STS-127 Shuttle Mission to the International Space Station Launches Wednesday 23:03pm

Just slightly off topic, as the shuttle is going on the 17th the LRO/LCROSS launch will now go on the 18th:


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I saw that, but I thought I'd leave that one for you. :p :D

Fingers crossed for both launches.

PS - your method of posting YouTube links is a little dodgy (I'm surprised it works). Have a look at how I did it. :)
 
I thought I'd better be a bit more helpful on the YouTube front. This is how you're supposed to do YouTube videos:

[youtube]D-GXjR_CZSE[/youtube]

:)
 
Slightly off topic again, as the LRO/LRCOSS launch date has been moved to accommodate the launch of STS-127 I would like to give you more information about the LRO/LCROSS mission:

The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, and Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS, are set to lift off together aboard an Atlas V rocket on Thursday, June 18. There are three launch opportunities from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida: 5:12 p.m., 5:22 p.m. and 5:32 p.m.

Thursday's liftoff of LRO and LCROSS is postponed 24 hours, the launch times Friday are 6:41 p.m., 6:51 p.m. and 7:01 p.m. Saturday's opportunities are 8:08 p.m., 8:18 p.m. and 8:28 p.m.

LRO is scheduled for a one-year exploration mission at a polar orbit of about 31 miles, or 50 kilometres, the closest any spacecraft has orbited the moon. The primary objective of LRO is to conduct investigations to prepare for future explorations of the moon.

Launching with LRO is LCROSS, a partner mission that will search for water ice on the moon by sending the spent upper-stage Centaur rocket, about the size of a sports utility vehicle, to impact part of a polar crater in permanent shadows. LCROSS will fly into the plume of dust left by the impact and measure the properties before also colliding with the lunar surface.
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Now back to STS-127:

The repair work is proceeding well and NASA managers will meet later in the day to give the final mission go ahead for tomorrow.


Edit: Mission Science briefing added
 
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Glad to see there are a few space buffs on here. I always follow the STS missions closely. Is anyone on the NSF forums? My speciality is more on the Apollo era but I have a moderate amount of knowledge about the current shuttle, and If I can't answer it I have a friend who knows a hell of a lot about it, so if anyone has any questions feel free to ask.
 
I may well take you up on that, though there is at least one other person on here I know who has NASA contacts.

Not sure I'd consider myself a space buff. I don't know nearly as much as I would like to, but I'm certainly a very avid observer (the direct link to NASA TV on my browser toolbar will attest to that).

Speaking of NASA TV, LRO science webcast currently in progress. I missed the start so I'll probably catch the replay via YouTube.
 
I think a true test of knowledge is realising that you don't actually know anything! There is always more I am willing to learn. I did a degree specialising in astrophysics but I love NASA specifics, especially the Apollo missions. I am missing the webcast as I am at work :(
 
Latest Space Shuttle News
Endeavour Revealed on Launch Pad 39A
Tue, 16 Jun 2009 03:53:00 PM GMT

Edited for UK times

Space shuttle Endeavour is in launch position at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida following rollback of the Launch Pad 39A rotating service structure.

Endeavour is scheduled to lift off at 10:40 a.m. BST Wednesday, beginning its STS-127 mission. At 6:15 p.m. today, clocks will begin counting back from T-11 hours toward launch.

The mission management team is scheduled to meet at 12:30 a.m. to give the "go/no-go" to begin loading Endeavour's external fuel tank with liquid propellants. With managers' approval, fueling will begin at 1:15 a.m.

Launch weather looks good, with an 80 percent chance of favorable conditions forecast for the final hours of the countdown.
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Due to severe overnight weather at LC39A including significant thunder, lightning and rain, tanking (filling the external fuel tank with liquid hydrogen and oxygen propellents) started approximately 2 hours 45 minutes late. Mission planners still believe they can achieve an on-time launch but will be considerably compressing the typical workflow to make that happen, including sending extra personnel out to the launchpad so that work can be completed in parallel.

Latest Space Shuttle News
Endeavour Fueling Continues
Wed, 17 Jun 2009 04:52:09 AM BST

Space shuttle Endeavour's external fuel tank is being filled with more than 500,000 gallons of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. The three-hour operation began at 4:04 a.m. BST. The Liquid Hydrogen Low Level Cutoff (LLCO) sensors will go "wet" at about 4:49 a.m. The tank will be completely filled, known as stable replenish, at about 7:04 a.m.

The launch countdown currently is holding at T-3 hours, which will last until 6:45 a.m. BST.

There still is an 80 percent chance that weather will not affect the 10:40 a.m. launch of STS-127.
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Live coverage currently available on NASA TV.

Windows Media streams: 150kbps 300kbps 500kbps 1200kbps
 
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Update @ 6.00 a.m.

It would appear that, unlike STS-119, the attempted repair to the GUCP did not succeed on this occasion. While no definitive decision has been made yet, my personal view is that it seems likely the launch will be postponed into July. This should hopefully give the teams time to conduct a more rigorous inspection of the hardware and hopefully they will find and fix the root cause of this problem.
 
Update @ 6.50 a.m.

They're still proceeding for a launch, but realistically given that they were already nearly three hours late and that they've now spent an hour on top of that troubleshooting, I don't see any realistic chance of a launch. I've been proved wrong before however. :)
 
No, not a fresh leak. Same leak as last time. The repair simply didn't work.

Latest Space Shuttle News
Endeavour's STS-127 Launch Scrubbed
Wed, 17 Jun 2009 06:59:30 AM BST

At 6:55 a.m. BST, launch managers called a scrub, cancelling today's planned launch of space shuttle Endeavour on its STS-127 mission. Despite troubleshooting efforts, engineers were unable to achieve a decrease in the liquid hydrogen leak associated with the external fuel tank's ground umbilical carrier panel. This is the same location where a similar leak resulted in a launch scrub on June 13.

There will be a news briefing on NASA TV later this morning.
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There are no further launch opportunities in June. The next possible launch would be on July 11th in the late evening. Due to Florida's notorious summer weather, this launch may run into weather problems and further delays could result.

Don't forget the LRO/LCROSS launch tomorrow, live on NASA TV. Coverage starts at 7 p.m. BST with launch opportunities at 10:12, 10:22 and 10:32 p.m., weather permitting.
 
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What a shame. :(

Endeavour's next launch attempt for its STS-127 mission is targeted for July 11 at 7:39 pm EDT (12th July 00:39 am BST).

The post scrub news conference will begin no earlier than 08:30 BST on NASA TV.
 
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simulatorman said:
What a shame. :(

Endeavour's next launch attempt for its STS-127 mission is targeted for July 11 at 7:39 pm EDT (12th July 00:39 am BST).

The post scrub news conference will begin no earlier than 08:30 BST on NASA TV.
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Its started...

Lets see what happend
 
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