MRO Fuel Sensors

Just curious. In a report by the BBC-

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/science/nature/4134300.stm

"Thursday's attempt was abandoned because sensors that monitor fuelling
of the rocket were giving a "dry" reading even though the rocket was being
filled with hydrogen propellant."

The Atlas V and Shuttle ET sensors don't have any common components,
do they?

Dale

Dale wrote:
Just curious. In a report by the BBC-

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/science/nature/4134300.stm

"Thursday's attempt was abandoned because sensors that monitor fuelling
of the rocket were giving a "dry" reading even though the rocket was being
filled with hydrogen propellant."

The Atlas V and Shuttle ET sensors don't have any common components,
do they?


The BBC got it wrong. Here's what really happened,
as explained by Justin Ray at Spaceflightnow.com.
"http://www.spaceflightnow.com/atlas/av007/status.html"

"During yesterday's countdown, a problem loading the
liquid hydrogen in both the computer-controlled and
manual modes forced the launch attempt to be scrubbed.
Engineers traced the glitch to a hangup in the
software that stemmed from an overnight test on the
propellant loading sensors. The test, which was done
following a lightning strike 0.6-of-a-mile the launch
pad to ensure there were no problems from that event,
simulated the sensors were wet and the tank was full.
When the actual filling of the rocket was supposed to
start, however, the software prevented the fueling
operation because it thought the tank was already
full. The software has since been reset and engineers
don't expect any problems today."

- Ed Kyle