Return to Flight
Vehicle Upgrades: Main Landing Gear Door (MLGD)
In the Orbiter Processing Facility bay 1 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Atlantis' nose wheels are cycled to test compression of the new Thermal Protection System seal. Processing continues on Atlantis for mission STS-121 to the International Space Station. The second Return to Flight mission, STS-121 is scheduled for liftoff in a launch window extending from Sept. 9 - 24.
The Boeing MLGD team has redesigned the tile application to the MLGD and the surrounding area, and has added thermal barriers inside the structure to eliminate potential flow paths. The improved design change will be completed on OV-105 during its current Orbiter Maintenance Modification.
