Shuttle Return to Flight scrubbed
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rtd2 wrote:Roxy wrote:SCRUB! Today's launch has been scrubbed for today due to a problem with the ECO early cut-off fuel sensors. A problem with these sensors was noted during the fueling tests on Discovery earlier this spring.
I think that sensor is Made in NOLA
All I can dig up about ECO failure thus far is that it's the same type of failure that affected the Boeing Delta IV launch. If I find more, I will let you know.
Last edited by Roxy on Wed Jul 13, 2005 12:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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GalvestonDuck
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gtalum wrote:It will be good to start having regular Shuttle missions to the ISS. Hey GalvestonDuck, do you know if they found a way to boost the ISS without the Shuttle? Before the demise of the Columbia, one of the Shuttle's duties on ISS missions was to actually pull the ISS into higher orbits, since at the time the ISS's boosters were not yet installed. The ISS, as with all near-Earth satellites, has a natural tendency to orbital decay.
The Soyuz was also able to assist in those boosts. NASA prefers to allow the ISS to reach a lower orbit prior to a Shuttle rendezvous so the Shuttle doesn't have to expend as much fuel and so it can carry a heavier payload.
Darn! on the scrub.
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GalvestonDuck
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Roxy wrote:rtd2 wrote:Roxy wrote:SCRUB! Today's launch has been scrubbed for today due to a problem with the ECO early cut-off fuel sensors. A problem with these sensors was noted during the fueling tests on Discovery earlier this spring.
I think that sensor is Made in NOLA
All I can dig up about ECO failure thus far is that it's the same type of failure that affected the Boeing Delta IV launch. If I find more, I will let you know.
It's also something that was a previous issue while preparing for STS-114:
http://nasaspaceflight.com/content/?id=42
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cycloneye
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A faulty fuel sensor aboard Discovery today forced NASA to scrub its first attempt to launch a space shuttle since the Columbia disaster 2 1/2 years ago. "A low-level fuel sensor in the external fuel tank, one of a set of four -- two of which are needed to work" forced mission controllers to postpone the launch for at least the day. "It will take some time really to understand what to do to remedy the situation," NASA said.
Better scrub than be sorry later.
Better scrub than be sorry later.
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Skywatch_NC
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From this article...I'm still wondering...is the flight still ON?
Shuttle Countdown Enters Final Hours
POSTED: 2:44 pm EDT July 13, 2005
UPDATED: 2:44 pm EDT July 13, 2005
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. --
With a brief but embarrassing setback behind them, NASA crews fueled Discovery for liftoff Wednesday afternoon on the first space shuttle flight in 2 1/2 years. The only possible obstacle appeared to be an increasing chance of thunderstorms.
A temporary window cover fell off the shuttle and damaged thermal tiles near the tail Tuesday afternoon. The problem was announced just two hours after NASA declared Discovery ready to return a shuttle to space for the first time since the Columbia disaster.
The mishap was an eerie reminder of the very thing that doomed Columbia _ damage to the spaceship's fragile thermal shield.
Discovery and its crew of seven were set to blast off at 3:51 p.m. EDT on a flight to the international space station. The chance of acceptable weather at launch time was reduced to 40 percent, from 60 percent on Tuesday.
Fueling of the external tank began more than an hour late after workers changed a part on a launch-pad heater. NASA officials said the swapping out of the part wouldn't affect the launch time. With fueling over, a team of inspectors made extra checks for any signs of ice caused by the super-cold fuel.
Ice falling from the tank could be lethal if its hit the orbiter during liftoff. A chunk of foam insulation the size of a carryon suitcase fell off Columbia's fuel tank at liftoff and slammed into a reinforced carbon panel on the shuttle's wing, creating a hole that brought the spacecraft crashing down in pieces during its return to Earth on Feb. 1, 2003.
Discovery crew members appeared relaxed on NASA television just hours before liftoff. Astronaut Stephen Robinson strummed a guitar as he and fellow crew members sat around a table holding a large cake.
The husband of Discovery commander Eileen Collins said Wednesday that his wife expressed having "some butterflies" when they talked the night before.
"Anytime you're an astronaut, you run a risk," Pat Youngs told The Associated Press. "But from all I've seen, from management, engineers ... support personnel and the astronauts themselves, there is a lot of hard work to right things and get back to spaceflight." It will be Collins' fourth shuttle flight.
NASA Administrator Michael Griffin said Wednesday that he trusted the safety of the shuttle so much that he would ride it if he could. He said he met Tuesday with members of the Columbia families and assured them that NASA had learned lessons from that tragic flight.
"I think it is as safe as we know how to make it be, and there are a lot of unknowns remaining in spaceflight," Griffin said.
The plastic cover on one of Discovery's cockpit windows came loose Tuesday while the spaceship was on the launch pad, falling more than 60 feet and striking a bulge in the fuselage, said Stephanie Stilson, the NASA manager in charge of Discovery's launch preparations.
No one knows why the cover _ held in place with tape and weighing less than 2 pounds _ fell off, she said. The covers are used to protect the windows while the shuttle is on the launch pad, then removed before liftoff.
Two tiles on an aluminum panel were damaged, and the entire panel was replaced with a spare. Stilson called it a minor repair job.
The families of the seven astronauts killed during Columbia's catastrophic re-entry praised the accident investigators, a NASA oversight group and the space agency itself for defining and reducing the dangers.
Like those who lost loved ones in the Apollo 1 spacecraft fire and the Challenger launch explosion, the Columbia families said they grieve deeply "but know the exploration of space must go on."
"We hope we have learned and will continue to learn from each of these accidents so that we will be as safe as we can be in this high-risk endeavor," they said in a statement. "Godspeed, Discovery."
