Shuttle rolled back to launch pad
Posted: Thu, Jun 16, 2005, 8:14 AM ET (1214 GMT)
NASA returned the space shuttle Discovery to its launch pad on Wednesday, the latest milestone towards the shuttle's return to flight next month. Discovery, mounted on its external tank and solid rocket boosters, left the Vehicle Assembly Building at around 2 am EDT (0600 GMT) Wednesday, arriving at Pad 39B a little more than ten hours later. The rollout took longer than normal because the crawler transporter traveled at below-average speed and stopped frequently so engineers could examine overheating bearings on the crawler. The shuttle had been earlier rolled out to the pad in April, when the shuttle's launch was scheduled for May, but the shuttle was sent back to the VAB to fix a potential ice buildup problem on the external tank that was only revealed in tests completed after the first rollout. The arrival of the shuttle at the latest major milestone in the return to flight, with a launch currently scheduled for between July 13-31. A launch date will be set during a flight readiness review on June 29-30.
NASA returned the space shuttle Discovery to its launch pad on Wednesday, the latest milestone towards the shuttle's return to flight next month. Discovery, mounted on its external tank and solid rocket boosters, left the Vehicle Assembly Building at around 2 am EDT (0600 GMT) Wednesday, arriving at Pad 39B a little more than ten hours later. The rollout took longer than normal because the crawler transporter traveled at below-average speed and stopped frequently so engineers could examine overheating bearings on the crawler. The shuttle had been earlier rolled out to the pad in April, when the shuttle's launch was scheduled for May, but the shuttle was sent back to the VAB to fix a potential ice buildup problem on the external tank that was only revealed in tests completed after the first rollout. The arrival of the shuttle at the latest major milestone in the return to flight, with a launch currently scheduled for between July 13-31. A launch date will be set during a flight readiness review on June 29-30.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
Apex becomes billion-dollar company with $200 million Series D round
Posted: Sun, Sep 14 4:09 AM ET (0809 GMT) |
|
news links
|
|
Monday, September 15
Elon Musk's Starlink reports service outage, thousands of users affected
Reuters — 1:23 am ET (0523 GMT) What does the loss of U.S. Space Command mean to Colorado Springs?
Denver Post — 1:21 am ET (0521 GMT) SpaceX Launches Northrop Grumman Cargo Ship To ISS
Aviation Week — 1:18 am ET (0518 GMT) SpaceX launches Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral on Sunday
WESH-TV Orlando — 1:18 am ET (0518 GMT) Apollo 13 made Jim Lovell a legend generations after the space race
The Hill — 1:09 am ET (0509 GMT) |
