NASA Mulls Sunday Launch Plan for Shuttle Atlantis

NASA Delays Shuttle Launch to January After Fuel Sensor Glitch
In the late afternoon shadows, space shuttle Atlantis is still poised on the pad after its launch on mission STS-122 was postponed on Dec. 6, 2007. (Image credit: NASA/George Shelton.)

CAPECANAVERAL, Fla. - NASA engineers are meeting today determine whether to goforward with the planned Sunday launch of the space shuttle Atlantis despite asuspect fuel tank sensor system.

Top missionmanagers are meeting to decide whether to proceed with a Sunday afternoonlaunch for Atlantis with some stricterflight rules in place, or take more time to study an intermittent glitchwith fuelgauge sensors at the bottom of the orbiter?s 15-story external tank.

?Theproposal?s on the table,? NASA shuttle program manager Wayne Hale said lateFriday. ?We?re very cognizant of the fact that you don?t like to accept risk atthe launch site.?

Commandedby veteran shuttle flyer Stephen Frick, Atlantis? STS-122crew is charged with delivering the European Space Agency?s Columbus laboratory to the International Space Station (ISS). A Sunday launch attempt, ifapproved, would lift off at about 3:21 p.m. EST (2021 GMT), with currentforecasts predicting an 80 percent chance of good weather.

Mission managers called off a Thursdaylaunch attempt after two of four engine cut-off sensors in the liquidhydrogen portion of the shuttle?s fuel tank failed a standard check. A thirdsensor also acted later as the fuel tank was drained. NASA flight rules callfor three of the four sensors to be working properly in order to launch.

?We prettymuch came to the conclusion that we are in an area that we have got a suspectsystem,? said Hale, adding that the sensors are based on 1960s, Apollo-eratechnology.

The sensorsserve as a backup system to shut down Atlantis? three main engines before its propellantsupply runs dry. Space shuttles consume more than 500,000 gallons (1.9 millionliters) super-chilled liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellant duringlaunch.

NASA has wrangledwith the fuel sensor glitches since the agency resumed shuttle flight in 2005following the Columbia tragedy. After modifying the sensors and adding extramonitoring devices to ensure they work properly, NASA is still at a loss toexplain their intermittent behavior.

?We?d like tohave certainty,? Hale said. ?We would like to know root cause.?

For Sunday?slaunch attempt, NASA is looking at tightening the sensor rule to require allfour units to be working properly before attempting a liftoff. As an extrameasure, they may also shorten the daily five-minute launch window to onesingle minute to conserve fuel in case the suspect sensors fail during flight.

?We don?twant to get launch fever,? Hale said. ?Even though the Columbus is out thereloaded in the payload bay and everybody is anxious for us to launch that guy,we want to make sure that when we go launch, it is safe or as safe as it everis in this normally risky business.?

NASAwill broadcast Atlantis' STS-122 mission live on NASA TV. Click here for SPACE.com's shuttle mission coverage and NASATV feed.

  • SPACE.com Video Interplayer: NASA's STS-122: Columbus Sets Sail for ISS
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  • VIDEO: ISS Commander Peggy Whitson Takes Charge

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Tariq Malik
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Tariq is the Editor-in-Chief of Space.com and joined the team in 2001, first as an intern and staff writer, and later as an editor. He covers human spaceflight, exploration and space science, as well as skywatching and entertainment. He became Space.com's Managing Editor in 2009 and Editor-in-Chief in 2019. Before joining Space.com, Tariq was a staff reporter for The Los Angeles Times covering education and city beats in La Habra, Fullerton and Huntington Beach. In October 2022, Tariq received the Harry Kolcum Award for excellence in space reporting from the National Space Club Florida Committee. He is also an Eagle Scout (yes, he has the Space Exploration merit badge) and went to Space Camp four times as a kid and a fifth time as an adult. He has journalism degrees from the University of Southern California and New York University. You can find Tariq at Space.com and as the co-host to the This Week In Space podcast with space historian Rod Pyle on the TWiT network. To see his latest project, you can follow Tariq on Twitter @tariqjmalik.