Delayed by bad weather, NASA on Tuesday began filling space shuttle Endeavour's fuel tank for launch, hoping to begin a key construction mission at the International Space Station. Fueling was delayed n
early three hours by thunderstorms and lightning at the Florida launch site. The shuttle is scheduled to lift off at 5:40 a.m. (0940 GMT) on Wednesday. With good weather forecast for the launch, NASA began filling the space shuttle's fuel tank with 500,000 gallons (1.9 million litres) of liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen needed to power the ship's three main engines during an 8 1/2-minute climb to orbit. Endeavour will deliver to the space station a porch that will be attached to the Japanese Kibo laboratory so that experiments can be exposed to the open space environment. NASA had hoped to launch Endeavour last Saturday, but sensors detected dangerous levels of hydrogen gas escaping from a vent line and canceled the launch. A similar problem stymied sister ship Discovery during a launch attempt in March. Engineers have not determined the root cause of the problem. The fix for Endeavour is the same procedure NASA implemented to launch Discovery -- replacing suspect seals. NASA will know if the plan worked when the shuttle's tank is full. The vent line removes hydrogen that has turned from liquid to gas inside the shuttle's fuel tank. The gas is funneled to a flare stack away from the shuttle and safely incinerated.
early three hours by thunderstorms and lightning at the Florida launch site. The shuttle is scheduled to lift off at 5:40 a.m. (0940 GMT) on Wednesday. With good weather forecast for the launch, NASA began filling the space shuttle's fuel tank with 500,000 gallons (1.9 million litres) of liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen needed to power the ship's three main engines during an 8 1/2-minute climb to orbit. Endeavour will deliver to the space station a porch that will be attached to the Japanese Kibo laboratory so that experiments can be exposed to the open space environment. NASA had hoped to launch Endeavour last Saturday, but sensors detected dangerous levels of hydrogen gas escaping from a vent line and canceled the launch. A similar problem stymied sister ship Discovery during a launch attempt in March. Engineers have not determined the root cause of the problem. The fix for Endeavour is the same procedure NASA implemented to launch Discovery -- replacing suspect seals. NASA will know if the plan worked when the shuttle's tank is full. The vent line removes hydrogen that has turned from liquid to gas inside the shuttle's fuel tank. The gas is funneled to a flare stack away from the shuttle and safely incinerated.For further details visit at : www.reuters.com/article/rbssIndustryMaterialsUtilitiesNews/idUSN1631104520090617
