| STS-117 Atlantis delayed due to hail |
[Feb. 27th, 2007|11:20 pm] |
A hailstorm moved through the Kennedy Space Center on Monday (February 26) and due to hail damage to the External Tank and a few tiles on Atlantis, NASA managers decided to roll the orbiter stack back to the Vehicle Assembly Building and repair the damage.
Atlantis is now scheduled to launch no earlier than late April, rather than around March 15th.
STS-117 will be ferrying up the Starboard-side S3/S4 truss segments and SARJ (Solar Array Alpha Joint) that allows the starboard solar panels to rotate to better follow the sun for power generation. The P6 truss segment starboard-side solar arrays will be retracted and the S4 truss segment solar arrays will be extended.
Atlantis' crew is Commander Frederick Sturckow, Pilot Lee Archambault and mission specialists Patrick Forrester, James Reilly II, Steven Swanson, and John D. Olivas. |
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