Michael Rutschky The Corsair After a series of sensor failures that restricted the December launch window for NASA Space Shuttle mission STS-122, mission managers at Kennedy Space Center are putting their hopes toward a Jan. 24 launch date for Space Shuttle Atlantis and the Columbus ISS laboratory module. The new date works around several weeks of testing yet to come...

Michael Rutschky The Corsair NASA mission STS-122 will introduce a new technological innovation to the International Space Station, courtesy of NASA’s partner in the mission, the European Space Agency. The new addition, Columbus, will attach to ISS and serve as a laboratory in which astronauts on the space station will engage in several different kinds of scientific experiments. “What goes...

Michael Rutschky The Corsair With one day left before the launch of space shuttle Atlantis, NASA test director Jeff Spaulding and Shuttle Weather Officer Kathy Winters met with the press to report that all is still going according to plan. With the exception of a minimal leak to the Tank 5 vent manifold, the pre-launch preparations are going well. The...

Michael Rutschky The Corsair All is going well at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in the final hours leading up to the launch of the space shuttle Atlantis. So far no flaws have been detected that could postpone the launch of Atlantis. The space shuttle launches Thursday at 4:30 p.m. EST to initiate mission STS-122. Shuttle commander Steve Frick along with...

Michael Rutschky The Corsair Confirmation came from mission managers at 7:24 a.m. EST today that a Sunday launch for space shuttle Atlantis had been cancelled. At approximately 6:50 a.m. EST this morning, the third of four liquid hydrogen sensors on the LH2 fuel tank of NASA’s space shuttle Atlantis failed its simulated tests. This was in violation of the revised...

Michael Rutschky The Corsair In a meeting held today at Kennedy Space Center, STS-122 mission managers underwent what was called a passionate discussion regarding the malfunctioning sensors in the liquid hydrogen fuel tank of space shuttle Atlantis. The ultimate outcome of this meeting was the unanimous decision to go ahead with a launch of the shuttle on Sunday, Dec. 9,...

Michael Rutschky The Corsair Officials at Kennedy Space Center have elected to extend the postponement of the launch of space shuttle Atlantis from 24 hours to 48 hours, making the new launch day Dec. 8. The announcement came at 7:30 p.m. EST, Dec. 6, after spending the day troubleshooting the malfunctioning liquid hydrogen fuel tank sensors that delayed the launch...

Michael Rutschky The Corsair Officials at Kennedy Space Center have elected to extend the postponement of the launch of space shuttle Atlantis from 24 hours to 48 hours, making the new launch day Dec. 8. The announcement came at 7:30 p.m. EST, Dec. 6, after spending the day troubleshooting the malfunctioning liquid hydrogen fuel tank sensors that delayed the launch...

Michael Rutschky The Corsair At 9:56 a.m. EST this morning, the launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis was officially postponed for at least 24 hours. The postponing of the launch had to do with an unknown difficulty involving the sensors in the shuttle’s liquid hydrogen tank. “[We detected] a failure in sensors three and four 16 minutes into fast-fill,” said Shuttle...

Naval Cdr. Alan Poindexter has been selected to pilot space shuttle Atlantis mission STS-122 in December. Poindexter is a 1983 PJC graduate and will carry on the flight a specially minted PJC medallion similar to one President Dr. G. Thomas Delaino wears during graduation ceremonies. The medallion will be presented to the college after the flight. A second minted medallion...