Jacques van Oene
April 7th 05, 10:42 PM
Michael Rein
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
(Phone: 321/867-2468)
RELEASE: 31-05
NASA'S SPACE SHUTTLE DISCOVERY ARRIVES AT LAUNCH PAD
NASA's Space Shuttle Discovery arrived at its launch pad completing
the next major milestone for Return to Flight of America's Space
Shuttle program. The Shuttle arrived at its launch pad at 12:30 a.m.
This was approximately three hours later than its scheduled arrival.
The slight delay was caused when Shuttle processing team members had
to replace a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) circuit card on the
Crawler Transporter during the final leg of its journey. The Crawler
Transporter is the vehicle which transports the Space Shuttle and its
Mobile Launcher Platform to the launch pad. The PLC is an indicator
that relays height measurements to the Crawler's operators while it's
in motion.
The issue occurred during Discovery's initial attempt to climb the
incline ramp leading to Pad 39B. When observed, technicians decided
to stop the rollout and then reverse Discovery back down the incline
ramp to level ground to test and then replace the circuit card. Once
the new card was in place, the Crawler functioned normally and the
rollout was completed. The Space Shuttle remained level and in a safe
configuration throughout all movements and during the changeout of
the card.
Once in place at the launch pad, the shuttle team continued
preparation of Discovery for its scheduled launch set for a window of
May 15 to June 3.
-end-
--
--------------
Jacques :-)
www.spacepatches.info
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
(Phone: 321/867-2468)
RELEASE: 31-05
NASA'S SPACE SHUTTLE DISCOVERY ARRIVES AT LAUNCH PAD
NASA's Space Shuttle Discovery arrived at its launch pad completing
the next major milestone for Return to Flight of America's Space
Shuttle program. The Shuttle arrived at its launch pad at 12:30 a.m.
This was approximately three hours later than its scheduled arrival.
The slight delay was caused when Shuttle processing team members had
to replace a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) circuit card on the
Crawler Transporter during the final leg of its journey. The Crawler
Transporter is the vehicle which transports the Space Shuttle and its
Mobile Launcher Platform to the launch pad. The PLC is an indicator
that relays height measurements to the Crawler's operators while it's
in motion.
The issue occurred during Discovery's initial attempt to climb the
incline ramp leading to Pad 39B. When observed, technicians decided
to stop the rollout and then reverse Discovery back down the incline
ramp to level ground to test and then replace the circuit card. Once
the new card was in place, the Crawler functioned normally and the
rollout was completed. The Space Shuttle remained level and in a safe
configuration throughout all movements and during the changeout of
the card.
Once in place at the launch pad, the shuttle team continued
preparation of Discovery for its scheduled launch set for a window of
May 15 to June 3.
-end-
--
--------------
Jacques :-)
www.spacepatches.info