Nasa keeping weather-eye open
2005-07-12 17:37
Cape Canaveral - With one day to go until the planned Discovery launch, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration was keeping an anxious eye on the weather on Tuesday, amid concerns that storms could delay the first space-shuttle flight since the 2003 Columbia disaster.
Columbia burst into flames on re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere on February 1 2003.
Forecasters announced a deterioration in conditions for the present launch, with a 60% probability of favourable weather, down from 70%, during the five-minute window for liftoff from the Kennedy Space Centre on Florida's Atlantic coast.
If the weather is too bad, NASA will reschedule liftoff for Thursday, and has until the end of the month to launch the seven astronauts on their mission to deliver supplies to the International Space Station and to test improvements made to the shuttle.
Tropical storm coming up
But weather conditions are expected to be similar for the next few days and could then deteriorate further if the still-distant tropical storm, Emily, heads toward Florida as a full-blown hurricane.
"We definitely will be busy," said Kathy Winters, the shuttle's weather officer, at a briefing on Tuesday.
Nasa managers said everything else was on track.
Test director Jeff Spalding said: "The vehicle is ready, the team is ready, the nation is ready, and I hope the weather is ready."