Launch Day
"This is the final voyage of the Space Ship Endeavour. Its 19-year mission: ..."
Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville Alabama is shut down after the massive tornado swarm the other day (they didn't get hit directly, but the whole Huntsville region is suffering an ongoing power outage in the aftermath). They're not in the "critical path" to launch, so the current plan is to launch as scheduled (with the usual caveats about weather in Florida), but they do have a major role in data management/distribution/analysis during the mission. So we're scrambling to figure out how to do time-critical safety-related stuff like debris-impact analysis.
Here's hoping for a conspicuous absence of Gigantic Kabooms.
================================
EDIT: Problems with APU heaters have led to a launch scrub. Next attempt is (officially) no earlier than Monday May 2, but the rumor mill is saying that's optimistic and Wednesday is more realistic.
Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville Alabama is shut down after the massive tornado swarm the other day (they didn't get hit directly, but the whole Huntsville region is suffering an ongoing power outage in the aftermath). They're not in the "critical path" to launch, so the current plan is to launch as scheduled (with the usual caveats about weather in Florida), but they do have a major role in data management/distribution/analysis during the mission. So we're scrambling to figure out how to do time-critical safety-related stuff like debris-impact analysis.
Here's hoping for a conspicuous absence of Gigantic Kabooms.
================================
EDIT: Problems with APU heaters have led to a launch scrub. Next attempt is (officially) no earlier than Monday May 2, but the rumor mill is saying that's optimistic and Wednesday is more realistic.