Space Shuttle Discovery Launch Delayed Due To Bad Weather

Storm clouds over the launch pad prompted officials to delay the launch until Sunday, but  bad conditions were expected around the Kennedy Space Center in Florida all weekend.  

“It wasn’t our time today, and we’ll launch when we’re ready and hopefully, tomorrow will look better,” shuttle commander Steven Lindsey said.

This will be the first shuttle launch in a year and the second since the 2003 Columbia disaster. Discovery with a seven-member crew was supposed to blast off at 3:49pm (ET).  

A small technical problem also arose Saturday morning when a heater used to keep ice from accumulating on a firing thruster recorded a higher than normal temperature.  

Two agency managers, Bryan O’Connor, the space agency’s chief safety officer, and chief engineer Christopher Scolese, expressed concerns about foam flying off the fuel tank that could harm the shuttle, but NASA Administrator Michael Griffin gave the launch the green light anyway before the bad weather rolled in.  

Two weeks ago the pair recommended that the shuttle not lift off until design changes are made to 34 areas on the fuel tank – they’re called ice frost ramps and they hold pressurization lines in place. Foam insulation is used to stop ice from building up on the tank and small pieces have broken off in the past.  

Lindsey said he was confident the crew would be as safe as they were on his previous three shuttle missions. Astronaut Stephen Robinson also expressed confidence in the planned lift-off.  

“If we’re down to worrying about something like an ice-frost ramp, we must be doing a lot of things right,” Robinson said. “There are much bigger things to worry about.”  

Modifications were made to the external fuel tank after the space shuttle Columbia disintegrated over Texas when it re-entered the atmosphere. A piece of foam broke off a tank during its launch and hit the left wing, which allowed hot gases to consume the wing and the entire craft when it came back to Earth.  

The Discovery crew will test shuttle inspection and repair techniques, deliver supplies to the international space station and drop the European Space Agency’s Thomas Reiter at the outpost for a six-month stay during its upcoming 12-day mission.

Top Stories

Top Stories

Most Watched Today