Back to newsletter listDate:
Mon, March 10, 2008 05:21:51 PMFrom:
CBS Space News
Subject:
515p 3/10 Update: Shuttle fueling begins
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CBS NEWS STS-123 STATUS REPORT: 10
Posted: 5:15 PM, 3/10/08
By William Harwood
CBS News Space Analyst
Changes and additions:
SR-07 (03/09/08): Fuel cells loaded; weather still 90 percent 'go'
SR-08 (03/09/08): STS-123 mission preview
SR-09 (03/10/08): Comm cable swapped out; countdown on track for Tuesday launch
SR-10 (03/10/08): Fueling begins
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5:15 PM, 3/10/08, Update: Shuttle fueling begins
Working by remote control, engineers began pumping a half-million gallons of liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen rocket fuel into the shuttle Endeavour's external tank today just after 5 p.m. , setting the stage for a sky-lighting launch on a space station assembly mission at 2:28:14 a.m. Tuesday.
There are no major technical problems at pad 39A and forecasters say they expect the weather to cooperate. As usual, engineers will be paying close attention to low-level hydrogen sensors at the base of the external tank that have caused problems in recent countdowns. A fix ordered in the wake of open circuits that derailed a December launch worked flawlessly during the shuttle Atlantis' launch campaign in February and NASA managers are confident the sensors in Endeavour's tank will work properly as well.
But now-standard tests will be carried out to make sure. The three-hour fueling process started at 5:04 p.m. with propellant transfer line chilldown and the sensors will be submerged in liquid hydrogen around 5:50 p.m. The engine cutoff - ECO - sensor circuits will be monitored throughout the remainder of the countdown.
If all goes well, fueling will be complete by around 8 p.m. and Endeavour's crew - commander Dominic Gorie, pilot Gregory Johnson, flight engineer Michael Foreman, Richard Linnehan, Robert Behnken, Japanese astronaut Takao Doi and space station flight engineer Garrett Reisman - will begin strapping in just after 11 p.m. to await launch.
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Quick-Launch Web Links:
CBS News STS-123 Status Reports:
http://www.cbsnews.com/network/news/space/current.html
CBS News STS-123 Quick-Look Page:
http://www.cbsnews.com/network/news/space/currentglance.html
NASA Shuttle Web: http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/index.html
NASA Station Web: http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/index.html
Spaceflight Now: http://spaceflightnow.com/index.html
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