Astronaut Health Top Priority

As each space shuttle glides down the runway to a stop, a large caravan of vehicles heads to Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility. In that caravan is a Johnson Space Center flight crew surgeon and other medical personnel.

Each mission's crew is assigned a flight crew surgeon who follows them from the time they are assigned to a mission through landing. For the STS-127 crew, that surgeon was Dr. Cedrick Senter.

Image above: Exiting the crew transport vehicle after his post-landing medical exam is STS-127 Commander Mark Polansky being greeted by NASA Administrator Charles Bolden. Behind Polansky is Pilot Doug Hurley. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

After space shuttle Endeavour was cleared of toxic fumes and chemicals, the Crew Transport Vehicle, or CTV, raised up to the level of the shuttle hatch. It then was attached to the shuttle’s side for workers to open the hatch.

Senter entered Endeavour through the CTV and performed an assessment of the crew members to make sure they were well.

Then, he and others helped them out of their seats and down the ladder if they were up on the flight deck, or to crawl out of the middeck hatch.

"It's usually quite warm in the shuttle after landing," Senter said. "The crew members have been wearing bulky spacesuits for several hours, so they are often overheated."

Image above: After space shuttle Endeavour's landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California, STS-126 Commander Chris Ferguson (left) and Pilot Eric Boe examine the tiles. Photo credit: NASA/Tom Tschida, VAFB

The flight surgeon's primary responsibility is to assess and manage heat stress, dehydration and motion sickness. They help the crew change into more comfortable flight suits, give them something cool to drink and let them rest briefly in the air-conditioned CTV.

When the crew members feel well enough, they do a post-landing walk around to inspect the shuttle and often make a statement to the media.

Next, the crew members board the Astrovan and are transported to the Baseline Data Collection Facility in the Operations and Checkout Building. There, they receive their post-flight physical examinations, and participate in medical and physiology experiments that they volunteered for as part of the mission.

According to Senter, crew members typically spend two to four hours undergoing post-flight evaluation and testing.

"We are there to examine the crew and manage any potential medical issues, and to interface with the scientists collecting data to make sure that the process goes smoothly," Senter said. "It’s a busy time as everyone rushes to get everything completed so the crew members can be released to their families."

Flight Crew Surgeon Dr. James Locke was the lead crew surgeon for several missions, including STS-123 and STS-124.

Image above: Accompanied by astronaut Kent Rominger (far left), STS-112 crew members head for the Astrovan after exiting the crew transport vehicle. Photo credit: NASA/KSC

Locke said it takes astronauts some time to readjust to gravity, especially after a long-duration mission.

"We crew surgeons keep a close watch on crew members during the first several days after returning from space," Locke said. "They sometimes experience motion sickness."

Koichi Wakata, who lived aboard the International Space Station for 138 days and returned to Earth with STS-127, adjusted quite fast to Earth’s gravity, and even made it to the post-landing crew news conference about four hours after landing.

"When the hatch opened, I smelled the grass from the ground and was glad to be back home," Wakata said. "Still feeling a little shaky when I walk, but I’m feeling very good."

Linda Herridge
NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center

For more information visit nasa.gov

Visits to Pad Show Scorched Metal, Melted Plastic

If you’ve ever wondered what a launch pad looks like right after the space shuttle thunders off into space, there’s a team of engineers to ask.

Called the post-launch inspection team, they head out to the launch pad to instantly appraise damage at the pad and look for debris. They look over every part of the launch complex, despite the fresh layer of exhaust residue left by the solid rocket boosters.

“You see a lot of scorched metal, some bent,” said Jeff Painter, who has seen launch pads after liftoffs for more than 20 years.

Because the elevators are not working after launch, the engineers have to take the stairs all the way up the fixed service structure.

“There’s definitely a chemical, metallic smell,” said Tom Carlon, who’s been on the inspection team for two years.

Members of the post-launch inspection team examine the hold-down posts after space shuttle Discovery launched on the STS-127 mission. The team is made up of engineers who specialize in certain areas of the launch pad. The hold-down posts connect to the bottom of the twin solid rocket boosters. Four bolts on each booster hold the shuttle stack to the launch pad and then release it at launch. Photo credit: United Space Alliance/John Seaman

Wildlife trekking back in only adds to the surreal atmosphere, such as the time a group of piglets was heading to the launch pad’s surface at the same time as the inspection team.

Looking over the launch pad after a shuttle liftoff used to be akin to developing a catalog of destruction. Melted speakers would wrap around poles or columns in the launch tower, drink containers tucked away and forgotten would be jarred loose and strewn about, and a few tools, such as wire brushes, would be found on the launch pad or in the blast zone.

Things have changed, though, and now far fewer things are left behind to get tossed around in the exhaust of a launching shuttle’s 7 million pounds of flame and turbulence. There’s still the occasional melted speaker, however.

