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Shuttle landing delayed 24 hours
BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: August 8, 2005

Uncertainty about dynamic weather at the Kennedy Space Center forced entry flight director LeRoy Cain to pass up two landing opportunities today and to keep the shuttle Discovery's crew in orbit an extra 24 hours.

An initial landing opportunity was passed up because of low clouds near the Shuttle Landing Facility and while conditions appeared to improve while Discovery went back around the planet, forecasters could not guarantee acceptable conditions for the second landing opportunity at 6:22 a.m.

Less than 15 minutes before the 5:15 a.m. rocket firing that would have committed commander Eileen Collins and her crew to re-entry, Cain decided to wave off for the day.

"As you can imagine from our silence down here, there continues to be a low layer (of clouds) varying between 300, 400 and 500 feet, it's been few and scattered all evening and again, the one word that describes all this all night has been 'unstable,' astronaut Ken Ham radioed Collins from Houston.

"Our current observed weather is actually 'go,' it's few at 500, broken at 15,000 and the forecast is in the same neighborhood, 800 scattered, broken at 15,000, which is technically 'go' as well. However, we just can't get comfortable with the stability of the situation for this particular opportunity. So we're going to officially wave you off for 24 hours."

"OK, Houston, we copy that," Collins replied. "It will be a wave off for today."

Landing now is targeted for around 5:07 a.m. Tuesday at Kennedy, weather permitting.

Cain said Sunday that if Discovery failed to get back to Florida today he would activate NASA's backup landing site at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. - and possibly White Sands, N.M. - and bring the shuttle down, on one coast or the other, Tuesday.

The forecast for Kennedy calls for just a few clouds at 2,000 feet and 10,000 feet, scattered clouds at 25,000 feet with a slight chance of showers within 30 nautical miles. Winds will be out of 220 degrees at three knots with peaks to five knots, well within NASA's crosswind limits.

At Edwards, the outlook is for few clouds at 10,000 feet, scattered clouds at 25,000 feet and winds from 220 degrees at four knots peaking to seven knots. White Sands is expecting a slight chance of showers and broken cloud decks at 10,000 and 25,000 feet.

Here are all possible landing times for Tuesday and Wednesday (in EDT):


ORBIT...TIG..........LANDING....SITE

Tuesday, Aug. 9

217.....04:01 AM.....05:07 AM...Kennedy Space Center
218.....05:33 AM.....06:39 AM...White Sands, NM
218.....05:37 AM.....06:43 AM...Kennedy Space Center
219.....07:06 AM.....08:12 AM...Edwards AFB, CA
219.....07:09 AM.....08:13 AM...White Sands, NM
220.....08:44 AM.....09:47 AM...Edwards AFB, CA

Wednesday, Aug. 10

232.....02:50 AM.....03:53 AM...Kennedy Space Center
233.....04:25 AM.....05:28 AM...Kennedy Space Center
234.....05:55 AM.....06:58 AM...Edwards AFB, CA
234.....05:57 AM.....06:59 AM...White Sands, NM
235.....07:31 AM.....08:32 AM...Edwards AFB, CA
235.....07:33 AM.....08:34 AM...White Sands, NM

Spaceflight Now Plus
Additional coverage for subscribers:
VIDEO: ASTRONAUTS TOLD LANDING IS SCRUBBED FOR TODAY PLAY
VIDEO: FIRST LANDING OPPORTUNITY WAVED OFF PLAY
VIDEO: LANDING PREVIEW BRIEFING DIAL-UP | BROADBAND

VIDEO: SATURDAY MISSION STATUS DIAL-UP | BROADBAND 1 & 2
AUDIO: LISTEN TO THE STATUS BRIEFING MP3 FILE

VIDEO: FAREWELL CEREMONY BETWEEN SHUTTLE AND ISS CREWS PLAY
VIDEO: DISCOVERY UNDOCKS FROM STATION AS SEEN LIVE PLAY
VIDEO: SHUTTLE FLIES ABOVE STATION DURING FLYAROUND PLAY
VIDEO: STUNNING VIEW OF STATION WITH EARTH'S LIMB PLAY

VIDEO: FRIDAY MISSION STATUS BRIEFING DIAL-UP | BROADBAND
VIDEO: CONGRESSIONAL LEADERS CALL ASTRONAUTS PLAY
VIDEO: CARGO MODULE RETURNED TO DISCOVERY PAYLOAD BAY PLAY

VIDEO: COMBO MISSION STATUS/MANAGEMENT BRIEFING DIAL-UP |
   BROADBAND PART 1 & 2

VIDEO: WED. MANAGEMENT NEWS BRIEFING DIAL-UP | BROADBAND 1 & 2
VIDEO: WEDNESDAY'S MISSION STATUS DIAL-UP | BROADBAND 1 & 2
VIDEO: SPACEWALKER REMOVES FIRST TILE GAP FILLER PLAY
VIDEO: SECOND GAP FILLER PULLED OUT AS SEEN VIA HELMETCAM PLAY
VIDEO: LONGER-LENGTH MOVIE OF SECOND GAP FILLER REMOVAL PLAY

