STS-123

Launch, orbit & landing data: Designation  32699 / 08009A Launch date - time  11 Mar 2008 - 06:28:14 UT Launch site  KSC, LC39A Launch vehicle  Space Shuttle Orbiter  Endeavour #21 Primary payload  Kibo-1 (JEM-ELM-PS) - Dextre rabot arm Launch Mass (kg)  122366 kg Docking date - time  13 Mar 2008 - 03:49 UT Target spacecraft/port  ISS/PMA-2 port Orbital parameters on Mar 13.14:    - Perigee / Apogee  340 x 342 km    - Inclination  51.64°    - Period  91.35 min Undocking date - time  25 Mar 2008 - 00:25 UT Landing date - time  27 Mar 2008 - 00:39 UT Landing location  KSC, Runway 15 Flight Duration (d:hr:min)  15d 18h 12m Nbr orbits  249 Mass at landing  94 159 kg Landing crew  Reisman replaced by Eyharts L.(STS-122)

Launch Crew:

Backup Crew Nr. Name Job 6  Yamazaki, Naoko  MSP 7  Kopra, Timothy  Flight Engineer

Mission objectives:

• Added to the Station on this mission will be the Canadian Dextre robot manipulator (to go on the end of the Canadarm-2) and the Japanese Kibo ELM-PS, to be temporarily stowed on the zenith port of Harmony. Japan's Kibo station module complex will eventually consist of the Kibo JEM-PM (Pressurized Module; the main lab), the Kibo JEM-EF (Exposed Facility, for external experiments), the ELM-PS (Experiment Logistics Module - Pressurized Section), which plays a role similar to the MPLM logistics modules, the ELM-ES (Experiment Logistics Module - Exposed Section) for supply of temporary experiments, a bit like the deployable ICC or SLP pallets, and the JEM-RMS Japanese robot arm. The ELM-PS was built by MHI (Mitsubishi Heavy Industry) at its Tobishima factory in Nagoya; it will be controlled from the Tsukuba facility of the Japanese space agency JAXA.
• STS-123 also carries a lot of small payloads. The MISSE 6 payload consists of two suitcase-like materials exposure trays, PEC 6a and PEC 6b, which will be attached to a lightweight adapter plane (LWAPA) to be fixed to the Columbus External Payload Facility. The PEC cases are on APC class sidewall carriers in the cargo bay, while the heavier LWAPA needs the heftier SPA beam (GAS beam) carrier. Three more SPA beams carry a spare Canadarm-2 Yaw Joint and a pair of DCSU (Direct Current Switching Unit) boxes, to be stowed on the Station ESP platform as spares. Another SPA beam carries RIGEX, a US Air Force Space Test Program payload which will evaluate inflatable materials inside a closed canister. More APC carriers host EVA cargo stowage (ECSH), SIP (standard interface panels) and SPDU (the Station Power Distribution Unit to let the Shuttle run off Station electricity while docked).
• The Dextre robot is carried up on a Spacelab Pallet (SLP), a flexible unpressurized cargo bay carrier built by British Aerospace in the late 1970s.

Mission details:

• ISS-1J/A ('Japanese Experiment Module Experiment Logistics Module Pressurized Section') JEM ELM PS / ('Spacelab Pallet') SLP -D1.
  
• Launch of STS-123 was at 0628:14 UTC. MECO put Endeavour in a 58 x 220 km orbit; OMS-2 came 38m 30s after launch and raised the orbit to roughly 220 x 233 km. On Mar 13 at 0220 UTC Endeavour reached a point 0.2 km below the Station and began its final approach.
  

  The STS-123 payload bay manifest: Name Bay location Mass (kg) Orbiter Docking System 1-2 1800 with EMU 3003, 3004 suits 260? APC/SPDU 3 port 100? SPA/Yaw Joint 3 stbd 336 ICAPC/MISSE PEC 6a 4 port 103 SPA/DCSU 1 4 stbd 363 ICAPC/MISSE PEC 6b 5 port 103 SPA/DCSU 2 5 stbd 363 APC/SIP 6 stbd ? SLP-D1/Dextre 7-8 3485 APC/ECSH 9 port 100? Kibo ELM-PS 10-12 8484 APC/SIP? 11 stbd? ? SPA/MISSE LWAPA 13 port 244 SPA/RIGEX 13 stbd 315 RMS 202 Sill 410 OBSS IBA S/N 003 Sill 450? ---------------------------------------------------- Cargo total: 16916 kg

  STS-123 payload

  
  
• Following a two day solo flight Endeavour docked with PMA-2 at 0349 UTC on Mar 13, 2008. Astronaut Garrett Reisman has joined the Expedition 16 crew of Whitson and Malenchenko, replacing Leo Eyharts.
  
