SpaceWeekly.com

Click here to visit Original posting
Mounted atop a specialized transporter, space shuttle Discovery is all set for a short drive Wednesday morning to the Vehicle Assembly Building where it will be joined to a waiting set of two solid rocket boosters and a fuel tank. The move, known as "rollover" to the NASA Kennedy Space Center community of space workers, is slated to begin at 6:30 a.m. when Discovery is carefully backed out of Orbiter Processing Facility-3. The 76-wheeled transport will then truck the spacecraft across a wide, concrete road and into the VAB, where a skilled team of technicians will bolt a huge sling to the orbiter so it can be safely lifted and joined to the boosters and tank.

While their spacecraft undergoes preparations in Florida, the astronauts who will fly Discovery to the International Space Station will be practicing for their arrival in space. Training at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, the crew will conduct a suited post-insertion simulation today.

Click here to visit Original posting
At NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians are preparing the external fuel tank and twin solid rocket boosters for space shuttle Discovery’s arrival and connection next week. The tank and boosters are already stacked on the mobile launcher platform. Rollover of Discovery is set to begin at 6:30 am. EDT on Sept. 8. There is no work planned over the Labor Day holiday weekend.

At NASA’s Johnson Space Center, the STS-133 crew is conducting a rendezvous simulation today.‪

Click here to visit Original posting
Space shuttle Discovery has been connected to its 76-wheel, custom-built transporter ahead of its move from Orbiter Processing Facility-3 to the Vehicle Assembly Building. That move is scheduled to take place Sept. 8. The transporter is one of several specialized vehicles that serve the shuttle fleet at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Some move payloads and solid rocket booster segments, this one moves the 100-ton orbiters. The kings are, of course, the huge, tracked crawler-transporters that carry a stacked shuttle to the launch pad. One thing they all have in common: they move really slowly, especially when carrying precious national assets on their backs.

In the VAB, the 52-story-tall landmark building at Kennedy, the external fuel tank and solid rocket boosters have been assembled on the mobile launch platform and are waiting for Discovery’s arrival to complete the stack.

The astronauts who will fly Discovery to the International Space Station on the upcoming STS-133 mission are also at Kennedy today for a Crew Equipment Interface Test, known as the CEIT. They will check out the Permanent Multipurpose Module and the Express Logistics Carrier that will carry critical spare parts to the International Space Station.

Click here to visit Original posting
Technicians at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida today will place space shuttle Discovery on the specialized transporter that will ferry it across the street from Orbiter Processing Facility-3 to the Vehicle Assembly Building. That move is slated for Sept. 8. The winged spaceship has spent the last several month being prepped for spaceflight. At the VAB, the orbiter will be joined to the external fuel tank and solid rocket boosters for launch. Liftoff is targeted for Nov. 1 at 4:40 p.m. Eastern time on STS-133.

At NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, the STS-133 astronauts will conduct a deorbit preparation simulation today.

Click here to visit Original posting
Space shuttle Discovery is being readied today for its loading atop a flat, specialized transporter that will carry it to the Vehicle Assembly Building on Sept 8. Discovery has been inside Orbiter Processing Facility-3 since its return from the STS-131 mission on April 20. It is targeted for launch Nov. 1 on the STS-133 mission to the International Space Station.

At NASA’s Johnson Space Center, the STS-133 astronauts will practice procedures for the mission’s first spacewalk in the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory.

Click here to visit Original posting
The tires on space shuttle Discovery will be pressurized for the final time before flight today as the careful march toward launch continues at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Discovery is targeted to lift off Nov. 1 at 4:40 p.m. Eastern time on the STS-133 mission.

Discovery’s crew will practice deorbit burn techniques and contingency scenarios in the motion-base simulator today at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Click here to visit Original posting
Shuttle workers at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida will install a lightweight tool stowage assembly in the payload bay of space shuttle Discovery today. The spacecraft is being readied for a targeted launch on Nov. 1 at 4:40 p.m. Eastern time. The shuttle will be powered down Monday for its roll to the Vehicle Assembly Building on Sept. 8. The crew completes its week with some time for administrative work.‬‪

Click here to visit Original posting
The three main engines on space shuttle Discovery will be configured today so the spacecraft can be taken to the Vehicle Assembly Building on Sept. 8 for stacking. Discovery, the oldest active shuttle, is being prepared for the STS-133 mission. Liftoff is targeted for Nov. 1. The preferred launch time for Nov.1 would be 4:40 p.m. Eastern time. The crew is involved in robotic proficiency training today at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.‪

Click here to visit Original posting
Space shuttle Discovery continues its launch processing on pace as technicians prepare the spacecraft for its scheduled move on Sept. 8 to the Vehicle Assembly so it can be hoisted into launch position with its external fuel tank and solid rocket boosters. Today’s work at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center includes checks of the "glass cockpit" systems, known as MEDS for Multifunction Electronic Display Subsystem. Technicians also are pressurizing the main landing gear.

At NASA’s Johnson Space Center, STS- 133 astronauts will continue working on spacewalk procedures in the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory.

Click here to visit Original posting
Working inside Orbiter Processing Facility-3 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians are beginning a three-day leak test of space shuttle Discovery’s entry closed loop gaseous nitrogen life support system. Tonight, workers will perform a similar test of the spacecraft’s external tank umbilical. The shuttle’s glass cockpit displays also are undergoing testing. Discovery is slated to be carried to the Vehicle Assembly Building on Sept. 8. Launch is targeted for Nov. 1.

The six STS-133 mission astronauts are in the fixed-base simulator at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, the training base for NASA’s astronauts. The crew is rehearsing the installation of ELC-4, a procedure they will perform during the mission to the International Space Station.