VIDEO: BEHIND THE SCENES INSIDE MISSION CONTROL PLAY

VIDEO: SPACEWALKER FLOATS OUT OF AIRLOCK TO BEGIN EVA PLAY
VIDEO: STOWAGE PLATFORM MOUNTED TO STATION EXTERIOR PLAY
VIDEO: HELMETCAM VIEW OF EXPERIMENT INSTALLATION PLAY
VIDEO: NOGUCHI DEPLOYS THE EXPERIMENT PACKAGE PLAY
VIDEO: STUNNING HELMETCAM VIEW FROM ATOP THE STATION PLAY
VIDEO: SPACEWALKERS RETURN TO AIRLOCK AT EVA'S END PLAY

VIDEO: PRESIDENTIAL PHONE CALL PLAY
VIDEO: ASTRONAUT DAVE WOLF EXPLAINS GAP FILLER REMOVAL PLAY
VIDEO: TUESDAY'S CREW NEWS CONFERENCE DIAL-UP | BROADBAND
VIDEO: JAPANESE MEDIA EVENT (WITH TRANSLATION) PLAY
VIDEO: RUSSIAN MEDIA EVENT (WITH TRANSLATION) PLAY
VIDEO: TUESDAY'S STATUS BRIEFING DIAL-UP | BROADBAND 1 & 2

VIDEO: DECISION ANNOUNCED AT BRIEFING DIAL-UP | BROADBAND 1 & 2
VIDEO: GROUND TESTS ON PULLING, CUTTING GAP FILLERS PLAY

VIDEO: ASTRONAUTS PREPARE FOR THE SPACEWALK PLAY
VIDEO: FAILED GYRO IS REMOVED FROM THE STATION PLAY
VIDEO: THE NEW GYRO IS INSTALLED PLAY
VIDEO: SPACEWALKERS POSE FOR PICTURES PLAY
VIDEO: MONDAY'S STATUS BRIEFING DIAL-UP | BROADBAND 1 & 2
VIDEO: BEHIND THE SCENES IN MISSION CONTROL DURING EVA PLAY

VIDEO: MANAGEMENT TEAM UPDATE DIAL-UP | BROADBAND 1 & 2
VIDEO: SUNDAY'S MISSION STATUS DIAL-UP | BROADBAND
AUDIO: LISTEN TO THE STATUS BRIEFING MP3 FILE
VIDEO: LEFT-HAND BOOSTER SEPARATION FROM TANK PLAY
VIDEO: LEFT-HAND BOOSTER CHUTE DEPLOY AND SPLASHDOWN PLAY
VIDEO: FULL CLIP FROM LEFT-HAND BOOSTER PLAY
VIDEO: RIGHT-HAND BOOSTER SEPARATION FROM TANK PLAY
VIDEO: RIGHT-HAND BOOSTER SPLASHDOWN PLAY
VIDEO: FULL CLIP FROM RIGHT-HAND BOOSTER PLAY
VIDEO: MANAGEMENT TEAM UPDATE DIAL-UP | BROADBAND
VIDEO: FRIDAY'S MISSION STATUS DIAL-UP | BROADBAND PART 1
AUDIO: LISTEN TO THE STATUS BRIEFING MP3 FILE
VIDEO: DAMAGE ASSESSMENTS BRIEFING DIAL-UP | BROADBAND 1 & 2
VIDEO: THURSDAY MISSION STATUS BRIEFING PLAY
  BROADBAND VERSION: PART 1 & PART 2
AUDIO: LISTEN TO THE MISSION STATUS BRIEFING MP3 FILE
VIDEO: BEHIND THE SCENES IN MISSION CONTROL FOR DOCKING PLAY
VIDEO: SHUTTLE CREW WELCOMED ABOARD THE STATION PLAY
VIDEO: COMMANDER COLLINS GUIDES DISCOVERY TO DOCKING PLAY
VIDEO: DISCOVERY'S BACKFLIP AS SEEN FROM STATION PLAY
VIDEO: STATION CAMERAS SEE SHUTTLE'S APPROACH FROM BELOW PLAY
VIDEO: SHUTTLE PULLS IN FRONT OF STATION FOR DOCKING PLAY

VIDEO: CREW'S CAMCORDER VIDEO OF JETTISONED FUEL TANK PLAY

VIDEO: NASA GROUNDS SHUTTLE PROGRAM DIALUP
  BROADBAND VERSION: PART 1 & PART 2
AUDIO: LISTEN TO PROGRAM NEWS CONFERENCE FOR IPOD
VIDEO: WEDNESDAY MISSION STATUS BRIEFING DIAL-UP | BROADBAND
VIDEO: SHUTTLE FUEL TANK HITS BIRD AT LIFTOFF PLAY

VIDEO: AMAZING WB-57 AERIAL LAUNCH VIDEO NORTH | SOUTH PLANE
VIDEO: BEHIND THE SCENES IN MISSION CONTROL AT LAUNCH PLAY
VIDEO: OFFICIALS DESCRIBE DEBRIS EVENTS DIAL-UP | BROADBAND
AUDIO: LISTEN TO THE DEBRIS DESCRIPTION FOR IPOD

VIDEO: LAUNCH OF DISCOVERY! SHORTER | LONGER
VIDEO: FOOTAGE OF OBJECT BREAKING FREE FROM TANK PLAY
VIDEO: TANK-MOUNTED CAMERA SHOWS ENTIRE LAUNCH SMALL | LARGE
VIDEO: ONBOARD CAMERA VIEW OF TANK SEPARATION PLAY
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