atlantis closed in on the space station. Before the shuttle docked STS-129 Commander Charles Hobaugh performed what is known as the Rendezvous Pitch Maneuver (RPM) beginning at 15:52 UTC above the Atlantic Ocean, while Station astronauts Nicole Stott and Jeffrey Williams photographed Atlantis' belly with handheld digital cameras equipped with 400- and 800-millimeter lenses as part of post-launch inspections of the heat shield. The photos were down-linked to mission control for review. The pitch maneuver was completed at 16:01 UTC.Docking to Harmony/Pressurized Mating Adapter-2 occurred a couple of minutes ahead of schedule at 16:51 UTC. The joined spacecrafts were orbiting 220 miles above Earth at the time of docking, above Australia and Tasmania. After leak checks, the hatchway between Atlantis and the space station was opened at 18:28 UTC. The traditional welcome ceremony and the station safety briefing followed, and shuttle and station crews began their joint operations for the rest of day. The astronauts worked to move the spacewalking suits carried up on Atlantis over to the Quest airlock for use in the EVAs. After the hatch opening, astronaut Nicole Stott’s tenure as a station Expedition 21 flight engineer came to an end as she joined the Atlantis crew.
Later in the day at 19:52 UTC, shuttle's robotic arm operated by Mission Specialists Melvin and Bresnik lifted the ExPRESS Logistics Carrier 1 which it had grappled on Flight day 2 out of the payload bay. After handing over to the station's Canadarm2 controlled by shuttle Pilot Wilmore and station Flight Engineer Williams, the carrier was attached to the ISS's Port 3 truss at 21:27 UTC.
Mission Specialists Michael Foreman and Robert Satcher spent the night in the Quest airlock as part of the overnight "campout" procedure to help them get prepared for next day's spacewalk.
During the post MMT briefing Leroy Cain noted that the shuttle continues to perform flawlessly with no significant problems to report. Furthermore, he added that NASA is not tracking down any significant issues with Atlantis.
Nov. 19 (Flight Day 4 – EVA 1)
The wakeup call from the Mission Control Center in Houston went up to the crew at 09:28 UTC to begin Flight Day 4. Earlier in the morning, Mission Control also radioed commander Charles Hobaugh with the news that the crew won't need to perform follow-up inspections on Atlantis' heat shield during a period of time set aside on flight day 5. The crew was told to use that "deleted time" to get ahead with shuttle-to-station cargo transfers. Later on Thursday, NASA officials said that Atlantis' heat shield has been cleared for re-entry.The major activity for the day was mission's first spacewalk (EVA 1) by astronauts Foreman and Satcher. Foreman, the lead spacewalker wore a suit with solid red stripes while Satcher wore an all-white spacesuit. Inside the space station Atlantis Mission Specialist Randolph Bresnik choreographed the activities and coordinated communications between the spacewalkers and Mission Control. Since Foreman and Satcher completed their chores nearly two hours ahead of schedule, planners decided to add a "get ahead" task; Satcher to lubricate the Kibo robotic arm snares while Foreman to route a LAN cable on Zarya and mate power cables on a patch panel at the S0 truss. Towards the end of EVA 1, while deploying the Payload Attach System (PAS) on the Earth-facing side of the Starboard 3 truss, the crew had difficulty loosening a bolt and removing a diagonal brace on the PAS. After hammering on a bolt and wiggling the brace, they successfully deployed the PAS and reinstalled the brace. The spacewalk marked: 228th spacewalk conducted by U.S. astronauts, the 134th in support of space station assembly and maintenance, 106th spacewalk out of the space station, the fourth for Foreman and the first for Satcher.
The focus of other Atlantis crew members was mostly on supporting the spacewalk or related activities.
Nicole Stott celebrated her 47th birthday in space.
The astronauts went into their sleep period at 00:28 UTC on November 20, 2009 as planned, however they were awakened at 01:36 UTC due to a false alarm indicating a sudden depressurization. After checks on the ground and in orbit, flight controllers in Houston, Europe and Russia concluded the station was safe and the crews were not in danger. To make up for the sleep they lost reacting to the alarm, crew sleep period was extended by 30 minutes.
