Posted on 11/27/2010 9:08:35 PM PST by ErnstStavroBlofeld
The final launch of Space Shuttle Discovery will take place no earlier than 3 December.
Weather permitting, the launch - originally set for September but postponed to 1 November because the payload was not ready and then to 30 November after a hydrogen leak was discovered while filling the external fuel tank - is now expected at 02:52 Eastern Standard Time.
The current launch window will be open until 5 December.
The countdown-stopping leak was at the ground umbilical carrier plate, an attachment point between the external tank and a 178mm (7in) pipe that carries gaseous hydrogen safely away from Discovery to the flare stack, where it is burned off.
This prolongs salaries for 40,000 people. Very shrewd.
Odd that they changed it to a night launch. I don't remember them launching in the middle of the night before.
Or maybe the reporting is just bad and they mean 2:52 pm...
They have a structural problem with a device that holds enough liquid hydrogen to vaporize an acre.
I wouldn’t light that particular fuse in haste.
On February 2010, NASA launched the shuttle Endeavour at night.
Well I know they do it at night, just seems odd to launch in the middle of the night.
The scrubbed Nov launch was scheduled for around 2:30-3:00pm, so I wonder if they didn’t mean what they printed.
Discovery Powered Down, Analysis Continuehttp://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html
Fri, 26 Nov 2010 10:47:44 AM ESTAt NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, space shuttle Discovery is powered down for the weekend while analysis continue. Discovery's launch is currently targeted for no earlier than Dec. 17, after shuttle managers determined more tests and analysis are needed.
The Program Requirements Control Board reviewed on Wednesday repairs and engineering evaluations associated with cracks on two 21-foot-long, U-shaped aluminum brackets, called stringers, on the shuttle's external tank. Managers decided the analysis and tests required to launch Discovery safely are not complete. The work will continue through next week.
The next status review by the PRCB will be Thursday, Dec. 2. If managers clear Discovery for launch on Dec. 17, the preferred time is about 8:51 p.m. EST.
They launch into what are called “windows”.
Day or night, the open window is when they must launch. Many windows open to launch, yet are closed by lightening of frost, or as in this case, technical issues.
Just popping a shot into space is easy, getting into a position where you do not have to burn a ton of fuel to reach the objective is a very difficult thing.
That is why they have to be as smart as smart as rocket scientists.
Thank you very much for providing it.
:)
Nah, the hard part is bringing them home safely.
And thanks, I know about launch windows.
There have been many night launches.
And you can see them up the US east coast to Long Island,
Look for a fast moving light running across the sky low on the eastern horizon, abruptly going out at just over eight minutes from launch. The launches are easiky visible in the Washington DC area.
I was in Florida at the time of that night launch. I was in a hotel in Orlando and watched the whole thing. Absolutely spectacular even from that distance.
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