Wednesday, July 13, 2005
Shuttle Launch Scrubbed
If you're a space geek like me, you'll be sad to know that today's launch was just scrubbed. A low-level fuel sensor isn't working properly.
More to come.
UPDATE, 1:40 p.m.: The sensor detects the level of hydrogen remaining in the shuttle main engine tank. It's one of four redundant sensors that shuts down the main engine when the level of hydrogen fuel dips to exteremely low levels. If the engine runs empty, it explodes. It's an incredibly rare thing to have that little fuel, but it's safety first at NASA, for obvious reasons.
UPDATE 2, 1:45 p.m.: Apparently the sensor showed a low level of fuel when there was clearly fuel in the tank. The crew is disembarking now. NASA TV is saying that a launch could be rescheduled for as early as tomorrow, but the mission managers are saying the fuel tanks will need to be emptied, and the refueling process is involved.
UPDATE 3, 1:55 p.m.: Here's a link to the updating AP story out of Kenndy Space Center. There will be a briefing within an hour or two to update the situation.
UPDATE 4, 4:36 p.m.: According to NASA's Orbiter Program Manager at a press briefing now, the earliest conceivable launch is Saturday, but it's clear they still haven't nailed down where the sensor problem is happening, so that may be optimistic. It looks like the earliest we'll know more about the issue is tomorrow evening, due to the draining and inerting of the External Tank. They'll be rotating the Service Unit back out to mate with the orbiter as well. Plainly put, this is a lot of steps back in the launch sequence.
More to come.
UPDATE, 1:40 p.m.: The sensor detects the level of hydrogen remaining in the shuttle main engine tank. It's one of four redundant sensors that shuts down the main engine when the level of hydrogen fuel dips to exteremely low levels. If the engine runs empty, it explodes. It's an incredibly rare thing to have that little fuel, but it's safety first at NASA, for obvious reasons.
UPDATE 2, 1:45 p.m.: Apparently the sensor showed a low level of fuel when there was clearly fuel in the tank. The crew is disembarking now. NASA TV is saying that a launch could be rescheduled for as early as tomorrow, but the mission managers are saying the fuel tanks will need to be emptied, and the refueling process is involved.
UPDATE 3, 1:55 p.m.: Here's a link to the updating AP story out of Kenndy Space Center. There will be a briefing within an hour or two to update the situation.
UPDATE 4, 4:36 p.m.: According to NASA's Orbiter Program Manager at a press briefing now, the earliest conceivable launch is Saturday, but it's clear they still haven't nailed down where the sensor problem is happening, so that may be optimistic. It looks like the earliest we'll know more about the issue is tomorrow evening, due to the draining and inerting of the External Tank. They'll be rotating the Service Unit back out to mate with the orbiter as well. Plainly put, this is a lot of steps back in the launch sequence.
Comments:
Post a Comment
