Poor Weather Scrubs Space Shuttle Launch
High winds and rain at emergency landing sites abroad forced cancellation of Saturday’s planned liftoff of the space shuttle Atlantis, and NASA rescheduled the launch for today.
Atlantis is ready to begin an eight-day mission to dock with the Russian space station Mir. The shuttle is transporting a Russian-made docking module that will be installed on the Mir for all shuttles to use.
Today’s launch attempt was set for 4:30 a.m. PST, said spokesman George Diller. NASA has just seven minutes on any given day to send Atlantis on the most fuel-efficient route to Mir.
To blast off, the shuttle must have the option to land at one of three emergency landing sites--in Moron and Zaragosa in Spain or in Ben Guerir, Morocco.
Shuttle weather officer Scot Heckman said Saturday that crosswinds at Ben Guerir and wind and rain at the landing sites in Spain were not favorable for an emergency landing.
Atlantis’ crew is composed of one rookie astronaut, Canadian Chris Hadfield, and four U.S. space veterans: commander Kenneth Cameron, pilot Jim Halsell Jr., Bill McArthur Jr. and Jerry Ross.
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