Posted under Space
Shuttle Atlantis is due to lift off tomorrow (6th December 2007) on a 11 day mission to deliver the European Space Agency’s Columbus module to the International Space Station.
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NASA postponed the launch scheduled for Thursday of the U.S. space shuttle Atlantis to resolve a fuel sensor problem but officials expressed hope they could make a second try on Friday.
Launch of the shuttle and Europe’s Columbus science laboratory was retargeted for 4:09 p.m. EST (21:09 GMT) Friday after two sensors in the shuttle’s external tank failed a routine check early on Thursday.
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A NASA guest photographs the countdown clock after the scrubbed launch attempt of the space shuttle Atlantis at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida December 6, 2007. (REUTERS/Pierre Ducharme) |
Engineers believe the problem, which cropped up while the shuttle was being filled with fuel for the 8.5-minute sprint to orbit, was due to an open circuit.
Assessments were under way and managers planned to meet in the afternoon to decide about another launch attempt.
“We’re keeping all our options open,” said launch director Doug Lyons.
NASA has until Dec. 13 for launch attempts this year.
Shuttle Atlantis is behaving well on Launch Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, as the countdown continues to proceed towards tomorrows launch.
The Mission Management Team (MMT) met to discuss the final few issues, relating to a communication issue with the WLESS (Wing Leading Edge Sensor System) and a compatibility problem with the Windows XP laptops on board Atlantis.
This will be the fourth flight of the shuttle this year and the 24th flight to the International Space Station so far.
Lift off is anow at 16:09 Eastern Standard Time (21:09 GMT). There will be 7 crew onboard and one will swap places with a crew member on the station for an extended stay. They will also deliver and install the Columbus module and carry out various space walks during the 11 day mission.
NASA astronaut Steve Frick will command the crew as it attaches the Columbus segment to the Harmony connecting node installed on the space station during last month’s shuttle mission.
They’ll be orbiting at around 17,000 miles per hour at an altitude of 121 Nautcial miles.
You can watch it all here live on NASA TV
