NASA: Weather Could Delay Space Shuttle Atlantis Launch

PC Magazine: NASA: Weather Could Delay Space Shuttle Atlantis Launch
Weather issues might hamper Friday's planned launch of the space shuttle Atlantis, NASA officials said Wednesday.

Space Shuttle Weather Officer Kathy Winters said today there is a 30 percent change of favorable weather for the scheduled 11:26am liftoff on July 8—meaning there's a 70 percent chance that bad weather will force NASA to scrub the launch. Officials are currently worried about showers and thunderstorms, flight through precipitation, and cumulus clouds.

Winters said the forecast predicts "nuisance weather" more than severe weather, like hail. "It's more of a tropical-type air mass," she said during a Wednesday press briefing.

Even if is raining on Friday, the launch could still happen, said Mike Leinbach, shuttle launch director. "If it's cumulus clouds and rain showers, as long as we get a hold over the pad, that's a go day for us," he said. It could be pouring rain everywhere else in the county, but if there is a break in the cloud coverage, "we can go," he said, and that's what technicians are aiming to do.

The countdown for this final space shuttle launch began yesterday at 1pm Eastern. The possible inclement weather, however, affects a number of procedures going forward, the first of which is tomorrow's planned retraction of the rotating service structure (RSS), which protects the shuttle. Fueling, meanwhile, is scheduled to begin at 2am Friday morning.

Leinbach said officials will keep a close eye on the weather situation, most likely assessing the situation about four hours out. Earlier today, however, the shuttle Mission Management Team voted unanimously to proceed toward Atlantis' planned liftoff, so at this point, it's still a go.

For a Friday launch, meanwhile, there could be anywhere between 500,000 and 750,000 spectators. If the launch is scrubbed and moved to Saturday or Sunday, that number could grow.

Space shuttle launch delays are nothing new, though officials are at least only contending with weather-related issues rather than technical problems with the vehicle. Shuttle Discovery launched in February after a nearly four-month delay due to weather, leaks, and cracks. The shuttle Endeavour, meanwhile, launched in May, but not before NASA had to scrub the initial launch because Endeavour's auxiliary power unit failed.

Given that this is the final launch for NASA's space shuttle program, Mike Moses, Mission Management Team chair, admitted that the mood among the shuttle team is "getting more and more somber [but] that doesn't detract from the professionalism and cohesiveness of the team."

"There are millions of people in this country who have grown up with the shuttle program," Moses continued. "Anyone under the age of 30 has always had the shuttle program as a part of Americana."

The shuttle crew arrived at Kennedy Space Center on Monday, and are still prepping for Friday's launch.