LCROSS Mission Among Launches That May Be Postponed

NASA's ongoing delay with the launch of the space shuttle Discovery may have a negative impact on a number of scientific missions scheduled for launch over the next several weeks, Florida Today reports.

NASA managers are scheduled to meet Friday to discuss whether Discovery will be cleared for launch February 27. As ANN reported, NASA has delayed launch of the STS-119 mission to the International Space Station three times, due to ongoing tests of the three flow valves that manage the gaseous hydrogen burned by the shuttle's three main engines during liftoff.

Those valves, which control pressure inside the shuttle's external fuel tank during launch, were found to be damaged on the shuttle Endeavour after it returned safely to Earth in November. The valves on Discovery have already been replaced, but tests are continuing to determine the consequences if a piece of a valve were to break off and strike shuttle and external fuel tank components.

The delay has already had ripple effects for one other scheduled NASA launch. The Orbiting Carbon Observatory, a sensitive instrument intended to measure the presense of greenhouse gases in the upper atmosphere, is now scheduled to liftoff from California's Vandenberg Air Force Base on February 24... one day later than originally planned. Further delays may result if NASA opts to once again postpone Discovery's launch from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Even if Discovery is cleared for its mission, the shuttle's planned March 13 landing could interfere with the planned launch of a military communications satellite, currently scheduled for March 9. NASA had originally intended to have the shuttle back home before that mission launched.

And, if the military launch is delayed, that could postpone turnaround time at the launch complex for a second United Launch Alliance mission, the planned April 24 liftoff of NASA's Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, known as LCROSS.

So far, ULA hasn't requested a change to that launch date.

FMI: www.nasa.gov