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Pad electrical trouble scrubs Delta rocket launch BY JUSTIN RAY SPACEFLIGHT NOW Posted: May 13, 2005 Today's scheduled California liftoff of the Boeing Delta 2 rocket to deploy the latest polar-orbiting weather satellite was scrubbed by electrical gremlins in the system that floods the launch pad with critical cooling and sound-dampening water during the fiery blastoff.
After back-to-back postponements for strong winds that prevented retracting the pad's service tower on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, this third countdown appeared to be going smoothly. But engineers began wrestling with the pump problems as clocks entered the final hours. Officials delayed loading super-cold liquid oxygen into the rocket's first stage while troubleshooting continued at Vandenberg Air Force Base's Space Launch Complex-2 West pad. In the end, the prospect of performing the repair job, fueling the rocket and completing the countdown for liftoff during the day's tight 10-minute launch window was too much to accomplish. The Delta rocket must launch between 1022:01 and 1032:01 GMT (6:22:01-6:32:01 a.m. EDT; 3:22:01-3:32:01 a.m. PDT) to haul the 3,100-pound NOAA-N weather satellite into its precise polar orbit, leaving little margin to deal with last-minute issues that arise in the countdown. "We have a decision by Boeing Mission Director Rich Murphy and NASA Launch Manager Omar Baez that we will scrub for today," Diller announced from the management control center at 0900 GMT. "There is not enough time to complete the work necessary at the pump house to resolve the electrical problems and still meet our launch window. This is currently planned to be a 24-hour scrub."
Aside from the pad glitch, there were no significant problems reported with the rocket, NOAA-N spacecraft or Range during today's countdown. Although the launch site was covered with a dense layer of fog, weather conditions were acceptable for flight, too. The weather forecast for Saturday's launch opportunity calls for another foggy morning with stratus clouds hanging over Vandenberg at 500 feet and tops at 1,500 feet, three miles of visibility, temperatures in the low 50's F, northerly winds at 10 to 15 knots. There is a zero percent chance of violating the launch weather rules. The target launch time remains the same on Saturday -- 1022 GMT (6:22 a.m. EDT; 3:22 a.m. PDT). The NOAA-N spacecraft, built by Lockheed Martin, will orbit 540 miles above the planet to provide meteorologists with imagery, temperature measurements and atmospheric profiles needed for weather forecasting. The satellite will replace the aging NOAA-16 craft, launched in September 2000, that has experienced some instrument problems and well-surpassed its two-year design life. NOAA-N, which will be renamed NOAA-18 upon its successful delivery in space, builds upon 45 years of weather monitoring by U.S. polar-orbiting satellites. This particular satellite, its instruments, Delta rocket and assorted support costs amount to $341 million. You can follow Saturday's early morning countdown and the ascent to orbit in our live Mission Status Center. |
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Officials from NASA, NOAA, the Air Force and Boeing hold the pre-launch news conference at Vandenberg Air Force Base to preview the mission of a Delta 2 rocket and the NOAA-N weather satellite. (29min 54sec file)
Play video:
Watch shuttle Discovery's countdown dress rehearsal that ends with a simulated main engine shutdown and post-abort safing practice. (13min 19sec file)
The five-man, two-woman astronaut crew departs the Operations and Checkout Building to board the AstroVan for the ride to launch pad 39B during the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test countdown dress rehearsal. (3min 07sec file)
After breakfast, the astronauts don their launch and entry partial pressure suits before heading to the pad. (3min 14sec file)
Dressed in festive Hawaiian shirts, Discovery's seven astronauts are gathered around the dining room table in crew quarters for breakfast. They were awakened at 6:05 a.m. EDT to begin the launch day dress rehearsal at Kennedy Space Center. (1min 57sec file)
As part of their training at Kennedy Space Center, the Discovery astronauts learn to drive an armored tank that would be used to escape the launch pad and receive briefings on the escape baskets on the pad 39B tower. (5min 19sec file)
Shuttle Discovery's astronauts pause their training at launch pad 39B to hold an informal news conference near the emergency evacuation bunker. (26min 11sec file)
The 2005 class of Gordon Fullerton, Joe Allen and Bruce McCandless is inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame at the Saturn 5 Center on April 30. (1hr 24min 55sec file)
This video by Lockheed Martin relives the storied history of the Titan rocket family over the past five decades. (4min 21sec file)
Footage from that various Titan rocket launches from the 1950s to today is compiled into this movie. (6min 52sec file)