Nov. 20 (Flight Day 5 – Internal Transfers)
Atlantis' crew awoke at 09:28 UTC. Just after 12;00 UTC, Atlantis Commander Charles Hobaugh and Mission Specialist Leland Melvin used the shuttle robotic arm to grasp the Express Logistics Carrier (ELC2), located in Atlantis' payload bay.Internal shuttle-to-station transfer of material kept the crew members busy through flight day 5. As a result, well over half the mission's transfer activities were completed. Inside the station's Unity node, crew members also completed the two-day task of outfitting the node. They routed a slew of cables, hoses and fluid lines to prepare for the arrival of the Tranquility node aboard STS-130
STS-130
STS-130 was a NASA Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station . 's primary payloads were the Tranquility module and the Cupola, a robotic control station with six windows around its sides and another in the center, providing a 360-degree view around the station...
, the next scheduled shuttle mission.
Over the course of day, several of the crew participated in chats with media representatives on the ground to answer their questions related to the mission and the experience of being up in space. Shortly after 11:00 UTC, Commander Hobaugh and Pilot Wilmore talked with CBS News, FOXNews Radio and Nashville's WTVG-TV. At 12:28 UTC, Melvin and Satcher were interviewed by the Tom Joyner Morning Show and at 21:33 UTC, Hobaugh, Melvin and Satcher talked with ESPN’s SportCenter, Black Entertainment Television News and WRIC-TV in Richmond, Va.
The crew also got prepared for mission's second spacewalk on Saturday. These tasks included recharging batteries, switching out Robert Satcher's spacesuit for that of Randolph Bresnik and reviewing procedures.
The crew went to their sleep period at 00:28 UTC half hour later than the station crew. Astronauts Foreman and Bresnik were to spent the night in the Quest airlock as part of the overnight "campout" procedure. Again, for the second night in a row, fire and depressurization alarms tripped inside the European Columbus Module
Columbus (ISS module)
Columbus is a science laboratory that is part of the International Space Station and is the largest single contribution to the ISS made by the European Space Agency ....
and the Quest airlock woke the Atlantis astronauts. The depressurization alarm triggered automatic procedures that brought the airlock back up to the station's normal pressure of 14.7 psi. Because of time needed to reset various systems, Foreman and Bresnik were informed to forego the normal "campout" procedure and to sleep wherever they liked, at the station's normal pressure. The flight controllers suspected that the alarms are a result of an unresolved problem with a newly arrived Russian Poisk (MRM2) module.
Nov. 21 (Flight Day 6 – EVA 2)
Thirty minutes later than planned, Mission Control Center, Houston sent the crew wake-up call at 08:58 UTC.The major activity for the day was mission's second spacewalk (EVA 2) by astronauts Foreman and Bresnik. Because of last night's space station false alarms sounded at 02:53 UTC, spacewalk was shortened to six hours and delayed the start. Mission Specialist Satcher, serving as the intravehicular crew member helped to direct the spacewalk. The spacewalking pair finished all their assigned work way ahead of timeline with no major problems and completed several "get ahead" tasks originally scheduled for the mission's third spacewalk. EVA 2 marked: 229th spacewalk conducted by U.S. astronauts, the 135th in support of space station assembly and maintenance, 107th spacewalk out of the space station, the fifth for Foreman and the first for Bresnik. Also between STS-123
STS-123
-Mission parameters:* Mass:* Orbiter liftoff: * Orbiter landing: * Perigee: 336 kilometers * Apogee: 346 kilometers * Inclination: 51.6 degrees* Period: 91.6min-Mission payloads:...
and STS-129, Michael Foreman has completed five spacewalks totaling 32 hours, 19 minutes and placing him 28th on the all-time list.
Earlier, at 11:32 UTC, Atlantis robotic arm operators Leland Melvin and Robert Satcher lifted ExPRESS Logistics Carrier 2 out of the shuttle payload bay and handed off to space station's robotic arm, Canadarm2. Just before the beginning of Saturday's spacewalk, at 14:14 UTC Mission Specialists Leland Melvin and Nicole Stott operating Canadarm2 mated the Carrier to the Outboard Payload Attachment System (PAS) on the S3 segment of the space station's main truss.
