NASA hopes to launch space shuttle Endeavour on Wednesday, a plan that would delay the launch of two moon-bound satellites until later in the week. A final decision is expected Monday afternoon.
Meanwhile, work proceeds at Kennedy Space Center to replace a valve and seals within a leaking vent line at launch pad 39A, a problem that forced a scrub of Saturday morning's planned launch of Endeavour.
Engineers aren't certain of the cause behind the leak of gaseous hydrogen, which the line vents from the shuttle's 15-story external tank to a flare stack that burns it off safely.
But a fix that worked when the same issue came up during Discovery's launch in March is being tried again.
If the work proceeds well, Endeavour's countdown could pick up Tuesday afternoon at T minus 11 hours.
Officially, an Atlas V rocket carrying NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, and a secondary payload is still scheduled to lift off Wednesday afternoon from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
But in meetings today, managers determined that letting the shuttle launch Wednesday morning - at 5:40 a.m. - would give both missions more launch opportunities, a total of three instead of two.
In that case, the moon-bound satellites would try to blast off Friday or Saturday afternoon.
Air Force weather forecasters predict a 70 percent chance of good enough weather for a shuttle launch Wednesday, and an 80 percent chance later in the week.
The odds are worse for the moon mission, since afternoon launch windows coincide with thunder storms that are common this time of year.
If managers determine Monday that the shuttle won't be ready to go by Wednesday, the lunar mission could proceed then, and Endeavour could try again on Saturday to set sail for the International Space Station.
After Saturday, the sun's angle to the space station presents a problem for the shuttle mission for a period of several weeks. The angle wouldn't generate enough power or dispel enough heat to support a docked shuttle for the full 16-day mission.
NASA would either have to wait until July 11 to fly the mission, or consider shortening it by a day to have one more chance to launch in June, next Sunday.
Shuttle program managers don't want a delay until July because it would become harder to fly out the final eight missions on time by next September.
But LRO mission managers say this week's launch window better meets their mission objectives than the next one, which would start June 30.
That preference is dictated by the mission's secondary payload, called the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS.
It plans to throw the Atlas V's Centaur upper stage into a collision with a polar crater on the moon, then follow behind it to record data in the plume the stage kicks up before crashing itself.
The goal is to look for evidence of water ice in the plume. Precise trajectories are needed to target the impacts' location and timing to produce the best results.
This week's scheduling is complex because the Air Force's Eastern Range, which provides tracking and range safety for vehicles launching from the Cape and KSC, needs time to reconfigure for the different launches.
Led by mission commander Mark Polansky, Endeavour's crew of seven plans to fly a 16-day mission to the space station to complete construction of Japan's Kibo science lab.
IMAGE NOTE: Technicians at Kennedy Space Center examine the area of shuttle Endeavour's external tank where a gaseous hydrogen vent line connects to it. A leak in the vent line forced a scrub of Saturday's launch attempt.
7 comments:
I just wish they would quit closing the Refuge, the lagoon and the beach on a perfect summer weekend for nothing. The sooner the shuttle program ends, the better. One problem after the next. Now they'll want to close everything for next weekend, and when that doesn't work - they'll shut us down the weekend of July 11th. We don't need to be launching rockets in the middle of a recreation spot centered in a dense population area. My vote - move the launches to White Sands and Vandenberg. I'm sure the shuttle lovers will think I'm a monster for considering human recreation more important. You have your priorities and I have mine. It's called freedom of expression.
NASA hopes to launch space shuttle Endeavour on Wednesday,
and I hope to win the lottery.
call me crazy but i doubt many people were 'recreating' in that area in the late 50's when NASA set up shop. If you lived next to an airport would you expect them to close down too ???
Well they have to make a final decision by this afternoon, or there won't be enough time to reconfigure the Range for an Atlas launch.
What does this process consist of anyway? Does it really need to take 48 hours?
First Anonymous. The Cape is used for safety reasons. You can launch east over water. And a Shuttle launch is a tourist attraction in its own right. The beach, etc is still open most weekends in the summer.
It's really hard to follow some arguments. On one hand people get angry when facts are NOT reported publicly and on the other hand people get angry when things do happen and ARE reported publicly. It's the space shuttle, one of the complexest vehicle build ever. My opinion is that when missions do run successful we can be proud and happy. Safety is NASA's first and that is the best way to go.
Hey Anon, why do you think this area is so densely populated? It's because of the space program, genius!
"Hey Anon, why do you think this area is so densely populated? It's because of the space program, genius!"
Why should I watch Jay Leno when I can find such humor here? Last I checked, the East Coast of Florida was pretty well packed with people from north of Daytona down to Miami. I didn't realize they were all supporting the space program! Silly me!
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