Thursday, September 7, 2006

The launch of the Space Shuttle Atlantis, on mission STS-115 has been delayed by at least 24 hours due to a short in number one of the Orbiter’s three Fuel cells. NASA expects to have more information available at 1pm EDT when they will have a meeting followed by a press conference.

The delay could result in a rollback, as the problem cannot be resolved on the pad. The flight has been delayed multiple times since August 27th.

NASA managers have extended their hold on the Space Shuttle Atlantis launch until at least Friday, due to a problem in the shuttle’s electrical power system. At a 6 p.m. briefing on Wednesday, NASA’s STS-115 Mission Management Team announced that because of the fuel cell anomaly it would be prudent to spend another 24 hours to research the issue. The management team will meet again at 1 p.m. on Thursday to assess the data gathered about the fuel cell issue and decide whether the launch will take place on Friday.

Space Shuttle Atlantis and the STS-115 crew is set to launch Friday morning on an assembly mission to the International Space Station. The launch time for Atlantis is targeted for 11:41 a.m. EDT