Discovery, setting off on the 114th space shuttle flight in 24 years, has a redesigned external fuel tank and nearly 50 other improvements made in the wake of the Columbia tragedy.
During their 12-day flight, Discovery's astronauts will test various techniques for patching cracks and holes in the thermal shielding.
They also will try out a new 50-foot boom designed to help them find any damage caused by liftoff debris. That is on top of all the pictures of the spacecraft that will be taken by more than 100 cameras positioned around the launching site and aboard two planes and the shuttle itself.
http://www.wral.com/news/4718845/detail.html
Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press.
Shuttle Countdown Enters Final Hours
POSTED: 2:44 pm EDT July 13, 2005
UPDATED: 2:44 pm EDT July 13, 2005
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. --
With a brief but embarrassing setback behind them, NASA crews fueled Discovery for liftoff Wednesday afternoon on the first space shuttle flight in 2 1/2 years. The only possible obstacle appeared to be an increasing chance of thunderstorms.
A temporary window cover fell off the shuttle and damaged thermal tiles near the tail Tuesday afternoon. The problem was announced just two hours after NASA declared Discovery ready to return a shuttle to space for the first time since the Columbia disaster.
The mishap was an eerie reminder of the very thing that doomed Columbia _ damage to the spaceship's fragile thermal shield.
Discovery and its crew of seven were set to blast off at 3:51 p.m. EDT on a flight to the international space station. The chance of acceptable weather at launch time was reduced to 40 percent, from 60 percent on Tuesday.
Fueling of the external tank began more than an hour late after workers changed a part on a launch-pad heater. NASA officials said the swapping out of the part wouldn't affect the launch time. With fueling over, a team of inspectors made extra checks for any signs of ice caused by the super-cold fuel.
Ice falling from the tank could be lethal if its hit the orbiter during liftoff. A chunk of foam insulation the size of a carryon suitcase fell off Columbia's fuel tank at liftoff and slammed into a reinforced carbon panel on the shuttle's wing, creating a hole that brought the spacecraft crashing down in pieces during its return to Earth on Feb. 1, 2003.
Discovery crew members appeared relaxed on NASA television just hours before liftoff. Astronaut Stephen Robinson strummed a guitar as he and fellow crew members sat around a table holding a large cake.
The husband of Discovery commander Eileen Collins said Wednesday that his wife expressed having "some butterflies" when they talked the night before.
"Anytime you're an astronaut, you run a risk," Pat Youngs told The Associated Press. "But from all I've seen, from management, engineers ... support personnel and the astronauts themselves, there is a lot of hard work to right things and get back to spaceflight." It will be Collins' fourth shuttle flight.
NASA Administrator Michael Griffin said Wednesday that he trusted the safety of the shuttle so much that he would ride it if he could. He said he met Tuesday with members of the Columbia families and assured them that NASA had learned lessons from that tragic flight.
"I think it is as safe as we know how to make it be, and there are a lot of unknowns remaining in spaceflight," Griffin said.
The plastic cover on one of Discovery's cockpit windows came loose Tuesday while the spaceship was on the launch pad, falling more than 60 feet and striking a bulge in the fuselage, said Stephanie Stilson, the NASA manager in charge of Discovery's launch preparations.
No one knows why the cover _ held in place with tape and weighing less than 2 pounds _ fell off, she said. The covers are used to protect the windows while the shuttle is on the launch pad, then removed before liftoff.
Two tiles on an aluminum panel were damaged, and the entire panel was replaced with a spare. Stilson called it a minor repair job.
The families of the seven astronauts killed during Columbia's catastrophic re-entry praised the accident investigators, a NASA oversight group and the space agency itself for defining and reducing the dangers.
Like those who lost loved ones in the Apollo 1 spacecraft fire and the Challenger launch explosion, the Columbia families said they grieve deeply "but know the exploration of space must go on."
"We hope we have learned and will continue to learn from each of these accidents so that we will be as safe as we can be in this high-risk endeavor," they said in a statement. "Godspeed, Discovery."
Discovery, setting off on the 114th space shuttle flight in 24 years, has a redesigned external fuel tank and nearly 50 other improvements made in the wake of the Columbia tragedy.
During their 12-day flight, Discovery's astronauts will test various techniques for patching cracks and holes in the thermal shielding.
They also will try out a new 50-foot boom designed to help them find any damage caused by liftoff debris. That is on top of all the pictures of the spacecraft that will be taken by more than 100 cameras positioned around the launching site and aboard two planes and the shuttle itself.
http://www.wral.com/news/4718845/detail.html
Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press.
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cycloneye
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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Florida (CNN) -- A faulty fuel sensor aboard the space shuttle Discovery forced NASA on Wednesday to scrub its first attempt to launch a shuttle after the Columbia disaster 2 1/2 years ago.
NASA said the device was showing low fuel levels despite the exterior tank having been filled just hours before.
"It will take some time really to understand what to do to remedy the situation," NASA said. "We haven't ruled out tomorrow, but that's speculative."
The current launch window expires July 31, and the next begins in September. A Thursday launch would be at 3:28 p.m.
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Skywatch_NC wrote:From this article...I'm still wondering...is the flight still ON?
Don't know why that story came out, but is not happening today. That is certain.
Also as an update, we have learned from early meetings that it will be AT LEAST Monday, if not the September window. It all depends on whether the shuttle has to be taken off the launch pad to be fixed or not. If it does, it definitely won't come until the September window.
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Skywatch_NC
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Skywatch_NC wrote:Latest word is...hopefully by Saturday.
http://www.wral.com/technology/4711825/detail.html
Eric
NASA officials say that's the VERY best scenario, I wouldn't bank on that. I'll be shocked if it goes off before the window closes on July 31st.
I hope I'm wrong though.
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