Eric Linderman, who leads the post-launch team, said the group found no left-behind items at the launch pad after Endeavour climbed into orbit for the STS-127 mission. That was a first for the Space Shuttle Program. There were a few items that were blasted loose by the exhaust.

Any item found during the inspection gets evaluated to find out where it came from and why it came loose. The idea is to prevent the same thing from coming loose during a future launch. Loose items can ricochet around the pad area and potentially impact the shuttle as it climbs off the pad.

If the shuttle’s gigantic external tank is fueled but there is no launch, the team goes into “post-drainback inspection” mode. That means they head out to the pad after the liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen have been emptied from the tank. Just like the Final Inspection Team, which studies the outside of the shuttle in the closing hours of a countdown, the post-drainback group looks for signs of ice buildup, cracks in the tank foam, or for potential debris that might have been missed earlier.

“It’s kind of awe-inspiring because it’s just the vehicle and just you,” Linderman said.

Eight engineers, all volunteers, make the trip to the pad. They generally wear shorts and T-shirts beneath the mandatory white flame-retardant coveralls. Helmets and tethers complete the outfits depending on where they are working at the pad complex.

“You might think that nighttime is a relief,” said team member Kurt Stresau. “But eight months out of the year, the mosquitoes make sure you are quickly disillusioned.”

But don’t think they don’t enjoy it.

“Not a lot of people get to do this,” Carlon said.

Richard Villanueva took part in his first inspection during the STS-127 launch, which included four tankings before it launched. That meant five chances for the team to go out and look over Endeavour.

“For me, it was just a great chance to learn,” Villanueva said. “Just the whole experience of getting to go out there, not knowing what to expect and learning from the experience of everybody else.”

Eric Linderman, right, talks to the post-launch inspection team before they head out onto the launch platform. The team splits into two groups to complete the pad inspections after a liftoff. Photo credit: United Space Alliance/John Seaman

Split into two teams, it takes two to three hours to complete the survey, which includes looking for signs of dented piping or loose bricks inside the flame trench.

Each of the engineers knows a specific area of the launch pad and evaluates that area closely during the inspection. When it’s finished, they can offer a conclusive report of what items broke loose, what should be replaced or moved to a different part of the pad, and what damage parts of the pad incurred, such as the hold-down posts that connect the boosters to the launch platform.

The inspections are so detailed in part because the information will go back to more than 35 organizations, directorates and companies that can’t go out and look at the launch pad firsthand with the team. The team itself is made up of engineers from NASA, United Space Alliance, Boeing and Lockheed Martin.


There are a few surprises for the group, but the most consistent shock is that launch pads survive incredibly well despite forces far stronger than most buildings face.

“You have a steel structure a half-mile from the ocean and it’s been there for 40 years and you’re setting a controlled explosion off on it,” Painter said.

For Linder, the best part of the whole inspection is getting back to the office to write the report. The group gathers around a desk and before long some of the snacks and candy that had been tucked inside desks fuels a couple hours of camaraderie.

“I guess it’s the fellowship,” Linderman said.

That feeling is shared by others on the team.

“It’s dirty, it’s hot, it’s smelly and it’s fun,” Stresau said.

Steven Siceloff
NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center


For more information visit nasa.gov

Completing Kibo: STS-127 Marks New Era for Science

For the multinational crew of seven astronauts aboard space shuttle Endeavour, the STS-127 mission to the International Space Station was a resounding success. Lasting nearly 16 days, the flight was one of the longest of NASA's Space Shuttle Program. The team's main goals -- completing assembly of Japan's Kibo laboratory complex and delivering spare station parts for future use -- called for five spacewalks and intricate robotics work by the shuttle and station crews.

Image above: Smoke and steam infuse with the fiery light from Endeavour's launch. Image credit: NASA/Sandra Joseph-Kevin O'Connell

But the first challenge was getting off the ground. A gaseous hydrogen leak halted two launch countdowns -- and once the leak was repaired, weather problems halted more attempts. Finally, Endeavour and crew enjoyed a picture-perfect launch at 6:03 p.m. EDT on July 15, rocketing away from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida just one day before the 40th anniversary of the launch of Apollo 11, humanity's first visit to the moon.

Commanded by veteran astronaut Mark Polansky, the STS-127 crew also comprised Pilot Doug Hurley, Mission Specialists Dave Wolf, Christopher Cassidy, Julie Payette of the Canadian Space Agency, Tom Marshburn and Tim Kopra. Upon Endeavour's arrival at the station, Kopra replaced the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Koichi Wakata as the Expedition 20 flight engineer.

