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You're watching NASA Direct.

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Now on the NASA Space Shuttle Status Report.

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It takes two. An important, second test on Space Shuttle Discovery's External Tank.

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Then, ET-121 attaches to its Solid Rocket Boosters and prepares to fly with Discovery.

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Plus, a date for Discovery to roll back and Atlantis processing picks up the pace.

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The NASA Space Shuttle Status Report starts right now!

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Music.

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I'm Ted Mosteller, NASA test director at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and this is the NASA Space Shuttle Status Report.

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Space Shuttle Discovery and orbiter Atlantis are making Return to Flight progress.

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On May 20 at the Kennedy Space Center, a second test was successfully completed on Space Shuttle Discovery's External Tank.

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Engineers and technicians added instrumentation to the tank to troubleshoot two issues that came up during the April 14 tanking test.

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The instrumentation will provide data to analyze the liquid hydrogen sensors that gave intermittent readings

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and the liquid hydrogen pressurization relief valve that cycled more times than is standard during the last test.

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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.

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The propellants were unloaded and the test was complete that afternoon.

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With the test behind them, workers are now preparing to roll Discovery back to the Vehicle Assembly Building.

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Meanwhile, inside the VAB, External Tank 121 was attached to its Solid Rocket Boosters.

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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.

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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.

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Atlantis will most likely fly with ET-119, scheduled to arrive at KSC next month.

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As workers anticipate the arrival of Atlantis' tank, processing on the orbiter continues inside the OPF.

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Workers there are preparing for Atlantis' upcoming launch, designated STS-121 to the International Space Station this September.

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Atlantis' payload doors were open for testing recently.

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A sub-zero freezer rack was loaded inside a logistic module known as Leonardo.

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The Minus Eighty Degree Laboratory Freezer for the ISS, or MELFI, will fly on STS-121

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and will provide cold storage for science samples going to and from the space station.

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The launch window for Space Shuttle Atlantis begins September 9th and ends September 24th.

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That's all the time we have for this week's Space Shuttle Status Report. Remember, July 13 to July 31, 2005,

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is NASA's new window for Space Shuttle Discovery’s Return to Flight mission, designated STS-114 to the International Space Station.

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Until next time, log on to nasa.gov for the latest in Return to Flight and NASA mission news.

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I'm Ted Mosteller for the NASA Space Shuttle Status Report.

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Music.