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| NASA Delays Atlantis Shuttle Launch Again |
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[ 作者: 加入时间:2006-08-28 17:19:39 来自:
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NASA decided to delay the Atlantis shuttle launch by at least another 24 hours to further examine the impact of a powerful lightning strike on the launch pad.
NASA was also keeping a close eye on a Caribbean hurricane that could further delay the launch of the first International Space Station (ISS) construction mission in nearly four years.
Officials had delayed Sunday's launch until Monday to allow engineers to analyze a pile of data overnight to check on the ground and shuttle systems, but more time was needed.
"The mission managers have determined that the shuttle Atlantis will not launch before Tuesday," NASA spokesman Bruce Buckingham said at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
"This delay is as a result of the lightning strike at the pad on Friday, and the need for additional time for further analysis of the shuttle and ground systems," he said.
Buckingham added that no damage had been found yet to the shuttle or the launch pad.
Tuesday's launch would take place at 3:42 pm (1942 GMT). The shuttle's launch window closes September 13.
Although lightning strikes are common on the launch pad, officials said Friday's was believed to be the strongest to hit the structure. The storm discharge struck a lightning protection rod atop the launch pad.
Officials were also monitoring Hurricane Ernesto as forecasts showed it could strike Florida later this week, possibly forcing NASA to move the shuttle back to its hangar.
"Nobody knows where it's going, and if the winds get high enough we're going to have to roll back (the shuttle off the launch pad) if it comes towards us," said NASA spokeswoman Lisa Malone.
Once it launches, Atlantis will carry a new 16-tonne segment with two huge solar panels to the ISS on the first of 16 flights planned to complete assembly of the half-finished space station by 2010, when the shuttle fleet is set to retire.
The 2003 Columbia shuttle explosion forced a halt in the orbiting laboratory's construction.
The Atlantis mission will be the third shuttle flight since the Columbia disaster, which was caused by debris that struck its heat shield during liftoff, dooming its return home with seven astronauts aboard.
After two Discovery shuttle flights in the past two years aimed at improving safety, NASA declared it was ready to resume construction of the station, which is key to US ambitions to send humans to Mars.
Safety remains a priority, however, and NASA will employ the same thorough shuttle inspection techniques used in the Discovery missions.
The Atlantis mission is a critical first step in the ISS's assembly.
The installation of the solar panels, which will eventually provide a quarter of the station's power, is one of the most complex parts of the ISS assembly sequence.
Three spacewalks are planned during the 11-day mission, which will be followed by another shuttle flight planned for December for another assembly sequence that officials said would be even trickier.
The ISS weighs 197 tonnes (434,000 pounds) and will mushroom to a massive, 454-tonne (one-million-pound) structure once it is completed.
The United States, Russia, Japan, Canada, Brazil and 11 countries of the European Space Agency are involved in the orbiting laboratory project, which was launched in November 1998.
The Atlantis crew will be commanded by Brent Jett. Chris Ferguson will be the co-pilot, and the four mission specialists will be Dan Burbank, Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper, Joe Tanner and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Steve MacLean. |
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