Weather delays MESSENGER launch
Posted: Mon, Aug 2, 2004, 8:12 AM ET (1212 GMT)
The launch of NASA's MESSENGER mission to Mercury was delayed by 24 hours early Monday because of weather. The spacecraft was scheduled to lift off atop a Delta 2 from Cape Canaveral at 2:16 am EDT (0616 GMT), but the launch was scrubbed because of the potential of lightning from clouds in the area associated with a tropical storm. The launch has been rescheduled for the same time Tuesday; the forecast calls for a 70 percent chance of acceptable weather. MESSENGER (Mercury Surface, Space, Environment, Geochemistry, and Ranging) is NASA's first Mercury orbiter mission and only the second spacecraft to travel to the planet. MESSENGER will enter orbit around the innermost planet in March 2011 after several flybys of the Earth and Venus as well as Mercury.
The launch of NASA's MESSENGER mission to Mercury was delayed by 24 hours early Monday because of weather. The spacecraft was scheduled to lift off atop a Delta 2 from Cape Canaveral at 2:16 am EDT (0616 GMT), but the launch was scrubbed because of the potential of lightning from clouds in the area associated with a tropical storm. The launch has been rescheduled for the same time Tuesday; the forecast calls for a 70 percent chance of acceptable weather. MESSENGER (Mercury Surface, Space, Environment, Geochemistry, and Ranging) is NASA's first Mercury orbiter mission and only the second spacecraft to travel to the planet. MESSENGER will enter orbit around the innermost planet in March 2011 after several flybys of the Earth and Venus as well as Mercury.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
Retired Air Force officer nominated to be NASA deputy administrator
Posted: Sat, May 10 9:44 AM ET (1344 GMT) |
|
news links
|
|
Sunday, May 11
Spire Global Schedules First Quarter 2025 Results Conference Call
Spire — 4:15 pm ET (2015 GMT) NASA's Webb Lifts Veil on Common but Mysterious Type of Exoplanet
STScI — 9:50 am ET (1350 GMT) Northrop Grumman to Develop Additional Relay Ground Stations to Support US Space Force’s Next-Generation OPIR Program
Northrop Grumman — 9:50 am ET (1350 GMT) AAC Clyde Space wins EUR 570 000 order for power systems
AAC Clyde Space — 9:47 am ET (1347 GMT) Stratolaunch Successfully Completes Reusable Hypersonic Flight and Recovery with Talon-A2 Vehicle
Stratolaunch Systems — 9:46 am ET (1346 GMT) |
