NASA expects to repair a fuel leak near one of Discovery’s orbital engine pods without delaying a planned Nov. 1 launch to the International Space Station. Overnight, technicians will check the tightness of six bolts on a flange where propellant lines connect near the right-hand Orbital Maneuvering System pod, one of two flanking the orbiter's tail fin.
Each pod houses an engine and smaller thrusters used to adjust the orbiter’s course in orbit. Crossfeed lines connect the pods so they can share propellant.
If confirming proper bolt torque doesn't stop the leak, the next step would be to drain the pod's monomethyl hydrazine fuel and replace two seals on the flange.
NASA has four extra days in Discovery’s pre-launch processing schedule to handle technical problems, a cushion officials think will be enough to keep the launch on schedule.
"It’s not expected to interfere with the targeted launch date," said Candrea Thomas, a KSC spokeswoman.
Top agency officials will meet next Monday at Kennedy Space Center to review Discovery’s flight readiness and officially set a launch date.
Over the weekend, the mission's primary payload, a giant cargo module packed with supplies and spare parts, was installed in Discovery's payload bay.
IMAGE: On July 14 in Orbiter Processing Facility-3 at Kennedy Space Center, technicians monitored the progress of an overhead crane as it placed the right-hand orbital maneuvering system pod (with the red cap) in position on space shuttle Discovery. Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky
19 comments:
Yes, the fuel leak should not slow down the layoff of thousands of jobs around the country and the demise of the US manned space program.
Thank you Obama. Since each president is able to shake up the space program when elected... you elected to kill it instead of doing what you promised. I will be voting you and your kind out...
A little eye-opener pal. It was Bush killed the Space Program.
Your blame on Obama is not well placed...
It was BUSH who ended the program 6 years ago, period. There is no arguing that fact. Contractors have been ramping down production since '04. It wasn't feasible to build any more tanks/parts beyond the one extra mission that is already proposed. How many times does someone have to remind you of that before you accept reality?
President Obama saw the enormous waste & had to make decisions working with past & present NASA administrators. Blame the NASA administrators then who worked harder on ending the space program than expanding it. The reality was that the space program became officially redundant.
Brilliant leaders like Obama sometime have to make unpopular decisions and ignore polls.
Fuel leak's no surprise. The shuttle workers need every possible delay & extension to work before leaving their $$$$$ paying jobs.
I hope they don't find more cocaine around the leak?
Bush has not been president for the last two years.
Sure, it was started in the Bush era but Obama could have changed things just as he promised he would in 2008. One of the mistakes is allowing each president to upturn (disrupt) the space program every four years.
Yes, others are responsible for the poor planning as well. Even an idiot would arrange another form of transportation before getting rid of his car. Now we get to start over from scratch depending on the Russians. Now Russia has decided to help Muslum countries build nuclear reactors.
Obama sends bolden to build relationships with Muslim nations... unbelieveable!
You just keep blaming bush, Pal...
Hey 7:50...The toilet cleaner at Walmart has my respect.
Sir you do not have my respect.
While your sitting at scape base in pink underwear watching movies and eating pizza and thinking your some kind of hero on double time just remember there are hard working people out there making a honest living.
Remember numbnu$ts not to drop the seal or forget your cross torque pattern. Yea I bet you got a scibe hidden away to fish the old seal out of the cross feed flange Huh ole pro...
Bet the dude cleaning toilets can mate a QD better than you and not get confused putting it in the purge position.
Think about this...If i had my choice on hiring somebody I would hire the Walmart dude over you anytime.
NASA will fix this leak and hopefully STS-133 will fly on time. All of this political finger pointing is getting old. Frankly, there is a lack of vision from both political parties and NASA leadership. As a taxpayer, I'm sick that they've spent $9B on a program that may go nowhere (Constellation). Sending money to Russia to launch our astronauts to the ISS is an embarrassment. We need a vision the government will stick with and stop being so partisan!
The space program is not a TV program you film episodes a week in advance. This was scheduled to run down by Bush and to turn it back on would mean a delay of two to three years to get it up and running again. They were supposed to go to a new rocket engine that has been plagued with cost overuns and delays so it was scrapped. The Recession CAUSED BY BUSH WHO DEGEGULATED WALL STREET AND LET THEM RUN WITH YOUR MONEY bankrupted the country between borrowing from China to fund two wars and this Wall Street run on the banks there was no money left for Space or anything else. BUT they are working on getting partners in the Private Space companies to come to work with NASA and do space related work on the Coast. They should have been doing that when they announced the shutdown of the Shuttle Program but better late than never. Again it was not Obama's fault but he wants to change the course to go to Mars and beyond we have seen the Moon and the private companies will get up to speed to service the Space Station.
Bush may have put into motion the killing of the space shuttle, but at least he had a vehicle to replace it. Obama had the opportunity to reverse Bush's mistake, and he did not. What he did do is also kill the vehicle to replace the shuttle. Fantastic! Watch what schenanigans Russia starts to pull once the shuttle is dead and we are 100% dependant on them. You just wait.
Both Bush and Obama are equally to blame for the death of America's manned space program next year.
"Brilliant leaders like Obama sometime have to make unpopular decisions and ignore polls."
Sometimes? Dude has taken 'unpopular decisions' to a whole new level.
"Brilliant leaders like Obama sometime have to make unpopular decisions and ignore polls."
Put another way .... If Dude's intelligence is proportional to the number of his unpopular decisions, he's not just brilliant - he's a true genius.
Anonymous 9:38 PM You just made my day !!! Thanks. That was Funny and Absolutely True at the same time. Time to put these people in their place so they don't forget that their jobs are not that dependable anymore like in the good ole days. Your comment made me laugh which made the news worth reading.
"Brilliant leaders like Obama sometime have to make unpopular decisions and ignore polls." The people who hate Obama so much really don’t have better answers nor do they know what Republicans would have done with NASA since Bush, a Republican 1st initialized its demise. Give the voters a better choice in Presidential elections than what we’ve had where racism doesn't become the main objective in a political race nor Sarah Pail's wardrobe dilemma & costs. Then we might have an actual Presidential race. I don't give a damn anymore whether they’re Republican or Democrat but I would never lower myself to vote for some racist fiasco party like McCain/Palin portrayed. That would be like voting for the KKK. What makes all you Republicans think that McCain wouldn’t have done the same ending the space program if he was President. Maybe his rich wife would have contributed to supporting NASA’ S space program who didn’t have a vision for the future. NASA leaders, congressmen, senators, etc. all failed to unite which led to the final decision. The space program required collective faith in it & the same vision for it to ultimately succeed.
Donuts and coffee breaks might be the next delay. Low employee morale, negativity & gossip among the remaining workers with less incentive programs might also cause future delays.
Obama had to kill the program so he could afford to take more vacations.
Bush killed the space program so he can invest in war. Obama did the right thing to end the war in Iraq.
got a nice pay raise on oct 1. union pride!!
dear 9:38 ... sorry you have such bad memories of this place..if you knew who i was..you would hire me instead of berating me and my work..P.S. im not scape certified, nor do i wear pink anything.
looks like 7:42 is another disgruntled, former employee... the laugh is on me, at you, sorry to say.
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