4 hours till liftoff?

At 2:19am EST their saying 4 hours till liftoff on the NASA channel.
Aren't they supposed to be launching at 10:30am EST?

On Tue, 26 Jul 2005 06:19:23 GMT, Buck wrote:

At 2:19am EST their saying 4 hours till liftoff on the NASA channel.
Aren't they supposed to be launching at 10:30am EST?

10:39. It's 5:52AM EST, and still mighty dark outside The PAO
guy just said they're holding at T-2:00.

Have holds _always_ been built into launch countdowns? I know
they were SOP by the time of Freedom 7. Was there a time when
a countdown was meant to be an uninterrupted thing?

Dale

They're showing videos of the crew practicing pad escapes in
their escape baskets now (I guess that's what it is- the sound is
off

On Tue, 26 Jul 2005 02:52:56 -0700, Dale wrote:

10:39. It's 5:52AM EST, and still mighty dark outside The PAO
guy just said they're holding at T-2:00.

Have holds _always_ been built into launch countdowns? I know
they were SOP by the time of Freedom 7. Was there a time when
a countdown was meant to be an uninterrupted thing?

Dale


I don't know what the hell they're counting, I think it's something
like counting down till they start filling the tanks or who knows
what.

On Tue, 26 Jul 2005 10:05:33 GMT, Buck just had to say:

: I don't know what the hell they're counting, I think it's something
: like counting down till they start filling the tanks or who knows
: what.

Its like football, the last 15 minutes takes 2 hours.

"Buck" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 26 Jul 2005 02:52:56 -0700, Dale wrote:

10:39. It's 5:52AM EST, and still mighty dark outside The PAO
guy just said they're holding at T-2:00.

Have holds _always_ been built into launch countdowns? I know
they were SOP by the time of Freedom 7. Was there a time when
a countdown was meant to be an uninterrupted thing?

Dale


I don't know what the hell they're counting, I think it's something
like counting down till they start filling the tanks or who knows
what.

Sorta, there are what are known as built-in holds where they can stop the
count for a pre-determined amount of time, but yet extended it if necessary
w/o really interrupting the flow of things.

You'll notice there'sa 1/2 hour or so hold at right around 9 minutes. This
hold can be adjusted a bit to make sure that the shuttle launches at the
optimal time considering ISS's position, weather conditions, bogeys entering
the restricted area. Etc.