Wed, Feb 18, 2009
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.
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