Ground engineers declared that a minor ring misalignment on Atlantis' Orbiter Docking System (ODS) is of no issue. They cleared the system for undocking and redocking with the space station—a safe haven scenario which would only be initiated in the event Atlantis has to return to the ISS. The docking ring had lost alignment during ring extension on flight day 2.
Nov. 22 (Flight Day 7 – Off duty)
The crew was awakened at 07:58 UTC. The day that began with some exciting news from Randolph Bresnik to Mission Control in Houston. Bresnik reported the birth of his daughter, Abigail Mae Bresnik at 17:04 UTC Saturday. He had got the news by private phone patch through mission control shortly after the crew was awakened. Mission specialist Bresnik is the second astronaut to become a father while in space. The first was astronaut Michael Fincke, whose wife gave birth to a baby girl while he was working at the International Space Station in 2004.The crew got a half-day off and earlier on the day and discussed their spaceflight with reporters. Astronauts Wilmore and Melvin, Satcher and Stott talked with reporters from WTTG-TV in Washington, D.C., Bay News 9 in Tampa, Fla., and WBBM Radio in Chicago. Wilmore, Melvin and Stott also supported an educational PAO TV event with Tennessee Technological University, Cookeville, attended by Tennessee students, the President of the University, and Representative Barton Gordon
Bart Gordon
Barton Jennings "Bart" Gordon, is a lawyer and former U.S. Representative for , serving from 1985 until 2011. The district includes several rural areas and fast-growing suburbs east of Nashville. He was Chairman of the House Committee on Science and Technology from 2007 until 2011. He is a member...
(Democratic-Tennessee). The Tennessee Technological University alumnus Wilmore’s parents were also present.
Some astronauts on both shuttle and station crews worked part-time to transfer equipment from the shuttle to the station and back, and to investigate false alarms sounded on Thursday and Friday. Preparations also continued for third and the last spacewalk of the mission. Shuttle crew members as well as the station’s crew joined in an hour-long spacewalk procedures review just before bedtime. Satcher and Bresnik prepared tools for their spacewalk, with help from Foreman. The two spacewalkers began their "campout" procedure in the Quest airlock.
Nov. 23 (Flight Day 8 – EVA 3)
Atlantis' crew awoke at 07:28 UTC.The major activity for the day was mission's third and final spacewalk (EVA 3) by astronauts Satcher and Bresnik. For identification, Satcher wore an all-white spacesuit while Bresnik wore a spacesuit with broken red stripes. Atlantis Mission Specialist Foreman, the intravehicular crew member for EVA 3 choreographed the activities and coordinated communications between the spacewalkers and Mission Control. Astronauts Melvin and Wilmore operated the station’s robotic Canadarm2.
The spacewalk started just over an hour later than planned due to Satcher reinserting a valve that became detached in his spacesuit drink bag. The bag is contained in the spacesuit and allows spacewalkers to sip water throughout their activity.
Working ahead of schedule most of time, the two Mission Specialists completed all the primary jobs they were assigned and all the “get ahead” work that was added to their timeline. EVA 3 marked: the 230th conducted by U.S. astronauts, the 136th in support of Space Station assembly and maintenance, totaling 849 hours, 18 minutes and the 108th spacewalk out of the space station, totaling 662 hours, 3 minutes. It was also the second for both Satcher and Bresnik.
The role of other Atlantis and Space Station crew members were mostly on supporting the spacewalk and completing cargo transfers between the shuttle and the ISS. Station Commander De Winne and STS-129 Mission Specialist Melvin shut down and packed the failed Urine Processor Assembly/Distillation Assembly (UPA DA) and then transferred it to the shuttle for stowage on the Middeck. De Winne working with STS-129 Commander Hobaugh afterwards, terminated the transfer of Nitrogen gas from Atlantis to the ISS.
Nov. 24 (Flight Day 9 – Hatch closure)
The crew woke at 06:58 UTC. Earlier on the day, Atlantis astronauts used the maneuvering thrusters of the shuttle to boost the Space Station to a slightly higher orbit. This 27-minute maneuver changed the station's velocity by 2.5 feet per second and raised its orbit by about 1.5 kilometre (0.93205910497471 mi).Final internal transfers continued throughout the day. Around 1,400 lbs of water from Atlantis to the Space Station was handed over. During 5 days of joint work, the crews also transferred 2,100 pounds of to be returned experiments and items.
