Space Shuttle Atlantis on Track for February Launch

NASA Delays Shuttle Launch to January After Fuel Sensor Glitch
In the late afternoon shadows, space shuttle Atlantis is still poised on the pad after its launch on mission STS-122 was postponed on Dec. 6, 2007. (Image credit: NASA/George Shelton.)

NASA?s shuttleAtlantis is on track for an early February launch toward the InternationalSpace Station (ISS) after two months of delay to repair a suspect fuel tankconnector.

Atlantis isslated to launch Feb. 7 on an 11-day missionto deliver the European-built Columbus lab to the ISS, though the finalapproval for the space shot will be discussed on Wednesday, NASA officials said Friday.The mission has been delayedsince early December, when fuel gauge-like engine cutoff (ECO) sensors inAtlantis? fuel tank failed standard countdown checks.

Engineers trackedthe problem to a suspect electrical connector at the bottom of Atlantis?15-story fuel tank. The super-cold temperatures of the shuttle?s cryogenicliquid hydrogen propellant stored in the tank may have led to open circuits inthe connector, which hassince been replaced with a new, modified design.

?We?re continuingto track toward Feb. 7,? NASA spokesperson Kyle Herring, of the Johnson SpaceCenter in Houston, told SPACE.com late Friday after a shuttleprogram-level readiness review. ?Everybody has a fairly high degree ofconfidence in the troubleshooting and testing that?s been done on the ECOsensor connector, and the repair work.?

Shuttleengine cutoff sensors are designed to serve as a backup system to shut down anorbiter?s three main engines before their fuel tank runs dry. If the enginescontinue to run on an empty tank, they could cause catastrophic damage, NASAofficials have said.

NASA?sflight rules call for three of the four sensors to operate properly beforeattempting a launch, though mission managers tightened the guideline up to four-of-four good sensors on a one-timebasis for the second of Atlantis? two launch attempts last month. Shuttlemanagers plan to return to the standard three-of-four rule for the upcomingFebruary launch, with a final decision to be made during the Wednesday meeting, spaceagency officials said.

Shuttleworkers, meanwhile, have returned to their normal preflight preparations aftercompleting the repair work at NASA?s Kennedy Space Center spaceport in Cape Canaveral, Fla., where Atlantis stands atop its Pad 39A launch pad.

?We?re notdealing with any hardware issues or personnel issues that would stand in theway or hold up the launch,? said KSC spokesperson Allard Beutel, adding that mostshuttle work teams are able to take the weekend off in the wake of the fueltank fix.

While NASAshuttle managers conduct their final review of Atlantis? launch readiness onWednesday, spacestation commander Peggy Whitson and flight engineer Dan Tani are expectedto step outside the orbital laboratory on a spacewalk to replace a suspectsolar array joint motor. NASA officials will discuss the results of bothactivities during separate briefings on Jan. 30.

Commandedby veteran shuttle flyer Stephen Frick, Atlantis? STS-122 mission will deliverthe space station?s Columbus lab for the European Space Agency (ESA) and swapout one member of the outpost?s three-person Expedition 16 crew. Thespaceflight is the first of five shuttleflights planned for this year.

  • SPACE.com Video Interplayer: NASA's STS-122: Columbus Sets Sail for ISS
  • VIDEO: ISS Commander Peggy Whitson Takes Charge
  • SPACE.com Quiz: The Reality of Life in Orbit

 

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Tariq Malik
Editor-in-Chief

Tariq is the Editor-in-Chief of Space.com and joined the team in 2001, first as an intern and staff writer, and later as an editor. He covers human spaceflight, exploration and space science, as well as skywatching and entertainment. He became Space.com's Managing Editor in 2009 and Editor-in-Chief in 2019. Before joining Space.com, Tariq was a staff reporter for The Los Angeles Times covering education and city beats in La Habra, Fullerton and Huntington Beach. In October 2022, Tariq received the Harry Kolcum Award for excellence in space reporting from the National Space Club Florida Committee. He is also an Eagle Scout (yes, he has the Space Exploration merit badge) and went to Space Camp four times as a kid and a fifth time as an adult. He has journalism degrees from the University of Southern California and New York University. You can find Tariq at Space.com and as the co-host to the This Week In Space podcast with space historian Rod Pyle on the TWiT network. To see his latest project, you can follow Tariq on Twitter @tariqjmalik.