just ran into our intrepid Browncoat astronaut, items are still packed and ready to go. new launch date is June 8th and he is aware everyone is wishing him well and waiting for photos.

FYI, we really need, if there isn't one already, a small website about this -- even if it's just a basic Blogspot blog or something.

It's the sort of thing (as someone just mentioned on fireflyfans.net) we could ping press people about, but they aren't going to want to look at a meandering discussion board.

And having said that, I've now got one in the works.

http://www.breakingatmo.com/

Splash page at the moment, until I have the chance to sit down and cobble together an introductory "Here's how it is..." thing based upon the relevant updates from the various related discussion threads.

I have added photos from rollout. the vehicle is heading out to the pad and still looking like the launch date is 6/8. dvd's are still stowed and ready for launch.

just a quick heads up, we are still looking good for launch next friday (7:33 pm EDT).

www.breakingatmo.com is online now, thanks to Bix. we will use that site as the place to spread the word.

we had a meeting today to review some items for the L-2 MMT tomorrow and I asked about the union strike issue and everyone seemed confident it would be no impact to the launch. there are enough non union folks that can perform the STS-118 preparations so it should no be an impact to LON requirements for STS-117. weather is 70% go for Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

for those with digg accounts let the digging begin.

http://digg.com/television/Breaking_Atmo_S...shuttle_mission

Dug it.
But it took me at least 6 freaking times of typing on that text in the box to register because I kept forgetting to hit the 'I accept the terms...' box. Duh me. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/icon_rolleyes.gif) That's what I get for registering without my glasses on!
Got my fingers crossed for good weather on friday. Launchable weather!

I am so excited about "Serenity" & "Firefly" breaking atmo! That is just about the most shiny news I have heard at KSC in a long while (we just signed a new contract & didn't have to strike like USA)!

just had our L-2 MMT. all systems looking good, though weather this afternoon at the Cape could delay PRSD loading (Fuel cell H2 and O2). weather for friday is still holding at 70% chance for GO. Saturday and Sunday it drops to 60% chance for GO.

Launch countdown is looking good. they are filling the external tank now. weather is looking real good for tonight.

I uploaded some photos from last night after they retracted the Remote Servicing Structure (RSS). everything is still looking good for launch.
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=ekhorl...0&y=-bjbomd

Looks like it's delayed. Is that right? Do we know when it's supposed to try again?

That was just one of the built-in holds in the schedule.

So it's still planned for tonite?

Yes, although there was a weather issue with the "abort landing" sites in France and Spain which might have caused a problem, but apparently at least one of them (in France) is back to being clear forecast. So, as of right now, things are still a go.

Very cool website! You're right, it deserved one. I dugg it and will add the link to serenityverse.com later on.

I uplinked some ascent photos including a picture of our intrepid Browncoat (Steve Swanny Swanson).

Good morning space fans,
Swanny has been busy this first two days so I havent gotten an emails yet. they do have a 2 hour crew off time tomorrow, so who knows maybe they will watch an episode or two (IMG:style_emoticons/default/icon_smile.gif)

Yesterday saw a beautiful docking with the Space Station ( I am still pulling photos from the database). Today is the First of 4 Spacewalks. They will install the S3/S4 Truss segement today which is the big solar array on the starboard side of the ISS. They wont deploy the solar array wings until tomorrow.

The Mission Management team and the rest of Mission Control is still thinking about what to do with the bent blanket on the Left OMS (Orbital Manuvering System) Pod. The thermal blanket was torn loose and bent upwards due to aerodynamic loads during launch. The concern with this blanket is what amount of increased heating it will cause in the area during entry heating. If the blanket rips off during the lower portion under aero loads it is not a debris concern. The team is working options for tucking the blanket back down since it does have some memory for staying flat. If it is flat during entry heating it should not be an issue, but if it is bent up the disturbance to the plasma flow could cause damage to the underlying OMS Pod structure by causing a stagnation point and a hole that heat can get into, but not out of. In the past we have seen lost blankets and tiles that did cause survivable damage to the OMS pod. So the question the team is working is the extent of localized damage and if there is a concern for entry.

The team is also continuing to review ascent data (RADAR, WBS Tracking Planes, SRB Video, Ground Cameras) as well as the flight day 2 inspection data and so far there is no indication of areas for concern.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=ekhorl...0&y=-bjbomd

by the way due to the OMS Pod damage the mission has been extending by 2 docked days. this will add a fourth EVA. not sure when the repair to the OMS pod will occur (EVA 3 or 4) or who will be performing the 4th EVA. this additional EVA could also allow them time to perform some get ahead tasks for the ISS to help offload their stage EVAs between now and the August launch of STS-118.

the mission continues to go well as the team works through the blanket repair options for procedures/tools and which EVA to perform the work on should be decided by the mission management team today. Swanny and Forrester are going for a spacewalk later today to continue work on the newly installed Truss and Solar Array Segment. Airlock egress is ~2 pm EDT.

