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
|
|
Wednesday, June 10
Falcon 9 launch of Starlink satellites scheduled from Vandenberg SFB on Thursday morning
KEYT-TV Santa Barbara, CA — 7:21 am ET (1121 GMT) Starlink says talks with India remain productive as it awaits final clearance
PTI — 7:19 am ET (1119 GMT) Elon Musk’s Starlink says India freeze reports are ‘misleading’, talks with govt ongoing
ThePrint (India) — 7:19 am ET (1119 GMT) U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers honored for role in creating U.S. Space Force
Yellowhammer News — 7:18 am ET (1118 GMT) Space Force Picks Intelsat, Viasat for Protected SATCOM Program
Air and Space Forces Magazine — 7:17 am ET (1117 GMT) |
