NASA May Try to Launch Shuttle on Jan. 24
Leland Melvin is set to serve as the primary robotics specialist on the shuttle mission.
NASA said yesterday it may try to launch the shuttle Atlantis and Lynchburg native Leland Melvin on Jan. 24. But a February liftoff is likely to give engineers time to correct a sensor problem.
The attempt at the mission’s launch on Dec. 6 was delayed because of troublesome backup fuel sensors on the shuttle’s external fuel tank. Two backup gauges failed as NASA was filling the tank and testing four engine-cutoff sensors in the liquid hydrogen section.
The sensors are part of a critical backup system to ensure that the shuttle’s main engines don’t shut down too soon or too late during liftoff.
In the next seven to 10 days, engineers will make repairs to the suspect sensor connectors on the tank at Kennedy Space Center even as NASA engineers in Alabama conduct simulation tests on the connectors. NASA engineers are confident they have identified the root cause of the trouble.
"What we’re doing is addressing the most probable cause," said John Shannon, deputy manager of NASA’s shuttle program. He said yesterday that Jan. 24 is the earliest date the Atlantis could launch if no further issues arise.
"Everything has to go exactly right for us to make the 24th."
A more likely launch date will fall between Feb. 2 and 7 — uncomfortably near a Russian liftoff Feb. 7 to the International Space Station. Shannon said NASA would discuss that possibility with its international partners on the space station.
The main mission of Atlantis is to carry the European Space Agency’s science laboratory to the space station.
Melvin, 43, is set to serve as the primary robotics specialist on the mission. Melvin was a chemistry major who played football at the University of Richmond, where he set school records as a wide receiver.
He joined the NFL before injuries sidelined his sports career and then turned to NASA, first at the Langley Research Center in Hampton in 1989. He was selected for the astronaut class of 1998 and assigned in 2006 to the upcoming mission.
Contact A.J. Hostetler at (804) 649-6355 or ahostetler@timesdispatch.com.