After a day in orbit spent checking out the shuttle's heat shield, Polansky guided Endeavour to a link-up with the International Space Station at 1:47 p.m. July 17 as the two vehicles glided 220 miles above the north coast of Australia. Once the hatches were opened, Wakata and Kopra swapped seat liners, officially making Kopra a member of the Expedition 20 crew.

The combined crews of Endeavour and station added up to 13 people -- the most humans ever in orbit at the same place at the same time.

With both spacecraft and astronaut teams together in space, it was time to get to work.

The mission's main objective was to install the Japanese Experiment Module-Exposed Facility, the final piece of the Kibo laboratory. The Exposed Facility will serve as a permanent "porch" aboard the station, allowing experiments to be exposed to the space environment. On Flight Day 4, spacewalkers Wolf and Kopra spent five-and-a-half hours outside the orbiting outpost, preparing the attach points on both the Kibo hardware already in place and the new component to be installed. The porch then was installed by Polansky and Payette at the controls of Endeavour's robotic arm, and Hurley and Wakata controlling the station's robotic arm. Additionally, Kibo's robotic arm provided a view of the installation.

Image above: With Earth below, astronaut Christopher Cassidy participates in the mission's third spacewalk. Image credit: NASA

Endeavour also brought up the Japanese Experiment Logistics Module-Exposed Section, a payload carrier that temporarily attached to the Exposed Facility. Three days after the astronauts installed the facility, the carrier was robotically plucked from Endeavour's payload bay and handed off to the station arm, which repositioned it near the Kibo complex. During another spacewalk, Wolf and Cassidy readied the carrier and the facility for attachment. On Flight Day 9, the Kibo robotic arm made its operational debut with Wakata at the controls as he moved three experiments from the carrier to the facility. The carrier was returned to the shuttle's payload bay three days later.

Spacewalkers Marshburn and Cassidy also installed video cameras on the Exposed Facility, which will help provide a view of the H-II Transfer Vehicle, or HTV, scheduled to arrive at the station this fall.

In addition to the astronauts' hard work to complete Kibo, they also needed to install several space station components for future use. As with their Kibo efforts, this process took several days, multiple spacewalks and plenty of robotics work to accomplish.

Image above: The Japanese Experiment Module Kibo laboratory and newly installed Exposed Facility are viewed from inside the station. Image credit: NASA

During the mission's third spacewalk, Wolf and Cassidy began the task of replacing six batteries that power the station's P6 truss in the absence of sunlight. They swapped out two batteries before a potential problem arose with the carbon dioxide scrubber in Cassidy's spacesuit. Although Cassidy was never in danger, mission rules called for an early end to their excursion. The remaining four batteries were replaced by Cassidy and Marshburn two days later.

Other spares transferred to the station for long-term storage were a pump module, space-to-ground antenna and a linear drive unit.

With several days of intense work and accomplishments behind them, the shuttle and station crews said their farewells, and Endeavour pulled away from the station July 28 after 11 days of docked operations.

Before coming home, the crew of Endeavour deployed two pairs of satellites: the Dual RT Astrodynamic GPS Orbital Navigator Satellite, or DRAGONSat, and the Atmospheric Neutral Density Experiment-2, or ANDE-2. DRAGONSat's two satellites will test the ability of two spacecraft to rendezvous based on data provided by the Global Positioning System, and ANDE-2 will study the atmosphere at an Earth altitude of 200 miles.

Image above: The drogue chute unfurls behind Endeavour on Runway 15 at Kennedy Space Center. Image credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

Landing day dawned bright and sunny at Kennedy Space Center. After 248 orbits and more than 6.5 million miles, Endeavour and crew touched down on Runway 15 at Kennedy's Shuttle Landing Facility at 10:48 a.m., landing right on time at the first opportunity and bringing Wakata home to Earth after 138 days in space.

STS-127 Spacewalks:

First Spacewalk: Wolf and Kopra prepared the Kibo laboratory and the Exposed Facility for installation and deployed a cargo carrier attachment system on the P3 truss that failed to unfurl in March. Spacewalk time: five hours, 32 minutes.

Second Spacewalk: Wolf and Marshburn installed the space-to-ground antenna, pump module and linear drive unit to a stowage platform on the P3 truss. Spacewalk time: six hours, 53 minutes.

Third Spacewalk: Wolf and Cassidy prepared the Exposed Section payloads for transfer to the Exposed Facility and replaced two station batteries before ending the spacewalk early due to a problem with Cassidy's suit. Spacewalk time: five hours, 59 minutes.

Fourth Spacewalk: Cassidy and Marshburn replaced the remaining four station batteries. Spacewalk time: seven hours, 12 minutes.

Fifth Spacewalk: Cassidy and Marshburn installed video cameras on the Exposed Facility and completed other miscellaneous tasks around the station. Spacewalk time: four hours, 54 minutes.

For more information visit nasa.gov