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Space Shuttle Atlantis

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Atlantis
Top view of a spaceplane in space.
Atlantis in orbit in 2010, during STS-132
TypeSpaceplane
ClassSpace Shuttle orbiter
EponymRV Atlantis
Serial no.OV-104
OwnerNASA
ManufacturerRockwell International
Specifications
Dry mass78,000 kg (172,000 lb)
RocketSpace Shuttle
History
First flight
Last flight
Flights33
Flight time7,358 hours
Travelled202,673,974 km (125,935,769 mi) around Earth
Orbits4,848 around Earth
FateRetired
Location
Space Shuttle orbiters

Space Shuttle Atlantis (Orbiter Vehicle designation: OV‑104) is a retired Space Shuttle orbiter vehicle which belongs to NASA, the spaceflight and space exploration agency of the United States.[1] Atlantis was manufactured by the Rockwell International company in Southern California and was delivered to the Kennedy Space Center in Eastern Florida in April 1985. Atlantis is also the fourth operational and the second-to-last Space Shuttle built.[2][3] Its maiden flight was STS-51-J made from October 3 to 7, 1985.

Atlantis embarked on its 33rd and final mission, also the final mission of a space shuttle, STS-135, on July 8, 2011. STS-134 by Endeavour was expected to be the final flight before STS-135 was authorized in October 2010. STS-135 took advantage of the processing for the STS-335 Launch on Need mission that would have been necessary if STS-134's crew became stranded in orbit.[4] Atlantis landed for the final time at the Kennedy Space Center on July 21, 2011.

By the end of its final mission, Atlantis had orbited the Earth a total of 4,848 times, traveling nearly 126,000,000 mi (203,000,000 km), which is more than 525 times the distance from the Earth to the Moon.

Atlantis is named after RV Atlantis, a two-masted sailing ship that operated as the primary research vessel for the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution from 1930 to 1966.[5]

The space shuttle is now on display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.

Construction milestones

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Date Milestone[6]
January 29, 1979 Contract Award to Rockwell International's Space Transportation Systems Division
March 30, 1980 Start structural assembly of crew module
November 23, 1981 Start structural assembly of aft-fuselage
June 13, 1983 Wings arrive at Palmdale, California, from Grumman
December 2, 1983 Start of final assembly
April 10, 1984 Final assembly completed
March 6, 1985 Rollout from Palmdale
April 3, 1985 Overland transport from Palmdale to Edwards Air Force Base
April 13, 1985 Delivery to Kennedy Space Center.
September 12, 1985 Flight Readiness Firing
October 3, 1985 First launch (STS-51-J)

Specifications

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Space Shuttle Atlantis as it transits the Sun
  • Weight (with three shuttle main engines): 68,635 kg (151,314 lb)
  • Length: 37.2 m (122 ft)
  • Height: 17.2 m (56 ft)
  • Wingspan: 23.7 m (78 ft)
  • Atlantis was completed in about half the time it took to build Space Shuttle Columbia.[7]
  • When it rolled out of the Palmdale assembly plant, weighing 68,635 kg (151,314 lb), Atlantis was nearly 3.5 short tons (3.2 t) lighter than Columbia.

Missions

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Space Shuttle Atlantis lifted off on its maiden voyage STS-51-J on October 3, 1985. This was the second shuttle mission that was a dedicated Department of Defense mission.[8] It flew one other mission, STS-61-B (the second shuttle night launch) before the Challenger disaster temporarily grounded the shuttle fleet in 1986. Among the five Space Shuttles flown into space, Atlantis conducted a subsequent mission in the shortest time after the previous mission (turnaround time) when it launched in November 1985 on STS-61-B, only 50 days after its previous mission, STS-51-J in October 1985. Atlantis was then used for ten flights from 1988 to 1992. Two of these, both flown in 1989, deployed the planetary probes Magellan to Venus (on STS-30) and Galileo to Jupiter (on STS-34). With STS-30 Atlantis became the first Space Shuttle to launch an interplanetary probe.[9]

