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Another Discovery glitch

Matt | July 4, 2006 |

Engineers have just doscovered another issue with Discovery that is being addressed at this time. A backup circuit breaker that controls the primary heaters on the segment joints of both solid rocket boosters has failed. A team called “Red Team” will be going out to the mobile launcher platform to quickly replace the circuit breaker […]

Discovery ‘GO’ For Independence Day Launch

Matt | July 4, 2006 |

Over night Nasa have conducted extensive tests on Discovery’s external fuel tank. Analysis has shown that the area around the crack is intact and there is no concern for heating as there is adequate foam in place on the strut. Additional borescope inspection of the tank revealed that the bracket has no cracks. The weather […]

Discovery still safe?

Matt | July 3, 2006 |

Following the inspection of Discovery’s external tank which led to the finding of a crack in the foam covering Nasa made the following comments: “At a Mission Management Team meeting this morning, a decision was made to continue analyzing available data before making a final decision regarding tomorrow’s launch attempt. The question is whether there […]

Crack in shuttle tank foam

Matt | July 3, 2006 |

Engineers conducting a routine check of the shuttle Discovery after Sunday’s launch postponement have found a crack in the foam insulation lining the orbiter’s external tank. The 12cm-long, 3mm-deep breakage was spotted near a bracket close to the top of the fuel tank, Nasa confirmed. Its not yet known what this could mean to the […]

Scrubbed ’till Tuesday

Matt | July 2, 2006 |

Nasa have decided that there is ‘no chance of clear weather’ for the launch of Discovery today. There will now be a 48hr stand-down for another attempt again on Tuesday giving the crew and other tam members time to rest. The crew of Discovery are being helped out of the obiter now. Third time lucky […]

Crew on their way to the pad.

Matt | July 2, 2006 |

The crew of Discovery STS-121 are now on their way to the launch pad and should be baording within the next 25 minutes. Commander Lindsey has just received an updated weather briefing, launch is still looking unlikely due to the weather. Matt [Technorati tag(s): shuttle, nasa, Space Shuttle, Space Shuttle Discovery, Discovery, Space, Science, STS-121]

All fueled up

Matt | July 2, 2006 |

Discovery’s fuel tanks have been filled with the 500,000 gallons super-cold cryogenic liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen. The total tanking time was just short of three hours. Kathy Winters, shuttle weather officer, forecasts a 70-percent chance of weather prohibiting a launch this afternoon due to thunderstorms and anvil clouds. If the launch is scrubed again […]

Launch unlikely

Matt | July 2, 2006 |

Latest news from Florida is that the Shuttle launch is unlikely for today. Weather monitoring says that there is only a 30% chance that the weather will allow for a launch. If Discovery can’t launch today it will be Tuesday before they can try again! Matt [Technorati tag(s): shuttle, nasa, Space Shuttle, Space Shuttle Discovery, […]

Countdown restarted

Matt | July 2, 2006 |

The launch coundown for the Shuttle Discovery on STS-121 has restarted. Nasa are looking for a launch window that opens up at 19:26 GMT. Nasa are hopeful for a launch but the weather forecast makes it look rather unlikely. There are a number of thunder storms in the area. However there is plenty of time […]

Launch cancelled until tomorrow

Matt | July 1, 2006 |

Due to weather constraints the launch has been scrubbed for today. The aim is to have a 24hr turn around to launch tomorrow at 19:26 GMT. Feel very sorry for everyone involved, especially the crew that will have to wait quite some time before they can be extracted from the orbiter to do it all […]