Press Release

Space Shuttle Status Report (11:00 PM EST)

By SpaceRef Editor
December 17, 1999
Filed under

MISSION: STS-103 — 3rd HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE SERVICING MISSION

Space Shuttle mission managers scrubbed the launch of Discovery on mission STS-103 tonight at about 8:52 p.m. due to numerous
violations of weather launch commit criteria at KSC. A 24-hour scrub turnaround sequence is currently in work at the pad. Managers will
attempt to launch Discovery tomorrow, Dec. 18, at 8:21 p.m. Eastern Time. The 42-minute window extends to 9:03 p.m.

Currently at the pad, operations to detank the external tank of its unused liquid propellants will continue into the early morning. Following
this operation, Discovery will then be placed in a posture to be refilled with the cryogenics beginning around 11:30 a.m.

The seven-member crew of Discovery have returned to their crew quarters for the night and will begin their sleep period about 2:30 a.m.
They will awake tomorrow at about 10:30 a.m. and once again go through their launch day routine. Walkout of the Operations and
Checkout Building is scheduled for 4:47 p.m.

Tomorrow’s weather outlook is somewhat similar to tonight’s. Forecasters are predicting a 70 percent chance of weather criteria violation
with the primary concerns being for low clouds and possible rain showers in the vicinity of the pad and the Shuttle Landing Facility.

–end–

SpaceRef staff editor.