Melted aluminum plating on Atlantis's right wing underside (STS-27)
Atlantis docked to the International Space Station during STS-132 mission

During the launch of STS-27 in 1988, a piece of insulation shed from the right solid rocket booster struck the underside of the vehicle, severely damaging over 700 tiles and removing one tile altogether.[10] The crew were instructed to use the remote manipulator system to survey the condition of the underside of the right wing, ultimately finding substantial tile damage. Due to the classified nature of the mission, the only images transferred to the mission control center were encrypted and of extremely poor quality. Mission control personnel deemed the damage to be "lights and shadows" and instructed the crew to proceed with the mission as usual, infuriating many of the crew. Upon landing, Atlantis became the single-most-damaged shuttle to successfully land. The survival of the crew is attributed to a steel L band antenna plate which was positioned directly under the missing tile.[11] A similar situation would eventually lead to the loss of the shuttle Columbia in 2003, albeit on the more critical reinforced carbon-carbon.[12]

During STS-37 in 1991, Atlantis deployed the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory. Beginning in 1995 with STS-71, Atlantis made seven straight flights to the former Russian space station Mir as part of the Shuttle–Mir program. STS-71 marked a number of firsts in human spaceflight: 100th U.S. crewed space flight; first U.S. Shuttle-Russian Space Station Mir docking and joint on-orbit operations; and first on-orbit change-out of shuttle crew.[13] When linked, Atlantis and Mir together formed the largest spacecraft in orbit at the time.

Atlantis heads toward Earth orbit at the beginning of STS-132

Atlantis delivered several vital components for the construction of the International Space Station (ISS). During the February 2001 mission STS-98 to the ISS, Atlantis delivered the Destiny Module, the primary operating facility for U.S. research payloads aboard the ISS.[14] The five-hour 25-minute third spacewalk performed by astronauts Robert Curbeam and Thomas Jones during STS-98 marked NASA's 100th extra vehicular activity in space.[15] The Quest Joint Airlock, was flown and installed to the ISS by Atlantis during the mission STS-104 in July 2001.[16] The successful installation of the airlock gave on-board space station crews the ability to stage repair and maintenance spacewalks outside the ISS using U.S. EMU or Russian Orlan space suits. The first mission flown by Atlantis after the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster was STS-115, conducted during September 2006.[17] The mission carried the P3/P4 truss segments and solar arrays to the ISS. On ISS assembly flight STS-122 in February 2008, Atlantis delivered the Columbus laboratory to the ISS.[18] Columbus laboratory is the largest single contribution to the ISS made by the European Space Agency (ESA).[19]

STS-132 Space Shuttle launch
Space Shuttle Atlantis docked to the ISS for the final time

In May 2009 Atlantis flew a seven-member crew to the Hubble Space Telescope for its Servicing Mission 4, STS-125.[20] The mission was a success, with the crew completing five spacewalks totaling 37 hours to install new cameras, batteries, a gyroscope and other components to the telescope. This was the final mission not to rendezvous with the ISS.

The longest mission flown using Atlantis was STS-117, which lasted almost 14 days in June 2007.[21] During STS-117, Atlantis' crew added a new starboard truss segment and solar array pair (the S3/S4 truss), folded the P6 array in preparation for its relocation and performed four spacewalks. Atlantis was not equipped to take advantage of the Station-to-Shuttle Power Transfer System so missions could not be extended by making use of power provided by ISS.[22]

During the STS-129 post-flight interview on November 16, 2009, shuttle launch director Mike Leinbach said that Atlantis officially beat Space Shuttle Discovery for the record low amount of interim problem reports, with a total of just 54 listed since returning from STS-125. Leinbach added, "It is 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."[citation needed] Leinbach made a similar report during a post-launch interview on May 14, 2010, saying that there were a total of 46 listed from STS-129 to STS-132.

Orbiter maintenance down periods

[edit]

Atlantis went through two overhauls of scheduled orbiter maintenance down periods (OMDPs) during its operational history.

