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| The STS-92 crew of Space Shuttle Discovery.
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High Winds Delay Countdown, Launch Now Set For Tuesday
By Todd Halvorson
Cape Canaveral
posted: 11:00 am ET
09 October 2000
ET
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Gusty winds at Kennedy Space Center forced NASA to halt preparations for tonight's planned launch of shuttle Discovery, prompting a one-day delay in the already postponed flight.
Close up view of the gaseous oxygen vent arm with its so-called "beanie cap" moving in position over the shuttle's external tank. NASA image.
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The shuttle and its crew - which includes six U.S. astronauts and a Japanese mission specialist - now are scheduled to blast off at 7:39 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (23:39 GMT) Tuesday. | Atlas Delay | | An Air Force Atlas launch planned for Thursday will almost certainly be delayed because of a technical problem with the military communications satellite it is to carry into orbit, officials said Monday. The news, expected to become official on Tuesday, will open up the Eastern Range for NASA, giving the space agency additional flexibility in trying to get Discovery off the ground this week. A new launch date for the Atlas has not been set. -- Jim Banke |
Monday's planned launch attempt was scrubbed when high winds prevented NASA from moving a gaseous oxygen vent arm into place at launch pad 39A, where Discovery is being readied for launch. Known as the "beanie cap," the swing arm attaches to the top of the shuttle's 15-story external tank and vents gaseous oxygen from it during fuel-loading operations. It remains in place through most of the final countdown, swinging back away from the shuttle several seconds before launch. According to strict NASA safety rules, the swing arm cannot be put in place if winds top 47 miles per hour (75 kilometers per hour). Winds at KSC, however, were gusting up to 50 miles per hour (81 kilometers per hours). "The winds were just too high," said KSC spokesman Bruce Buckingham. "We could not move the arm safely, so we decided to delay for 24 hours." ~Blustery day The weather, meanwhile, is expected to be a problem again Tuesday. Forecasters say there is a 70 percent chance high winds and low clouds will prevent NASA from launching its milestone 100th shuttle flight that day. The concern is that stiff crosswind as the ksc shuttle runway could make it dangerous for a crew to attempt an emergency landing there if major problems cropped up early in flight. NASA flight rules call for a shuttle launch attempt to be cancelled if crosswinds at the runway top 17.25 miles per hour (27.6 kilometers per hour). There's also a chance that low-level clouds could block the astronauts' view of the runway in the event of an emergency landing. The outlook for Wednesday is significantly better at KSC. Forecasters say there is only a 30 percent chance conditions would force another delay. The high winds, however, are expected to sweep across the Atlantic Ocean over the next two days. Consequently, forecasters say the winds could cause problems at emergency landing sites in Spain that day. NASA called off an initial attempt to launch Discovery last Thursday after a potential problem cropped up with a suspect bolt on the shuttle's external tank. The need to replace a sluggish main propulsion system valve then triggered a delay until Monday. Discovery and its crew are to mount the first piece of the international station's metal backbone and put a new shuttle docking port in place during an 11-day flight to the outpost. A launch Tuesday would lead to an Oct. 21 landing at KSC.
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