Weather, technical issues delay GRAIL launch
Updated: Fri, Sep 9, 2011, 8:00 AM ET (1200 GMT)
Originally Posted: Thu, Sep 8, 2011, 10:23 PM ET (0223 GMT)
Gusty upper-level winds forced NASA to postpone Thursday's scheduled launch of a lunar orbiter mission by a day, and technical concerns will delay it at least an additional day. NASA had planned to launch the Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) spacecraft on a Delta 2 from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Thursday morning, but high winds in the upper atmosphere scrubbed the launch. NASA initially rescheduled the launch for Friday, but late Thursday night announced the launch would be pushed back to at least Saturday to allow more time to review data collected during the "detanking" operation after Thursday morning's scrub. Launch is now planned for no earlier than Saturday at either 8:29:45 or 9:08:52 am EDT (1229:45 or 1308:52 GMT). GRAIL will use two spacecraft to map the Moon's gravity field to far higher precision than before, yielding new information about the Moon's interior.
Originally Posted: Thu, Sep 8, 2011, 10:23 PM ET (0223 GMT)
Gusty upper-level winds forced NASA to postpone Thursday's scheduled launch of a lunar orbiter mission by a day, and technical concerns will delay it at least an additional day. NASA had planned to launch the Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) spacecraft on a Delta 2 from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Thursday morning, but high winds in the upper atmosphere scrubbed the launch. NASA initially rescheduled the launch for Friday, but late Thursday night announced the launch would be pushed back to at least Saturday to allow more time to review data collected during the "detanking" operation after Thursday morning's scrub. Launch is now planned for no earlier than Saturday at either 8:29:45 or 9:08:52 am EDT (1229:45 or 1308:52 GMT). GRAIL will use two spacecraft to map the Moon's gravity field to far higher precision than before, yielding new information about the Moon's interior.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
Space Force picks 14 companies for GEO surveillance program
Posted: Sat, Apr 11 10:34 AM ET (1434 GMT) |
|
news links
|
|
Saturday, April 18
U.S. Space Force Accelerates Space-Based MTI Fielding Push
Aviation Week — 10:29 am ET (1429 GMT) Lockheed Martin nabs $105M ground system contract to support next-gen GPS
Breaking Defense — 10:28 am ET (1428 GMT) USSPACECOM highlights ‘Year of Integration’ at the 41st Space Symposium
US Space Command — 10:27 am ET (1427 GMT) Rocket Lab Defeats Investor Lawsuit Over Delayed Neutron Launch
Bloomberg Law — 10:26 am ET (1426 GMT) Rocket Lab Beats Investor Suit Over Launch Timeline For Good
Law360 — 10:25 am ET (1425 GMT) |
