[sarex] Re: NASA Aims for Possible Shuttle Launch Attempt Friday

[Félim Doyle M3HIM]

Safety first! Let's not have another - it's too embarrassing to delay -
episode.

I don't care if it takes till late October.

Failure is not an option.

73 de

Félim M3HIM
IO91ot
Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, UK
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Arthur Rowe" <azrowe80 at verizon.net>
To: <SAREX at AMSAT.Org>
Sent: Thursday, September 07, 2006 8:35 AM
Subject: [sarex] NASA Aims for Possible Shuttle Launch Attempt Friday


SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468





NASA Aims for Possible Shuttle Launch Attempt Friday

NASA is targeting a possible launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis on Friday,
Sept. 8 because of a problem associated with one of the spacecraft's
electricity-producing fuel cells. Shuttle program managers at NASA’s
Kennedy Space Center decided Wednesday afternoon additional time was
needed to evaluate fuel cell flight history and potential causes of the
malfunction.

Mission managers will hold another meeting Thursday at 1 p.m. EDT to
assess the issue. There will be a news conference on NASA Television at
the conclusion of that meeting. If the team decides to "go" for launch
Friday, lift-off would be at 11:41 a.m. EDT.

Tuesday night as ground teams were preparing for Atlantis’ scheduled
launch Wednesday, a voltage spike in the motor of Atlantis’ fuel cell #1
coolant pump was observed during the activation of the shuttle's three
fuel cells. The coolant pump flows Freon through the fuel cell to
prevent it from overheating during flights.

During Atlantis' mission, STS-115, astronauts will deliver and install a
girder-like structure, known as the P3/P4 truss, aboard the station. The
35,000-pound piece includes a set of giant solar arrays, batteries and
associated electronics. The arrays eventually will double the station's
power capability.

Atlantis' crew, Commander Brent Jett, Pilot Chris Ferguson and mission
specialists Dan Burbank, Heide Stefanyshyn-Piper, Joe Tanner and Steve
MacLean, a Canadian Space Agency astronaut, will remain at Kennedy Space
Center while the fuel cell evaluation continues.

For the latest information about the STS-115 mission and its crew and
more information about space shuttle fuel cells, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle
<http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html>


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