  

  STS-123 in orbit

  Docking

  
  
• The Station arm grappled the Dextre pallet at around 0700 on Mar 13 and attached it to the Mobile Base System on the Station truss by around 0800.
• First EVA at 0113 UTC on Mar 14 (7h 01m). The Quest airlock was depressurized, and Rick Linnehan (in EMU 3004) and Garrett Reisman (in EMU 3006) began a spacewalk to prepare the ELM-PS (Experiment Logistics Module Pressurized Section') for installation and begin assembling Dextre from its component pieces. The airlock was repressurized to end the spacewalk at 0819 UTC.
  
  

  Dextre module

  EVA Foreman

  
  
• On Mar 15 Linnehan and Foreman carried out the second spacewalk (7h 08m), leaving the Quest airlock with depressurization at 2343 UTC, hatch open at about 2348 UTC and egress just after 0000 UTC on Mar 16. During the spacewalk they assembled the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator (SPDM), named Dextre robot manipulator, in its Spacelab pallet attached to the Station truss. Quest was repressurized at 0657 UTC following hatch closure at 0654.
• On Mar 17 Behnken and Linnehan performed EVA-3 (6h 53m), depressurizing Quest at 2246 UTC and opening the hatch at 2251. They completed assembly of Dextre, installed the LWAPA adapter plate on the External Payload Facility of Columbus, and transferred spare equipment from Endeavour's payload bay to External Stowage Platform 2.
  
  

  ISS after STS-123

  EVA Linnehan

  
  
• Fourth EVA by Behnken and Foreman on Mar 20, 2008 (6h 24m). Depressurization to 0.7 psi by 2159 UTC and hatch open at 2203 UTC. They replaced a power control box on the truss and carried out the T-RAD experiment to repair sample damaged heat shield tiles using a putty-like material. The Tile Repair Ablator Dispenser, or T-RAD, is similar to a caulk gun. They used TRAD to mix and squirt out the STA-54 (Shuttle Tile Ablator-54) material into holes in several demonstration tiles. The repaired samples will be returned to Earth for extensive testing. Hatch closed at 0425 UTC and repress at 0428 UTC.
• Fifth and final EVA by Behnken and Foreman (6h 02m) from 2030 UTC Mar 22 to 0236 UTC Mar 23 (depress/repress; 2034 to 0231 hatch open/close).
  They helped install the OBSS (Orbiter Boom Sensor System) arm, the 50 ft. extension of the shuttle's robotic arm, to a temporary location on the station's main truss or backbone. The OBSS was left on the station, because shuttle Discovery doesn't have enough room in its cargo bay to carry both the boom and the large Japanese pressurized module on the STS-124 mission. The spacewalkers also installed a new trundle bearing assembly in the starboard Solar Alpha Rotary Joint to allow the joint to rotate a little bit more if necessary. That ('Solar Alpha Rotary Joint') SARJ has had limited ability for several months, and metallic debris has been found inside it. Additional spacewalk tasks included inspecting the SARJ and collecting debris samples.
• Endeavour undocked at 0025 UTC on Mar 25, leaving Garrett Reisman aboard the station with Whitson and Malenchenko. After a flyaround completed at 0136 UTC they prepared for reentry, with deorbit at 2333 UTC on Mar 26 and landing at 0039 UTC on Mar 27, touching down on Runway 15 at Kennedy Space Center.
  
  

  landing STS-123

  Traditional in-flight photo

  
  

External links:

• JAXA: Mission Information

Astrophilately covers:

Launch cancel KSC. Credit: J. Vd Dr.

Landing cancel KSC. Credit: J. Vd Dr.