Space Shuttle Status Report (11:00 PM EST)

KSC Contact: Bruce Buckingham

STS-103

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 —