KSC-05-S-00146

Now on the NASA Space Shuttle Status Report: It Takes Two. An important, second test on Space Shuttle Discovery's External Tank. Then, ET-121 attaches to its Solid Rocket Boosters and prepares to fly with Discovery. Plus, a date for Discovery to roll back and Atlantis processing picks up the pace. The NASA Space Shuttle Status Report starts right now_ I’m Ted Mosteller, NASA test director at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and this is the NASA Space Shuttle Status Report. Space Shuttle Discovery and orbiter Atlantis are making Return to Flight progress. On May 20th at the Kennedy Space Center, a second test was successfully completed on Space Shuttle Discovery's External Tank. Engineers and technicians added instrumentation to the tank to troubleshoot two issues that came up during the April 14 tanking test. The instrumentation will provide data to analyze the liquid hydrogen sensors that gave intermittent readings and the liquid hydrogen pressurization relief valve that cycled more times than is standard during the last test. Propellants were loaded into the tank, then an ice and debris team checked the tank's thermal protective coating for frost and ice build up. The propellants were unloaded and the test was complete that afternoon. With the test behind them, workers are now preparing to roll Discovery back to the Vehicle Assembly Building. Meanwhile, inside the VAB, External Tank 121 was attached to its Solid Rocket Boosters. ET-121 and its SRBs were scheduled to fly with Space Shuttle Atlantis but will now become Discovery's flight stack when it rolls back to the VAB. In the coming days, a new heater will be installed on the tank's feedline bellows to minimize the potential for ice and frost buildup. Atlantis will most likely fly with ET-119, scheduled to arrive at KSC next month. As workers anticipate the arrival of Atlantis' tank, processing on the orbiter continues inside the OPF. Workers there are preparing for Atlantis' upcoming launch, designated STS-121 to the International Space Station this September. Atlantis' payload doors were open for testing recently. A sub-zero freezer rack was loaded inside a logistic module known as Leonardo. The Minus Eighty Degree Laboratory Freezer for the ISS, or MELFI, will fly on STS-121 and will provide cold storage for science samples going to and from the space station. The launch window for Space Shuttle Atlantis begins September 9th and ends September 24th. That’s all the time we have for this week’s Space Shuttle Status Report. Remember, July 13 to July 31, 2005, is NASA’s new window for Space Shuttle Discovery’s Return to Flight mission, designated STS-114 to the International Space Station_ Until next time, log on to nasa.gov for the latest in Return to Flight and NASA mission news. I’m Ted Mosteller for the NASA Space Shuttle Status Report.