The countdown continues for the launch of the shuttle Discovery on Saturday * NASA says that it is fit for flight
The Discovery team arrived for the launch
Update 30 / 6 / 2006
At Friday morning's countdown status briefing, NASA test manager Jeff Spaulding said, "We have not encountered any problems that could cause a malfunction that would affect the plans for the launch of the shuttle Discovery on Saturday."
Preparations for the launch continued as usual on Friday as well. The final works on the launch pad continued as well as being filled with all the external fuel. Since the weather still threatens to disrupt the launch due to thunderstorms, it was decided that there will be two successive launch attempts - on Saturday (21:50 midnight Israel time) and on Sunday, a break on Monday and two more attempts on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The shuttle is launched so that it will meet the International Space Station at the scheduled time, and another constraint is that the launch will take place during the day so that it can be photographed from as many angles as possible, as one of the lessons learned from the Columbia disaster.
We will continue and update
Update 29 / 6 / 2006
"Discovery is in excellent condition," said NASA's experiment manager, Jeff Spaulding. "In the preparations, we have not encountered any glitches so far. Our crews have been working diligently over the past year to assist, as best they can, with the safety of crew members on this and all other shuttle flights," he added. "As we approach the nation's 230th Independence Day, I am proud to announce that the teams responsible for the launch vehicle, the launch itself, including the crew that will accompany the flight and of course the astronauts themselves - are all ready for launch and will continue the mission to complete the International Space Station."
Flight STS-121's cargo manager, Debbie Hahn, commented that the cargo had been loaded onto the shuttle and was ready for flight. The manager of the weather forecasting system for launches, Kathy Winters, reported that there is a 60 percent chance that the weather will cause the launch to be canceled on Saturday. A barometric level over Bermuda may improve the weather, but the coast may suffer from lightning storms and clouds that can be disruptive due to the danger of lightning strikes. In the case of a 24-hour delay, the forecast is the same - a 60 percent chance that the weather will cause the launch to be delayed, and this is the case on Monday as well, mainly due to the activity of the lightning storms.
