Lightning strike delays space shuttle’s launch

By Irene Klotz

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) – NASA has delayed
Sunday’s planned launch of the space shuttle Atlantis for 24
hours to assess possible damage from a lightning strike on the
ship’s Florida launch pad, the U.S. space agency said on
Saturday.

Postponement of the launch until 3:04 p.m. EDT (1904 GMT)
on Monday would give managers more time to analyze data from
shuttle systems and ground support equipment that may have been
affected by the lightning bolt that struck on Friday, NASA
spokesman Bruce Buckingham said.

The mission, the third since the 2003 space shuttle
Columbia disaster, is a critical part of NASA’s efforts to
finish building the International Space Station before the
shuttle fleet is retired in 2010.

There was no apparent damage from the lightning bolt which
struck a thick wire at the top of the shuttle’s seaside launch
pad at about 2 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT) on Friday, said Jeff
Spaulding, a NASA launch supervisor, in a news conference on
Saturday.

The wire is part of the launch pad’s lightning protection
system.

“So far it looks favorable,” said Spaulding, adding that
equipment evaluations remained under way.

The delay positions NASA for a launch attempt under much
more favorable weather conditions than had been forecast for
Sunday.

Forecasters on Saturday predicted a 60 percent chance that
weather would delay Sunday’s liftoff, but the outlook for
Monday is for just a 20 percent chance of a weather-related
delay.

Any rain when the shuttle blasts off from its launch pad
could damage the spaceship’s heat-shielding tiles, and a
lightning strike could knock out the computers that control the
ship. Even some kinds of thick, high clouds make launch
precarious.

Atlantis’ mission is the first with a primary goal of
working on construction of the space station since the 2003
Columbia accident, and another accident or serious problem
would likely ground the shuttles permanently.

TROPICAL STORM ERNESTO

NASA is also keeping a sharp eye on Tropical Storm Ernesto.

By Thursday the storm, which is projected to hit the Gulf
of Mexico, could develop into a Category 3 hurricane on the
5-step Saffir Simpson scale of storm intensity, with sustained
winds of at least 111 miles per hour (178 kph).

NASA is concerned the storm could pose a threat to its
Mission Control Center in Houston. It may also affect plans to
ship a shuttle external fuel tank from NASA’s manufacturing
facility near New Orleans in time to support an emergency
rescue mission, should Atlantis sustain Columbia-like damage
during launch.

Columbia was hit by a piece of foam insulation that fell
off its fuel tank during launch. Damage from the impact
triggered the shuttle’s breakup over Texas as it flew through
the atmosphere for landing on February 1, 2003. All seven
astronauts aboard the shuttle died.

While the shuttle fleet was grounded for repairs and safety
upgrades after Columbia, work on the International Space
Station came to a halt.

Following two flights to test safety upgrades made after
the accident, NASA is now ready to restart station construction
with the launch of Atlantis.

Atlantis will carry one of the heaviest shuttle payloads,
including a 35,000-pound (15,909 kg) power module for the space
station.

It is set for an 11-day mission. However, if NASA should
have to evacuate its Houston center, the six-member shuttle
crew would be told to leave the space station and land at the
first safe opportunity.