[sarex] NASA'S SHUTTLE LAUNCH AT LEAST ONE WEEK AWAY

["ARTHUR Z. ROWE" <N1ORC@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468

>Melissa Mathews
>Headquarters, Washington                           July 19, 2005
>(Phone: 202/358-1272)
>
>Jessica Rye
>Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Fla.
>(Phone: 321/867-2468)
>
>
>
>NASA'S SHUTTLE LAUNCH AT LEAST ONE WEEK AWAY
>
>     NASA is targeting Tuesday, July 26 as the earliest possible date to launch the Space Shuttle Discovery on the Return to Flight mission (STS-114). The determination was made during Monday's meeting of the Mission Management Team (MMT) at Kennedy.
>
>The MMT reviewed efforts by teams of engineers. The engineers are working through a troubleshooting plan to address an issue with a liquid hydrogen low-level fuel sensor circuit. The sensor circuit failed a routine pre-launch check during the countdown July 13, delaying Discovery's first launch attempt.
>
>NASA is still working to launch Discovery by the end of the July window that extends to the 31st.  A dozen teams, with hundreds of engineers across the country, are expected to complete their battery of tests by Wednesday. While they have not isolated a cause of the sensor circuit failure, they have eliminated a number of possibilities. If the remaining tests are inconclusive, NASA could reload the External Tank with super-cooled propellants to see how the sensor circuit behaves. The tanking could be done as a test or as part of an actual launch countdown.
>
>Commander Eileen Collins and her six Discovery crew mates come out of quarantine today for one day off. They resume quarantine and training later this week. 
>
>For the latest information about STS-114 on the Web, visit:
>
>http://www.nasa.gov/returntoflight
>
>
>-end-
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