Atlantis arrived at Palmdale, California in October 1992 for OMDP-1. During that visit 165 modifications were made over the next 20 months. These included the installation of a drag chute, new plumbing lines to configure the orbiter for extended duration, improved nose wheel steering, more than 800 new heat tiles and blankets, new insulation for main landing gear, and structural modifications to the airframe.[23]

On November 5, 1997, Atlantis again arrived at Palmdale for OMDP-2 which was completed on September 24, 1998. The 130 modifications carried out during OMDP-2 included glass cockpit displays, replacement of TACAN navigation with GPS and ISS airlock and docking installation. Several weight reduction modifications were performed on the orbiter including replacement of Advanced Flexible Reusable Surface Insulation (AFRSI) insulation blankets[24] on upper surfaces with FRSI. Lightweight crew seats were installed and the Extended Duration Orbiter (EDO) package installed on OMDP-1 was removed to lighten Atlantis to better serve its prime mission of servicing the ISS.

During the standdown period post Columbia accident, Atlantis went through over 75 modifications to the orbiter ranging from very minor bolt change-outs to window change-outs and different fluid systems.[25]

Atlantis was known among the shuttle workforce as being more prone than the others in the fleet to problems that needed to be addressed while readying the vehicle for launch, leading to some nicknaming it "Britney".[26]

Decommissioning

[edit]
NASA administrator Charlie Bolden announces that Atlantis will remain at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex on permanent exhibition

NASA initially planned to withdraw Atlantis from service in 2008, as the orbiter would have been due to undergo its third scheduled OMDP; the timescale of the final retirement of the shuttle fleet was such that having the orbiter undergo this work was deemed uneconomical. It was planned that Atlantis would be kept in near-flight condition to be used as a spares source for Discovery and Endeavour. However, with the significant planned flight schedule up to 2010, the decision was taken to extend the time between OMDPs, allowing Atlantis to be retained for operations. Atlantis was subsequently swapped for one flight of each Discovery and Endeavour in the flight manifest. Atlantis had completed what was meant to be its last flight, STS-132, prior to the end of the shuttle program,[27] but the extension of the Shuttle program into 2011 led to Atlantis being selected for STS-135, the final Space Shuttle mission in July 2011.

Atlantis display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex

Atlantis is currently displayed at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.[28] NASA Administrator Charles Bolden announced the decision at an employee event held on April 12, 2011, to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the first shuttle flight: "First, here at the Kennedy Space Center where every shuttle mission and so many other historic human space flights have originated, we'll showcase my old friend, Atlantis".[29][30]

The Visitor Complex displays Atlantis with payload bay doors opened mounted at a 43.21° angle to give the appearance of being in orbit around the Earth.[31] The mount angle pays tribute to the countdown that preceded every shuttle launch at KSC.[32] A multi-story digital projection of Earth rotates behind the orbiter in a 5,900 m2 (64,000 sq ft) indoor facility.[33][34] Ground breaking of the facility occurred in 2012.[35]

The exhibit opened on June 29, 2013.[36]

Crews

[edit]
Crewmembers for the final Hubble Servicing Mission, STS-125 pose for a photo on the flight deck of Atlantis

A total of 207 individuals flew with Space Shuttle Atlantis over the course of its 33 missions.[37] Because the shuttle sometimes flew crew members arriving and departing Mir and the ISS, not all of them launched and landed on Atlantis.

Astronaut Clayton Anderson, ESA astronaut Leopold Eyharts and Russian cosmonauts Nikolai Budarin and Anatoly Solovyev only launched on Atlantis. Similarly, astronauts Daniel Tani and Sunita Williams, as well as cosmonauts Vladimir Dezhurov and Gennady Strekalov only landed with Atlantis. Only 146 men and women both launched and landed aboard Atlantis.[37]

Some of those people flew with Atlantis more than once. Taking them into account, 203 total seats were filled over Atlantis' 33 missions. Astronaut Jerry Ross holds the record for the most flights aboard Atlantis at five.[37]

Astronaut Rodolfo Neri Vela who flew aboard Atlantis on STS-61-B mission in 1985 is the only Mexican to have traveled to space. ESA astronaut Dirk Frimout who flew on STS-45 as a payload specialist was the first Belgian in space. STS-46 mission specialist Claude Nicollier was the first astronaut from Switzerland. On the same flight, astronaut Franco Malerba became the first citizen of Italy to travel to space.

