Discovery fueled, awaits launch attempt

[unhappycamper]

Discovery fueled, awaits launch attempt
By Marcia Dunn - The Associated Press
Posted : Sunday Mar 15, 2009 17:57:35 EDT

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Growing more confident by the minute, NASA fueled space shuttle Discovery on Sunday for an evening liftoff with none of the leaking that marred the first launch attempt.

Repairs at the launch pad late last week apparently took care of the dangerous leak, although engineers continued to keep close watch on the system. And a special team dispatched to the pad reset a valve and managed to raise the pressure in a helium-purging system for the space shuttle.

The only other oddity was a bat that attached itself to the back of Discovery’s fuel tank, where it posed no debris threat to the shuttle.

Discovery was poised to blast off at 7:43 p.m. EDT on the space station construction mission, running more than a month late. NASA issued a rare 100 percent ‘go’ weather forecast.

The seven astronauts, waving and giving thumbs-up, headed out to the launch pad in the late afternoon and boarded their spaceship.


Rest of article at: http://armytimes.com/news/2009/03/ap_nasa_discovery_031509/%2e

[lostnotforgotten]

1. Launch Already Occurred

eom