|
 |
 advertisement
| |
|
|
|
|
|
Next Shuttle Launch May Be Pushed to Feb. 10
By Todd Halvorson
Cape Canaveral Bureau Chief
posted: 01:08 pm ET
06 January 2000
|
By Todd HalvorsonCAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. NASA is considering postponing the upcoming launch of shuttle Endeavour until Feb. 10 to give the agency more time to ready the winged spaceship for an 11-day Earth mapping mission. Endeavour and an international crew of six astronauts currently are scheduled to blast off from Kennedy Space Center Jan. 31. And while NASA officials say they still could make that date, a Feb. 10 launch would allow ground crews to complete launch preparations at a more relaxed pace. NASA shuttle program officials are negotiating for the Feb. 10 date with the Air Forces Eastern Range. A widespread network of ground stations, the Eastern Range, provides rocket tracking and range safety services for all launches from Floridas Space Coast. Two other launches are scheduled on the Eastern Range in early February: - A Lockheed Martin Atlas rocket is scheduled to launch a commercial communications satellite Feb. 3 and also has Feb. 4 booked on the range for a back-up launch opportunity.
- A Boeing Delta rocket, meanwhile, is scheduled to launch four Globalstar cellular telephone satellites on Feb. 6 and also has Feb. 7 booked on the range for a back-up opportunity.
It typically takes 36 to 48 hours to reset range systems between launches of different vehicles. Staging the Endeavour flight on Feb. 10 would allow NASA to launch the mission on a Thursday. NASA prefers to send shuttles aloft on Thursday because it enables the agency to start a three-day countdown on Monday, launch on Thursday and clean up the launch pad on Friday. No weekend overtime is incurred as a result. Led by veteran astronaut Kevin Kregel, the Endeavour crew will set sail on a mission to assemble the most accurate and comprehensive topographical map ever made of Earth. The mission -- which will be the first piloted spaceflight of the new millennium -- is scheduled to last 11 days, 4 hours and 8 minutes.
|
|
|
|
|
