Bad valve forces NASA to call off shuttle launch

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA called off the launch of space shuttle Discovery for a second time Tuesday after a critical fuel valve failed to work properly.

Launch officials halted the countdown midway through the fueling process. The seven astronauts had not yet boarded the shuttle for the scheduled early Wednesday morning flight to the international space station.

"Drats!" said astronaut Jose Hernandez in a Twitter update. Fellow astronaut Christer Fuglesang, a Swede, chimed in with this tweet: "Bad luck again."

Another attempt will not be made until Friday at the earliest. There are two possible launch times: 12:22 a.m. and 11:59 p.m.

NASA is up against a tight end-of-month deadline for launching Discovery. If Discovery is not flying by Sunday, the delivery mission will slide into October because of a pair of upcoming launches to the space station from Japan and Russia.

The problem cropped up while launch controllers were trying to shut the large fill-and-drain valve in Discovery's engine compartment. There was no indication the valve closed, and flight rules stipulated that the fuel tank be drained before moving the valve to figure out what went wrong.

Engineers suspect it may be a problem with instruments and that the valve itself could be fine, said Mike Moses, chairman of the mission management team. If that's the case, NASA will try again early Friday morning to launch Discovery.

"That's our success-oriented plan," Moses said late Tuesday night. "Between now and then, we'll learn a lot more."

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If the valve is at fault, however, workers will need to get into the engine compartment to replace it. That would take a lot longer. Moses said it would be unlikely NASA could launch by Sunday's deadline and the flight would fall to mid-October.

The 8-inch valve, part of the main propulsion system, is used for the flow of liquid hydrogen from the external fuel tank to the main engines. It needs to be closed prior to launch, and open in order to drain the tank following a launch delay.

The valve worked fine during the first launch attempt, but thunderstorms prevented Discovery from blasting off early Tuesday morning.

The first launch attempt was scuttled in the wee hours of Tuesday. Sixteen hours later, try two ended with a surprising scrub.

Discovery is loaded with thousands of pounds of space station supplies and equipment, including a new treadmill named after Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert.

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On the Net:

NASA: http://www.nasa.gov/mission(underscore)pages/shuttle/main/index.html

Comments

[jsarets]

The valve in question is Discovery's inboard liquid hydrogen fill and drain valve in the aft compartment of the orbiter. It was scheduled to be replaced after this mission as the valve approaches the cycle limit, so it's not exactly surprising that it failed shortly before its end of life.

This is one of the problems with reusable launch vehicles. They have a huge amount of moving parts that work in extremely harsh environments, and there's only so much they can do to inspect and verify millions of parts between flights.

In the past two years, the Shuttle fleet has had problems with liquid hydrogen engine cutoff sensors, liquid hydrogen flow control valves, cold hydrogen vent valves, and now liquid hydrogen fill and drain valves. Cryogenic hydrogen is nasty stuff. It destroys most materials with enough exposure.

Unfortunately, the Shuttle can't be treated like an airliner that flies into space. It can only be reused with unreasonable amounts of expensive, specialized, cautious touch labor that never really reduces risks to operational levels.

Maybe we'll have economical reusable launch vehicles some day, but:

1) they won't use liquid hydrogen
2) they won't lift more than 50 tons to LEO
3) they won't launch satellites or probes
4) they would only launch people, propellants, and provisions

[wadda]

"The storms popped up unexpectedly late Monday..."

It's Florida in August!...­unexpected­ly -sheeez.

[YewNeekId]

The space program is such a collosal waste of money. It should be shut down and all the girls and boys should be given model rockets to play with at home.

Is the quality of life on earth really improved by delivering a $5million treadmill to the outer space tourist host spot? What's next, hookers on the moon.

SHUT IT DOWN

[CorporatePork]

the stimulous package obama passed is almost twice nasa's total cost from inception.

Nasa has more than paid for itself with the taxes from jobs spawned from technology it created.

[iskra]

Says the person using his computer (space program benefit) posting over the internet (communications tech based on space program development).

Research and development have huge paybacks. The space program during the 60's was a huge push in research giving us everything from computers to kevlar and plasma TV's. It's not coincidence that America pulled to the forefront of technology and had a long period of prosperity after JFK's huge push in engineering and science.

The entire NASA budget is about 66 F-22's and pays back a hell of a lot more in science and engineering benefits.

[Downix]

Yes, it is actually. Things have progressed in all fields of science due to experiments and research like this, from cancer treatment to car safety. Know someone that survived Lukemia, thank an Astronaut. Survived a headon collision, thank NASA. Enjoy Satellite TV, wave to the Kennedy Space Center.

Here's a simplified page for children giving you a basic idea of some of the benefits brought back due to the research conducted while in orbit:

http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/en/kids/spinoffs2.shtml

By all reports, for every dollar spent in NASA, $7 comes back in profits due to the advances in science. That is a very good return on investment in my book. So, which $35 million do you want taken away, with the removal of the $5 million treadmill?

[PresidentRobertBooth]

There's something amusing about some people here using computers, which include microchips which derive from the integrated circuits used during the Apollo missions, and complaining that the space program should be shut down

Not to mention all the other space exploration derived inventions that have become commonplace in Western civilisation like CAT scanners, ear thermometers, water filters, smoke detectors, satellite communication and media, home insulation, kidney dialysis machines, cardiovascular conditioning, cordless tools & appliances among many others.

[OlderWoman]

Well, some people simply don't understand science.

[Itsmyland2]

You under the impression that Jesus invented the computer you are tying on?

[ThinkCreeps]

He could have done: mine is made of wood.

[Whitehouse]

Wednesday at 1:10AM Eastern.
I agree, this small tidbit could have been included in the story.

[judyc]

Again???? How much did this scrubbed launch cost us?

[Downix]

Not as much as you might think, as most of the ground operations and crew are salaried. Cost of material comes to very little compared to the cost of an actual launch.

[ThinkCreeps]

Rather less than the investigation and clean up if a lightning strike or turbulence brought down the crew and spacecraft on launch.

[rsaillant1]

....and the time for the new launch would be........­..........­..........­........?

C'mon folks, some of us here on the S. Florida coast will, again
refrain from sleep to see this baby go up....but when? Reportage=
Who, What, Where, Why and......W­HEN.

[leiss62185]

NASA will try again to launch the shuttle Discovery to the international space station on Wednesday

[BrainDart]

Hopefully HO isn't your main source of news, especially local news.

[BrainDart]

err... HP, not HO. Haven't had my coffee yet, was staying up to watch the shuttle.