Inside ISS, around 12:00 UTC a false smoke and fire alarm triggered by the Japanese Kibo laboratory sounded for about 4 minutes. Mission Control in Houston concluded that stirred up dust particles due to transfer operations aboard the station might have sounded the alarm. This was the third false station alarm during the STS-129 mission. The two previous alarms originated in the new Russian Poisk module.
Atlantis and the station crews also joined together for a traditional news conference with reporters at NASA centers, Mission Control in Russia and Canada, and TF1 evening news in France. The interactive event was aired live at 13:00 UTC. During the news conference, Expedition 21 astronaut Robert Thirsk said "The space station now is nearly complete". The station is currently about 86% complete.
Aboard the Destiny laboratory at 15:00 UTC shortly after a joint crew photo, Frank De Winne, the first European Space Agency commander of the Space Station handed over his command to astronaut Jeffrey Williams. The Change of Command Ceremony was the first-of-its-kind command handover during a shuttle mission on the ISS. Just after the ceremony, Atlantis crew members began a two-hour, off-duty period.
At 17:43 UTC, Atlantis’ astronauts bid farewell to the Station's crew inside the Harmony module and crossed the threshold into the shuttle. The hatches between space shuttle and the International Space Station were closed at 18:12 UTC in preparation for the Atlantis’ undocking. The hatch closure ended 5 days, 23 hours and 44 minutes of joint time between Atlantis and the station crews. Atlantis crew used their first hour separated from the station crew to get ready for undocking. They checked out rendezvous tools and set up a centerline camera and carried out leak checks on the Orbiter Docking System (ODS).
Nov. 25 (Flight Day 10 – Undocking)
Shuttle crew members were awakened at 06:29 UTC. Undocking operations began about an hour before the separation of the shuttle and the Space Station. The two spacecraft undocked at 09:53 UTC. The total docked time was 6 days, 17 hours and 2 minutes. After undocking, Wilmore piloted Atlantis to a point about 450 feet ahead of the station, then, began a flyaround. Once the flyaround was completed, Atlantis performed separation burns to increase the distance between the shuttle and the ISS and left the Space Station complex area at about 10:36 UTC.During a routine flush out of the shuttle waste water tank Wednesday morning, the astronauts ran into a problem. Mission Control noticed a reduction in the flow from the nozzle that vents the waste water into space. The tank can hold 165 pounds of liquid waste and the crew only managed to get it down to about 80 pounds. Later in the day, astronauts used the camera on Orbital Boom Sensor System (OBSS) to survey the condition of the nozzle. Since no ice was found, Flight Controllers told the crew that it is likely that there is a blockage in the line.
Standard late inspections of the Thermal Protection System took place later on Flight Day 10. About 12:15 UTC, Wilmore and Melvin began grappling and unberthing the OBSS for the survey of the shuttle’s heat shield. With help from Bresnik, they inspected the reinforced carbon-carbon of the right wing leading edge, then the nose cap and the left wing leading edge. The inspection tasks took more than five hours.
Nov. 26 (Flight Day 11 – End of Mission Prep)
The crew was awakened at 06:28 UTC for their final full day in space. STS-129 was the eighth shuttle mission in history to mark the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday up in space and the second time for Atlantis. The first time for Atlantis was during STS-61-BSTS-61-B
STS-61-B was NASA's 23rd Space Shuttle mission, and its second using Space Shuttle Atlantis. The shuttle was launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on 26 November 1985. During STS-61-B, the shuttle crew deployed three communications satellites, and tested techniques of constructing...
mission in 1985.
"The first big news of the day is that our TPS, the Thermal Protection System has been cleared for entry" said STS-129 Entry Flight Director Bryan Lunney early during in the day's Mission Status Briefing. Later, he also mentioned that "Atlantis is in great shape, the crew is in great shape ready for de-orbit tomorrow".
