Weather, technical issues delay GRAIL launch
Updated: Fri, Sep 9, 2011, 8:00 AM ET (1200 GMT)
Originally Posted: Thu, Sep 8, 2011, 10:23 PM ET (0223 GMT)
Gusty upper-level winds forced NASA to postpone Thursday's scheduled launch of a lunar orbiter mission by a day, and technical concerns will delay it at least an additional day. NASA had planned to launch the Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) spacecraft on a Delta 2 from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Thursday morning, but high winds in the upper atmosphere scrubbed the launch. NASA initially rescheduled the launch for Friday, but late Thursday night announced the launch would be pushed back to at least Saturday to allow more time to review data collected during the "detanking" operation after Thursday morning's scrub. Launch is now planned for no earlier than Saturday at either 8:29:45 or 9:08:52 am EDT (1229:45 or 1308:52 GMT). GRAIL will use two spacecraft to map the Moon's gravity field to far higher precision than before, yielding new information about the Moon's interior.
Originally Posted: Thu, Sep 8, 2011, 10:23 PM ET (0223 GMT)
Gusty upper-level winds forced NASA to postpone Thursday's scheduled launch of a lunar orbiter mission by a day, and technical concerns will delay it at least an additional day. NASA had planned to launch the Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) spacecraft on a Delta 2 from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Thursday morning, but high winds in the upper atmosphere scrubbed the launch. NASA initially rescheduled the launch for Friday, but late Thursday night announced the launch would be pushed back to at least Saturday to allow more time to review data collected during the "detanking" operation after Thursday morning's scrub. Launch is now planned for no earlier than Saturday at either 8:29:45 or 9:08:52 am EDT (1229:45 or 1308:52 GMT). GRAIL will use two spacecraft to map the Moon's gravity field to far higher precision than before, yielding new information about the Moon's interior.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
Friday, January 16
Ariane 6: safety first
ESA — 5:26 am ET (1026 GMT) Is Elon Musk losing the space cellphone war?
Fast Company — 5:25 am ET (1025 GMT) Musk’s Starlink offers cheaper broadband than BT after UK price cuts
The Daily Telegraph — 5:24 am ET (1024 GMT) Is Starlink authoritarian-proof?
Fast Company — 5:23 am ET (1023 GMT) Europe's biggest airline doesn't want Starlink on its planes. Elon Musk says it will lose customers.
Business Insider — 5:23 am ET (1023 GMT) |
