BLOGGER NOTE, 10:50 p.m.: NASA managers are discussing still whether the storm conditions, which have subsided at KSC, will allow for a fueling of the shuttle Endeavour for a 5:40 a.m. launch Wednesday. They are weighing conditions as well as whether or not they can make up for lost time. Stay tuned.
BLOGGER NOTE, 8:40 p.m.: NASA will have to pick up fuel-loading operations by about 10 p.m. in order to have a shot at launching shuttle Endeavour at 5:40 a.m. Wednesday. Stay tuned.
A band of thunderstorms sweeping through central Florida is prompting NASA to delay the start-up of an operation aimed at fueling shuttle Endeavour for a planned launch early Wednesday from Kennedy Space Center.
NASA safety rules prohibit fuel-loading operations of forecasters say there is a greater than 20 percent chance that lightning would come within five nautical miles of the launch pad during the first hour of tanking.
The launch director, with the concurrence of the safety director, may make an exception after consultation with the Shuttle Weather Officer, the rules state.
Here's a look at the local weather radar and satellite photos that mission managers were examining during a meeting at 7:30 p.m.:
Engineers had planned to start loading 500,000 gallons of supercold liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen into the shuttle's 15-story external tank at 8:15 p.m. The propellants, which feed the shuttle's main engines during ascent, are highly flammable.
Forecasters expect the weather to clear enough to proceed with fuel-loading operatioons in the next hour or so. NASA has about 90 minutes of wiggle room to get the operation started and still complete the countdown in time to launch at 5:40 a.m.
2 comments:
I smell a scrub, lightning just too bad to start fueling.
I dunno, they keep pushing their start time back.
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