Photo Gallery:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=ekhorl...0&y=-bjbomd

Well the last 36 hours has been pretty interesting. The team has converged on a plan to repair the L OMS Pod Blanket on the EVA tomorrow. Just as we started to break through clouds and reach the top of the mountain the clouds parted and showed an even bigger mountain looming in the distance called Russian computers. Short story is all three Russian computers are down and have not been able to be recovered for any length of time. What this means to the shuttle is that we can not leave until this problem is fixed. Any active attitude control(firing jets) for the ISS goes through the russian computers, the current stable control mode of momentum management is controlled by the US segment and working fine as long as we don’t perturb the system to much (think of it as balancing a marble on the top of and upside down bowl). So we are looking to do what we can to extend the time the shuttle can stay docked, by conserving power and propellant. If needed looks like we could extend the docked mission by another day. If this problem can not be solved by the time we have to undock then the ISS crew might have to abandon ship because it is highly unlikely that momentum management without russian thrusters could handle the disturbance of undocking.

Anyway the mission timeline proceeds nominally while the team works through the issues. Tomorrow is EVA3 with blanket repair first thing then solar array retraction troublehooting after that. I updated the link with photos from EVA2.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=ekhorl...0&y=-bjbomd

I keep hearing on news reports about the songs NASA uses to "wake" the crew in the Morning. Any Plans for "The Ballad of Serenity"? It would make a Shiny addition, and be very appropriate, too! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/icon_smile.gif)

the crew's families get to pick the music and swanny was pretty sure he wasnt going to be able to get her to go along with the ballad. if we keep extending, they might run out of preplanned music so maybe I can offer the song then, but no promises cause I dont remember how many days of music they have set up.

thanks for the support everyone. I think we found our replacement catalyzer for the port compressor coil (IMG:style_emoticons/default/icon_smile.gif)

the russians have found a way to bypass the blown power supplies and restored functionality. questions still remain how stable this system is, how long the shuttle still needs to stay and a bunch of other stuff. I'm not saying we are out of the woods yet, cause the tiger teams are still running full speed and the root cause is still a mystery (we'd hate to leave and the problem comes right back). so keep good thoughts and we will make sure we keep both birds in the air, cause only one of them is rated for a return trip through atmo.

by the way the OMS Pod repair went really well yesterday so the shuttle is in a great config to come home when ever they decide they are comfortable with the ISS. today is a pretty light day for the shuttle crew, tomorrow is EVA 4 which is a lot of station get a head tasks since the solar array was stowed last night.

I will try to upload some photos from the spacewalk later today.

Thanks for the continued updates. I've been trying to keep up with the news n such, but I have a limited understanding of how the ISS works... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/icon_wink.gif)

we are about to handover control to the mated stack to the russian computers. this will be the make or break test. if all goes well with them controling for an hour then I think we are in a good config for undocking tomorrow. if the computers have problems then we could delay undocking until wednesday. the russians believe the jumper has solved the problem, but there are still open questions about what protection and redundancy we have given up by putting the computers in this config. the shuttle crew is off duty for the first half of day and will say farewell to the station tonight. the hatches will be closed tonight and first thing in the morning is undocking and flyaround, later tomorrow is Late Inspection where the shuttle crew will scan the RCC (reinforced carbon carbon) wing leading edge panels for damage due to MMOD (micro meteoroid orbital debris). If things look good landing is Thursday around 2 pm.

The link has been updated with more spacewalk pictures:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=ekhorl...0&y=-bjbomd

On MSNBC it says the shuttle landed in California today. Any chance some of them on board might want to catch Serenity on the big screen with the Cali-coats since they left their DVD behind? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/icon_wink.gif)

nice idea, but the crew will be back in Houston this afternoon. if anyone is in the area, they should be arriving at Ellington field around 4 today.

I still havent found the photos, I think Swanny has to release them from the photo lab. sorry cause I wanted all the CSTS screenings to have them if they wanted them.

I added some photos from the crew return at Ellington today. I had a chance to talk with Swanny after the ceremony he is doing well. turns out when the crew was in quarantine prior to launch they watched 5 episodes and that is how Swanny got them all hooked. Clay was definitely excited about having the set on the ISS since he was hooked. Swanny is going to try and find the photos of him, Clay and Suni on the ISS with the DVD's as soon as he can. again sorry I couldn't get them for the CSTS screening's this weekend. stay shiny.

Just think if the shuttle crew knew they touched down so close to where the Ariel Ambulance was stashed & subsequently rescued!

What's a trip to space compared to that?

I tried getting a direct link to the image, but was unable to, is the image of the serenity and firefly dvd giving, in the 8th row , and 6th image of that row??
Prakash