Posted on 07/25/2005 4:24:13 PM PDT by OXENinFLA
Poised for Liftoff
Space Shuttle Discovery rests in full view on the launch pad. Image above: The rolling back of Launch Pad 39B's Rotating Service Structure reveals orbiter Discovery. + Click for larger image. Image credit: NASA/KSC
Launch of Space Shuttle Discovery on mission STS-114, NASA's Return to Flight mission, is set for Tuesday at 10:39 a.m. EDT.
The launch pad's Rotating Service Structure (RSS) was rolled away from Discovery at 3:38 p.m. on Monday. When in place, the giant enveloping appendage is used to install payloads into an orbiter's cargo bay and provide protection from inclement weather. With the RSS now out of the way, propellant loading is set to begin after midnight Tuesday morning with the pumping of more than 500,000 gallons of liquid oxygen and hydrogen into the vehicle's orange External Tank.
The chance of Kennedy weather cooperating for the launch remains at 60 percent.
First Lady Laura Bush will join other dignitaries and VIPs at Kennedy for the Return to Flight liftoff, White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan announced earlier today.
NASA-TV overloaded? Had to switch to C-Span3
I'm here now!!
In my small rural school I remember we all were brought into the library and crowded around a small black and white tv to watch John Glenn lift off. It was special to grow up with the space program.
gulp, prayers lifted
Thanks, but our local Fox station has switched over...
T-minus 4 and counting...
"Our WONDERFUL First LADY."
Yep. she always looks so great.
Godspeed Discovery.
Yes! Keep those live pics coming...
Looks like it's going.....I'm heading outside....
Did anyone see the Eagle, or Commerant fly by?
The OneNASA portal's online NASA TV is getting more traffic than what was generated for Live 8 on AOL.
Gimble check!
SpaceflightNow.com
1435 GMT (10:35 a.m. EDT)
T-minus 4 minutes. Activation of the APUs complete. The three units are up and running. The final helium purge sequence is under way in the main propulsion system. This procedure readies fuel system valves for engine start. In the next few seconds the aerosurfaces of Discovery will be run through a pre-planned mobility test to ensure readiness for launch. This is also a dress rehearsal for flight of the orbiter's hydraulic systems.
1434 GMT (10:34 a.m. EDT)
T-minus 5 minutes. The "go" has been given for for Auxiliary Power Unit start. Pilot Jim Kelly is now flipping three switches in Discovery's cockpit to start each of the three APU's. The units, located in the aft compartment of Discovery, provide the pressure needed to power the hydraulic systems of the shuttle. The units will be used during the launch and landing phases of the mission for such events are moving the orbiter's aerosurfaces, gimbaling the main engine nozzles and deploying the landing gear.
Over the course of the next minute, the orbiter's heaters will be configured for launch by commander Eileen Collins, the fuel valve heaters on the main engines will be turned off in preparation for engine ignition at T-6.6 seconds and the external tank and solid rocket booster safe and arm devices will be armed.
Main engines in launch position...
I need to stop holding my breath.
Where are you????
You're suppose to be on these threads!
"The OneNASA portal's online NASA TV is getting more traffic than what was generated for Live 8 on AOL."
That makes me VERY Happy!
All I know is I have GOOSE bumps!
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