CAPE
CANAVERAL, Fla. - NASA officials are expected to decide today whether the space
shuttle Discovery will launch on July 1 or later next month after two days of intense discussion
at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC).
NASA chief
Michael Griffin, shuttle program managers and swarms of engineers and
contractors are concluding a Flight Readiness Review (FRR) here that is
expected to pin down a firm launch date for Discovery's upcoming STS-121
mission. The spaceflight, NASA's second shuttle mission since the 2003 Columbia tragedy, has a
launch window that runs between July 1 and July 19.
"The final
thing they'll do Saturday is to take a poll as to as to when to proceed with
launch," KSC spokesperson Bruce Buckingham of the NASA flight review.
Space
shuttle officials have evaluated a series of changes to Discovery and its
launch stack, including the removal
of a 38-foot (11-meter), foam-covered ramp that shielded a tray of cables and
pressurization lines along the orbiter's external tank. Wind tunnel tests and
computer models have found the fix - aimed at reducing the risk of liberated
foam debris striking Discovery during launch - sound for
flight.
But
additional talks are underway to determine whether Discovery's launch should be
delayed a few days, when lighting will be optimum for the STS-121 crew to take
orbital photographs of the tank's foam-covered ice
frost ramps, which cover cable tray bracket mounts and have been known to shed debris from past flights.
"The
lighting on the ice frost ramps kind of depends on the orientation of the tank
when we separate," STS-121 mission commander Steven
Lindsey told reporters Friday.
Lindsey,
who is confident Discovery will fly in early July, said that during each of his
three previous shuttle flights, the external tank has twisted or tumbled
slightly just after separation due a combination of orbiter maneuvers, the
explosive bolts used to shed the tank and fuel line venting.
"The
program direction has been that we're not sure if it's worth it to wait a
couple of days if it's really not going to buy us anything," Lindsey said.
"Obviously we want to get good imagery on the ice frost ramps, but we will have
cameras on that area. I suspect that even with shadowing, we'll get good
imagery."
NASA's
post-Flight Readiness Review press conference will be broadcast on NASA
TV at no earlier than 2:00 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT) Saturday. You are invited to
follow along with the briefings using SPACE.com's NASA
TV feed, which is available by clicking here.
advertisement
