Shuttle Launch Preps: Tricky Bolt Replacement a Success

Posted on: Aug. 22nd, 2006 || Source: nasa.gov | E-mail Article | Print Article

On Launch Pad 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, workers completed the difficult task of replacing bolts holding Atlantis' main communications antenna in place.

The repair job required building a special platform so the workers could reach the top of the space shuttle's 60-foot-long payload bay. This enabled technicians to successfully remove two shorter bolts holding the antenna in place and install longer ones. Shuttle managers decided on Friday to change out the bolts as a precaution.
+ Learn more about the bolt replacement

Late last week, hypergolic propellant loading was completed and flight crew systems workers installed extravehicular maneuvering units in the crew cabin. The suits will be worn by shuttle crew members during their spacewalks.

With this mission, NASA is ready to get back to building the International Space Station, marking the first time in almost four years that a space station component has been added to the orbiting outpost. That also means the shuttle program is coming up on some of the most challenging space missions ever.

During their three spacewalks, crew members of Atlantis will install the P3/P4 integrated truss and a second set of solar arrays on the space station, doubling the station’s current ability to generate power from sunlight and adding 17.5 tons to its mass.

The STS-115 crew consists of Commander Brent W. Jett Jr., Pilot Christopher J. Ferguson and Mission Specialists Heidemarie M. Stefanyshyn-Piper, Joseph R. Tanner, Daniel C. Burbank and Steven G. MacLean, who represents the Canadian Space Agency.
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