NASA has rolled back the Rotating Service Structure at Kennedy Space Center's launch pad 39A, where shuttle Atlantis is being readied for launch Thursday on a mission to deliver the European Columbus science laboratory to the International Space Station.The 104-foot-tall service structure began moving back away from the shuttle about 6 p.m. EST. The slow move took about an hour to complete.
Launch preparations are continuing here at KSC without any major technical problems. Mission managers are keeping close tabs on a killer cold front that swept through the southeast U.S. yesterday, spawning tornadoes in several states. The front is expected to push stormy weather into the central Florida area, and there is a 70 percent chance conditions will force NASA to scrub a planned 2:45 p.m. liftoff.
NASA engineers, meanwhile, are gearing up for a critical external tank fuel-loading operation that will begin around 5:20 a.m. EST Thursday. The three-hour operation represents the first real test of a sensor system that failed in December, triggering two launch scrubs and a two-month delay in the Atlantis mission.
Check out the latest in this video report from NASA's Launch Complex 39 Press Site: Shuttle fuel-loading on tap. .
IMAGE NOTE: Click to enlarge the NASA photo of Atlantis at Kennedy Space Center's launch pad 39A after the Rotating Service Structure was backed away from the shuttle. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett.
No comments:
Post a Comment