Shuttle Flight Scrubbed

STS-114

Todays flight of STS-114 has be postponed due to one of the four low level fuel cut-off sensors in the main tank giving a faulty reading. These sensors monitor the level of hydrogen in the tanks so the motors will not run dry and be damaged if the burn is longer than expected. The crew is being unloaded and taken via the crew van to astronauts crew quarters and the ground crews are beginning the de-tanking process of the onboard cryogenics. The flight ops team will be assessing the problem and resetting the schedule accordingly. They will be having a press conference at apx. 4pm EST to discuss the events of the day. The chance for a flight tomorrow is very low as weather is going to be a major issue, todays launch had a 60% chance of being scrubbed due to low visibility due to clouds. Maximum visibility is needed to ensure that all 107 ground and air born cameras can get a good view of the vehicle during the assent to verify that the tiles have not sustained any damage during launch. The launch window for docking with the ISS to preform the scheduled re-supply mission is approximately two weeks.

UPDATE: The launch has been pushed back until Saturday, July 16 at 2:40 p.m. EDT

Watch NASA TV live
NASA Return to Flight main page
CNN coverage of the STS-114 launch
SPACE.com coverage of the Return to Space

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