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Count proceeding smoothly BY WILLIAM HARWOOD STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION Posted: July 24, 2005 The shuttle Discovery's countdown remains on track today with forecasters continuing to predict a 60 percent chance of acceptable weather at launch time Tuesday. NASA's mission management team will meet this afternoon to assess the status of launch processing and to discuss the team's strategy for managing any fuel sensor problems that might crop up Tuesday. Senior NASA managers will brief reporters during a late afternoon news conference (no earlier than 4:30 p.m.) carried on NASA television. Earlier today, NASA test director Jeff Spaulding said the launch team is not tracking any significant technical issues at pad 39B and that engineers closed the shuttle's aft engine compartment yesterday after winding up work to test the ship's liquid hydrogen engine cutoff - ECO - sensors. Discovery was grounded July 13 when one of four fuel sensors in the shuttle's external hydrogen tank failed to operate properly during a pre-launch test. Despite exhaustive tests and electrical checks, engineers were unable to pin down the cause of the sensor glitch and it remains an "unexplained anomaly." NASA managers are optimistic all four sensors will operate properly when the tank is loaded with fuel Tuesday, based on test results, electrical grounding improvements and a wiring change. If not, the team has developed a plan that, assuming senior managers concur, would permit a launch with just three operational sensors if final checks confirm the problem is not generic. See the July 23 story for a recap of the sensor stategy. ECO sensor background and a chronology of recent sensor problems is available here. "We have had a great many challenges preparing the space shuttle Discovery and her crew to get ready for this historic return-to-flight mission," Spaulding said. "And certainly, that's (resulted in) creating the safest shuttle to date and I'm proud to report that the work that we're doing has created that shuttle. Our flight and ground systems are ready, our launch teams are ready, our flight crew is ready to begin this mission of returning our shuttle to flight and bringing our crew safely home." Forecasters are predicting a 40 percent chance of showers and detached anvil clouds from offshore storms that could delay blastoff. The Florida forecast for Wednesday is again 60 percent "go," improving to 70 percent Thursday. This morning, liquid hydrogen and oxygen are being pumped aboard the space shuttle to power its three electricity producing fuel cells. If all goes well, a protective gantry will be rolled away from Discovery around 1:30 p.m. Monday and the shuttle's external tank will be loaded with rocket fuel starting around 12:30 a.m. Tuesday. Launch is targeted for 10:39 a.m., the same time shuttle Columbia blasted off on its final voyage two-and-a-half years ago.
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Status Summary See the Status Center for full play-by-play coverage.  |
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