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Blobrana · L

RE: STS-115 Launch

Blobrana · L

NASA spokesman Bill Johnson has just announced at the press site that they are going forward with a launch attempt tomorrow, Friday at 11:40:37 a.m. EST.
The forecast calls for a 70 percent chance of good weather, but if problems prevent liftoff, NASA will make a final try Saturday at 11:14:55 a.m

Blobrana · L

NASA is targeting a possible launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis on Friday, Sept. 8 at 11:41 a.m. EDT.

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Blobrana · L

At a 6 p.m. briefing yesterday, NASA's STS-115 Mission Management Team announced that because of the fuel cell anomaly it would be prudent to spend another 24 hours to research the issue. The management team will meet again at 2 p.m. today to assess the data gathered about the fuel cell issue and decide whether the launch will take place on Friday.

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Credit NASA

NASA officials wanted more time to analyse the coolant pump that chills one of the shuttle's three electricity-generating fuel cells.
The space agency's options are to replace the fuel cell or fly Atlantis as is. Changing out the fuel cell would rule out a Friday launch since it would take several weeks.
There was a 30 percent chance that bad weather would prohibit lift-off at the 11:40 a.m. EDT Friday launch time.
If not, the space agency may have to wait until late October - or relax daylight launching rules instituted after the 2003 Columbia accident and try again at the end of September.

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Blobrana · L

NASA managers have extended their hold on the space shuttle Atlantis' launch until at least Friday, due to a problem in the shuttle's electrical power system.

The problem cropped up early Wednesday, just before NASA was to start filling the shuttle's external fuel tank for launch to the international space station. Mission managers met throughout the afternoon, engaged in a "spirited discussion" over what to do, said shuttle program manager Wayne Hale.
On Wednesday evening, Hale said the managers decided to pass up a launch opportunity on Thursday but leave open the possibility of a Friday launch at 11:40 a.m. ET.

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Blobrana · L

Blobrana · L

Latest news on Shuttle launch

Blobrana · L

NASA has postponed the launch of the space shuttle Atlantis by 24 hours because of a problem with a power system aboard the ship.

The launch of Atlantis had been scheduled for 16:29 GMT, Wednesday.
The next opportunity to fly would be at 16:03 GMT, on Thursday, 7 September.

Blobrana · L

Following a detailed inspection of NASA's Space Shuttle Atlantis at the Kennedy Space Centre, Florida, the six-member crew has a new launch date to begin the STS-115 mission to the International Space Station. The lift-off from Kennedy is set for 12:29 p.m. EDT Wednesday, Sept. 6.
Shuttle managers decided on the launch date after assessing conditions at Kennedy following Tropical Depression Ernesto. The centre's facilities and Atlantis, which sits on Launch Pad 39-B, sustained no damage during the storm.
If weather or other issues prevent Atlantis' launch on Sept. 6, opportunities are available on Sept. 7 and 8. All dates allow for completion of the mission's objectives and allow for shuttle undocking from the station by Sept. 17. This is necessary so the Russian Soyuz taking the next space station crew up to the orbiting laboratory can launch Sept. 18.
Many of the standard launch preparations were completed before the shuttle's partial move to the centre's landmark Vehicle Assembly Building and return to the launch pad on Tuesday. During the next several days, teams will focus on completing pre-launch tasks, so an official countdown can begin Sunday at 8 a.m. EDT.
The STS-115 crew, Commander Brent Jett, Pilot Chris Ferguson, and mission specialists Joe Tanner, Dan Burbank, Heide Stefanyshyn-Piper and Canadian astronaut Steve MacLean, is in Houston conducting launch simulations. The astronauts will return to Kennedy on Saturday morning. They already have begun adjusting their sleep cycles to match their timeline in orbit that changed due to the new launch time.
During STS-115, Atlantis' astronauts will deliver and install the 17.5-ton, bus-sized P3/P4 integrated truss segment on the station. The girder-like truss includes a set of giant solar arrays, batteries and associated electronics. The P3/P4 truss segment will provide one-fourth of the total power-generation capability for the completed station.

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-- Edited by Blobrana at 03:07, 2006-09-01

Blobrana · L

Five hours after starting space shuttle Atlantis on a slow crawl toward its hangar,
NASA reversed course Tuesday and sent it back to launch pad 39B, saying the forecast for Tropical Storm Ernesto had improved. The Tropical Storms peak winds are expected to be less than 126 kilometres per hour.
NASA's rules say that if winds greater than 126 kilometres per hour are expected, the shuttle should be moved to safety before the wind speed reaches 72 kilometres per hour.
Launch director Mike Leinbach expressed optimism that the shuttle could be ready to launch September 6 or 7.

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