The astronauts are buckled into their seats inside Discovery’s cabin. The STS-121 crew is now going through final checks inside the orbiter to prepare for liftoff.
The Ground Launch Sequencer (GLS) computer has been activated in the firing room. The GLS is a master computer program which controls the final nine minutes of the countdown. The GLS will monitor approximately one thousand different measurements to ensure the system operates within predetermined limits.
Everything looks good for a 19:38 launch, one minor problem could be the cross wind at the shuttle launch facility. Althought this doesn’t pose a problem for the launch, in the event of an emergency abort where the shuttle had to return to the launch facility the wind velocity has to be between certain limits.
Matt
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