The launch team at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida now is targeting 12:30 p.m. EDT today for the start of the tanking test for space shuttle Atlantis’ external fuel tank. The team plans to fill Atlantis’ external tank with about 535,000 gallons of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen and then begin draining the tank tonight. This will support the plan to transport Atlantis’ payload to Launch Pad 39A Thursday evening.
Last night, teams changed the start of today’s test from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. after severe storms delayed preparations. But overnight, a power substation that supports the launch pad went offline at about 3 a.m., which caused a number of systems to lose electrical redundancy. Engineers have been working to fix the problem and in the meantime have developed a method to get the redundant power feed restored to critical systems. That extra work this morning caused the further delay in starting the tanking test.
Meanwhile, other engineers have been assessing three lightning strikes within a quarter mile of Launch Pad 39A during yesterday’s storms, but preliminary data indicate no damage to either Atlantis or the pad. Engineers are reviewing data to confirm that assessment.