STS-130 Ramping Up for Februrary 7th Launch
Pace Ramps Up for Endeavour and Teams Tue, 26 Jan 2010 10:00:00 AM EST
Workers at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center will begin final ordnance connections at Launch Pad 39A in preparation for space shuttle Endeavour’s liftoff to the International Space Station targeted for 4:39 a.m. EST Feb. 7.
Engineers met yesterday to review data after lightning struck about a half mile from the pad during a thunderstorm Jan. 22. They concluded there was no damage to the shuttle or launch pad.
Also, technicians are checking out the astronauts’ spacesuits before they’re carefully packed into special containers and loaded onto the shuttle.
At NASA ‘s Johnson Space Center in Houston, STS-130 Commander George Zamka and Pilot Terry will practice shuttle landings in their T-38 jets, while the other crew members review elements of their flight plan.
Tomorrow the agency’s Flight Readiness Review, or FRR, for the STS-130 mission will be held at Kennedy Space Center. Afterward, NASA will announce an official launch date during a post-meeting briefing aired on NASA TV. The briefing also can be found on www.nasa.gov/ntv.
Commander George Zamka will lead the STS-130 mission to the International Space Station aboard space shuttle Endeavour. Terry Virts Jr. will serve as the pilot. Mission specialists are Nicholas Patrick, Robert Behnken, Stephen Robinson and Kathryn Hire. Virts will be making his first trip to space.
Endeavour will deliver a third connecting module – the Tranquility node – to the station and a seven-windowed cupola to be used as a control room for robotics. The mission will feature three spacewalks.
STS-130 is the 32nd shuttle mission to the station.
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