CAPE
CANAVERAL, Fla. — Tomorrow's launch of the space shuttle Atlantis has a 70 percent
chance of getting rained out, NASA mission managers said this morning.
A cold
front moving across the U.S. this week unleashed dozens of tornadoes in the mid-South late Tuesday evening and continues to churn up thunderstorms. NASA
doesn't expect a twister to botch their 2:45 p.m. EST (1945 GMT) launch
opportunity on Thursday, but the threat of a thunderstorm, showers or thick
cloud cover has lowered launch expectations from 40 percent to 30 percent.
"I wish
I had a better weather report for tomorrow," said Kathy Winters, a shuttle
weather officer here at Kennedy Space Center (KSC).
Jeff
Spaulding, NASA test director, said the best case scenario is if inclement conditions
suddenly clear up before launch time.
"We
always hope for that," Spaulding said. "As we all know, weather in Florida changes very rapidly. Things may improve or improve enough to get us the ability to
get off the ground. The worst case would be if ... we'd have to try a different
day."
Showers
concern NASA because rain can damage the thermal protection shield of Atlantis
during its high-speed launch. Heavy cloud cover is also problematic, Winters noted,
because visibility of the shuttle as it launches can be obscured and pose a
threat to public safety.
Should
unfavorable conditions push the agency to scrub its launch in the early tomorrow
morning, mission managers will aim for a 2:19 p.m. EST (1919 GMT) attempt on
Friday. The chance of getting Atlantis into orbit then has also been lowered,
from 80 percent to 60 percent, because of the potential for lingering rain
showers.
As NASA
crosses its fingers for a break in bad weather tomorrow, technicians continue to
prepare Atlantis for its big moment.
The 100-ton
orbiter's power-producing fuel cells have been filled and will be activated
later this evening, following the retraction of launch Pad 39A's 13-story
rotating service structure (RSS). The moveable scaffolding helps technicians service
and inspect vital areas of the space shuttle after it is rolled out to the
launch pad. Once the RSS is rolled back, it will reveal the freshly prepared
Atlantis spacecraft.
The seven
astronauts of the STS-122 mission have also been making final preparations for
their space shot.
The 11-day
mission, led by Navy captain Stephen Frick, is slated to deliver the European
Space Agency's (ESA) 10.3-ton Columbus
laboratory to the International Space Station (ISS). Pilot Alan Poindexter,
mission specialists Leland Melvin, Rex Walheim and Stanley Love, and ESA astronauts
Leopold Eyharts and Hans Schlegel will join Frick on the mission.
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.
advertisement
