Blue skies overlooking Atlantis may cloud Photo Credit/NASA photo
Shuttle Atlantis is in great shape to lift off Friday on NASA’s final space shuttle mission. But the weather outlook is looking increasingly stormy, raising the possibility of a delay, space agency officials said Wednesday.
The outlook improves some Saturday and greatly Sunday, the final day the space agency plans to make a launch attempt before standing down until July 16.
Nonetheless, NASA’s launch team is aiming for a lift off of Atlantis on Friday at 11:26 a.m., EDT. The shuttle’s crew of four has trained for nine months to fly a 12-day mission for the delivery of supplies to the International Space Station.
On Wednesday, Kathy Winters, the shuttle launch weather officer, down graded Friday’s outlook to 70 percent “no go” because of low clouds, the possibility of lightning, rain showers and thunderstorms. Still, the space agency estimates at least 500,000 people will gather on the roadways and beaches of Central Florida for a chance to witness the 135th shuttle departure.
“It’s not looking favorable now,” she told a NASA news briefing.
Mission managers will re-assess the outlook on Thursday prior to the scheduled 2 p.m. “roll back” of the Rotating Service Structure that protects the shuttle from severe weather. They’ll take another look at the outlook on Friday at 1:30 a.m., EDT, when they must decide whether to load the orbiter’s external tank with rocket propellants.
There are opportunities to launch Saturday at 11:02 a.m., EDT, or Sunday at 10:43 a.m., EDT, as well. Saturday’s outlook improves to 60 percent “no go,” and Sunday’s to 40 percent “no go.”
The shuttle launch team would then take a six-day break to accommodate plans by the U. S. Air Force to launch an unmanned Delta IV rocket with a Global Positioning System Satellite and re-service the shuttle’s electrical system.
“No forecast is created equal,” Mike Moses, who chairs NASA’s pre-launch Mission Management Team, told the briefing. “If we get a hole in the clouds at the right spot, we will go.”
Meanwhile, all work to prepare Atlantis for her 33rd and final flight was going well.
“The vehicle is in fantastic shape,” said Moses. “Everything is on time, on schedule — amazing.”