NASA Discovery launched delayed due to valve problem

NASA has delayed the launch of space shuttle Discovery, for the fourth time, to avoid any possibility of malfunction in the shuttle. The new launch date has not been announced as yet.

The latest delay in the Discovery launch was caused due to concerns about valve malfunctions. There are three valves in the shuttle engine compartment governing the flow rate and pressure of gaseous hydrogen in the fuel tank.

During the last shuttle launch, that of Endeavour, one of the valves was damaged. The NASA engineers are working to find out what happened to the flow control valve of the Endeavour.

Hence the NASA team is unsure about the correct functioning of the valve and wants to make sure there are no disasters during the launch of Discovery.

Given the fact that NASA officials still do not know what caused the valve to crack during the November 2008 launch, this delay seems to be a wise decision. Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for Space Operations at NASA Headquarters said, ” We need to complete more work to have a better understanding before flying.”

He further added,”We were not driven by schedule pressure and did the right thing. When we fly, we want to do so with full confidence.”

NASA managers have decided that more data and precise testing is required before the shuttle is launched into space.

Shuttle program manager John Shannon said,” we were really, really close to approving the launch. But some of the test data were not available until late in the week and did not allow for full scrutiny, and a few small mistakes were found in the data.”

Discovery was scheduled to be launched on February 12, 2009, but because of data unavailability the launch was deferred. The next date of launch was to be February 18, 2008.

Following a 13-hour meeting at Kennedy Space Center, held on February 20, 2009, shuttle managers decided against the launch. The launch had been targeted for no sooner than February 27, 2009.

The further details about the launch will be discussed on February 25, 2009, when the next meeting is scheduled to take place.

The mission of Discovery is to double the power needed for research and to support a six-member crew, by delivering solar arrays to the International Space Station (ISS).