NASA is making final preparations for a test Friday that could clear the way for shuttle Discovery to launch on its 39th and final mission in early February.Shuttle managers and engineers were called to their stations in Firing Room 4 of the Launch Control Center at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday and then an abbreviated countdown picked up a half-hour later. Clocks at the center are ticking back toward the 7 a.m. Friday beginning of a three-hour external tank fuel-loading operation. Instruments on the tank will record data for several hours before the liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen vessels in the tank are pressurized. The tanking test is scheduled to end about 2:24 p.m. Friday.
Data from the test is expected to enable engineers to pinpoint the cause of cracks in 21-foot-long structural braces in the aluminum lithium hull of the tank. Four cracks were detected on two braces in the area of the tank that separates the lower liquid hydrogen and upper liquid oxygen vessels within it.
Engineers also will be able to determine whether repairs made to an attachment plate that links the tank with a vent line that routes excess hydrogen gas to a flare stack a safe distance from the shuttle. A significant leak of hazardous hydrogen gas prompted NASA to scrub a launch attempt in November.
Engineers are finishing up prep work at launch pad 39A and an instrumentation test is scheduled to take place today. The Rotating Service Structure at the pad is slated to be back away from Discovery at 9:30 p.m. tonight.
Discovery will be rolled back to the 52-story Vehicle Assembly Building next week so additional inspections can be made to its external tank. Instrumentation also will be removed from the tank and foam insulation removed for the test will be repaired.
Rollback preps are scheduled for next Monday and Tuesday. The 3.5-mile trip back to the assembly building is scheduled to begin at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday.
3 comments:
So what will happen if Nasa isn't satisfied with the tanking test results or things come up inconclusive as far as the cracks in the tank?? Since we are rolling back to the VAB anyway, are we also then talking de-stack and a tank swap or a mission swap with Endeavour or just pushing the manifest out alittle longer?? I guess I'm just wondering what the worst case scenario is here.
I'm wondering if the worse case scenario is that all three tanks left have this problem, and NASA can't figure out the problem. How long would they keep working at it until they just scrap the whole thing? I know that is extreme, but is it possible?
I can see that you are putting a lot of time and effort into your site and detailed articles! I am deeply in love with every single piece of information you post here
I love your site! You will be in our prayers and thoughts! Nice and informative post on this topic thanks for sharing with us.Thank you
Ophthalmology
Post a Comment