On Launch Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians continue prelaunch propellant servicing on space shuttle Endeavour.
The payload for the STS-130 mission, including the Italian-built Tranquility node and the cupola, which is attached to one end of the node, is scheduled to be transported to the pad Friday.
Engineers have made significant progress toward a solution to a problem with one of the four high-pressure ammonia jumper hoses that failed during a prelaunch test Jan 7. The four hoses will be used to connect Tranquility to the International Space Station’s cooling system after installation by Endeavour’s crew members.
NASA managers and Boeing, the station’s prime contractor, are working simultaneously on three options, one of which may support a target launch of Endeavour on Feb. 7.
The options include modifying the hose design that failed during testing, creating a second set from ground spares for hoses currently on the station, executing a minimal activation of Tranquility with no active cooling that would require the hoses be flown on a later flight, or delayed full activation. NASA managers will review these options and make decisions later this week.
Meanwhile, at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, the STS-130 astronauts practice spacewalking techniques in the pool at the Neutral Buoyancy Lab.