Quarantine

Yes Terry officially went into full time quarantine yesterday. There is a facility here in Houston and one in Florida so he starts out in quarantine here and then the entire crew moves to Kennedy Space Center later in the week. They continue to train, fly the shuttle training aircraft and work in the simulators up until bedtime on the 6th. The crew has been sleep shifting all week and now they are already on a fully reversed schedule, sleeping from 8am to 4pm and working all night. Special thanks to all the teams who are coming in during the middle of the night to work the simulators and run training programs.

Press Conference Today

The STS-130 crew will be hosting their final prelaunch press conference today, Jan 29 at Johnson Space Center sometime between 1:00 and 2:00 CST. All of the major networks will be represented but each network will choose when they want to air the interviews. My guess is that some of it will be shown on NASA TV and the other networks will record and edit the interview for later use. At any rate, it might be a good afternoon to switch on the NASA channel.

Schedule

I've been getting lots of questions about Terry's schedule lately so here is the latest. Yesterday he spent alot of time (about 8 hours) reviewing his equipment and procedures and updating his crew notebook. Today the crew is practicing landings at our alternate landing site on Edwards AFB in California. Terry will begin sleep shifting this Thursday and officially check in to quarantine on Saturday. I love the setup they have at crew quarters...the rooms don't have windows and there are white noise machines in the room. He certainly wouldn't be able to get any sleep at our house during the day with kids running in and out and basketballs thumping in the driveway. The crew will officially takeoff from Ellington Air Field at some time on Tuesday to head to Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the final training push. They will continue to train in simulators and the shuttle training aircraft right up to Feb 6th.

More TCDT Photos

Well it would be impossible to show all 417 pictures that Terry took last week at TCDT, but here are a few good ones. NASA.gov has some fantastic photos as well. Tonight, I'm crazy busy finalizing the guest list and all the plans for traveling to Florida while Terry has been studying, studying, studying. I have to say a big thank you to everyone for all the thoughtful emails, letters, phone calls, and hits to my Facebook. We are so appreciative of all your prayers and good wishes - we are blessed beyond measure.

Simply Incredible

After a very long and intensive week of training, the crew arrived home this evening for a day of well deserved R&R. Terry's pictures were simply incredible. Between flying the shuttle training aircraft, reviewing and stowing equipment, simulating an actual launch, practicing emergency evacuation procedures, training in multiple launch and landing simulators, holding numerous press conferences and meetings, examining the payload and flying his T-38 to Florida and back, I feel like he lived about 3 weeks worth in one week's time. Now we head to a final week of training before he goes into quarantine. Every crew is special, but this one really is one-of-a-kind!!!

Successful Launch Test

After many hours wondering about the crew, I got the great news this afternoon that the practice launch was flawless and the crew was safe and sound back in crew quarters. They woke up before the sun today to simulate an actual launch day, getting fully suited, driving out to the pad in the crew bus, climbing the tower and then loading into the orbiter. The commander is always loaded first and the pilot second. They then lay on their backs in the cockpit for about 3 hours preparing for launch and finally, they completed a dry run of an actual launch (but don't worry, there is no fuel in Endeavour yet). Afterward, the crew took some time to review and arrange their tools and look at the payload. When Terry called home, I could hear just how happy they all were after a great week of training. Just over 2 weeks now to the real thing!

Press Interview

I was so excited this morning to wake up and see the crew press interview out in front of the pad and Endeavour. Honey, you were AWESOME!!!! Now it feels like this launch is getting close. Everyone keeps asking if we are excited and the answer is YES, YES, YES, a million times YES!!!

Training on the Launchpad

If you watched any NASA tv yesterday, you might have seen the crew riding in an amored personnel carrier type vehicle. As part of the training flow, they practiced an emergency egress from the launch tower which involves driving away from the launchpad in that crazy thing. Terry did say that it was alot of fun to drive. The 130 crew also went to the top of the tower to check things out. I love this photo of the crew by the hatch.

Space Station Trivia

As I was reviewing some shuttle info sheets that I picked up at the education center, I discovered some good tidbits on the International Space Station...

- the space station is huge, about the size of a 5 bedroom house
- the station weighs almost one million pounds (that's the weight of 330 cars)
- over 100,000 people from all over the world have helped build the station
- the station circles the Earth every hour and a half
- docking the shuttle to the station is like driving a car backward at 200 mph and trying to match tailpipes with a car facing the other way (yikes,that's husband's job)
- the station was built with the cooperation of 16 different countries

Mission Timeline

I stumbled across a great little graphic on nasa.gov this evening which shows the entire timeline of STS-130. But here is my very simplified version:

Day 1 - Launch
Day 2 - Heat Shield Inspection
Day 3 - Backflip and Docking to the ISS
Day 4 - Preparation for 1st Spacewalk
Day 5 - 1st Spacewalk to attach Tranquility
Day 6 - Open hatches on Tranquility and Cupola
Day 7 - 2nd Spacewalk
Day 8 - Cupola moved
Day 9 - Cupola outfitted
Day 10- 3rd Spacewalk
Day 11- Joint News Conference with both crews
Day 12- Undocking and Fly Around
Day 13- Preparation for Landing
Day 14- Landing

All 14 days are packed and the crew actually has very little free time on a mission to just stop and look around or take pictures. My guess is that it will all just fly by for them.

