The Advanced Health Management System, or AHMS, will provide new monitoring of the two most critical components of the space shuttle main engine: the high-pressure fuel turbopump and the high-pressure oxidizer turbopump.

The upgrade allows an engine to shut down during launch if vibration levels exceed safe limits. NASA scientists said.

AHMS first flew on Discovery's STS-116 mission in December with a single controller on one engine, but in monitor-only mode -- meaning it collected and processed vibration data, but could not shut down the engine. AHMS will operate in active mode on one engine during the upcoming STS-117 mission and is scheduled to fly in active mode on all three engines during the STS-118 mission later this year.

NASA said AHMS is the sixth major upgrade to the space shuttle's main engines since the first shuttle flight in 1981.

earlier related report
A piece of the past rides into space
A 400-year-old piece of U.S. history will be aboard NASA's space shuttle Atlantis during its upcoming mission to the International Space Station.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration said a four-century-old metal cargo tag bearing the words "Yames Towne" -- along with other commemorative mementoes -- are packed in Atlantis' mid-deck floor cargo space for the roundtrip flight to the International Space Station.

The commemoration honors this year's 400th anniversary of Jamestown, Va. -- the first permanent English settlement in North America.

"We found the tag at the bottom of a well during a dig at the James Fort," said William Kelso, director of archaeology at Historic Jamestowne. "It appears to be a discarded shipping tag from a crate or trunk that arrived from England around 1611. The artifact clearly marks Jamestown as a destination -- our nation's first address."

When the one-inch diameter artifact returns to Earth, it will have traveled more than 4 million miles in four centuries. Two sets of Jamestown commemorative coins, authorized by Congress and issued by the U.S. Mint, will also be aboard Atlantis.

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