STS-129

Launch, orbit & landing data: Designation  36094 / 09062A Launch date - time  16 Nov 2009 - 19:28 UT (2:28pm local time) Launch site  KSC, LC39A Launch vehicle  Space Shuttle Orbiter  Atlantis #31 Primary payload  ELC 1 & 2 Mass (kg)   Target spacecraft/port  ISS/ Docking date - time  18 Nov 2009 - 16:51 UT Earth orbit on :    - Perigee / Apogee  337 - 345 km    - Inclination  51.64°    - Period   min Undocking date - time  25 Nov 2009 - 09:53 UT Deorbit burn - time  27 Nov 2009 - 13:37 UT Landing date - time  27 Nov 2009 - 14:44 UT Landing location  KSC, runway 33 Flight Duration (d:hr:min)  10d 19h 16m Nbr orbits  171 Landing crew  launch crew + N. Stott

Crew

Payload path

Mission details:

• Launch from KSC on Nov 16, 2009; mission: ISS ULF-3 ('Utilization and Logistics Flight'), ELC-1 & ELC-2 ('EXPRESS Logistics Carrier').
  

    STS-129 cargo bay manifest - estimate
    -------------------------------------
  
    Name                             Bay location   Mass (kg,guess)
  
    Orbiter Docking System           1-2            1800
     with EMU 3008, 3010 suits                       260?
    APC/SPDU                         3 port           17?
    SPA/S-band Antenna (SASA)        3 stbd          272
    APC/MISSE 7A                     4 port           98
    APC/MISSE 7B                     4 stbd           98
    EXPRESS Logistics Carrier ELC1   6-9            6396
    ROEU umbilical                   9 port           79?
    ROEU umbilical                   9 stbd           79?
    EXPRESS Logistics Carrier ELC2   10-13          6136
    RMS 301                          Sill            410
    OBSS                             Sill            382?
    -----------------------------------------------------
                                             Total 16027
  

  
  
  

  STS-129 rollout	STS-129 site
  STS-129 on pad	STS-129 launch

  
  
• Following a two day solo flight Atlantis docked to the ISS at 16:51 UT on Nov 18, 2009. Joint operations with the ISS expedition 21B. Transfer Stott to the STS-129-crew.
  
  

  Arrives at the ISS

  STS-129 crew

  
  
• On flight day 3 a few hours after docking Leland Melvin and Randolph Bresnik removed the Express Logistics Carrier 1 (ELC-1) from Atlantis' payload bay and handed it off from the shuttle robotic arm to the station robotic arm controlled by Barry Wilmore and Jeffrey Williams. They installed the carrier on the station's Port 3 russ. The pallets carry external spares such as gyros, which will be hard to get to the station once the Shuttle is retired; two more ELCs will be delivered on a later mission.
• First EVA by Foreman and Satcher on Nov 19, 2009 (6h 37m) to install a spare S-band antenna on the station Z1 truss, or backbone, and a bracket for ammonia lines on the Unity module. They lubricated the grapple mechanism on the Payload Orbital Replacement Unit Attachment Device on the Mobile Base System and lubricated the snares of the hand of the station's Japanese Kibo robotic arm. This work was done earlier than planned. They used this time for deploying the Payload Attach System (PAS) on the Earth-facing side of the Starboard 3 truss, the crew had difficulty loosening a bolt and removing a diagonal brace on the PAS. After hammering on a bolt and wiggling the brace, they successfully deployed the PAS and reinstalled the brace. This additional work was originally planned for EVA 2.
  
  

  EVA Foreman

  EVA Satcher

  
  
• Prior to the second spacewalk Atlantis robotic arm operators Leland Melvin and Robert Satcher lifted Express Logistics Carrier 2 (ELC-2) out of the shuttle payload bay. The shuttle arm handed off the carrier to the International Space Station robotic arm, which installed it on the Starboard 3 segment of the station’s truss. The nearly 14,000 pound carrier contains spare equipment that will help prolong the lifetime of the space station.
• Second EVA by Foreman and Bresnik on Nov 21, 2009 (6h 08m) to install the GATOR (Grappling Adaptor to On-Orbit Railing) bracket to the Columbus laboratory and an additional ham radio antenna. They installed on the truss an antenna for wireless helmet camera video. They also relocated the Floating Potential Measurement Unit from S1 to P1, with records electrical potential around the station as it orbits the Earth; and deployed truss fixtures where equipment will be mounted in future.
  
  

  EVA Foreman & Bresnik

  EVA Bresnik

  
  
• Third and final EVA by Satcher and Bresnik on Nov 23, 2009 (5h 42m) began with airlock depressurization and hatch opening around 13:22 UTC; they installed the next set of the "Materials on International Space Station Experiment," known as MISSE-7A and 7B, on ELC-2 and a new oxygen tank for the Quest airlock. They worked the heater cables on a docking adapter in advance of the Tranquility node's installation on Unity′s port side and deployed another cargo platform on the truss. Closing te hatch was at 19:04 UTC and repressurizing 2 min later.
• The Atlantis crew of Charles Hobaugh, Barry Wilmore, Leland Melvin, Randy Bresnik, Michael Foreman and Robert Satcher, supplemented by Nicole Stott completing her tour as a station crew member, undocked on Nov 25, 2009 at 0953 UTC. They returned to Earth on Nov 27 with the deorbit burn at 1337 UTC lowering the orbit from 336 x 348 km to about 16 x 347 km. STS-129 landed on runway 33 at Kennedy Space Center at 1444 UTC.
  
  

  Japanese module Kibo

  Landing STS-129

  
  

Astrophilately covers:

Launch cancel KSC. Credit: J. Vd Dr.

Landing cancel KSC. Credit: J. Vd Dr.