STS-132 - Shuttle Processing

Shuttle Processing

The mission's external tank, ET-136, began its 900-mile (1,400 km), six-day journey across the Gulf of Mexico from NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, Louisiana, on 24 February 2010. ET-136 measured 154 feet (47 m) long and 28 feet (8.5 m) in diameter. The solid rocket booster retrieval ship Liberty Star towed the ET in the enclosed barge Pegasus. After docking in the turn basin at the Kennedy Space Center, the tank was offloaded and driven to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) on 1 March 2010.

On 29 March 2010, workers attached ET-136 to its solid rocket boosters. A crane lifted the ET into high bay No. 1 inside the VAB. The day-long process was completed around 18:00 EDT, as the tank was bolted to Atlantis's twin solid rocket boosters.

Atlantis rolled out of its processing bay (OPF-1) around 07:00 EDT on 13 April 2010. The shuttle entered the VAB around 11:00 EDT for attachment to its external tank and solid rocket boosters. Given that this was at the time believed to be Atlantis' final rollover for a mission, the shuttle stopped for several hours en route to the VAB, allowing engineers and technicians to pose for photographs with the orbiter. The rollover occurred exactly 25 years after Atlantis first arrived at the Kennedy Space Center, after a cross-country trip from the shuttle factory in Palmdale, California. The path to the rollover was without any incidents of major concern, with only 22 Interim Problem Reports (IPRs) noted during Atlantis' flow since its return from the STS-129 mission in November 2009.

The transport canister containing the STS-132 payload arrived at Pad 39A on 15 April 2010 ahead of Atlantis' rollover to the launch pad. The canister was shaped like the shuttle's 60-foot (18 m)-long payload bay. Packed inside it were the MRM-1 module and the cargo-carrying pallet ICC-VLD.

Space Shuttle Atlantis began its rollout to launch pad 39A at 23:31 EDT on 21 April 2010. The complete shuttle stack and mobile launch platform were secured to the launch pad's structure at 6:03 EDT on 22 April 2010. The 3.4 mi (5.5 kilometres (3.4 mi)) trek took 6 hours and 32 minutes to complete. The rollout was originally planned for the evening of 19 April 2010, but wet weather and thunderstorms on the Space Coast caused several delays.

STS-132's payload was installed in the shuttle's cargo bay on 25 April 2010.

Pad engineers preparing Atlantis had noticed paint peeling from shuttle's main payload, the MRM-1 module. Although the problem was declared to have no impact on the operation of MRM-1, it holds a potential threat of releasing debris on orbit. Engineers also noted MRM-1 cycled its Fire and Smoke detector self test several times. Similar events occurred during Atlantis' STS-129 mission in November 2009 when Shuttle and Station crew were awakened consecutive nights by false depressurization and fire alarms that originated from the MRM-2 (Poisk) module.

An agency-wide Flight Readiness Review (FRR) was held at KSC in Florida on 5 May 2010 to discuss Atlantis' launch preparations. At the end of the review, top NASA managers made the decision to officially set the launch for 14 May 2010 at 14:20 EDT. NASA held a post news conference to brief about the results of the FRR. The briefing was broadcasted on NASA TV and was attended by NASA's Associate Administrator for Space Operations, William Gerstenmaier, Space Shuttle Program Manager John Shannon and Space Shuttle Launch Director, Michael Leinbach. Mr. Shannon mentioned that, firstly, ceramic inserts around Atlantis' windows and forward rocket pod were tested after an insert loosened during Discovery's re-entry on STS-131, posing a potential impact threat. The inserts had been re-installed on to Atlantis using a thicker braided cord to reduce the chances of a backing out. Secondly, it was mentioned that engineers had reviewed work to confirm that all systems on Atlantis' K_u band antenna were in place. The testing had been provoked after the failure of that communication system during STS-131. Mr. Leinbach also acknowledged the skills and experience of the engineering teams and thanked the engineers who had successfully resolved hypergolic loading issues. Hypergolics are chemicals that ignite when they come in contact with each other. The propellants are used in the reaction control system that steers the shuttle in space.

A booster rocket segment that had first flown 25 years before on Atlantis' maiden flight (STS-51-J) was used to help fly STS-132. The aft dome on the left solid rocket booster that lifted off to support Atlantis' STS-132 mission first launched STS-51-J on 3 October 1985. Including STS-132, 18 of Atlantis' 32 flights were represented by the boosters' segments.