NASA Space Shuttle Processing Status Report 30 June 2006
Mission: STS-121 – 18th International Space Station Flight (ULF1.1) – Multi-Purpose Logistics Module
Vehicle: Discovery (OV-103)
Location: Launch Pad 39B
Launch Date: July 1, 2006, 3:49 p.m. EDT
Launch Pad: 39B
Crew: Lindsey, Kelly, Sellers, Fossum, Nowak, Wilson and Reiter
Inclination/Orbit Altitude: 51.6 degrees/122 nautical miles
The countdown for the Space Shuttle Discovery launch is in a built-in hold at the 11-hour mark. The countdown will pick up again at 10:53 p.m. The launch control team members are in Firing Room 4 of the Launch Control Center monitoring the system consoles. Launch remains scheduled for 3:49 p.m. Saturday.
The STS-121 crew is relaxing and reviewing flight data files today. They will go to sleep at 8:15 p.m. at the Kennedy Space Center and will be awakened at 5:15 a.m. Saturday to begin final prelaunch preparations.
At Launch Pad 39B, preparations continue for the launch of Discovery. Fuel cell reactants were loaded Thursday night after a three-hour delay caused by lightning at the Kennedy Space Center. Crew module provisions are being stowed today and pad closeouts are under way, prior to rolling back the Rotating Service Structure at 7 p.m.
U.S. Air Force weather officers are forecasting a 60-percent chance of weather prohibiting a launch attempt on Saturday. The primary weather concerns are anvil clouds from inland thunderstorms and thundershowers within 20 nautical miles of the Shuttle Landing Facility. The forecast is similar in the event of a 24-hour delay.
