Space Shuttle Discovery launch on indefinite hold
Saturday, July 16, 2005
NASA engineers announced on Friday that the Discovery's launch is being put on hold indefinitely.
"We are going forward on a day by day basis," Space Shuttle Program Deputy Manager Wayne Hale said at a press conference this afternoon. "As soon as we fix the problem, we will be four days from launch. What is that date going to be? We don't know."
Launch controllers are still optimistic about a launch in the current window of opportunity, which lasts until the end of the month. Twelve teams of engineers are working across the US in order to resolve the problem with the fuel tank sensor.
The fuel tank sensor is vital as it shuts down the main engines when fuel is exhausted - if the engines run dry, the results could be disastrous.
When the huge main fuel tank was drained on Wednesday, the sensor continued to indicate "wet" instead of "dry", but in a series of later tests the sensor began performing properly.
Sources
- "RELEASE: 05-186" — NASA, July 15, 2005
- "RELEASE: 05-184" — NASA, July 14, 2005
The text of this article has been released into the public domain. In the event that this is not legally possible, this article may be used for any purpose, without any condition, unless such conditions are required by law. This applies worldwide. Copyright terms on images, however, may vary, so please check individual image pages prior to duplication. Please note that this only applies to Wikinews content created prior to September 25, 2005. All content created after that date is released under a Creative Commons license which is mentioned at the bottom of each article. This is currently the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License. |