Commencing countdown, engines on

Check ignition, and may God’s love be with you . . .

David Bowie, Space Oddity

Corey Benson

The Signal

Space shuttle launch at Cape Canaveral.

Photo courtesy of NASA.

STS-133, the final flight of Space Shuttle Discovery, is scheduled to launch from Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Nov. 5.

The launch was delayed from Nov. 1 to Nov. 3 due to nitrogen and hydrogen leaks in one of the orbital maneuvering system pods.

The launch was delayed again when an irregularity was noticed in the voltage of one of the shuttle’s main engines Nov. 2.

“The launch was originally slated for Nov. 1 and it’s now scheduled for Nov. 4,” said Candrea Thomas, NASA Kennedy Space Center spokesperson. “We’ve had three delays so far. The Prelaunch Mission Management Team and engineers met [Tuesday] night to evaluate the data relating to the surge.”

Six astronauts, Commander Steven Lindsey, Pilot Eric Boe and Mission Specialists Alvin Drew, Michael Barratt, Tim Kopra and Nicole Stott, will fly aboard Discovery as the shuttle transports the Permanent Multipurpose Module and other parts and equipment to the International Space Station.

“It’s got two functions, really,” said Brandi Dean, NASA Johnson Space Center spokesperson. “The first is it’s a way to get a lot of cargo up to the inside of the space station. It basically acts as a moving van. This is important because after the shuttle retires, there’s no way to get big cargo up to the station, so this is one of our last chances to get a big delivery of supplies up.”

The PMM will also provide storage space for the International Space Station.

“It’s going to basically provide a closet for the space station,” Dean said. “Storage is a challenge in space. We send a certain amount of trash away from the station in expendable resupply ships that burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere after they undock from the station. And we can get a small amount of cargo down to the Earth on board the Russian Soyuz, which is how space station crew members travel back and forth to the station.”

“Inside of the PMM – as it’s called for short – there’s a good deal of science experiments and hardware, some supplies and also Robonaut 2, which will be the first dexterous humanoid robot in space,” Dean said.

Robonaut 2 is a prototype robot that was not originally designed for space flight.

“But there was some room in the PMM, so we decided to take advantage of it,” Dean said. “It took some upgrades, but this gives us the chance to see how a humanoid robot performs in microgravity. And, hopefully, some upgrades in the future will enable it to help with some of the duller tasks on the station and maybe even go out on spacewalks to help astronauts.”

STS 134, which will also be the final flight of Space Shuttle Endeavour, is scheduled for early next year.

“Right now, Endeavour is planning for a launch in late February,” Dean said. “It will be delivering the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer to the space station, which will be used to search for antimatter in space.”

President Barack Obama signed into law the NASA Authorization Act of 2010, which added the possibility of another flight, STS-135, after the final flight of Endeavour Oct. 11.

“NASA has been authorized, though not yet funded one additional mission to the space station,” said Steve Roy, space shuttle propulsion and space station science public affairs officer for the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.

Congress has not yet passed a bill to fund STS-135. It is currently, however, designated as STS-335 because it will serve as a rescue flight if needed. Space Shuttle Atlantis will fly the mission if it is funded by the legislature or will remain on standby if the mission is not funded.

The Space Shuttle Program will end in 2011, three decades after it began with the launch of Space Shuttle Columbia April 12, 1981.

“Marshall Space Flight Center has been asked to research the development of the Heavy Life Launch Vehicle,” Roy said. “It’s not been determined how many years that would take to develop.”

The program has not yet been named or further described beyond that. The plans of the current administration, Roy said, are to gradually terminate the Constellation Program and replace them with Heavy Life Launch Vehicle.

“In the interim, we would reply on the Russian Soyuz and their resupply vehicle, Progress,” Roy said. “We would also continue to rely on the European Space Advanced Transfer Vehicle, which is not rated for humans to fly in but would bring supplies to the International Space Station.”

Japan’s H-transfer vehicle will also be used to transport supplies to the space station once the shuttle program has ended.

UHCL University Advancement planned to broadcast the Nov. 1 launch of STS-133 before it was delayed.

“Unfortunately, due to the uncertainty of the launch, due to electrical issues and the lack of availability of rooms on campus that can accommodate a live broadcast, we have had to cancel our live broadcast of this particular launch,” said Mindi Funderburg, UHCL coordinator of outreach and communications. “We are hopeful that we will be able to broadcast a future launch, in particular the STS-134 launch scheduled for February, where two UHCL alumni, Greg Chamitoff and Michael Fincke, will be crewmembers onboard Space Shuttle Endeavour.”

Ten UHCL alumni have served as astronauts; three of whom, Story Musgrave, Guion Bluford Jr. and Lee Morin, are distinguished alumni.

“NASA Johnson Space Center continues to be an important community partner to University of Houston-Clear Lake,” said UHCL President William Staples. “Since the university’s creation in the early ‘70s, NASA and area aerospace contractors have played a key role in shaping our future. We’re proud to be a part of NASA’s history and, in particular, the space shuttle, which started shortly after we became a university. UHCL will continue to adapt and respond to the needs of NASA JSC as their mission in the post-shuttle era evolves.”

Johnson Space Center, located approximately four miles from UHCL, is home to the U.S. astronaut corps and serves as Mission Control.

“The retirement of the shuttle fleet is a bittersweet time for a lot of people, particularly in the area around Johnson Space Center,” Dean said. “There are people here who have been working on the Space Shuttle Program since it began 30 years ago, and there’s a whole lot to be proud of in what the shuttle team has accomplished over the years. But hopefully this will make way for further exploration and many more future accomplishments to be proud of.”