July 13, 2005
Nancy, Jessica and I are on a NASA bus that was on the way to the viewing area set aside for crew family and guests. The launch has been scrubbed due to a problem with a sensor for a cryogenic fuel tank. Might be a sensor problem, might be a wiring problem, or it might be a problem with the astrionics box in the orbiter itself. They have begun offloading the cryo fuels and troubleshooting the problem while everything is still very cold. Sometimes one of these sensors will work fine at normal temperature, but not under cryo conditions. Everyone is disappointed, of course, but SAFETY FIRST! There is always another day and the engineers doing the troubleshooting are the best that there is.
At the moment the word is that launching tomorrow, 14 July, is unlikely. We’ll be monitoring the Return to Flight website as they troubleshoot. The breakfast this morning with the Kelly family and their other guests was great.
More to come as I get updates in Florida…
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EDITOR’S NOTE: Dr. Michael Freeman is an Associate Professor of aerospace engineering and mechanics at The University of Alabama. He is attending this week’s launch of the space shuttle Discovery, and will publish daily accounts of the events surrounding the shuttle’s “return to flight” launch. UA graduate James Kelly is the pilot of STS-114, NASA’s first space flight in over two years. Dr. Freeman may be reached by e-mail at michael.freeman@ua.edu.