(No) space shuttle launch tonight
March 11, 2009 on 2:31 pm | In astronomy, science, technology | 3 CommentsI was just about to post to remind everyone to watch the space shuttle Discovery launch tonight, but I just learned that NASA has scrubbed the launch due to a leak discovered (discovery-d?) in the external liquid hydrogen fuel tank—aka the big red phallus under the shuttle. The mission was going to take seven crew members on a two-week mission to continue construction on the International Space Station, after which the goliath project would be 81% complete. The mission’s ISS add-ons include new solar panels and the last piece of the ISS’s girder (the longest part, to which the biggest solar panels are connected). This was going to be the first shuttle launch of 2009; Endeavour’s November 2008 launch was the last one.
Here’s NASA’s mission page for the mission, dubbed STS-119. From their clock it looks like they’re going to make the next launch attempt tomorrow night at around 9PM EDT. So stay tuned!
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Thanks for the info.. Looking forward to the launch.. Hope they could easily fix the problem so that the launch will finally be completed.. Hope there would be no more further launch delays..
Comment by News Review — March 11, 2009 #
Hey Tim – there’s an ISS flyover tonight for those of us on the East coast. Weather-depending, take a glance up around 8:09 and you may catch it. Brighter than Venus now that the latest module was added!
Comment by Mike — March 12, 2009 #
Thanks for the comment. Sadly, it now looks like we have to wait until Sunday evening for a launch attempt. Let’s hope they get the gaseous hydrogen vent line fixed before then! Otherwise, there will be a significantly longer delay before the next window of opportunity for launches.
Just out of curiosity, how did you find my blog? I am trying to promote it a little bit, but I haven’t had a lot of readers besides people I know in real life. So I’m curious to know where/how other readers are finding my blog posts.
Comment by simian — March 12, 2009 #