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Pluto Mission To Launch Wednesday Afternoon Following High Wind Abort
Cape Canaveral FL (SPX) Jan 18, 2006 NASA controllers scrubbed the New Horizons mission to the outer solar system due to persistent hazardous ground winds at the launch site at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. The next launch attempt will begin Wednesday, Jan. 18 at 1:16 p.m. Eastern Time. Controllers postponed the launch of the probe to Pluto and beyond seven times due to wind gusts exceeding 33 knots, the maximum safe velocity for launch of the Atlas V booster and its payload. Other problems contributed to the delay. The 200-foot-tall rocket also was held past its original 1:24 p.m. launch time because a slight malfunction with the main fuel tank's fill-and-drain valve occurred during the topping operation. That glitch eventually was resolved. Also, one of NASA's Deep Space downrange tracking stations suffered a systems outage, but engineers quickly restored power. Had Tuesday's liftoff proceeded on schedule, the New Horizons Observatory, as the spacecraft is formally named, would have been launched exactly nine years after the death of astronomer Clyde W. Tombaugh, who discovered Pluto in 1930. The mission's launch window extends until Feb. 14. Related Links New Horizon's Launch and Mission SpaceDaily Search SpaceDaily Subscribe To SpaceDaily Express 
Five Aerojet Boosters Set To Lift New Horizons Spacecraft
Sacramento CA (SPX) Jan 17, 2006Aerojet will provide five solid rocket boosters for the launch vehicle and a propulsion system for the spacecraft when a Lockheed Martin Atlas V launches the Pluto New Horizons spacecraft January 17 from Cape Canaveral, AFB. The launch window opens at 1:24 p.m. EST on January 17 and extends through February 14. |
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