Delay Would Jeopardize Satellite Rescue : Weather May Prevent Launch of Shuttle

Weather for today’s launch of the space shuttle Discovery was expected to be “marginal,” and National Aeronautics and Space Administration officials are concerned that they may not be able to launch the craft by Thursday, the last day on which Discovery can accomplish the highlight of its mission, the rescue of a stranded satellite.

With two of the four opportunities to launch in time already gone, NASA is intensely worried by a tropical storm developing in the Gulf of Mexico.

Electrical Storms Feared

Officials are concerned that the activity may spawn localized electrical storms in the vicinity of the spaceport, which could damage the shuttle during its ascent or prevent its return during an emergency immediately after liftoff.

And although the picture could improve by Thursday, “Wednesday’s weather looks even worse,” Air Force weather forecaster Lt. Scott Funk said.

NASA has the option of attempting the launch on any two of the three days, but if today’s launch attempt is unsuccessful, either Wednesday or Thursday will have to be used for maintenance and safety checks of the orbiter.

Late Monday night, officials decided to continue the countdown for today’s liftoff at about 4 a.m. PDT

Rescue in Jeopardy

The attempted satellite rescue would be the highlight of the eight-day mission, but the primary official goal is to launch three communications satellites. The shuttle must be launched at the right time to release those satellites in the right place, but by Friday the stranded satellite will have drifted so far away that it will not be possible for the Discovery to be launched in time to both release the new satellites and rendezvous with the crippled one. In that case, the commercial satellites will take precedence, and the rescue will be scratched. NASA said the shuttle schedule is so crowded that it could not predict when another rescue effort could be attempted.

The Discovery is commanded by Joe Engle, 53. The other crewmen are Richard O. Covey, 39, the pilot, and mission specialists James D. van Hoften, 41, John M. Lounge, 39, and William F. Fisher, 39.