Space Shuttle Discovery to Launch July 26

thhamm writes "According to Space.com: 'NASA will restart the countdown for the space shuttle Discovery Saturday, with plans to launch the orbiter spaceward on July 26 after more than a week of work to pin down a fuel sensor glitch, mission managers said late Wednesday'. In the meantime, technicians will work with grounding wiring associated with the liquid hydrogen engine cutoff sensor system, as well as adjust the configuration of components within Discovery's point sensor box."

Comments

The Second Round of a Difficult Situation for NASA

[ausoleil]

There are three possible outcomes to the launch attempt, only one of them is completely positive:

1. Discovery launches Tuesday during the launch window and has a routine and successful mission. After that, there will be plenty of time to determine the root cause of the sensor issue.

2. The weather does not co-operate or another tenchnical glitch surfaces, causing Tuesday's attempt to be scrubbed. NASA is hounded in the press for being unable to manage their spacecraft, when in fact they are doing exactly that according to their safety protocols, which have been generally tightened post-Columbia.

3. Disaster. Unthinkable and possibly the end of an American manned space presence until the Crew Exploration Vehicle is completed and launched in the next decade.

The Space Shuttle is an aging flying compromise that has been updated as much as possible, and it is what NASA has been given to work with. I almost expect Outcome #2, given their justifiable prudence in halting launches when they are not 100% satisfied that the system is as operationally ready as they can make it. NASA may be criticized for delays, but when seven lives and a multi-billion dollar spacecraft are on the line, not to mention all of their political capital, once can understand why they do what they do.

Bottom line is that all eyes will be back on the Cape come Tuesday morning. Godspeed Discovery.

Having just finished a test sensor application...

[Jtheletter]

I can totally relate to the problems and frustrations of improper (or in my case, disconnected) grounds in a system causing bad readings and being difficult to debug.

Now what I can't imagine is how many times more difficult that is when true "ground" ends up being over 100 kilometers away!