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Discovery set for liftoff on Wednesday: NASA
Washington (AFP) March 10, 2009 The US space shuttle Discovery is set to launch as scheduled on Wednesday on its voyage to the International Space Station, NASA mission managers said on Tuesday. Weather forecasts predicted a 90 percent chance that conditions would be "acceptable" for the launch, planned for 9:20 pm Wednesday (0120 Thursday GMT) from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, US space agency officials said. "We have no real concerns and we are ready for the exciting mission that lies ahead of us," said NASA test director Steve Payne. The shuttle's crew of seven arrived at the Kennedy Space Center on Sunday evening to prepare for their 14-day mission to deliver and install a fourth pair of solar panels to the International Space Station. The panels are to supply power for onboard laboratories and more power for the station's crew, which will double from three to six in May. Installing the panels, the final piece of a 100 billion dollar project, will take a two-astronaut team four space walks of more than six hours each to complete, NASA said. Discovery is expected to return to earth March 25 at 19:27 GMT. The launch, originally set for February 12, was delayed four times due to problems with control valves, which channel gaseous hydrogen from the shuttle's three main engines. Three of the valves were replaced with newer ones. NASA engineers said the delays were implemented as a precaution to test the valves, which had come under close scrutiny after a valve aboard space shuttle Endeavour was found to be damaged during its mission to the space station in November. Discovery's astronauts include Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, who will become the first Japanese station crew member. After Discovery docks, Wakata will stay aboard the station, while US astronaut Sandy Magnus -- who arrived at the ISS aboard the shuttle Endeavour in November 2008 -- will return home. Share This Article With Planet Earth
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Discovery On Track For Launch
Cape Canaveral FL (SPX) Mar 10, 2009At the STS-119 mission management's morning news conference, the team reported the weather for launch is looking very good, and there are no technical issues unresolved. The next milestone in Discovery's preparation is fuel cell loading this afternoon at 3 p.m. EDT. |
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