NASA Sets Endeavor/LRO Launch Schedule

NASA announced yesterday afternoon the schedule it had decided for the launches of the space shuttle Endeavor to the International Space Station, as well as for the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and the Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS). According to the latest information coming in from the American space agency, Endeavor will attempt another launch at 5:40 am EDT (0940 GMT) on Wednesday, June 17th. The two lunar probes had their take-off date pushed back by one day, until Thursday, June 19th.

Endeavor was originally scheduled to take off on June 13th from Launch Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center, in Florida, but a leak in its hydrogen fuel tank that engineers identified while fueling the ship the night before the launch prompted mission planners to abort the launch sequence. Aided by favorable weather, teams of engineers have been working around the clock since Saturday to fix the damage, and, at this point, the shuttle is cleared for take-off.

Still, one of the main problems that shuttle mission managers had after they canceled the launch was that pushing back the procedure conflicted directly with the launch of the LRO/LCROSS probes, which were initially scheduled to take off on June 17th from the nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Base complex, in Florida. NASA officials met with both teams handling the shuttle and the lunar probes, and established the current launch schedule based on the importance that each of the flights had.

Endeavor will be heading towards a 16-day tour de force on the ISS, carrying two new additions to the Japanese Kibo research module, as well as a replacement for JAXA Astronaut Koichi Wakata, his country's first long-term astronaut aboard the space station. He will be replaced by NASA Astronaut Timothy Kopra, who will take over duties as flight engineer on the orbital lab.

“The LRO and LCROSS launch was moved to June 18 to accommodate Endeavor's June 17 liftoff. If Thursday's liftoff of LRO and LCROSS is postponed 24 hours, the launch times Friday are 6:41 pm, 6:51 pm and 7:01 pm Saturday's opportunities are 8:08 pm, 8:18 pm and 8:28 pm,” the agency announced on its official website, in a press release.