130 Trivia

Some interesting trivia for you, STS-130 will mark the:

161st US manned spaceflight
130th Space shuttle flight
35th US night launch
32nd Shuttle mission to the ISS
24th Flight of Endeavour
23rd Night Landing
1st Flight of Super Pilot Terry Virts

Dress Rehearsal

This week Terry and the crew traveled to Florida for TCDT, Terminal CountDown Test, or dress rehearsal as I like to call it. We waved goodbye to them from the runway here at Ellington and after a quick flight down to Kennedy Space Center, they jumped into the Shuttle Training Aircraft to simulate landings. They will spend a week rehearsing every step of their flight, including a simulated liftoff in the actual orbiter. I was excited to see the video on NASA channel tonight of the 130 crew after they arrived in Florida, believe it or not, it finally feels real.

130 Patch

This evening I realized that I have not yet displayed our crew patch on the blog. I personally happen to love our patch and the history behind it. The shape of the patch represents the Cupola, which is the big bay window that the crew will attach to the ISS. The view of the Earth is actually the first picture of the Earth taken from the moon in August of 1966, thus sympbolically representing the moon as both a past and future destination. The shuttle is shown approaching the space station, demonstrating its role in the construction of the ISS. And of course, the names of the 6 crew members are listed on the edges of the cupola.

Launch is still Go for Feb 7

I have to say that the question of the week is "Is launch still on schedule?" Yes, from all that we've been told, Endeavour will still liftoff on Feb 7th at 4:39am. So we continue to press forward with all our plans and rest in God's peace that he has it all under control. Terry and the crew will head to Florida 3 or 4 days before launch to train down there. Yes the kids and I wouldn't miss it so we will travel to Florida as well to see the awesome show. If you happen to watch NASA channel, much of the airtime will be used to show training and backgrounds of the 130 crew since we are a mere 20 days from launch. I happened to turn it on yesterday and saw footage of the crew in a rendezvous sim which was really cool for me since I had never seen that before.

Clicking Along

Yesterday, the crew completed another long shuttle ascent sim in preparation for the flight. Despite all the malfunctions and equipment failures that were thrown their way, they just did their jobs, pressed on and had a flawless sim. I have to say, it's been so wonderful to be a part of this crew and all their training is clicking along. Special thanks to our awesome commander, Zambo. I might even go hug a marine.

Spacewalk in the Pool

In one of my entries, I mentioned that Terry would not be doing a spacewalk or EVA, extra-vehicular activity, because his top priority is to fly the shuttle. But I didn't mention that he has completed all the EVA training and could be used for a spacewalk if there were an emergency. Astronauts train for spacewalks here in Clear Lake at the NBL or Neutral Buoyancy Lab, which is really just the world's largest indoor swimming pool. Earlier this summer, the kids and I were able to watch some of his training in the big white spacesuit, which happens to weigh approximately 300 lbs. In fact the suit is so heavy that the top portion is lowered onto him by a large crane and then the same crane picks him up and lowers him into the 40 foot deep pool. Typically, the astronauts perform 6 to 8 hour EVAs with only water to sip on. One of the major difficulties is learning how to use tools with those giant gloves. On the 130 mission, our two spacewalkers will be Dr. Bob, our TPS classmate, and Nick Patrick. Terry will remain inside the shuttle to operate the robotic arm throughout the walk and I'm sure he'll keep plenty busy with those duties.

Tranquility and the Cupola

A very common question that I am asked is what is STS-130's primary mission? Our crew will be bringing two very critical and important modules to the International Space Station, the first being Tranquility, which is a cylinder shaped life-support module. Tranquility is the size of a small bus and weighs about 30,000 lbs and once attached, it will house sleeping quarters, the exercise equipment, the water reclamation system and 8 racks full of various supplies. In fact, STS-131 will be bringing up close to 30,000 lbs of equipment to store on Tranquility. The second piece he will be carrying is called the Cupola, or as I like to call it, the Big Bay Window. The cupola is actually 7 windows arranged in a hexagon shape which together will offer the most amazing view of the Earth that we could ever imagine. Our patch was designed in the shape of the cupola. As I watched Terry's interview the other night, he talked about operating the robotic arm and picking up Tranquility, which is the size of a bus if you remember, and moving it out of the shuttle cargo bay with inches of clearance on either side and then swinging it past the ISS radiators to attach to the station. Whew, talk about a day's work! A final word about their mission, our two modules are the last major components of the station, so once Tranquility and the Cupola have been attached, the Space Station will reach its final configuration. I'm so excited to think that Terry and the crew will complete one of the great engineering feats of our generation. What a blessing God has given us!

