Space Shuttle Discovery's ferry flight from Edwards Air Force Base to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida has been postponed by at least a day due to weather conditions.
After a Flight Readiness Review Thursday, NASA managers advised that they expect Discovery to be ready to begin the ferry flight by late Friday morning. However, high temperatures at Edwards and stormy weather over the south and southeast portions of the country led them to hold off on having Discovery depart Edwards to no earlier than early Saturday morning, Sept. 19. They plan to meet again with meteorologists and the flight crews at mid-day Friday at NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center to discuss whether to aim for a Saturday takeoff, or to postpone the ferry flight further.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Ferry Flight Preps Ahead of Schedule
Discovery’s Ferry Preparations Move Ahead; Friday Departure Possible09.17.09
Preparation of the Space Shuttle Discovery for its ferry flight back to Florida is still running slightly ahead of schedule at NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center in Southern California, and managers expect that preparations will be complete and Discovery will be ready to begin its cross-country ferry flight to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida atop a modified Boeing 747 by Friday morning, Sept. 18.
The final date and projected time for Discovery’s departure from Edwards will be determined at a Flight Readiness Review, currently slated for Thursday afternoon.
On Wednesday, United Space Alliance technicians completed draining of water from the Power Reactant Storage and Distribution System fuel cells, installation of the drag chute ferry door, and installation of the tail cone attach point fittings. Installation of the tail cone over the main engine rocket nozzles, which reduces the shuttle’s aerodynamic drag during the ferry flight, is in work Thursday. Once that is complete, technicians will focus on several operations such as raising the landing gear and control surfaces requiring powering up Discovery’s hydraulic systems.
Mating of Discovery to the modified 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft is then expected to get under way late Thursday.
If departure occurs Friday morning, the 747-shuttle combo could arrive at the Kennedy Space Center as early as late Saturday, Sept. 19, weather and other factors permitting.
Big bird scares little bird.
My apartment complex got buzzed by an V-22 Osprey again and I just love it. I don't know if it is on purpose or not, but I'd like to think so.
This time he alarmed this pigeon who couldn't get away fast enough.
MV-22 guys:
For future reference:
Long: 101.53.19
Lat: 35.10.00
Heads up on 123.100 MHz
-Steve Douglass
Shuttle ferry update
Preparation of the Space Shuttle Discovery for its ferry flight back to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida is running ahead of schedule at NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center in Southern California, and managers expect that Discovery will be ready to begin its cross-country ferry flight atop a modified Boeing 747 by Friday morning, Sept. 18.
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