NASA skips first chance to land shuttle

[Guest guest]

NASA skips first

chance to land shuttle

POSTED: 2:20 p.m. EST, December 22, 2006

 

Story Highlights

• NEW: NASA

waives off first landing attempt in Florida

• Shuttle landing sites: Florida, California and New Mexico

• NASA has seven chances to land the shuttle on

Friday and Saturday

• Shuttle must land by Saturday or it will run out of fuel that supplies its

electricity

HOUSTON, Texas (AP)

-- Mission Control told space shuttle Discovery's astronauts Friday that

showers at Kennedy Space Center were going to be too unpredictable for a

landing at their first opportunity.

The first chance to land was to have been at 3:56 p.m. ET at the Florida site. The next opportunities are at Kennedy, Edwards Air Force

Base in California and in White Sands, New Mexico, starting around 5:30 p.m. ET.

Astronaut Ken Ham in Mission Control told the astronauts to hold off on drinking

fluids, one of the last steps the astronauts take before landing to help them

adjust to gravity.

" The new word for Florida is 'unstable.' The chance

has been struck, " Ham told the astronauts.

Discovery needs to be on the ground Saturday or it could run out of the

fuel that powers its electrical system.

NASA normally has more time for the landing, but the

astronauts spent an extra day at the international space station this week to

work on a stubborn solar array.

The third option, White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico,

hasn't been used for a shuttle landing in 24 years, and in that landing, sand

on the runway contaminated the orbiter, and the brakes were damaged. It isn't

normally equipped to service the shuttles, either.

NASA has seven more opportunities to land the shuttle on

Saturday.

Discovery originally had been scheduled to land on Thursday, but the

flight was extended to allow a fourth spacewalk to fold up an

accordion-like solar array on the space station.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/space/12/22/space.shuttle.ap/index.html

Dear

List,

Time

is not helping.  

Dasha: Ju/Ve/Ra/Ra/Mo till tomorrow at 16:27 GMT.

 

As

predicted, this mission has not been easy.

Let us hope they can land

safely.

 

Attention is needed.

 

Best wishes,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

satva

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jorge Angelino

 

 

Rua da Sociedade Filarmónica

Perpétua Azeitonense, 29

2925-598 Azeitão

Portugal

 

 

 

 

jorge.angelino

 

 

 

 

 

 

mobile:

Skype ID:

 

 

+351963916784

 

jorge_angelino

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Add me to your address book...

 

 

Want a signature like

this?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

--

 

 

Version: 7.5.432 / Virus Database: 268.15.26/598 - Release 22.12.2006 15:22