Final Rendezvous Sim

With 26 days to go, Terry completed his final rendezvous sim today (which translates to docking with the ISS). Rendezvous will occur on flight day 3 of the mission and there will be a quick ceremony as the shuttle crew comes through the hatch to join the ISS crew. Of course, it should occur in the middle of the night for us so most of you will probably catch it on the flight day highlights. Terry also finished reviewing his TV/audio equipment before it gets stowed aboard Endeavour. While on this mission, he will not only serve as Pilot but also, TV/Audio Operator, Robotic Arm Operator, Crew Medical Officer and various other roles such as outfitting the new modules, undocking, transfer of equipment and so on. Many people have asked me if he will be performing a spacewalk and the answer is no. Mission specialists Bob Behnken and Nick Patrick will have 3 EVA's each but generally they like to keep the pilot inside so that he's available to help land the shuttle. With all his other duties, it still promises to be a very busy flight.

28 Days and Counting

Things are becoming a little bit overwhelming as we are now less than a month from launch. Last night, I had my L-30 (or launch minus 30 days) meeting and learned that I'm going to be up all night for like 4 weeks if I want to stay on Terry's schedule. Due to his launch timeline, he will be doing a complete 180 circadian rythym shift, which means he'll be sleeping all day and working all night. UUUUGGGHHH!!! I think someone needs to have a Red Bull truck at launch. The good news is that night launches are really cool and amazingly beautiful to watch. Right now, the crew trains continually and rehearses each flight day of the mission. Yesterday, they reviewed their packed personal items to be absolutely certain they have everything they need. I got a glimpse of some the crew shirts they'll be wearing and I have to say, I like the bright orange shirt best. Although, the USAFA one was pretty good too.

STS-130 T-shirts

For those interested in ordering the 130 shirt that we designed, you can go to spaceshirts.com and order directly from them. The shirts are $12 each and right now you have two choices, 1) a shirt with "Virts Support Crew" on the front left and the 130 design on the back or 2) a shirt with only the 130 design on the back. To order the Virts shirt, you must call and order by phone. Since they haven't had a chance to put a photo on the website yet, I have included one here. If you would prefer a shirt with the 130 logo(i.e. embroidered patch), you can call LandsEnd and they will put the 130 logo on any item in the catalog. Have fun with all your new gear.

Endeavour is on the Pad

On a perfectly crystal clear morning, Endeavour strolled out to launchpad 39A and the journey began for STS-130. The crawler carried the orbiter out to the pad this morning, moving at the blazing speed of 1/2 mile per hour. Terry and Kay were there to see it locked in place before he headed off to the shuttle training aircraft to practice landings. All I can say is that it looks magnificent!!!!

TV Interview

I just discovered while reading nasa.gov that my husband will have an interview on nasa tv tomorrow, Tuesday, at 8 pm EST. Maybe I should read nasa.gov more often! Well I'm off to set my TIVO for tomorrow night.

Endeavour in the VAB

You know launch is getting close when you see a picture like this. Endeavour is currently in the VAB, or Vehicle Assembly Building, where the orbiter, external tank and solid rockets boosters are all attached and stacked vertically on the MLP, or Mobile Launch Platform. There are more acronyms that I could throw at you but I'll try to keep things simple for now. This momumental task should be completed tomorrow and at 4:00am EST on Jan 6, Endeavour will begin its rollout to the launchpad aboard the MLP. The mobile pad travels at half a mile per hour thus making the 3 1/2 mile trip out to the launch site in a mere 6 to 8 hours. The whole process is actually an engineering feat of its own.

Training, Training, Training

Aagh, Christmas break is ending and I've been so consumed with family and holiday activities that I haven't kept the blog up-to-date. At any rate, everyone keeps asking me what Terry has been doing and the answer is training, training, training!!! As a crew, they simulate launches and landings but then each crew member is expected to review his or her own tasks. For instance, this week, Terry rehearsed what he would be doing on flight day 5. He and Kay Hire practiced their robotics operations, Terry got in some flying hours in the T-38 and then at home, he's been reviewing the installation of the Cupola, or in layman's terms, the great big bay window that he will be adding to the Space Station. Each day is extremely busy as each crew member rehearses, practices and studies. Tomorrow I will hopefully include the 13 day flight schedule but for now, 34 days to launch.