Shuttle Discovery: successful mission and landing

#21 Postby **JonathanBelles** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 9:03 pm

weather is red, zaragoza is good for emergency landing

#22 Postby **JonathanBelles** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 9:09 pm

a camera is injured

#23 Postby **JonathanBelles** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 9:12 pm

plan is now zaragosa. anyone know where zaragosa is?

cape is good

Josephine96 · #24 Postby **Josephine96** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 9:16 pm

Bring on the shuttle launch! Its about time for a night time launch

#25 Postby **JonathanBelles** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 9:16 pm

i dont think we will be able to see it from tampa.

Josephine96 · #26 Postby **Josephine96** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 9:18 pm

My girlfriend lives in Winter Haven and hopes to see it.. I hope to see it but I'm not sure which way to look if I go outside lol

#27 Postby **JonathanBelles** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 9:20 pm

weather now orange hold may or may not be counted down upon nasa desiscion

#28 Postby **JonathanBelles** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 9:22 pm

not all go due to weather, will count down to 5 mins

#29 Postby **JonathanBelles** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 9:23 pm

weather is red now for thick ceiling

Josephine96 · #30 Postby **Josephine96** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 9:24 pm

Come on clouds.. clear up for just a few minutes please!

#31 Postby **Tstormwatcher** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 9:28 pm

countdown is on, 8 minutes and counting.

MiamiensisWx · #32 Postby **MiamiensisWx** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 9:31 pm

Under two minutes remaining. Weather still being assessed for potential takeoff.

EDIT - They are on hold at the controls at five minutes. Cloud cover is still an issue.

#33 Postby **JonathanBelles** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 9:35 pm

one minute until window closes

MiamiensisWx · #34 Postby **MiamiensisWx** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 9:36 pm

Launch has been canceled.

#35 Postby **JonathanBelles** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 9:36 pm

weather is red launch is no go

Website · #36 Postby **Brent** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 9:37 pm

So when is the next chance?

#37 Postby **JonathanBelles** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 9:38 pm

#38 Postby **brunota2003** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 9:39 pm

tomorrow is the next chance, but they will most likely skip tomorrow (only 10% chance of launch tomorrow) and try again on saturday...

#39 Postby **JonathanBelles** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 10:33 pm

i fell asleep lol. did they say when they would launch?

#40 Postby **JonathanBelles** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 10:34 pm

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (AP) -- Low clouds forced NASA to delay the launch of space shuttle Discovery Thursday night. NASA will try again Saturday at 8:47 p.m. ET.

Weather officials are forecasting a 70 percent chance of launching on Saturday.

Friday's forecast was even worse than Thursday's, with only a 10 percent chance for launching so they decided to hold off for 48 hours.

NASA managers waited until the end of the countdown Friday evening before calling off the launch scheduled for 9:35 p.m. ET. It would have been the first launch at night in four years.

"We gave it the best shot and didn't get clear and convincing evidence that the cloud ceiling had cleared for us," launch director Mike Leinbach told Discovery's seven astronauts.

Commander Mark Polansky responded, "Try not to be too disappointed."

Earlier in the day, NASA Administrator Michael Griffin said if the space shuttle did not get off the ground Thursday night, NASA likely would wait until Saturday before trying again.

Too many clouds prevent the necessary observation of the shuttle during its ascent, and the shuttle commander needs visibility if an emergency landing is required.

The best opportunity for launching over the next several days was Tuesday, shuttle weather forecaster Matt Timmermann said.

At the beginning of next week, "we see an improving trend," he said. "The winds get lighter and it gets drier."

During the 12-day mission, Discovery's astronauts will rewire the space station, bring up a new 2-ton addition to the space lab and rotate out one of the three crew members at the space station. (Watch as astronaut Cady Coleman explains the tasks the crew will perform during the mission Video)

NASA had required daylight liftoffs for the three launches after the 2003 Columbia accident to make sure the agency could get good daytime photos of the external fuel tank in case debris fell from it during launch. Foam breaking off the tank and striking Columbia's wing at liftoff caused the damage that led to the disaster that killed seven astronauts.

But NASA officials were comfortable with the acceptable levels of foam loss during the last two liftoffs and believe radar will be able to spot pieces falling from Discovery's tank.

NASA Administrator Michael Griffin said he felt no pressure to stick to the launch schedule, despite NASA's desire to go up before December 17 so that Discovery is back on the ground for the new year.

Shuttle computers are not designed to make the change from the 365th day of the old year to the first day of the new year while in flight. The space agency has figured out a solution for the New Year's Day problem, but managers are reluctant to try it if they don't have to do so.

If Discovery is still grounded by December 18, NASA may decide to keep trying anyway through December 26.

"We've got days and days, and we're not even worrying about the clock problem," Griffin said. "The clock problem is an annoyance, but it's not a real problem in the sense that we know how to deal with it."

Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Shuttle Discovery: successful mission and landing

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