Discovery's 39th and final fight is being pushed back to early February to give engineers more time to determine the root cause of perplexing cracks in the shuttle's 15-story external tank.
The shuttle and six astronauts now are slated to blast off from Kennedy Space Center during a window that will open Feb. 3 and close on Feb. 10. The 11-day mission to the International Space Station would come between the late January launch of a robotic Japanese cargo carrier and the mid-February launch of an unmanned European space freighter.
The Japanese cargo carrier will have to be moved from an initial docking port to another on the U.S. side of the station to clear the way for Discovery and its crew. The move opens up the possibility of launching during the early February window. The next opportunity after that would be a window that opens on Feb. 27.
Endeavour had been slated to launch Feb. 27. But it's mission to deliver a large particle physics experiment to the station now will be pushed back to April 1.
Congress has approved one additional shuttle flight to the station, but money for that mission has not yet been appropriated. That mission still is being targeted for launch June 28.
NASA had been targeting launch for a short window that opens Dec. 17 and closes Dec. 20. Managers determined that tests and analyses intended to determine the cause of the cracks would not be complete in time to launch during that last 2010 opportunity.
Discovery's flight had been slated for launch Nov. 1 but faced a series of technical problems. A Nov. 5 launch attempt was scrubbed as a result of a gaseous hydrogen leak during external tank propellant-loading operations. Cracks in foam insulation on the tank were subsequently found, and then engineers discovered cracks in metal braces beneath the foam.
Engineers still have not determined the cause of the cracks in the metal "stringers," which are structural braces on the ribbed section that separates liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen vessels in the lower and upper regions of the tank, respectively. The concern is that the crack could cause foam insulation to break loose during launch and damage the shuttle's heat-shield components.
25 comments:
uh oh...boys and girls...This could be it.
How much time and money will it be ?
Redesign or....shut the thing down. hmmmmmmm
This may be just it.
Merry Christmas
Just think. All this could be shortening the "gap" between the end of shuttle and the completion of its logical Earth orbit successor (can you say, "Ares I / Orion?). Too bad there ain't no successor... : [
Way to Milk it boys
What a waste
Tank is going to be scrapped, as well as the June 28 mission for the Mass Spectrometer. We don't have any more tanks, or funding.
I think 2:37 is right. The tank is a goner. They should just save the trouble, end the drama, and stop the program now. Get on with Ares I and Orion!
Have a little faith in something that has helped the local economy for the last 50 years plus! Not to mention the endless contributions to the global community...Thank you NASA and ALL your contractors.
5:04 Faith is a miracle of religion.
Technology is a rational process.
That is what I have learned from 25 years on the Space Shuttle program.
Shut it down.
Shut it down now.
“A ship is safe in harbor, but that's not what ships are for.”
But the ship must be safe to go to sea.
They should shut it down and get on with a replacement(s).
I drove home to Pennsylvania for Thanksgiving with my wife and poodle and drove back three days later hoping to see the launch. We're going to enjoy the weather no matter what. I hope the Space X goes up.
I will lobby to return again, so if I haven't given up hope than neither should some of you. Many thanks to all the positive people on this thread.
Jack
SO some of you think it's a bad thing that additional engineering evaluations will be conducted? What the hell is wrong with you people?
Never in my life have I witnessed so many antzy nincompoops that are so concerned with nothing but their own satisfaction!
Most of you couldn't pour pee out of a boot even with the instructions printed on the sole, and yet you can get angry about protecting the crew of a spacecraft.
What's wrong with America is blantantly demonstrated by some of these remarks!
With all due respect, 11:04, I see disappointment, frustration and concern here, but no "anger" at all. Simply a bunch of folks who live, love and worry about the U.S. manned space program and are expressing perfectly valid opinions about what to do (or not do) next...
Seems to me that the majority of negative comments are being posted by those that have lost their jobs at KSC. Hey I know I will teach them to take away my job I will sit here all day feeling angry and sorry for myself and post all these negative comments for everyone to see!! I say get a freakin job and stop your whining!!!
Shut it down
9:24 is a douche bag.
9:28 is a douche bag without a job!!!
in all the years they have been going into space with this with more complexed problems . this has them baffled // get it over with get that brick off pad get a other job quit dragging it out end it////.
seams to me all of you must be at the space head quaters finding ways to keep this brick on the pad it has got to be a joke here on the space coast, other people have moved on with their lives do the same it is just a job?
i say quit reading these coments and go back to work and stop makeing excuses for why you are delaying the end of program[ head director of kennedy space program ]earn that money you are getting for nothing????
what happend to all the talk ?
i forgot it is lunch time at the cape ha// ha .
WOW!!! You people have serious issues. The space shuttle program is a big part of our economy in Brevard County... If the money and time does not pertain to you why say end it? This is a very important program and they have to make at least one more launch to the space station to complete certain things. How dare you people say the people at the space station don't work to earn their money. I see a bunch of jealous people that got laid off. Deal with it.. obviously the people that are still working there are there for a reason. So shut your mouths and you DEAL WITH IT!!!!!
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