By Xinhua
Washington : NASA announced Saturday afternoon that it will try to launch the space shuttle Atlantis on Sunday.
The Mission Management Team concluded after a meeting on Saturday that “we are ‘go’ for a Sunday launch attempt,” said a briefing posted by NASA at its official website. Sunday’s launch attempt is set for 3:21 p.m. EST (2021 GMT).
Atlantis’ scheduled launch on Thursday was delayed after two of four fuel sensors gave false readings. A third sensor failed after the tank was drained of fuel. Because of the perplexing problem, NASA has postponed the launch to Friday, then to Saturday, and finally to Sunday.
NASA flight rules only allow one sensor to fail without affecting a planned launch. At Saturday’s meeting, NASA managers further tightened the rule in order to keep the shuttle and its seven-astronaut crew as safe as possible during its climbing into the space.
According to the revised rule, Atlantis’ launch countdown to launch will proceed only if all four sensors can read properly after the tank is filled with fuel.
Atlantis’ launch window in December will last until Thursday or maybe Friday. If it is not getting off the ground by then, NASA must wait into January to carry out the flight.
The primary goal of Atlantis’ STS-122 mission is to deliver the European-built Columbus laboratory to the International Space Station.