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Atlantis Launch Delayed Until At Least Tuesday
Cape Canaveral (AFP) Florida, Aug 27, 2006 NASA prepared Sunday to possibly roll back the Atlantis shuttle to its hangar to protect it from an incoming storm, a move that would delay liftoff to the International Space Station by more than a week. The US space agency will try to launch Atlantis around September 7-8 if Tuesday's liftoff is canceled at the Kennedy Space Center on Florida's eastern coast. Launching next week could be problematic, however, as it would conflict with a Russian Soyuz rocket mission to the ISS. NASA officials will talk with their Russian counterparts to find a solution. But NASA officials remained hopeful they could launch the shuttle Tuesday at 3:42 pm (1942 GMT) on the first major ISS construction mission in nearly four years. "We have really two competing objectives. One, we want to get the vehicle ready to go fly. The other objective is we want to get the vehicle ready to roll back to the VAB (vehicle assembly building)," Bill Gerstenmaier, the associate administrator for space operations, told reporters. "We are kind of hedging our bets both ways," he said. Officials were to make a final decision late Sunday. NASA made initial preparations to possibly move the shuttle back to the VAB as a hurricane that was later downgraded to a tropical storm barreled across the Caribbean. Forecasters said Tropical Storm Ernesto could regain hurricane strength before striking western Florida later this week. "We would like to have the vehicle back in the vehicle assembly building before high winds hit the Cape, so that forces us to take some action fairly soon," Gerstenmaier said. Officials had already delayed Sunday's and Monday's launch attempts to give engineers more time to determine whether a lightning strike on Friday had damaged ground and shuttle systems. The orbiter and external fuel tank's hardware were cleared for launch, but engineers were given more time to check if the two solid rocket boosters were damaged. Although lightning strikes are common on the launch pad, officials said Friday's was believed to be the strongest to hit the structure. The storm discharge struck a lightning protection rod atop the launch pad. Once it launches, Atlantis will carry six astronauts and a new 16-tonne segment with two huge solar panels on the first of 16 flights planned to complete assembly of the half-finished space station by 2010, when the shuttle fleet is set to retire. The 2003 Columbia shuttle explosion forced a halt in the orbiting laboratory's construction. The Atlantis mission will be the third shuttle flight since the Columbia disaster, which was caused by debris that struck its heat shield during liftoff, dooming its return home with seven astronauts aboard. After two Discovery shuttle flights in the past two years aimed at improving safety, NASA declared it was ready to resume construction of the station, which is key to US ambitions to send humans to Mars. The Atlantis mission is a critical first step in the ISS's assembly. The installation of the solar panels, which will eventually provide a quarter of the station's power, is one of the most complex parts of the ISS assembly sequence. Three spacewalks are planned during the 11-day mission, which will be followed by another shuttle flight planned for December for another assembly sequence that officials said would be even trickier. The ISS weighs 197 tonnes (434,000 pounds) and will mushroom to a massive, 454-tonne (one-million-pound) structure once it is completed. The United States, Russia, Japan, Canada, Brazil and 11 countries of the European Space Agency are involved in the orbiting laboratory project, which was launched in November 1998.
earlier related report Atlantis will carry a new 16-tonne segment with two huge solar panels to the ISS on the first of 16 flights planned to complete assembly of the half-finished space station by 2010, when the shuttle fleet is set to retire. The Columbia shuttle disaster in February 2003 forced a halt in the orbiting laboratory's construction. NASA officials canceled Sunday's launch attempt to give analysts time to determine if Friday's lightning strike damaged any ground or flight systems. The shuttle's launch window closes September 13. Lightning strikes are common at the launch pad, but Friday's may have been the largest in terms of current, said launch integration manager LeRoy Cain. "At this point, we don't have data yet to really know whether or not we have any problems," Cain told reporters at the Kennedy Space Center here. "We need to make sure we have a good ground and flight system." The lightning bolt did not directly strike the orbiter, officials said. "The lightning arresting system did its job, but you can get an induced voltage field around a lighting strike," launch director Mike Leinbach said. Thunderstorms had also threatened Sunday's launch, with forecasts saying there was a 60 percent chance they would force a delay. The weather is expected to improve dramatically on Monday. "Monday, we're looking good," said Air Force First Lieutenant Kaleb Nordgren, a weather officer. Officials were also monitoring Tropical Storm Ernesto in the Caribbean, which was moving toward the Gulf of Mexico but did not appear likely to threaten liftoff. Once it launches, the Atlantis mission will be the third shuttle flight since the Columbia disaster, which was caused by debris that struck its heat shield during liftoff, dooming its return home with seven astronauts aboard. After two Discovery shuttle flights in the past two years aimed at improving safety, NASA declared it was ready to resume construction of the station, which is key to US ambitions of sending humans to Mars. Safety remains a priority, however, and NASA will employ the same thorough shuttle inspection techniques used in the Discovery missions. The Atlantis mission is a critical first step in the ISS's assembly. "This flight has to work for the next flight to occur, and the next flight to occur, and the next flight to occur," ISS program manager Mike Suffredini emphasized. The installation of the solar panels, which will eventually provide a quarter of the station's power, is one of the most complex parts of the ISS assembly sequence. Three spacewalks are planned during the 11-day mission, which will be followed by another shuttle flight planned for December, for another assembly sequence that officials said would be even trickier. The ISS currently weighs 197 tonnes (434,000 pounds) and will mushroom to a massive, 454-tonne (one-million-pound) structure once it is completed. The station, launched in November 1998, allows scientists to study the effects of living in zero gravity. The United States, Russia, Japan, Canada, Brazil and 11 countries from the European Space Agency are involved in the orbiting space lab. The Atlantis crew will be commanded by Brent Jett; Chris Ferguson will be the co-pilot, and the four mission specialists will be Steve MacLean of the Canadian Space Agency, Dan Burbank, Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper and Joe Tanner.
Source: Agence France-Presse Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links Space Shuttle News at Space-Travel.Com Space Shuttle News at Space-Travel.Com
Microscopic Passengers To Hitch Ride On Space Shuttle
Tempe AZ (SPX) Aug 25, 2006When space shuttle Atlantis rockets into space later this week, it will take along three kinds of microbes so scientists can study how their genetic responses and their ability to cause disease change. |
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