CAPE
CANAVERAL, Fla. — Severe weather and a radio glitch on space shuttle Endeavour won't
delay the launch of seven astronauts early Tuesday, NASA officials said this
morning.
Technicians
discovered a faulty radio on board Endeavour during routine inspections last
week, but mission managers cleared the system before the STS-123 space shuttle
crew arrived early this morning.
"We
were able to exonerate the orbiter and establish that we have a good
configuration for flight, so that work is behind us," NASA test director
Charlie Blackwell-Thompson said of the UHF radio problem. "We're tracking
no issues at this point."
The radio
serves as a backup data and communications system on board the shuttle, and its
glitch was traced to a high-power amplifier. Because two low-power amplifiers are
functioning normally, Blackwell-Thompson the need for a fix was negated.
Todd
McNamara, space shuttle weather officer, said there is a zero percent chance of
weather interfering with fueling of Endeavour's 15-story fuel tank Monday
evening, and only a 10 percent chance for scrubbing a 2:28 a.m. EDT (0628 GMT)
launch attempt on March 11.
"By
launch day we're looking at very favorable conditions," McNamara told
members of the press here at Kennedy Space Center (KSC).
Led by veteran
spaceflyer Dominic Gories, the
crew of Endeavour's STS-123 International Space Station (ISS) construction
mission will deliver Japan's first orbital room, a two-armed Canadian robot and
a suite of experiments.
Speaking in
Japanese that was translated into English, representatives of the Japan Aerospace
Exploration Agency (JAXA) told reporters today that they are excited to launch
their Japanese
Logistics Pressurized module (JLP) into space.
"We
had to adjust the plan to launch this module, but here we are today," said
Yoshiyuki Hasegawa, JAXA ISS program manager, referring to the 2003 Columbia tragedy that claimed the lives of seven astronauts and severely delayed space
station construction plans. "Finally, we are [near] the time to
launch."
JAXA
astronaut Satoshi Furukawa said he can't wait for the moment when his nation's
first, van-sized orbital room — one of three components for a massive orbital
science lab called Kibo — is installed on the space station next week.
"Japan has been waiting a very long time for this moment," Furukawa told SPACE.com.
"I'm going to feel very proud when Takao Doi
opens [the module] up and goes inside."
Planned for
16 days, the STS-123 mission is vying for the title of NASA's longest
attempted space station construction mission. If all goes as planned, Gorie
and his crew will conduct five 6.5-hour spacewalks and safely return to Earth on
March 26 at 8:35 p.m. EDT (0035 GMT March 27).
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