Showers and thunderstorms are likely to force a delay to this week’s planned final launch of the space shuttle, Nasa’s weather officer has said.
“We are going with a 60 per cent chance of Kennedy Space Centre weather prohibiting launch due to the potential for showers and isolated thunderstorms in the area,” shuttle weather officer Kathy Winters told reporters before tomorrow’s planned liftoff.
The turbulent weather and clouds within 20 nautical miles of the launch pad were likely to move in “near the end of the countdown, right around that 11 a.m. time period,” she added.
Atlantis is set for liftoff tomorrow at 15.26 GMT from Kennedy Space Centre with four US astronauts on board for a 12-day mission to the International Space Station.
The flight will be the last by a US shuttle, ending the 30-year programme and leaving a gap in US human spaceflight. Until a new crew vehicle can be built, the world’s astronauts will have to rely on Russia’s space capsules for transit to the ISS.
As the shuttle programme comes to an end, a Pew poll released on Tuesday found most Americans believe the US should maintain its dominance in space exploration.
Almost or 58 per cent said they felt it was essential that the US should remain the world leader in space flight, while 38 per cent said it was not necessary.
And 55 per cent also agreed that the shuttle programme had been a good investment for the United States, saying it had encouraged greater interest in science, led to scientific advances and fuelled patriotic sentiment.
Nasa has said that a shuttle replacement could emerge sometime between 2015 and 2021.
If weather forces a delay in tomorrow’s liftoff, other weekend opportunities will arise. Conditions improve to a 40 per cent chance of weather prohibiting launch on Saturday, and a 30 per cent chance on Sunday.
“We will do everything we can to launch on Friday but if things don’t work out so that we can do that we have plenty of options... Saturday and Sunday,” said Jeremy Graeber, Nasa test director.
Mr Graeber added that the US space agency was expecting crowds in the area of 500,000 to 750,000 on launch day.
If the shuttle departs on time, Nasa has the option of adding an extra day to the 12-day mission, but that scenario is not likely if the launch is delayed.