[sarex] STS-114 MCC Status Report #07

["ARTHUR Z. ROWE" <N1ORC@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

SUBMITED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468

STS-114 MCC Status Report #07
Friday, July 29, 2005 – 6 p.m. CDT
Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas

Space Shuttle and International Space Station crewmembers installed the 
Raffaello Multi-Purpose Logistics Module and began unloading the 
pressurized cargo carrier Friday. They also carried out a survey of 
selected areas of Discovery's thermal protection system and continued 
preparations for Saturday's spacewalk.

Engineering analysis continues on the imagery collected so far, but no 
apparently serious problems with Discovery’s heat shield have been 
noted. Mission Manager Wayne Hale said in a Friday afternoon press 
conference, “We’re feeling very good about Discovery coming home.”

It was a very busy day for the crewmembers, Discovery Commander Eileen 
Collins, Pilot Jim Kelly and Mission Specialists Soichi Noguchi (Japan 
Aerospace Exploration Agency), Steve Robinson, Andy Thomas, Wendy 
Lawrence and Charlie Camarda, and the Station's commander Sergei 
Krikalev and NASA Science Officer John Phillips.

Raffaello was unberthed from Discovery's cargo bay just before 1 a.m. 
CDT Friday by the Station's Canadarm2, operated by Lawrence and Kelly 
and attached to the Station's Unity Node. Hatches were opened a little 
after 10 a.m. Transfer of its cargo to the Station began soon 
thereafter. Crewmembers had begun transferring Station equipment and 
supplies from the Shuttle's mid-deck earlier.

Preparations for the targeted survey of Discovery's thermal protection 
system began with Kelly and Phillips attaching the end of Canadarm2 to 
the Station's Mobile Base System. They subsequently detached the other 
end from the Destiny Laboratory so the arm could be used in its new 
position to provide situational awareness views of the survey with its 
cameras.

Camarda and Kelly used the Shuttle’s robot arm and the 50-foot Orbiter 
Boom Sensor System to look at six areas to determine if they had 
sustained damage. Mission managers said there was no indication of 
serious damage in early looks at downlink from that survey and earlier 
images. Detailed analysis of images starting with Discovery's Tuesday 
launch and continuing through Friday's survey was continuing.

Noguchi and Robinson will make three spacewalks at the Station, and 
today they continued preparations for the first, scheduled to begin at 
3:44 a.m. Saturday. They reviewed spacewalk procedures and checked out 
the SAFER, or Simplified Aid For EVA Rescue, a rescue device to help a 
spacewalker who goes adrift return to the spacecraft.

Hatches between Discovery and Station were closed as the Shuttle’s cabin 
pressure was reduced to 10.2 psi for the pre-breathe period, during 
which spacewalkers became gradually acclimated to the lower pressures of 
space suits to avoid formation of nitrogen bubbles in the blood. The 
excess air from the Shuttle was transferred to the Station to replenish 
its atmosphere.

Collins and Thomas talked with reporters from the Associated Press Radio 
Network, National Public Radio and the CBS Radio Network beginning a 
little after 5:20 a.m. CDT.

The next STS-114 mission status report will be issued Saturday morning, 
or earlier if events warrant.

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