Aug 26 2009
From The Space Library
NASA announced the one-year extension of the Space Station Cargo Integration Contract that Lockheed Martin Integrated Systems had held since January 2004. The extension’s start date was 1 October 2009. As the second of two such options provided for in the original contract, the extension brought the total value of the contract to US$381 million. Under the terms of the contract, Lockheed Martin Integrated Systems provided sustained engineering for NASA carriers and cargo packing for delivery to and from the ISS. The company also determined the most efficient way to pack cargo; verified the adequacy of the integrated carriers; packed the pressurized cargo into subcarriers; and returned the cargo to providers, once it had returned to Earth.
NASA, “NASA Extends Space Station Cargo Integration Contract,” news release C09-038, 26 August 2009, http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2009/aug/C09-038_ISS_cargo.html (accessed 31 August 2011).
South Korea’s rocket Naro 1, which had launched 25 August, failed to deliver its payload to orbit. South Korean Vice Minister of Education, Science, and Technology Kim Jung Hyun explained to the media that the fairing had failed to separate properly when the satellite reached its target altitude, causing the satellite to overshoot its mark and, probably, to burn up in the atmosphere after falling back toward Earth.
Heejin Koo, “South Korean Satellite Burned Up After Orbit Failure,” Bloomberg News, 26 August 2009. 29 August
Space Shuttle Discovery launched from NASA’s KSC at 11:59 p.m. (EDT) on STS-128, to deliver supplies, equipment, and a new crew member to the ISS. The STS-128 crew comprised Commander Frederick W. “Rick” Sturckow; Pilot Kevin A. Ford; and Mission Specialists Patrick G. Forrester, Jose M. Hernandez, John D. “Danny” Olivas, and ESA astronaut A. Christer Fuglesang. Also aboard was Nicole P. Stott, who would begin a three-month mission in residence at the ISS, replacing NASA’s Timothy L. Kopra. Discovery carried in its cargo bay the Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module, a pressurized “moving van” that the crew would temporarily install at the ISS. Leonardo would deliver storage racks, materials and fluids science racks, a freezer to store research samples, a new sleeping compartment, an air purification system, and a treadmill named after comedian Stephen Colbert. Colbert had received the most entries in NASA’s online poll to name the station’s Node 3, but NASA had named Node 3 “Tranquility.” As a consolation prize for Colbert, NASA had decided to name the treadmill COLBERT (Combined Operational Load Bearing External Resistance Treadmill).
NASA, “NASA’s Shuttle Discovery Launches To Enhance Space Station Science,” news release 09-196, 29 August 2009, http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2009/aug/HQ_09-196_STS-128_Launch.html (accessed 31 August 2011).
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