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
|
|
Monday, April 21
Moving would have ‘enormous cost’; Mayor Mobolade calls for Space Command to stay put
KRDO-TV Colorado Springs — 6:26 am ET (1026 GMT) SpaceX launches third fleet of spy satellites in 8 days
UPI — 6:24 am ET (1024 GMT) Sorry Katy Perry, you are no firework in space exploration
The Scotsman — 6:22 am ET (1022 GMT) He Was a Prophet of Space Travel. His Ashes Were Found in a Basement.
New York Times — 6:18 am ET (1018 GMT) Isro's SpaDeX satellites complete second docking successfully, more tests to follow
India Today — 6:16 am ET (1016 GMT) |
