Last Chance for Discovery Launch Today

Lousy weather once again forced NASA to delay Discovery’s flight to the Hubble Space Telescope on Saturday, and shuttle managers considered making one last shot at launch before giving up for the year.

It was the ninth postponement for the Hubble repair mission and the third in as many days.

NASA called off Saturday night’s launch attempt before fueling had even begun. Dark rain clouds hovered over the Kennedy Space Center as the announcement boomed over radios.

Liftoff tentatively was rescheduled for 4:50 p.m. PST today, with a final decision on whether to proceed expected in late morning. Forecasters put the chance of good weather at 60%.

Before committing to a launch today, managers want to take another look at the weather and make sure the shuttle team can have Discovery back on Earth and all ground computers shut down before year’s end.

Although NASA believes its computers are Y2K compliant, it does not want to have a shuttle up over New Year’s Eve--just in case.

NASA had insisted for weeks that Saturday would be the last chance to launch Discovery before bumping the mission into January. But after rain and thick, low clouds thwarted Friday night’s effort, NASA’s top spaceflight official said a run today might be possible after all.

Today is really the year’s last opportunity, said the official, Joseph Rothenberg. That would put landing on Dec. 27. But if bad weather interferes, the shuttle might have to stay in orbit an extra day or two.

Rothenberg said the agency must leave a margin of two days beyond the scheduled touchdown and consider the possibility that bad weather at the Kennedy Space Center could divert the shuttle landing to Edwards Air Force Base in Southern California.

NASA spokesman Joel Wells said a California touchdown poses all sorts of questions: “Would we be able to support that from an operational standpoint at California? How would we handle the vehicle? How would we monitor the vehicle, especially with Y2K hanging out there?”

Although they insist they’re putting no pressure on the shuttle program, astronomers want the $3-billion Hubble working again as soon as possible. Its eye on the universe closed in mid-November when its pointing system broke.

Until Discovery’s seven astronauts deliver new gyroscopes and other replacement parts, Hubble can perform no astronomical observations. It’s an expensive hiatus: NASA spends close to $25 million on the telescope each month, whether it’s working or not.

Four spacewalks had been planned to install all of Hubble’s new equipment, but only three will be carried out if Discovery lifts off today. And the mission will be cut from 10 to eight days to ensure that Discovery is back with a few days to spare before New Year’s Eve.

Discovery was scheduled to fly to Hubble in October but was grounded by damaged wiring, a contaminated engine and a dented fuel line. Later, there were last-minute concerns about welds in the main propulsion system.