The crew spent time stowing items in the shuttle's cabin in preparation for the return to Earth. Cabin stowage started at 08:48 UTC.
Atlantis crew tested shuttle’s re-entry systems. Commander Hobaugh and Pilot Wilmore, with help from Mission Specialist Bresnik checked out the Flight Control System (FCS). Immediately afterwards, at 10:58 UTC, the astronauts test fired Reaction Control System (RCS) thrusters. The RCS thrusters control the shuttle’s orientation as it descends and begins its re-entry through the atmosphere. All astronauts gathered for a deorbit briefing a little after 11:00 UTC, just before their midday meal. The Thanksgiving dinner aboard Atlantis was more traditional than expected.
Earlier in the day, astronauts carried out the Shuttle Exhaust Ion Turbulence Experiments (SEITE) burn. The burn was radial down (nose to the Earth) such that the burn plume was observed by the orbiting C/NOFS satellite. Later, the Shuttle Ionospheric Modification with Pulsed Localized Exhaust Experiments (SIMPLEX) burn was conducted, with the burn plume observed by the Arecibo ground station.
All seven crew members took a break at 13:13 UTC for a 20 minute talk with news media representatives. During the chat they took questions from ABC Radio, WTVT-TV in Tampa and KCBS in Los Angeles.
After setup on the mid-deck of a recumbent seat for Nicole Stott and stowage of the Ku-band antenna used for high data rate communications during the mission at 19:34 UTC.
Nov. 27 (Flight Day 12 – Re-entry and Landing)
The Shuttle crew awoke Friday at 05:28 UTC. With weather looking good at the Kennedy Space Center, and nothing standing in the way of landing, Flight Director Bryan Lunney gave the "go" signal to close the payload bay doors at 10:52 UTC. Mission Control also instructed the astronauts to begin "fluid loading" – a protocol that aids the astronauts' readjustment to gravity. The crew strapped into their seats at 12:37 UTC in preparation for a landing. NASA operators gave the "go" for the deorbit burn and at 13:37 UTC, flying upside down and backwards above the southern Indian Ocean just west of Indonesia, Atlantis fired its orbital maneuvering system (OMS) engines for 2 minutes and 47 seconds. The deorbit burn decelerated the orbiter by about 211 miles per hour, enough to lower its orbital perigee into the upper atmosphere. Atlantis encountered the first traces of Earth's atmosphere, known as "entry interface", at 14:12 UTC at an altitude of 399,000 feet flying over the Pacific Ocean. At 14:26 UTC, eighteen minutes before touchdown, the orbiter was travelling at Mach 22; nine minutes later the orbiter was "gliding" at Mach 6. The shuttle’s ground track took it along the east coast of Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula, across the Gulf of Mexico and cross the Florida coast south of Fort Myers.Atlantis’ main landing gear wheels touched down at 09:44:23 am EST (14:44:23 UTC) on Runway 33, followed by the nose wheel at 9:44:36 am EST (14:44:36 UTC). The shuttle’s wheels stopped at 9:45:05 am EST (14:45:05 UTC). This was the 72nd space shuttle landing at Kennedy Space Center. As the shuttle rolled to a halt, Commander Hobaugh announced "Houston, Atlantis, wheels stop". CAPCOM Christopher Ferguson
Christopher Ferguson
Christopher J. Ferguson is a United States Navy captain and a NASA astronaut. He was the pilot of Space Shuttle Atlantis on his first mission to space, STS-115, which launched on September 9, 2006 and returned to Earth on September 21, 2006...
replied the crew, "Roger, wheels stopped, Atlantis, that was a picture-perfect end to a top-fuel mission to the space station. Everybody, welcome back to Earth, especially you, Nicole."
Atlantis had two opportunities to land on November 27, 2009, with two more on November 28, 2009 – all targeting Kennedy Space Center. If the November 27, 2009 landing was waived off for some reason, the shuttle had consumables onboard to allow Atlantis to remain in space until November 30, 2009.
