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Atlantis: Pressure Sensor on Solid Rocket Booster To Be Replaced, Won't Affect Launch Date
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Space Shuttle Atlantis on the pad/NAS
Kennedy Space Center technicians will replace a pressure sensor on the right-side solid rocket booster (SRB) of Space Shuttle Atlantis, NASA spokesman Allard Beutel told the Examiner today. The sensor is being replaced because of an atypical reading during routine calibration tests last week, he said.
The work will be done in parallel with other flight processing tasks, and is not expected to impact the Oct. 10 launch date, according to Beutel.
The electrical readings that raised an engineering concern were " even within normal specs, but were not a typical reading," Beutel explained. The calibration tests were run again, and this time, the sensor tested with "very typical" results, he added.
The sensors are designed to monitor chamber pressure within the SRBs during the first two minutes of flight as they and the external tank hurl the space shuttle into orbit. This isn't the first time this repair was been done on the launch pad. Beutel said.
A sensor swap-out was performed on Atlantis in spring of 2007 prior to the STS-117 mission. That mission had required an earlier full roll-back to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) to repair damage to the spaceship and the external tank from a hailstorm in February, 2007.
The 2007 sensor work went smoothly, and Beutel said that this work, too, is expected to follow that normal course. Atlantis had rolled out to Launch Pad 39A on September 4.
Atlantis and her crew are are slated for the final servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope. STS-125 includes five spacewalks in 11 days. Spacewalking astronauts will install new scientific instruments and repair components on some others.
On Thursday, Atlantis will be joined at KSC's seaside launch complex as Space Shuttle Endeavour rolls out to Launch Pad 39B. This will be the first time that two space shuttles have been poised for flight at the launch pads since the summer of 2001. Space Shuttles Discovery (STS-105) and Atlantis (STS-104) shared pad processing resources before their missions.
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