Energy News  
After delays, Atlantis prepares for Sunday launch

by Staff Writers
Cape Canaveral, Florida (AFP) Dec 9, 2007
The US space shuttle Atlantis prepared for a long-delayed launch Sunday after NASA engineers gave it clearance to tank up and head for the International Space Station with a European laboratory on board.

"All parties agreed that it was a safe thing to go fly given the mitigating steps that we have put in yesterday," said Wayne Hale, shuttle program manager, referring to safety measures after fuel gauges on Atlantis' tank were found faulty.

"So we got basically a unanimous decision to go forward," he added, talking to reporters after the mission chiefs met on Saturday afternoon.

The launch, initially scheduled for Thursday, was repeatedly postponed after fuel gauge sensors gave false readings during fueling, requiring engineers to investigate what NASA described as a very complex problem.

"We had a total of 48 hours of very thorough engineering review of the anomaly we had on the tanking in launch attempt," Hale said. "If everything works perfectly for the tanking, we'll go fly."

The Atlantis crew of seven is preparing for an 11-day mission to fly the European Columbus laboratory to the International Space Station, orbiting hundreds of miles above Earth.

There are only a few days left in which conditions will be right for the shuttle to launch from Earth to reach the space station. Hale said a launch may be possible up until Friday.

NASA said there is an 80 percent probability of favorable launch weather at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Until now, only the United States and Russia have had their own laboratories at the ISS.

"We have never had a permanent base in space before and I see that like a first step for Europe in the real spaceflight activities compared to what we had in the past," said Leopold Eyharts, a French astronaut who works for the European Space Agency.

Eyharts is part of the Atlantis crew and will stay behind at the ISS for two and a half months to prepare Columbus for future scientific work.

With Columbus, Europe hopes to become an integral part of the only functioning orbital outpost, whose scientific experiments with microgravity are considered essential to prepare human kind for long-term life and work in space and subsequent journeys towards Mars and beyond.

Columbus will allow astronauts to conduct hundreds of experiments a year, notably in areas of biotechnology, medicine, materials and fluids.

Designed to be carried in the hold of the shuttle, the European laboratory is cylindrical shaped; 6.87 meters (yards) long and 4.49 meters in diameter. Columbus weighs 10.3 tons when empty and 19.3 tons fully loaded.

It can accommodate up to three persons and carry 10 research equipment units.

Construction of the space laboratory, which cost close to a billion euros, began in 1992.

Initially it was planned that Columbus would be flown to the ISS at the end of 2004.

But the tragic end of the shuttle Columbia in February 2003 had resulted in the grounding of the three remaining shuttle orbiters for two years, which in turn delayed the laboratory's launch.

Columbus will be controlled from a German space operations center located in Oberpfaffenhofen, close to Munich.

Germany is by far the biggest contributor of this project, financing 41 percent of the total cost. Italy contributed 23 percent and France 18 percent.

In all, 10 European countries participate in the program.

The Japanese laboratory Kibo, the fourth planned component of the ISS which is to be the largest and most sophisticated of all, should be delivered in three shuttle flights, the first of which is scheduled for February 2008.

Community
Email This Article
Comment On This Article

Related Links
Shuttle at NASA
Watch NASA TV via Space.TV
Space Shuttle News at Space-Travel.Com



Memory Foam Mattress Review
Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News


Glitch Delays Shuttle Launch Until At Least Saturday
Cape Canaveral, Florida (AFP) Dec 6, 2007
NASA postponed the planned launch of the space shuttle Atlantis from Friday to Saturday, due to a "complex" technical glitch just hours before it was due to blast off.







  • Analysis: Nabucco's hazy future
  • Developing world must be able to lift emissions: Nobel winner
  • Georgia Power Announces Energy-Savings Tips For The Winter
  • Dam The Red Sea And Release Gigawatts

  • Bulgaria hails EU green light for nuclear plant
  • IAEA chief to visit uranium enriching plant in Brazil
  • Investors covet Canadian nuclear energy market
  • IAEA inspects Russian fuel for Iran: factory

  • A Breathable Earth
  • Researchers Find Origin Of Breathable Atmosphere Half A Billion Years Ago
  • Study Reveals Lakes A Major Source Of Prehistoric Methane
  • Giant Atmospheric Waves Over Iowa

  • Greenpeace urges summit to end Africa's deforestation
  • Deforestation declines in Brazil for third year in a row: report
  • Up to 60 pct of Amazon at risk from climate change: WWF
  • The Lost Forests Of Afghanistan

  • Reduce Fish Catch Now For Bigger Net Profits Later
  • Did Early Southwestern Indians Ferment Corn And Make Beer
  • World farm output to drop due to global warming: experts
  • Adapting Agriculture To Climate Change

  • Feeling guilty over climate change? Call the solar taxi
  • France slaps penalties on gas-guzzling cars
  • V2G Car Generates Electricity And Cash
  • Collision Avoidance Technology For Mine Haul Trucks

  • California urges regulation on aircraft emissions
  • Announcement Of Opportunity For Sounding Rocket And Balloon Flights
  • China to order up to 150 Airbus jets during Sarkozy visit: report
  • Time Magazine Recognizes The X-48B

  • Nuclear Power In Space - Part 2
  • Outside View: Nuclear future in space
  • Nuclear Power In Space
  • Could NASA Get To Pluto Faster? Space Expert Says Yes - By Thinking Nuclear

  • The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2007 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement