[sarex] STS-121 MCC Status Report #03

[Arthur Rowe <azrowe80@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C $31468

STATUS REPORT: STS-121-03

STS-121 MCC Status Report #03

The Astronauts of Space Shuttle Discovery examined their spaceship with 
the Orbiter Boom Sensor System today and found no evidence of any damage 
from debris during yesterday’s ride to orbit.

The several hours of inspection began just after 6:00 a.m. when Mission 
Specialists Lisa Nowak and Stephanie Wilson verified proper operation of 
the Space Shuttle’s robotic arm, then maneuvered it to lift the 
50-foot-long OBSS from the starboard sill of the payload bay.

Assisted by Commander Steve Lindsey, Pilot Mark Kelly and Mission 
Specialist Mike Fossum, Nowak and Wilson began a slow and steady 
examination of the reinforced carbon-carbon panels along the leading 
edge of Discovery’s starboard wing just before 8:30 a.m., looking for 
any evidence of damage.

The inspection using the Laser Dynamic Range Imager, Laser Camera 
System, and Intensified Television Camera on the end of the boom 
continued across the shuttle’s nose cap and port wing. After returning 
the OBSS to its berth, Nowak, Wilson and Fossum spent an hour using the 
cameras on the shuttle robot arm to scan the outside of the crew cabin.

While the survey proceeded, Mission Specialist Piers Sellers completed 
the setup of on board computers and cameras and Mission Specialist 
Thomas Reiter of the European Space Agency prepared Discovery’s middeck 
for the planned transfer of supplies onto the International Space 
Station. The first item to be transferred after docking, scheduled for 
9:52 a.m. Thursday, is Reiter’s customized seat liner for the Soyuz 
vehicle; that will make him an official member of the station’s 
Expedition 13 crew, and the first ISS crewmember who is neither an 
American nor a Russian.

Sellers and Fossum, who also installed the centerline camera in 
Discovery’s docking mechanism, completed a checkout of the spacesuits 
they will wear during scheduled spacewalks on Flight Days 5 and 7. The 
EVAs will evaluate the combination of ISS robot arm and OBSS as a work 
platform for astronauts repairing a damaged shuttle orbiter and restore 
the station’s Mobile Transporter to full operation to support continued 
station assembly.

On board ISS Commander Pavel Vinogradov and Flight Engineer Jeff 
Williams prepared the digital cameras with 400mm and 800mm lenses they 
will use to take high-resolution photos of the shuttle's heat shield 
when it flies a nose over tail somersault at a range of 600 feet below 
the station. They also prepared Pressurized Mating Adapter 2, at the 
forward end of the U.S. laboratory Destiny, where Discovery will dock 
tomorrow morning.

The astronauts on Discovery were scheduled to be awakened at 2:38 a.m. 
CDT Thursday to being final preparations for the docking with the ISS.

The next STS-121 mission status report will be issued at approximately 6 
a.m., or earlier if events warrant.
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