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Astronauts aboard NASAs space convey Discovery scannedtheir spacecrafts feverishness defense for any signs of repairs on Tuesday, but couldn"tbeam the formula to Mission Control given of a main receiver plate malfunction.
The receiver unsuccessful to work usually after Discoverylaunched Monday on a smoothness mission to the International Space Station. Withoutthe antenna, Discoverys 7 astronauts cant send or embrace big datapackages, similar to lucent live video to Mission Control or reception majorrevisions to their moody plan.
"We cant speak by it. We cant send commands throughit. Really zero functions with it at this point," convey moody directorRichard Jones pronounced in a Tuesday sunrise briefing.
That meant Discoverys astronauts had to jot down theresults of their convey investigation on 40minute interpretation tapes instead of beamingvideo and laser camera interpretation true to Mission Control. They had to make make use of 6 tapes to store about 40 gigabytes of interpretation from the investigation sothat it can be sent to Earth after once Discovery reaches the space hire [Discovery"spredawn launch].
The astronauts used a 100foot (30meter) investigation boomtipped with laser sensors to indicate the feverishness defense panels along Discoverys wingedges and nose top for any repairs postulated during their Monday launch. �Thesurvey took hours.
"Its a prolonged day so we essentially stagger through," pronounced shuttlepilot Jim Dutton, one of 3 Discovery astronauts who achieved the scan, ina NASA interview.
The investigation is a customary piece of each space shuttlemission given the 2003 Columbia disaster, where wing feverishness defense repairs ledto the loss of the booster during reentry. Seven astronauts were killed.
Since then, NASA has grown severe inspectiontechniques and correct methods to safeguard feverishness defense firmness of the shuttlesin flight. Tuesdays investigation is the initial of 3 programmed surveys of theshuttle by the organisation and astronauts on the space station.
Discovery is due to wharf at the International SpaceStation Wednesday sunrise at 3:44 a.m. EDT (0744 GMT). The astronauts areworking on a lopsided report that requires them to nap in the day and work atnight. They"ll go to nap at about 12:21 p.m. EDT (1621 GMT) currently to rest upahead of Wednesdays docking.
The malfunctioning Kuband receiver plate is 3 feet (1meter) far-reaching and about 7 feet (2.1 meters) long. It is one of severalcommunication systems on Discovery, that additionally has UHF and Sband systems forvoice and interpretation transmission, but usually the Kuband complement can send home video.
Without the antenna, Discoverys event with thespace hire is approaching to be a bit trickier, given the device is additionally usedin a radio detector mode to give convey commander in chief Alan Poindexter updates on Discovery"sapproach and alignment.
Jones pronounced the astronauts can make make use of star trackers and otherdevices in place of the antennas radar.
Jones pronounced that the receiver is tracking communicationssatellites in orbit, usually not promulgation or reception information. A similarantenna disaster occurred during NASAs STS92shuttle mission to the space hire in 2000, he added.
It is misleading if the receiver can be remade duringDiscoverys 13day mission. But so far, the glitch has not acted as well most of aproblem for Discoverys organisation or moody controllers on Earth, Jones said.
"I would impersonate it right right away as a minorinconvenience," Jones said.
Images Shuttle Discoverys Stunning Predawn LaunchNASA"sMost Memorable Space Missions SpottingSpaceships From Earthis on condition that finish coverage of Discoverys STS131 mission to theInternational Space Station with Managing Editor Tariq Malik and Staff Writer Clara Moskowitz formed in New York. Click here for convey missionupdates and a couple to NASA TV.
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