STS-121: The Countdown to Launch Continues
By TonyF on 30 June 2006 at 1:16PM
Keeping an eye on the weather for tomorrow afternoon's launch. NASA reports:
Afternoon Showers Could Dampen Discovery's Day
Kathy Winters, shuttle launch weather officer, has forecasted a 60-percent chance of regional thunderstorms grounding the launch for Saturday and Sunday. While rain is expected to be falling in nearby Orlando, anvil clouds from the storms could stretch back toward the Kennedy coast. The danger posed by anvil clouds is that the shuttle could trigger lightning by flying near them.
What's Up Next
At 7 p.m. tonight, pad 39B's rotating service structure surrounding the space shuttle will be retracted as a part of final preparations for Saturday's first launch attempt. On launch morning, technicians will begin pumping liquid hydrogen and oxygen propellants into Discovery's orange external tank at 5:30 a.m. to fuel the ship for flight. Launch week's events will culminate with the targeted liftoff of Discovery at 3:49 p.m. EDT on Saturday. The final countdown to launch can be followed on the Web with NASA's Launch Blog and NASA TV.
A replay of this morning's "STS-121 Astronaut Webcast" is now available online.
+ Watch STS-121 Astronaut Webcast
The Launch Team
Learn more about the NASA team that's responsible for the events that lead up to the liftoff of mission STS-121.
+ Meet the Launch Team
Stay Tuned...
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