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The time is ticking down toward NASAs programmed Mondaymorning blastoff of the space convey Discovery.
The countdown began early Friday as engineers primedDiscovery to launch prior to sunrise on Apr 5 at 6:21 a.m. EDT (1021 GMT) froma strand desk pad at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla.
We"re fervent to get Discoveryflying on Monday morning," NASA exam executive Steve Payne told reporters ina sunrise briefing.
Payne pronounced Discovery has dual chances to launch subsequent weekbefore NASA would mount down for 3 days to tip off the vehicles diesel armoured column andavoid a space trade jam after in Apr � when an unmanned Air Force space hire isslated to launch really close to the shuttles programmed alighting day.
Kathy Winters, NASAs convey continue officer, has saidDiscovery has an 80 percent possibility of transparent skies for Mondays convey launch,with identical conditions approaching on Tuesday. It is the last convey flightcurrently scheduled to lift off in dark [howto mark the convey launch].
Discovery is staid to launch 7 astronauts on a13day mission to the International Space Station on what is one of NASAs lastfew superfluous convey missions prior to the orbiter swift is late after thisyear.
Shuttle commander in chief Alan Poindexter commands the fourman,threewoman crew. The astronauts are hauling a scarcely 27,000pound (12,246 kg)cargo pod packaged with systematic experiments, reserve and gangling tools for thespace station. Three spacewalks are programmed to reinstate an old hire gyroscopeand broach a gangling ammonia coolant tank � pieces so big they can usually bedelivered on NASAs space shuttles.
Joe Delai, load physical education instructor for Discoverys spaceflight,said engineers are tough at work loading the shuttles middeck with cargo.
The convey is additionally being packaged with a couple of last minuteitems, together with additional seals for the space stations H2O filtration systemand a gangling joint for a shock absorber used on one of the outposts treadmills,Delai said.
Discovery is slated to launch one day after a RussianSoyuz booster arrives at the space station. That Soyuz TMA18 spacecraftblasted off this sunrise carrying one American wanderer and dual Russian cosmonauts.
The Soyuzs attainment at the space hire will progress theoutposts race behind up to the full sixperson organisation for the initial timesince last fall. When Discovery arrives on Apr 7, that series of peopleonboard will stand in nonetheless again � to thirteen astronauts in all.
NASA plans to fly 4 last shuttlemissions this year, together with Discoverys arriving flight, prior to retiringthe convey swift in the fall. After that, the space group will rely onRussian booster to packet astronauts to and from the space station, as wellas await the growth of blurb booster in the United States forindependent entrance to space, group officials have said.
Snoopy to SciFi: Offbeat Space Mission Posters Images: Spotting Spaceships From Earth Rare Twilight Shuttle Launch on Monday Visible to U.S. East Coast| _______________________ |
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