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Space shuttle countdown proceeding smoothly BY WILLIAM HARWOOD STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION Posted: July 11, 2005 The shuttle Discovery's countdown ticked smoothly through its initial stages today as engineers geared up to load liquid hydrogen and oxygen to power the ship's electricity generating fuel cells. Forecasters, meanwhile, continue to predict a 70 percent chance off acceptable weather at launch time Wednesday. Shuttle weather officer Kathy Winters said the major question mark at this point is the chance for showers and thunderstorms to develop within 20 nautical miles of the shuttle runway. That's where the crew would have to attempt a landing in the event of a major malfunction early in flight. NASA flight rules forbid a launching if rain is predicted to move within 20 nautical miles of the runway a half-hour after launch when a returning crew would be on its final approach. Winters said crosswinds are expected to be within NASA's 15-knot limit Wednesday. The forecast for Thursday and Friday remains 60 percent "go" both days. But conditions could deteriorate after that depending on the course of a tropical depression (No. 5) that is expected to turn into a hurricane in the next few days. "Suffice it to say we're going to be looking at it quite closely," said NASA test director Pete Nickolenko. Here are countdown highlights for the rest of the day (with time to launch and EDT): HH...MM...SS...DATE.....EDT........EVENT July 11 53...20...00...07/11/05 10:25 AM...Space station/shuttle crew teleconference 52...45...00...07/11/05 11:00 AM...Orbiter pyro-initiator test 52...35...00...07/11/05 11:10 AM...Booster pyro-initiator test 51...45...00...07/11/05 12:00 PM...Flight control team/astronaut teleconference 51...35...00...07/11/05 12:10 PM...Master events controller test 51...00...00...07/11/05 12:45 PM...Wayne Hale/astronaut telecon 50...15...00...07/11/05 01:30 PM...Mission management team meeting 49...45...00...07/11/05 02:00 PM...The countdown resumes after a 4-hour hold 48...15...00...07/11/05 03:30 PM...Fuel cell oxygen loading begins 48...14...30...07/11/05 04:30 PM...Pre-launch news conference on NTV 45...45...00...07/11/05 06:00 PM...Fuel cell oxygen loading complete 45...45...00...07/11/05 06:00 PM...Fuel cell hydrogen loading begins 43...15...00...07/11/05 08:30 PM...Fuel cell hydrogen loading complete 43...00...00...07/11/05 08:45 PM...Crew sleep begins 42...15...00...07/11/05 09:30 PM...Pad reopened for normal work 41...45...00...07/11/05 10:00 PM...Begin 4-hour built-in hold 41...45...00...07/11/05 10:00 PM...Crew module clean and vacuum 41...15...00...07/11/05 10:30 PM...Fuel cell loading umbilical demate "All our hardware and systems are performing nominally," Nickolenko said. "We're currently tracking no technical issues and our launch team (is) ready and looking forward to returning the shuttle Discovery to flight, to returning to the international space station and to safely return our astronauts back home."
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Ares 1-X Patch The official embroidered patch for the Ares 1-X rocket test flight, is available for purchase. U.S. STOREWORLDWIDE STORE Apollo Collage  This beautiful one piece set features the Apollo program emblem surrounded by the individual mission logos.U.S. STOREExpedition 21  The official embroidered patch for the International Space Station Expedition 21 crew is now available from our stores.U.S. STOREWORLDWIDE STOREHubble Patch  The official embroidered patch for mission STS-125, the space shuttle's last planned service call to the Hubble Space Telescope, is available for purchase.U.S. STOREWORLDWIDE STORE |
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