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NASA announces more delays in shuttle launch
Source: Agencies |
November 26, 2010, Friday
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BAFFLED by fuel tank cracks, NASA announced another prolonged launch delay for space shuttle Discovery on Wednesday and raised the prospect of a Christmas-time flight.
Shuttle managers refused to set a new launch date for Discovery's final flight, on hold since the beginning of November.
The next launch opportunity would be December 17.
"We would have liked to have found a most probable cause by now" for the cracks that were found on Discovery's fuel tank, said Bill Gerstenmaier, head of NASA's space operations. "This is turning out to be a little more complicated from an analysis standpoint."
Hydrogen gas leaks halted the Discovery launch on November 5. An unrelated crack was found later in the insulating foam on the external fuel tank; cracks in the actual exterior of the tank were then found beneath the flawed foam.
NASA wants to understand the cracking before launching Discovery to the International Space Station one last time. The space agency had been working toward a liftoff next Friday for the 11-day mission. But that was no longer feasible given all the tests and analyses remaining.
A new space station crew is due to lift off from Kazakhstan on December 15 and arrive at the orbiting complex two days later; at this point, Discovery must wait until after that.
Gerstenmaier said there are some launch possibilities in January and February, but the first official window of 2011 would not open until the end of February.
Shuttle managers refused to set a new launch date for Discovery's final flight, on hold since the beginning of November.
The next launch opportunity would be December 17.
"We would have liked to have found a most probable cause by now" for the cracks that were found on Discovery's fuel tank, said Bill Gerstenmaier, head of NASA's space operations. "This is turning out to be a little more complicated from an analysis standpoint."
Hydrogen gas leaks halted the Discovery launch on November 5. An unrelated crack was found later in the insulating foam on the external fuel tank; cracks in the actual exterior of the tank were then found beneath the flawed foam.
NASA wants to understand the cracking before launching Discovery to the International Space Station one last time. The space agency had been working toward a liftoff next Friday for the 11-day mission. But that was no longer feasible given all the tests and analyses remaining.
A new space station crew is due to lift off from Kazakhstan on December 15 and arrive at the orbiting complex two days later; at this point, Discovery must wait until after that.
Gerstenmaier said there are some launch possibilities in January and February, but the first official window of 2011 would not open until the end of February.
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