NASA fuels Discovery for mission to space station

[Rhiannon12866]

Source: Houston Chronicle

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Growing more confident by the minute, NASA fueled space shuttle Discovery on Sunday for an evening liftoff with none of the leaking that marred the first launch attempt.

Repairs out at the launch pad late last week apparently took care of the dangerous leak, although engineers continued to keep close watch on the system just in case.

Discovery was poised to blast off at 7:43 p.m. on the space station construction mission. Good weather was forecast.

During a launch attempt Wednesday, hydrogen gas spewed into the air from a vent line connected to Discovery's external fuel tank. NASA replaced all the hookups, but could find nothing broken. NASA promised to halt the countdown again if the problem recurred.

Early Sunday afternoon, launch controllers anxiously monitored their computers as the fueling reached the point where the leak occurred Wednesday. No leakage was detected this time, to everyone's relief.

"It appears this system is tight," said NASA spokesman George Diller. "At this point, there's a lot of confidence that this is not going to be a recurring problem for this launch."


Read more: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/science/6312198.html

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CNN just announced that a bat has attached himself to the shuttle. They're hoping that he flies off before the launch... :-(

[backscatter712]

1. Hopefully this one's a charm!

I'll bet the engineers are sick of hydrogen leaks - highly annoying, and you can't ignore them, or shuttle go boom...

[Rhiannon12866]

2. I'm sure rooting for it, since the weather's with them and the leak appears to be behind them...

All we need now is for the bat to fly away... ;)

[nuxvomica]

3. That's weird about the bat and Wakata

There also is one Japanese astronaut, Koichi Wakata, who will move into the space station for at least three months. Many of the 200 Japanese citizens on hand for the first launch attempt were gone by Sunday.

Coincidentally, the last time a bat perched itself on a space shuttle tank, right before liftoff, was Wakata's first flight in 1996.


I wonder if that has any significance in Japanese folklore.

[ohio2007]

6. NASA states the bat is still perched on the shuttle...if he decides to stay with it

good luck

[Rhiannon12866]

10. News about the bat... :-(

What happened to the bat?

KSC launch director Mike Leinbach suggested that the bat did not survive its brush with Discovery. In response to a reporter's question, he said: "We are characterizing (the bat) as unexpected debris and he’s probably still debris somewhere." A NASA press conference is ongoing. Discovery reached orbit safely after a 7:43 p.m. launch. As a reminder, a bat was spotted clinging to the side of the shuttle's external tank during the countdown. Before flight, NASA speculated that the animal would be shaken free by the launch rumble and fly safely away - as happened once during a 1996 launch. It would appear this bat was not so lucky.

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_space_thewritestuff/2009/03/what-happend-to-the-bat-.html

Bat clinging to Discovery's external tank:


This was a fruit bat:

[nuxvomica]

12. RIP, astrobat

:(

[Rhiannon12866]

13. Poor little guy...

I hoped so much that he'd fly away... Must have been a hell of a wake up call... ;(

[ohio2007]

4. live feed video ( go at 7:45 pm eastern )

http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/

[Stainless]

7. Shuttle Mission

Thanks for posting the link, Ohio. I work for the company that manufactures the solid boosters in Utah and I get a lot of satisfaction seeing them perform as they are designed to do!

[ohio2007]

8. ok...you are all cleared to exhale

;)

[Akoto]

5. I live in FL and look forward to watching the takeoff. Best of luck to them! n/t

[Rhiannon12866]

9. Shuttle Discovery Lifts Off for Space Station (NEW LINK: NYT, with video)

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. — After a month of delays, the space shuttle Discovery and its crew of seven had a spectacularly uneventful liftoff on Sunday evening, rising into a cool, clear Florida twilight en route to the International Space Station.

The Discovery is carrying a last set of solar arrays for the space station and a replacement part for a water recycling system, needed to transform urine into drinkable water. NASA would like the recycling system fully functional before the station crew is expanded to six members from three, a move planned for late May.

The mission is commanded by Col. Lee J. Archambault of the Air Force. Also aboard are Cmdr. Dominic A. Antonelli of the Navy as pilot and Joseph M. Acaba, Richard R. Arnold II, John L. Phillips, Steven R. Swanson and Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency as mission specialists.

Except for a few minor issues — technicians had to go to the launching pad to manually adjust helium pressure in a system that prevents ice formation, and a fruit bat rested on the external tank for several hours — the countdown proceeded smoothly to launching at 7:43 p.m.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/16/science/space/16shuttle.html?ref=science

[Rhiannon12866]

11. Complete Discovery shuttle STS-119 mission timeline. Includes spectacular pix!

http://www.collectspace.com/ubb/Forum30/HTML/000778.html