Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Discovery's rollback targeted for 10 p.m.

Kennedy Space Center teams expect to begin rolling Discovery back to the Vehicle Assembly Building at 10 p.m. today, after nearly a day's delay due to a problem with the massive crawler-transporter that carries the shuttle.

The problem is believed to be a faulty transducer, which can be swapped out today to get the shuttle's 3.4-mile "rollback" from launch pad 39A back on track for the first day of winter.

Discovery is leaving the pad 42 years after a Saturn V launched from the same site to send the Apollo 8 crew on its way to orbit around the moon.

Discovery is being moved off the pad for more inspection of its external tank following a tanking test last Friday and ongoing analysis to determine what caused cracks in two support braces on the tank's mid-section.

Discovery is targeted to launch no earlier than Feb. 3 on its final flight, an 11-day mission to deliver a last U.S. module to the International Space Station.

The module and its contents will remain tucked in Discovery's payload bay until the shuttle returns to the pad.

IMAGE: The beginning of a total lunar eclipse hovers over the top of space shuttle Discovery as the spacecraft waits to roll back from Launch Pad 39A to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The move was scheduled for 12:30 a.m., but was postponed until 10 p.m. so technicians could resolve an issue with a leveling system on the crawler-transporter. Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Milk it Baby, milk it!!! Milk that GLORIFIED SOCIAL WELFARE PROGRAM and the Tax Payers for all it's Earmark Worth!!!!

Anonymous said...

As if another intentional delay wasn't expected from NASA.
I wonder how much will life insurance cost for the astronauts who will fly on this shuttle?

There are supposed to be all these "experts" we can't afford to lose at NASA. Guessing they all left in the 1st round of layoffs.

Where were they when all this was coming about . . . . waiting for a golden parachute . . I bet-cha !
But we can't afford the social security . . you paid your whole life into .
And we can afford these useless Govt. employees that can't seem to fix anything. .

Anonymous said...

Oh . . .Oh I forgot everything in govt. is done by committee . . . so no one is responsible . .

Anonymous said...

Just use the Soyuz.
It's a better and safer machine.
And no cracks.

Anonymous said...

NASA? Over paid welfare system at KSC.
Space Shuttle = 5 million moving part death trap.
The cracks were caused by the union monkey workers that don't want their sweet ride to end.

Anonymous said...

The Apollo days are long gone and the brains behind that! Today's NASA is just a welfare system for free college degrees. A high priced welfare system.......

Anonymous said...

What a shame that NASA is left with only the incompetent workers that can't do anything since the real engineers left. Someone needs to show the remaining workers how to fix this thing to fly & not sit idle while they collect their govt paychecks taxpayers pay for. Just a thought for all those redundant shuttle workers still milking the system.

Anonymous said...

CRY!!! SOB!!!! Boo hoo hoo Woe is me!! They laid me off at the space center!! Wait I have an idea I will sit around and drink cheap booze and smoke crabgrass then post alot of BS on this blog!! That will teach em!!! Get a life dipshits!!!!

Anonymous said...

What I think is a sad note is Charlie Bolden said NO civil servants would lose any jobs! Here's a big story for you, I suddenly seen 20 new faces with temp badges that have been hired as civil servants by NASA for KSC! Not one looks over 30 and think its great to be starting at KSC! So if the money has stayed the same as 2010 then why cut whats needed, force lay-offs of NON-civil servant workers (which has done everything since the beginning only with NASA oversight)and start hiring more protected personnel? All NASA personnel do at KSC is sit in plush offices in suits and read reports of all the contractors work being done!
Charlie you better get your priorities straight or you will sink whats left of space flight ANYWHERE in the US.
As to the redecorating that was done...yes to headquarters for NASA personnel. Every building out there is filled with asbestos and is falling apart! if we dont fix them we need to tear them down and I know you will never find and NASA personnel driving fancy cars doing any demo work! NASA pays huge salaries to people (some of which dont even have more than a HS diploma)I'm talking over 100k to sit in an office and read papers and go for long walks or work out in the health clubs that are off limits to anyone BUT NASA personnel.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous 10:59AM Oh well, Can't believe everything you hear from a brown-noser like good ole Charlie Bolden. At least people at NASA can't complain that its another black/white race issue. More like a Muslim issue now. Lol. After all Charlie Bolden stated that President Barack Obama asked him to “find ways to reach out to dominantly Muslim countries” as the White House pushes the space agency to become a tool of international diplomacy. So what did you expect. Bolden's job is safe as long as he remembers who to brown-nose. His most important job assignment was to give ya all those pretty pink slips in a timely manner (layoff notices in case ya didn't know or haven't received one yet). Bet Charlie's newly decorated office doesn't have any asbestos falling down.

Anonymous said...

Continue the layoffs.Apollo days are long gone. Good luck SpaceX. Show these washed up redundant NASA workers how its done & that it takes a lot more effort to run a successful space program.

Anonymous said...

These guys can all go to Russia & China for all we care. Save the US taxpayers some money. Too bad our politicians aren't laying off all unnecessary govt employees. Think of all the money that could be put towards the nation's deficit. Just saying. Smart politicians only need to learn how to do some math.