After working through the checklists to safely power down the orbiter for about an hour, the crew got out of Atlantis and into the Crew Transport Vehicle. Exiting the vehicle without Stott, they performed the traditional walk-around of the shuttle and met with employees from NASA. Speaking briefly to the press following the walk-around, Commander Hobaugh said "We really had truly an amazing mission". He went to add, "We had no hitches. It was not us, it was not any single group, but it was just an incredible team from all around the nation".
Post-landing Crew Conference was held later in the day. Five STS-129 astronauts attended the conference. Mission Specialists, Randolph Bresnik and Nicole Stott were absent. Bresnik had flown home right away aboard a NASA training jet to be with his wife and new baby daughter. Stott was to take up standard medical checkups after her 91 days in space aboard the International Space Station.
Later in the afternoon around 14:00 pm EST, a service convoy started towing Atlantis from the runway back to Orbiter Processing Facility Bay 1.
The crew members flew back to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston on the following Saturday. On November 30, 2009 they received the traditional Houston homecoming celebration at nearby Ellington Field.
Spacewalks
| EVA | Spacewalkers | Start (UTC Coordinated Universal Time Coordinated Universal Time is the primary time standard by which the world regulates clocks and time. It is one of several closely related successors to Greenwich Mean Time. Computer servers, online services and other entities that rely on having a universally accepted time use UTC for that purpose... ) |
End (UTC) | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EVA 1 | Michael Foreman Michael Foreman Michael James Foreman is an American astronaut.-Personal:Foreman was born in Columbus, Ohio, and grew up in Wadsworth, Ohio. He is married to Lorrie Dancer of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma... Robert Satcher |
November 19 2009 14:24 UTC |
November 19 2009 21:01 UTC |
6 hours, 37 minutes |
| Installed a spare antenna on the station’s truss and a bracket for ammonia lines on the Unity module. They also lubricated the grapple mechanism on the Payload Orbital Replacement Unit Attachment Device on the Mobile Base System and lubricated the snares of the hand of the station's Japanese robotic arm. Deployed the S3 outboard Payload Attachment System. | ||||
| EVA 2 | Michael Foreman Randolph Bresnik |
November 21 2009 14:31 UTC |
November 21 2009 20:39 UTC |
6 hours, 8 minutes |
| Installed the GATOR (Grappling Adaptor to On-Orbit Railing) bracket to the Columbus laboratory Columbus (ISS module) Columbus is a science laboratory that is part of the International Space Station and is the largest single contribution to the ISS made by the European Space Agency .... and an additional ham radio antenna. They also installed on the truss an antenna for wireless helmet camera video. They also relocated the Floating Potential Measurement Unit that records electrical potential around the station as it orbits the Earth and deployed two brackets to attach cargo on the truss. |
||||
| EVA 3 | Robert Satcher Randolph Bresnik |
November 23 2009 13:24 UTC |
November 23 2009 19:06 UTC |
5 hours, 42 minutes |
| Satcher installed an oxygen filled new High Pressure Gas Tank (HPGT) on the Quest airlock. Bresnik got the next set of “Materials on International Space Station Experiment,” known as MISSE-7A and 7B, out from Atlantis' cargo bay and installed on ELC-2, activated and checked out. The spacewalkers removed a pair of micrometeoroid and orbital debris (MMOD) shields from outside the airlock and strapped them to the External Stowage Platform #2. Bresnik relocated a foot restraint. Satcher released a bolt on an Ammonia Tank Assembly in preparation of a future spacewalk during STS-131 STS-131 STS-131 was a NASA Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station . launched on 5 April 2010 at 6:22 am from Kennedy Space Center's launch pad 39A, and landed at 9:08 am on 20 April 2010 on runway 33 at the Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility... , and installed insulated covers on cameras on the mobile servicing system and on Canadarm2's end effector. They worked the heater cables on a docking adapter in advance of the Tranquility module installation on Unity’s port side. |
||||
Wake-up calls
NASA began a tradition of playing music to astronauts during the Gemini program, which was first used to wake up a flight crew during Apollo 15Apollo 15
Apollo 15 was the ninth manned mission in the American Apollo space program, the fourth to land on the Moon and the eighth successful manned mission. It was the first of what were termed "J missions", long duration stays on the Moon with a greater focus on science than had been possible on previous...
.
