delusionofgrandeur

NASA has scheduled the next launch attempt for STS-122 for Thursday 7th February at 19:47ZULU

Atlantis was first due to launch back at the beginning of December but a recurring fault with the ECO (Engine Cut Off) sensors in the main liquid hydrogen tank prevented this. If the ECO sensors became unavailable in flight, it could lead to a situation where the liquid oxygen could be depleted beyond safe limits potentially leading to a catastrophic failure of the SSME turbopumps. NASA traced the problem to the connector points on the side of the external tank. They then fabricated and fitted new connectors which means that the vehicle now stands read to fly this week.

Atlantis will be carrying the European Space Agency’s Columbus scientific module to the International Space Station.

I will be looking this week to find the best internet video feed source for NASA TV’s coverage of the launch and I will note it here when I do.

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 3rd, 2008 at 11:11 pm and is filed under News, Space.You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.