STS-114
From The Space Library
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| Organization | National Aeronautics and Space Administration (UnitedStates) |
|---|---|
| Mission type | Engineering,Human Crew,Resupply/Refurbishment/Repair |
| Launch date | July 26, 2005 |
| Launch vehicle | Space Shuttle |
| Launch site | Cape Canaveral, United States |
| COSPAR ID | 2005-026A |
| Experiments | Here |
| Alternate Names | 28775 |
| Additional Information | Here |
| Data Collection | Here |
| Payload Mass Up | 8808.76 kg |
STS 114 is an American shuttle craft that was launched from Cape Canaveral at 15:39 UT on 26 July 2005. It was launched after 29 months of post-mortem analysis of the flaws that led to the explosive end of the previous mission. STS 114 carried several cameras to look out for damage on its own surface and on the foam covering the external fuel tank. Many more ground-based cameras and radars monitored the initial trajectory after the launch. The shuttle also carried repair kits to fix tile-related problems and a 15 meter robotic arm to spot and examine tile degradations. So far, a few (probably) minor damages to the tiles have been identified. EPILOG,9 Sep 2005: The shuttle safely landed in Edwards Air Base near Los Angeles at 12:12 UT on 9 sep 2005. The shuttle docked with the International Space Station on 28 July and delivered 12 tonnes of goods and equipment to the ISS. Two of the crew of seven astronauts participated in practicing with the caulking guns and putty-knives in the open cargo bay for seven hours (on 30 July), in preparation for the space walks that were entailed to repair actual faults. The crew also replaced a defective gyroscope on the ISS. It is expected to complete the mission and return to Earth on 08 August 2005. It has been reported that all planned near-future shuttle launches are cancelled pending yet another reappraisal of the safety issues. Meanwhile three Russian Soyuz-TMA craft are on standby to rescue the crew should the shuttle be deemed unfit for the return journey. The on-going progress of the mission may be accessed via: http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/
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