Each track is specially chosen, often by their families, and usually has a special meaning to an individual member of the crew, or is applicable to their daily activities.
| Flight Day | Song | Artist | Played for | Links |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day 2 | “I Can Only Imagine I Can Only Imagine "I Can Only Imagine" is a single recorded by contemporary Christian and Christian rock band MercyMe. Written and composed by Bart Millard, the song, based around a main piano track, was inspired by the death of Millard's father and considers what it would be like in Heaven and to be standing... ” |
MercyMe MercyMe MercyMe is an American Christian rock band founded in Greenville, Texas. The band consists of vocalist Bart Millard, keyboardist James Bryson, percussionist Robby Shaffer, bassist Nathan Cochran and guitarists Michael Scheuchzer and Barry Graul.... |
Barry E. Wilmore Barry E. Wilmore Barry Eugene "Butch" Wilmore is a NASA astronaut and United States Navy test pilot. He has had one spaceflight, which was an 11-day Space Shuttle mission in November 2009, to the International Space Station... |
WAV MP3 TRANSCRIPT>- |
| Day 3 | “Higher Ground” | Stevie Wonder Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist... |
Robert Satcher | WAV MP3 TRANSCRIPT>- |
| Day 4 | “In Wonder” | Newsboys Newsboys Newsboys are a Christian pop rock band founded in 1985 in Mooloolaba, Australia. They have released 15 studio albums, six of which have been certified gold... |
Randolph Bresnik | WAV MP3 TRANSCRIPT>- |
| Day 5 | “We Are Family We Are Family (song) "We Are Family" is a 1979 dance hit song by Sister Sledge, composed by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers. Rodgers and Edwards offered the song to Atlantic Records; although the record label initially declined, the track was released as a single from the album of the same name and quickly began to... ” |
Sister Sledge Sister Sledge Sister Sledge is an American musical group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, formed in 1972 and consisting of four sisters: Kim Sledge Debbie Sledge , Joni Sledge , and Kathy Sledge . They are granddaughters of the former opera singer Viola Williams. The sisters used to perform under the name of "Mrs... |
Leland Melvin | WAV MP3 TRANSCRIPT>- |
| Day 6 | “Voyage to Atlantis Live! (Isley Brothers album) Live! is a 1993 live album by The Isley Brothers on Warner Bros. Records. Their final Warner album, the Isleys sung all of their classic hits including "It's Your Thing", "That Lady", "Between the Sheets", "Voyage to Atlantis", "Shout", "Take Me to the Next Phase", "Fight the Power", and "For the... ” |
The Isley Brothers The Isley Brothers The Isley Brothers are a highly influential, successful and long-running American music group consisting of different line-ups of six brothers, and a brother-in-law, Chris Jasper... |
Robert Satcher | WAV MP3 TRANSCRIPT>- |
| Day 7 | “Butterfly Kisses Butterfly Kisses (song) "Butterfly Kisses" is the title of a song written by Bob Carlisle and Randy Thomas from Carlisle's third studio album Butterfly Kisses . The song was written for his daughter Brooke's 16th birthday. Carlisle also wrote a journal entitled Butterfly Kisses for fathers and their daughters... ” |
Bob Carlisle Bob Carlisle Bob Carlisle is a Grammy Award and Dove Award-winning American musician who performs Christian music. He performed with several bands, most notably Allies and Billy Thermal, before launching a solo career... |
Randolph Bresnik celebrating the birth of his daughter, Abigail Mae Bresnik hours earlier | WAV MP3 TRANSCRIPT>- |
| Day 8 | “Space Rise” | Larry Whitehair | Michael Foreman Michael Foreman Michael James Foreman is an American astronaut.-Personal:Foreman was born in Columbus, Ohio, and grew up in Wadsworth, Ohio. He is married to Lorrie Dancer of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma... |
WAV MP3 TRANSCRIPT>- |
| Day 9 | “The Marine Corps Hymn Marines' Hymn The "Marines' Hymn" is the official hymn of the United States Marine Corps. It is the oldest official song in the United States military. The "Marines' Hymn" is typically sung at the position of attention as a gesture of respect... ” |
The Marine Corps Band United States Marine Band The United States Marine Band is the premier band of the United States Marine Corps. Established by act of Congress on July 11, 1798, it is the oldest of the United States military bands and the oldest professional musical organization in the United States... |
