Posted on 06/12/2009 10:01:14 PM PDT by Steelfish
NASA scrubs space shuttle launch Leak discovered while the Endeavour was being fueled
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - NASA officials have canceled a planned Saturday launch of Space Shuttle Endeavour due to hydrogen leak.
The problem is similar to one the space agency faced in March during the launch countdown of Discovery.
The leak was discovered while the space shuttle was being fueled.
The astronauts had not yet suited up for the planned morning launch.
Earlier, NASA zipped through the final hours of its countdown and it was on track for a Saturday morning launch to the international space station.
Slideshow
Month in Space See Russia's red moon, Hubble highlights and other stunning space imagery from May 2009. NASA began fueling the spaceship late Friday night, and the seven astronauts were set to climb aboard in the wee hours of Saturday. Launch time is 7:17 a.m., less than an hour after sunrise.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
Thanks very much, S. I can get a few hours extra sleep on the west coast.
Remember,these vehicles were built by the lowest bidder
You are welcome!
The shuttles are so touchy it’s a wonder they fly at all.
And that's one of big reasons for their retirement (8 launches left, incl. this one.) Among other reasons: deterioration of the fleet, attrition (2 lost,) lack of spare parts and inability to make more, and of course extreme cost of each launch.
STS was a great idea at some initial point, but then military added its requirements (that were never used) and that sunk the program badly. The Shuttle lacks many systems that we now know it must have (such as emergency escape pod, for example) and those systems can't be added to existing vehicles. Foam strikes continue, tile breakage continues, fuel leaks continue, who knows if fuel sensors are fixed or not... there are tons of issues, and previous flight's endless scrubs are proof of that.
We can only hope that the few remaining flights will be safe. But the vehicle itself, IMO, can't be described as fundamentally safe. Everything must work perfectly for it to be safe, and we know how hard this is to achieve even on new hardware. This fleet is far from being new. Unfortunately NASA had no foresight to look 10 years ahead; only now they are working on "something" and that something will be minimally innovative or impressive. In fact it will be on par with Chinese capsules - a major step down.
I don't care how many hours you have and how often you do it, it is still a good idea to use the checklist, evertime. Keeps from getting complacent.
“Remember,these vehicles were built by the lowest bidder”
Why go outside?...heck why stay inside? The last time I checked, just about every component on your big, manly, truck was built by the lowest bidder. Most likely, every contractor who built your little, scrawny, house was the lowest bidder. Not to mention the people that packaged the food you eat...
Oh, I know, the lowest bidders were only used on OTHER people’s projects....nothing you’re associated with.
Grow up.
Earlier, NASA zipped through the final hours of its countdown.hold it floyd you hear a hissing sound?.
“Unfortunately NASA had no foresight to look 10 years ahead...”
You might want to check NASA archives before you make that statement. You might be surprised by some of the designs they’ve come up with in the past.
NASA is a product of a budgetary process, and on top of that, they have their hands tied behind their backs.
While liberal causes can use goon-squads (i.e., ACORN, unions, etc.), NASA is prohibited from lobbying at all, and must take whatever crumbs Congress feels like giving them.
Easy to blame them, but I haven’t seen a lot of innovation out of the Social Security Administration (other than lobbying for new spending), or our public schools, for that matter (other than using computers to sexualize kids, rather than in-person demos).
It's a government agency and you know what a large carbon footprint that rocket leaves will probably kill a couple of thousand polar bears...jeez..
I don't think it's right to blame NASA when the politicians caused the problems.
Look at NASA's unmanned program. It does very well with the money involved. The only time it had big problems was when Clinton stuck his nose in it with "better, faster, cheaper."
It was probably those puddles of liquid Hydrogen on the shop floor eh. Hey Lou, douse that butt and get some zipzorb, and a pipe wrench.
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