To: Joana Tides who wrote (1 ) 7/22/1999 10:10:00 PM From: Alpen Hansi Read Replies (3) | Respond to of 7442
Off Topic... The Shuttle launch tonight is no walk in the park, so you can either turn on the TV before 00:28am EDT, read the lengthy details, or skip to the links. Since STS-93 is making its third attempt to launch tonight with the earliest launch being at 00:28am EDT tonight, I thought I would post some info that will hopefully set the mood for some of you night owls. As I write, the crew has almost completed their ingress into the cockpit with less than 2 1/2 hours to go. Pass it on and share as you like. This is one heavy payload/Orbiter combination, so all of us in Houston and the Cape have our eyes glued with anticipation. The NASA mgmt team has maximized the launch window (unusual above-and-beyond effort), from the original 46 minutes out to 1 hour and 56 minutes. In other words, the normal launch window for tonight was to last only up to 01:14am EDT, but the launch could take place as late as 02:24am. The additional 70 minutes in launch opportunity tonight were made available since it was found acceptable that the Chandra X-ray Observatory spend an additional 20 minutes in the Earth's shadow on every orbit with limited impact on power supply margins, and no impact to mission success. Below is the obligatory NASA TV video/audio link (if you don't have cable) for y'all with the faster modems. This is not a ".gov" site, so should run a lot faster, but I highly recommend it (audio especially):unitedspacealliance.com For all Techriders who understand rockets and holding on to the bar, the obligatory live shuttle tracking map, which provides the countdown clock ("MET", i.e. Mission Elapsed Time), altitude, speed, and reaction control jet firings:tracker.unitedspacealliance.com The following Florida Today link is a respectable info-source for the latest countdown events, so "refresh" on the browser will provide up to the minute updates (if the audio link above does not do justice).flatoday.com Last night, the launch was scrubbed due to weather rules, so I'll include a radar link so the NASA weather talk means more to 'ya:intellicast.com When we launch, please think good thoughts, pretend you're holdin' on to the bar, and share the pride in one of our national treasures. Ciao! Hans