Rain or shine, the crew of the US space shuttle Atlantis were to attempt landing yesterday after bad weather forced delays in their return to Earth for two consecutive days. But NASA may have to land the shuttle in California instead of Florida, adding US$2 million to the price of the mission.
On Saturday, heavy cloud cover and crosswinds forced the US space agency to put off the space shuttle Atlantis’ return to Earth for at least another day, extending an otherwise successful mission to repair the Hubble telescope.
NASA had hoped to land the shuttle at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, but the weather did not cooperate, delaying landing for a second day. The crew has enough fuel to fly until today at the latest.
PHOTO: REUTERS
“The forecast for tomorrow [yesterday] is slightly better,” said Allard Beutel, a spokesman for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
NASA prepared Edwards Air Force Base in California as a back-up landing point in case conditions did not clear up in Florida.
“There’s a chance for a landing at Kennedy tomorrow and we’re going to keep that option open,” said Greg Johnson, another NASA spokesman. “Edwards remains good for tomorrow and Monday, if needed.”
The first chance to land at the Kennedy Space Center yesterday would be at 10:11am, he said. A second window of opportunity would appear at 11:40am in California and a third opportunity would follow just nine minutes later at 11:49 am in Florida.
NASA would prefer to land the shuttle at the Kennedy Space Center as it would cost the agency some US$2 million extra to get the craft back home from Edwards Air Force Base.
The Atlantis blasted off on May 11 with a crew of seven astronauts on what was scheduled to be an 11-day mission to repair the Hubble space telescope and extend its range and life for another five years.
“They have enough supplies to stay on board until Monday. But we don’t like to wait until the last moment,” Beutel said.
NASA has set several conditions for a landing: The cloud cover in the skies must not be more than 50 percent, visibility must be at least 8km and lateral winds must not be blowing at more than 28km an hour.
As early as Thursday, the astronauts were told by NASA to shut down some of the computers on board the shuttle to conserve electricity in the event that their landing was delayed.
The Hubble observatory was released on Tuesday after five obstacle-filled spacewalks.
The enhancements have equipped Hubble to search for the earliest galaxies, probe the mysteries of dark matter and dark energy as well as study planet-making processes.
But the trouble was well worthwhile.
John Grunsfeld, an astronomer turned astronaut who led three of the mission’s five spacewalks, told lawmakers on Thursday that Hubble “is probably the most significant science instrument of all times.”
As NASA struggled with the Atlantis landing, the White House announced on Saturday that US President Barack Obama had nominated former astronaut Charles Bolden to be the agency’s new administrator.
If confirmed, Bolden would be the first African-American to lead NASA and only the second astronaut.
A retired Marine Corps major general, Bolden made four shuttle voyages during his years as an astronaut and piloted the shuttle Discovery when it deployed Hubble into orbit in 1990.
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