. . . should be the rule when astronauts' lives are at stake. It is said that the ride up is the most dangerous part of the shuttle's journey. And NASA has wisely decided to avoid the malady of what NASA official Wayne Hale calls "launch fever." The launch of STS-122 has been delayed until after the first of the year.And it is due to some balky, or faulty, or outmoded, or "whatever" sensors in the fuel tanks. The consensus emerged that they did not know what the problem was and that it was not worth the chance to take unnecessary chances. CNN explained the risk:
The sensors are much like the low-fuel indicators in an automobile. As the shuttle rockets toward space, the sensors monitor the amount of liquid hydrogen in the external tank and automatically shut off the main engines when the tank is empty.
If the sensors aren't working, the engine could shut down before the shuttle reaches orbit, forcing Atlantis to make a dangerous emergency landing.
The crew, which includes three rookies, understands the decision and released a statement, which said, in part:
The crew of STS-122 will be heading back to Houston on Sunday evening but before leaving they expressed their gratitude for the effort to launch.This post is a follow-up to my most recent one on NASA and the International Space Station. The previous one focused on the intended mission of STS-122: "Europe to Deploy to Space --"
"We want to thank everyone who worked so hard to get us into space this launch window," the astronauts said in a statement. "We had support teams working around the clock at KSC, JSC, and numerous sites in Europe. We were ready to fly, but understand that these types of technical challenges are part of the space program. We hope everyone gets some well-deserved rest, and we will be back to try again when the vehicle is ready to fly."
Cross-posted at Southwest Blogger
My topical post today at South by Southwest and The Reaction is about our health care system.
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