Why did NASA managers Thursday order another delay for launch of the shuttle Discovery?”
NASA managers Thursday ordered another delay for launch of the shuttle Discovery, from early Friday morning to late Friday night, to give engineers additional time to make sure an 8-inch hydrogen valve in the orbiter’s aft compartment will operate normally during fuelingNASA’s Mission Management Team plans to meet at noon Friday to review the work, consider a waiver to flight rules governing how the valve system operates and make a final decision on whether to clear Discovery for fueling and launch at 11:59:39 p.m. EDT. Forecasters are calling for a 60 percent chance of acceptable weather at launch time. Discovery is bound for the International Space Station, carrying a crew of seven and more than 7.5 tons of supplies and equipment. Because the space station launch window moves about 23 minutes earlier per day, Discovery has two launch opportunities Friday, the first at 12:22 a.m. and the second at 11:59 p.m. The MMT on Thursday gave up the first opportunity in favor of the second. “Fi
NASA managers Thursday ordered another delay for launch of the shuttle Discovery, from early Friday morning to late Friday night, to give engineers additional time to make sure an 8-inch hydrogen valve in the orbiter’s aft compartment will operate normally during fueling. NASA’s Mission Management Team plans to meet at noon Friday to review the work, consider a waiver to flight rules governing how the valve system operates and make a final decision on whether to clear Discovery for fueling and launch at 11:59:39 p.m. EDT. Forecasters are calling for a 60 percent chance of acceptable weather at launch time. Discovery is bound for the International Space Station, carrying a crew of seven and more than 7.5 tons of supplies and equipment. Because the space station launch window moves about 23 minutes earlier per day, Discovery has two launch opportunities Friday, the first at 12:22 a.m. and the second at 11:59 p.m. The MMT on Thursday gave up the first opportunity in favor of the second. “
NASA managers Thursday ordered another delay for launch of the shuttle Discovery, from early Friday morning to late Friday night, to give engineers additional time to make sure an 8-inch hydrogen valve in the orbiter’s engine compartment will operate normally during fueling. NASA’s Mission Management Team plans to meet at noon EDT Friday to review the work, consider a waiver to flight rules governing how the valve system operates, and make a final decision on whether to clear Discovery for fueling and launch at 11:59:39 p.m. Forecasters are calling for a 60 percent chance of acceptable weather at launch time.
