Sun, Feb 15, 2009
Now Targeted For No Earlier Than February 27
NASA let slip Friday the planned launch date for the shuttle
Discovery has slipped yet again... to no earlier than February
27.
As ANN reported earlier this month, NASA
pushed off the launch of the STS-119 mission to the International
Space Station -- originally targeted for February 12 -- by 10 days
due to ongoing difficulties with 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.
NASA replaced the valves to be used during Discovery's launch,
and the agency says its engineering teams have made "significant
progress in understanding what caused the damage" to Endeavour.
More time is needed, however, to properly determine the
consequences if a piece of a valve were to break off and strike
shuttle and external fuel tank components.
The agency plans to hold a news conference on February 20,
following a review of Discovery's readiness for flight and an
assessment of shuttle flow control valve testing, to hopefully
establish a firm launch date. An official launch date for the
STS-119 mission has not been set, but for planning purposes,
liftoff now is targeted for no earlier than February 27.
NASA adds that new planning date is not expected to affect the
launch dates for missions that will follow Discovery's flight,
STS-125 to the Hubble Space Telescope and STS-127 to the
International Space Station.
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