STS-132

Launch, orbit & landing data: Designation  36572 / 10019A Launch date - time  14 May 2010 - 18:20 UT Launch site  KSC, LC39A Launch vehicle  Space Shuttle Orbiter  Atlantis F-32 Primary payload  MRM 1 (Rassvet) Mass (kg)   Earth orbit on May 15.16:    - Perigee / Apogee  166 x 263 km    - Eccentricity  0.007    - Inclination  51.60°    - Period  88.78 min Docking date - time  16 May 2010 - 14:28 UT Target spacecraft/port  ISS/MA-2 / Harmony Docking orbit on May 17.51:    - Perigee / Apogee  340 x 353 km    - Eccentricity  0.001    - Inclination  51.65°    - Period  91.47 min Undocking date - time  23 May 2010 - 15:22 UT Landing date - time  26 May 2010 - 12:48 UT Landing location  KSC Runway 33 Flight Duration (d:hr:min)  11d 18h 28m (11.77 days) Nbr orbits  186 Landing crew  launch crew

Launch crew

Crew walkout

Crew

Mission details:

• STS-132 uses external tank ET-136 with the RSRM-111 booster pair.
  
  

  STS-132 cargo manifest ---------------------- Name Bay location Mass (kg,guess) Orbiter Docking System 1-2 1800 with EMU 3004, 3018, 3011 suits 390? APC/SPDU 3 port 17? APC/PDGF grapple fixture 5 port 71? ICC-VLD carrier 6-7 1913 + 6 Battery ORUs 1020 + SGANT antenna 293 + EOTP platform 191 ROEU 755 umbilical 10 port 90 Rassvet module 9-13 6295 + MLM Airlock 900 + MLM Radiator 570 + ERA-EJ elbow joint 150 + ERA-PWP platform 100 RMS Sill 410 OBSS Sill 382 ----------------------------------------------------- Total 14592 kg

  
  
• Also in Atlantis' payload bay is the ICC-VLD (Integrated Cargo Carrier - Vertical Light Deployable), on its second flight. This truss carries spares for the Station: a new space-to-ground antenna (SGANT), a new work platform for the Dextre robot manipulator (EOTP), and six more replacement batteries for the P6 truss section.
• The Atlantis crew will also deliver a spare spacesuit, EMU 3011, to join three US EMU spacesuits and three Russian Orlan-MK suits already on the station. Astronauts Garrett Reisman (in EMU 3018), Steve Bowen (in EMU 3004), and Michael Good (in EMU 3009) will make three spacewalks to replace the batteries and install the SGANT and EOTP. Ken Ham and Tony Antonelli will fly Atlantis to the Station while Piers Sellers will be driving the Station robot arm.
• Atlantis took off from Kennedy Space Centre on May 14, 2010 at 1820 UTC. The SRBs separated two minutes after launch. Main engine cut-off and external tank separation followed at 1828 UTC, with Atlantis and the ET in a 58 x 219 km x 51.6 deg orbit. The OMS-2 burn at 1858 UTC raised the orbit of Atlantis to 157 x 228 km, and over the next two days the Shuttle raised its orbit to match the 340 x 353 km path of ISS.
  
  

  ERA boom

  
  
• The Atlantis astronauts used a less-capable backup sensor system to inspect the shuttle's carbon composite nose cap and wing leading edge panels after an overly-tight cable prevented them from using a more sophisticated, steerable sensor package. The crew lost several hours troubleshooting the problem because the backup system needs sun light, but the lead flight director said he was confident all the necessary data would be collected when all was said and done.
• Following a two day solo flight Atlantis docked with the PMA-2 port on the station at 1428 UTC on May 16. The Station robot arm took the ICC-VLD carrier from the payload bay and stowed it on the transporter base overnight. Joint operations with the ISS expedition 23.
  
  

  STS-132 in orbit

  Crew in ISS

  
  
• First EVA by Garret Reisman and Steve Bowen on 17 May 2010 at 11:51 UT (7h 25m). The Quest airlock was depressurized past 50 mbar at the beginning of the first spacewalk, during which the astronauts installed a new SGANT (Space-to-Ground Antenna) on the Z1 truss and the EOTP equipment platform on the Dextre robot. The spacewalkers breaked the torque on bolts holding batteries in place on the truss, in preparation for their removal and replacement on the second and third spacewalks. Battery preparation work was deferred from STS-131 to this flight.
  
  

  EVA Reisman

  EVA Reisman

  
  
• On May 18 at 1220 UTC the Rassvet module was connected to the nadir port on Zarya. Kenneth Ham and Tony Antonelli maneuvered the shuttle robotic arm to unberth the module from Atlantis' payload bay and positioned it for handoff to the station robotic arm. Garrett Reisman and Piers Sellers were at the station arm controls to maneuver MRM-1 or Rassvet to its new position on the Russian segment. Expedition 23 Commander Oleg Kotov monitored the activities from the Russian segment as the MRM-1 engaged into its automated docking sequence for the final attachment to the station.
  
  

  Rassvet in space

  ISS at the end of STS-132

  
  
• Second EVA by Bowen and Good on 19 May 2010 from 10:36 to 17:47 UT (7h 09m) to remove and replacing four of the six batteries on the port truss to store electricity from the solar arrays on that truss.
• The station truss has 48 replaceable 170-kg battery packs, 12 on each of the S4, P4, S6 and P6 truss segments. P6 was launched seven years earlier than the other segments and its batteries are aging, so six of them were replaced on mission STS-127 last year and the other six were swapped out this time.
  The used batteries were installed on the cargo carrier for return to Earth on Atlantis. In addition to the original tasks Bowen and Good relieved a snagged cable that is preventing full use of the laser imager and video camera. The equipment is located on the Orbiter Boom Sensor System.
  
  

  EVA Good

  EVA Bowen

  EVA Good

  
  
• Third and final EVA by Good and Reisman on 21 May 2010 from 10:24 to 17:13 UT(6h 46m). They install the final two new batteries on the truss and put the old batteries on the carrier. The Station arm put the ICC-VLD back in the Shuttle's payload bay at 0950 UTC on May 22.
  
  

  Landing STS-132

  
  
• Atlantis undocked at 1522 UTC on May 23 and landed on runway 33 at Kennedy Space Center at 1248 UTC on May 26, completing mission STS-132, which was (at least according to the current plan) its final flight in space.

Astrophilately covers:

Machine Launch cancel KSC. Credit: J. Vd Dr.

Landing cancel KSC + new red cancel. Credit: J. Vd Dr.