Charles O. Hobaugh | WAV MP3 TRANSCRIPT>- |
| Day 10 | “Amazing Grace Amazing Grace "Amazing Grace" is a Christian hymn with words written by the English poet and clergyman John Newton , published in 1779. With a message that forgiveness and redemption are possible regardless of the sins people commit and that the soul can be delivered from despair through the mercy of God,... ” from the 1995 movie Braveheart Braveheart Braveheart is a 1995 epic historical drama war film directed by and starring Mel Gibson. The film was written for the screen and then novelized by Randall Wallace... |
Eric Rigler Eric Rigler Eric Rigler is an American player of the Uilleann pipes, Great Highland Bagpipes, and tin whistle. He plays on his own and with the band Bad Haggis, and has been featured on a number of movie soundtracks. He has been described as "the most recorded bagpiper of all time"... on bagpipes |
Barry E. Wilmore Barry E. Wilmore Barry Eugene "Butch" Wilmore is a NASA astronaut and United States Navy test pilot. He has had one spaceflight, which was an 11-day Space Shuttle mission in November 2009, to the International Space Station... |
WAV MP3 TRANSCRIPT>- |
| Day 11 | “Fly Me to the Moon Fly Me to the Moon "Fly Me to the Moon" is a popular standard song written by Bart Howard in 1954. It was originally titled "In Other Words", and was introduced by Felicia Sanders in cabarets... ” |
Frank Sinatra Frank Sinatra Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the... |
Nicole Stott | WAV MP3 TRANSCRIPT>- |
| Day 12 | “Home Sweet Home Home Sweet Home (Mötley Crüe song) "Home Sweet Home" is a song by the American heavy metal band Mötley Crüe. It was originally released in 1985 on the album Theatre of Pain, and again in 1991 for the Decade of Decadence compilation album... ” |
Mötley Crüe Mötley Crüe Mötley Crüe is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1981. The group was founded by bass guitarist Nikki Sixx and drummer Tommy Lee, who were later joined by lead guitarist Mick Mars and lead singer Vince Neil... |
STS-129 Crew | WAV MP3 TRANSCRIPT>- |
Mission insignia
The STS-129 mission patchMission patch
A mission patch is a cloth badge worn by astronauts and other personnel affiliated with a manned or unmanned space mission. A new patch is created for each mission.- Origins :Mission patches were first sported by NASA astronauts in 1965...
was designed by Tim Gagnon and Dr. Jorge Cartes. The rather unique shape of the patch resulted from the crew's desire for the patch to signify the mission's payload (two ExPRESS Logistics Carriers) providing equipment ensuring the longevity of the ISS.
The insignia incorporates a number of design elements not typically incorporated into a single patch: the Sun
Sun
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is almost perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields...
, Moon
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
, Mars
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
, NASA's astronaut
Astronaut
An astronaut or cosmonaut is a person trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft....
symbol (ascending on red, white and blue stripes symbolizing the all-U.S. crew), the ISS, the Shuttle orbiter and the continental United States (representing the major U.S. centers supporting the Space Shuttle Program
Space Shuttle program
NASA's Space Shuttle program, officially called Space Transportation System , was the United States government's manned launch vehicle program from 1981 to 2011...
).
The 13 stars on the patch represent the crewmembers' children, and the moon and Mars represent the future of space exploration
Space exploration
Space exploration is the use of space technology to explore outer space. Physical exploration of space is conducted both by human spaceflights and by robotic spacecraft....
. The names of the crew members are denoted on the outer band of the patch.
See also
- 2009 in spaceflight2009 in spaceflightSeveral significant events in spaceflight occurred in 2009, including Iran conducting its first indigenous orbital launch, the first Swiss satellite being launched and New Zealand launching its first sounding rocket. The H-IIB and Naro-1 rockets conducted maiden flights, whilst the Tsyklon-3,...
- List of ISS spacewalks
- List of space shuttle missions
- List of spacewalks since 2000
- List of human spaceflights chronologically