Winds, Clouds Likely to Delay Shuttle Launch

Despite an unfavorable weather forecast, NASA officials pressed ahead Wednesday night with the countdown for the planned launch this morning of the space shuttle Atlantis.

Space agency officials said that gusty winds and low clouds forecast for the early morning liftoff would probably cause the flight to be scrubbed.

If today’s launch should be aborted, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration will try again Friday, providing that the weather and the complex shuttle machinery cooperate.

Second Shuttle Mission

The flight of Atlantis is to be the second shuttle mission following the Challenger disaster of January, 1986. It will take a secret military payload--probably a $500-million spy satellite--into orbit, and because the mission is classified the space agency would not disclose the hoped-for liftoff time, saying only that it was planned for between 3:32 a.m. and 6:32 a.m. PST.

NASA is operating under strict new weather rules that were revised in the wake of the Challenger tragedy. Cold weather was identified as a cause of the explosion that destroyed the orbiter and killed its crew of seven.

The new guidelines set out narrow limits for temperature, wind speed and direction, cloud cover, electrical storms and conditions at landing and recovery sites.

NASA officials were reluctant to say Wednesday that the expected weather conditions at today’s planned launch time would have stopped a pre-Challenger flight, operating under more liberal guidelines.

Cautious Attitude

But the cautious attitude displayed here Wednesday was in stark contrast to the “all-systems-go” spirit that prevailed before the Challenger accident.

Air Force Capt. Tom Strange, Kennedy Space Center weather officer, said Wednesday there was a 70% chance that conditions would violate the new weather rules. He cited a combination of winds gusting up to 20 knots, low clouds and the possibility of showers in the area.

The NASA “mission management team,” led by ex-astronaut Capt. Robert L. Crippen, met for more than four hours Wednesday to review weather reports and discuss other safety issues.

The team is the final authority on whether to launch.

The only technical problem with the shuttle itself was resolved late Wednesday when shuttle technicians used glue to attach an 18-by-24-inch service hatch near the right front maneuvering rockets. The hatch failed to tighten properly as it was being bolted down on Tuesday, forcing technicians to seal it with adhesive.

On the first try, the glue--a silicon resin cement also used to fix the heat-shield tiles to the orbiter--failed to hold, but the second attempt was successful.