Astronaut Mike Massimino who flew on STS-125 mission became the first person to use Twitter in space in May 2009.[38]

Having flown aboard Atlantis as part of the STS-132 crew in May 2010 and Discovery as part of the STS-133 crew in February/March 2011, Stephen Bowen became the first NASA astronaut to be launched on consecutive missions.[39]

Flights listing

[edit]

Problems

[edit]

Composite overwrapped pressure vessels

[edit]

NASA announced in 2007 that 24 helium and nitrogen gas tanks in Atlantis were older than their designed lifetime. These composite overwrapped pressure vessels (COPV) were designed for a 10-year life and later cleared for an additional 10 years; they exceeded this life in 2005. NASA said it could not guarantee any longer that the vessels on Atlantis would not burst or explode under full pressure. Failure of these tanks could have damaged parts of the orbiter and even wound or kill ground personnel. An in-flight failure of a pressure vessel could have even resulted in the loss of the orbiter and its crew. NASA analyses originally assumed that the vessels would leak before they burst, but new tests showed that they could in fact burst before leaking.

Because the original vendor was no longer in business, and a new manufacturer could not be qualified before 2010, when the shuttles were scheduled to be retired, NASA decided to continue operations with the existing tanks. Therefore, to reduce the risk of failure and the cumulative effects of load, the vessels were maintained at 80 percent of the operating pressure as late in the launch countdown as possible, and the launch pad was cleared of all but essential personnel when pressure was increased to 100 percent. The new launch procedure was employed during some of the remaining launches of Atlantis,[51] but was resolved when the two COPVs deemed to have the highest risk of failure were replaced.[52]

Window damage

[edit]

After the STS-125 mission, a work light knob was discovered jammed in the space between one of Atlantis's front interior windows and the Orbiter dashboard structure. The knob was believed to have entered the space during flight, when the pressurized Orbiter was expanded to its maximum size. Then, once back on Earth, the Orbiter contracted, jamming the knob in place. Leaving "as-is" was considered unsafe for flight, and some options for removal (including window replacement) would have included a 6-month delay of Atlantis's next mission (planned to be STS-129). Had the removal of the knob been unsuccessful, the worst-case scenario was that Atlantis could have been retired from the fleet, leaving Discovery and Endeavour to complete the manifest alone. On June 29, 2009, Atlantis was pressurized to 17 psi (120 kPa) (3 psi above ambient), which forced the Orbiter to expand slightly. The knob was then frozen with dry ice, and successfully removed.[53] Small areas of damage to the window were discovered where the edges of the knob had been embedded into the pane.[54] Subsequent investigation of the window damage discovered a maximum defect depth of approximately 0.0003 in (7.6 μm), less than the reportable depth threshold of 0.0015 in (38 μm) and not serious enough to warrant the pane's replacement.[55]

[edit]
Liftoff of first flight of Atlantis and the STS-51-J mission Deployment of the Magellan space probe to Venus on STS-30 Underside view of Atlantis during STS-117 as it approached the International Space Station and performed a Rendezvous Pitch Maneuver Atlantis landing at the Kennedy Space Center following STS-122
Atlantis carrying the S1 Truss segment on mission STS-112 Atlantis and its STS-125 crew head toward Earth orbit and rendezvous with the Hubble Space Telescope Space Shuttle Atlantis after it undocked from the International Space Station on September 17, 2006 The Space Shuttle Atlantis landing in 1997, at the end of STS-86
Atlantis on top of the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft in 1998 An overhead view of Atlantis as it sits atop the Mobile Launcher Platform before STS-79 An overhead image of Atlantis during STS-115, as recorded by an Expedition 13 crew member on board the International Space Station The Hubble Space Telescope aboard Atlantis during the STS-125 mission
Atlantis' final launch at the beginning of the STS-135 mission Atlantis' final landing at the end of the STS-135 mission A welcome home ceremony is held for Atlantis at the Orbiter Processing Facility following the STS-135 mission Atlantis in its final exhibit display at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex

