CAPE
CANAVERAL, Fla. — A poor weather forecast continues to threaten a Thursday
launch attempt of the space shuttle Atlantis, but NASA mission managers haven't
thrown in the towel yet.
Monday's launch-day
forecast here at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) called for worrisome rain and
low-ceiling clouds on Feb. 7. Now thick anvil clouds that might produce thunderstorms are expected around the 2:45 p.m.
EST (1945 GMT) launch time.
"Today's
going to be our last day of sunny, hot weather in central Florida," said Mike
McAleenan, a NASA launch weather officer. He explained that a massive cold
front is propelling the problematic conditions toward Atlantis, which
now sits at launch Pad 39A. "That's going to be ... causing some dicey
weather for area Thursday."
Despite the
threat of thunderstorms, however, McAleenan said there's still a 40 percent
chance that Atlantis will make a space shot on Thursday — the same prediction
weather officers offered on Monday.
"The
launch time makes a difference," he said, noting that a launch attempt later
in the day (when thunderstorms often peak) would have a considerably reduced
chance of passing NASA's flight rules.
Rain during
a launch can damage the heat-resistant tiles beneath Atlantis as it rockets
into orbit, while a stray bolt of lightning could have explosive consequences
after the spaceship leaves the lightning protection system of the launch pad. Bill
Johnson, a NASA spokesperson at KSC, said mission managers will postpone a
launch if there's any lightning within an 11.5-mile (18.5-km) radius of the shuttle
shortly before launch.
NASA test
director Steve Payne said the agency will wait to seriously discuss a launch
delay until early Thursday morning, when filling of Atlantis' 500,000-gallon
(1.9 million-liter) external
fuel tank is set to begin.
"If we
tank we're going to make a run at [launch], if we don't tank we're going to
hold off and see if the weather improves," Payne told SPACE.com.
Aside from
KSC, weather conditions at emergency landing sites in the U.S., France and Spain violate none of NASA's stringent flight rules. Should a hole in the clouds
not open up for launch on Thursday, mission managers will try again at around
2:20 p.m. EST (1920 GMT) on Friday Feb. 8.
The seven
astronauts of Atlantis, in the meantime, have undergone medical exams and
flown training flights in NASA T-38 jets in preparation for their 11-day mission to the
International Space Station (ISS).
NASA's
prime goal with the crew's STS-122 mission is to deliver the long-awaited Columbus module, a cylindrical room that weighs about 10.3 tons and houses 10
phone-booth-sized racks, to the ISS.
Commander
Stephen Frick will lead the mission and will be accompanied by pilot Alan
Poindexter, mission specialists Leland Melvin, Rex Walheim and Stanley Love. European
Space Agency astronauts Hans Schlegel and Leopold Eyharts also join the crew. Eyharts
will replace ISS Expedition 16 crew member Dan Tani, who will return to Earth
in mid-February with the STS-122 astronauts.
NASA
will broadcast Atlantis' STS-122 mission live on NASA TV. Click here for SPACE.com's
STS-122 mission coverage and NASA TV feed.
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