NASA Clears Space Shuttle for Monday Launch

NASA Clears Space Shuttle for Monday Launch

NASA Clears Space Shuttle for Monday Launch

NASA unanimously approved a Monday morning launch try for the space shuttle Endeavour, just after reviewing all of the repairs for an electrical problem that grounded the next-to-last shuttle flight two weeks ago.

The flight for the International Area Station will likely be led by commander Mark Kelly, the husband of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was critically wounded in the course of a January shooting rampage in Tucson, Ariz. She was present for the very first launch try, and is to be on hand for this 1 too.

Mission management team chairman Mike Moses said Saturday he is confident the repairs took care from the electrical short and blown fuse that prevented a string of heaters from turning on through the very first launch attempt on April 29. A thermostat with an exposed wire was replaced, as was a switch box using a blown fuse

"In our minds, we're good to go," Moses told reporters.

Forecasters place the odds of superior weather at 70 %. The main issues are stiff crosswind and reduced clouds.

"Looks like we r flying !!!" astronaut Mike Fincke stated inside a Twitter update late Saturday afternoon.

Launch director Mike Leinbach mentioned an estimated 500,000 spectators are expected to jam location roads and communities in advance of Monday's scheduled 8:56 a.m. launch. That's additional than the crowd for Discovery's final launch in February, but far brief of what was anticipated for Endeavour's launch try on April 29.

"They're not really expecting that massive surge … but nonetheless it's going to be a heck of a site visitors jam," Leinbach mentioned. Due to the clogged roads, NASA could go for a two-day delay instead of the normal 1 day, if Monday's try is referred to as off within the last few hours with the countdown. Launch controllers should be capable of get property and rest, he said.

President Barack Obama and his household had been among those that traveled to Kennedy Area Center final month hoping to find out a launch. He met with the astronauts and visited with Giffords, but won't return Monday.

"I sure would have liked to have him come back," Leinbach stated. "We did all that operate for him, and now he's not going to obtain to see a launch." It is feasible, he noted, that the president may come for the pretty last shuttle launch in July.

Leinbach is thrilled that Giffords will probably be present for the launch. As ahead of, the Arizona congresswoman will remain off-limits for the public as well as most space center employees. Five other members of Congress also will attend.

"It will be a terrific time for her," Leinbach stated, "and Mark just can't wait to see her back right here. That is very good stuff."

The congresswoman continues to be undergoing rehabilitation in Houston, her husband's household base, for a gunshot wound to the head.

Kelly and five other veteran spacemen are assigned for the 16-day flight. They will deliver a $2 billion particle physics detector - a project led by a Nobel Prize-winning physicist - at the same time as crucial space station spare parts.

Atlantis will close out the 30-year area shuttle plan with a July flight.

Because the plan winds down, layoff notices went out last week to practically two,000 shuttle contract employees at NASA's launch website. They will shed their jobs this summer, the moment Atlantis requires flight for the final time.

Leinbach said the timing of these notices is unfortunate, coming appropriate inside the middle of a launch countdown.

"The mood is a small bit downcast right now," he stated. "But … I have no worries whatsoever in regards to the team having the ability to make the proper calls on Monday
NASA Clears Space Shuttle for Monday Launch