Tribute and mission insignias

[edit]
NASA Orbiter Tribute for Space Shuttle Atlantis
Mission insignia for Atlantis flights
STS-51-J STS-61-B STS-61-G* STS-61-J* STS-27 STS-30 STS-34
STS-36 STS-38 STS-37 STS-43 STS-44 STS-45 STS-46
STS-66 STS-71 STS-74 STS-76 STS-79 STS-81 STS-84
STS-86 STS-101 STS-106 STS-98 STS-104 STS-110 STS-112
STS-115 STS-117 STS-122 STS-125 STS-129 STS-132 STS-135

* Mission canceled following the Challenger disaster.

In media

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See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Space Shuttle Overview: Atlantis (OV-104)". NASA. 2007. Archived from the original on September 3, 2019. Retrieved November 6, 2007. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  2. ^ Justin Ray (May 11, 2010). "Respecting Atlantis as the shuttle faces retirement". Spaceflight Now. Archived from the original on February 3, 2019. Retrieved May 13, 2010.
  3. ^ Peter W. Merlin (May 20, 2010). "Space Shuttle Atlantis Wraps Up 25-year Career". NASA. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved July 25, 2010. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  4. ^ Svitak, Amy (November 19, 2010). "Bolden Says Extra Shuttle Flight Needed As Hedge Against Additional COTS Delays". Space News International. Archived from the original on May 23, 2012. Retrieved March 16, 2011.
  5. ^ "Space Shuttle Atlantis Orbitor Fleet". Archived from the original on September 3, 2019. Retrieved September 23, 2008. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  6. ^ "Atlantis (OV‑103)". Archived from the original on September 3, 2019. Retrieved February 17, 2012. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  7. ^ "Atlantis takes off on final mission". CBC News. May 14, 2010. Retrieved February 25, 2023.
  8. ^ "Space shuttle Atlantis moves to launch pad for final planned flight". Collect SPACE. April 22, 2010. Retrieved July 25, 2010.
  9. ^ Karen Rowan (May 12, 2010). "7 Cool Things You Didn't Know About Space Shuttle Atlantis". SPACE.com. Archived from the original on July 27, 2010. Retrieved May 13, 2010.
  10. ^ Hartsfield, Tom (August 12, 2022). "How the Space Shuttle program nearly ended in disaster". Big Think. Retrieved August 19, 2022.
  11. ^ Thomas, John (February 1, 1989). "STS-27R OV-104 Orbiter TPS damage review team, volume 1". NTRS NASA Technical Reports Servers. NASA. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  12. ^ KSC, Lynda Warnock. "NASA – STS-107". nasa.gov. Archived from the original on February 6, 2018. Retrieved June 17, 2019. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  13. ^ "STS-71". NASA. Retrieved July 25, 2010. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  14. ^ Halvorson, Todd. "Destiny Fulfilled: Atlantis Ends Mission With Safe Touchdown". Space.com. Archived from the original on May 23, 2009. Retrieved July 25, 2010.
  15. ^ Todd Halvorson (February 14, 2010). "Astronauts Cap 100th Spacewalk With Successful Disaster Drill". Space.com. Retrieved July 25, 2010.
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  26. ^ "STS-135: Engineers retest MFV – ET-138 stringer inspections completed". NASASpaceFlight.com. June 25, 2011.
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  53. ^ Bergin, Chris (2009). "Knob removed, Atlantis window inspection begins – longerons in cart accident". NASASpaceflight.com. Retrieved June 30, 2009.
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