KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL - Space shuttle Discovery almost didn't make it to the launch pad today when technicians had to battle a rain-drenched crawlerway that slowed the shuttle's trip to launch pad 39-A and threatened to force NASA to return the crawler transporter back to the Vehicle Assembly Building. Stopping often to clean muck of the transporter's tracks, workers finally completed the journey nearly 12 hours after it began, nearly twice as long as usual.
FREE VIDEO: HIGHLIGHTS OF DISCOVERY ROLLOUT TO LC-39A FREE VIDEO: DISCOVERY FINALLY REACHES THE LAUNCH PAD FREE VIDEO: DISCOVERY ROLLS PAST OUR CAMERA THIS MORNING FREE VIDEO: SUN RISES OVER KSC WITH LIGHTNING ON THE HORIZON FREE VIDEO: DISCOVERY IS MOVED FROM THE OPF TO THE VAB ALL-ACCESS SUBSCRIBERS: NASA TV COVERAGE OF ROLLOUT - PART 1 ALL-ACCESS SUBSCRIBERS: NASA TV COVERAGE OF ROLLOUT - PART 2 ALL-ACCESS SUBSCRIBERS: NASA TV COVERAGE OF ROLLOUT - PART 3 ALL-ACCESS SUBSCRIBERS: NASA TV COVERAGE OF ROLLOUT - PART 4 ALL-ACCESS SUBSCRIBERS: NASA TV COVERAGE OF ROLLOUT - PART 5 ALL-ACCESS SUBSCRIBERS: NASA TV COVERAGE OF ROLLOUT - PART 6 Discovery's 3.4 mile trek to the launch pad began at 2:06 a.m. EDT, two hours late due to lightning warnings in the KSC area overnight. Heavy rains that accompanied the lightning drenched the gravel bed of the crawlerway from the VAB to the pad, much like a sponge will soak up water. Fearful of damaging the crawler's equipment and potentially leaving Discovery stranded on the road, engineers moved the crawler slowly and deliberately at about a quarter mile per hour while stopping often to clean mud and gravel off the tracks and bearings. At one point, with Discovery not even halfway to the launch pad and sunrise approaching, the crew recommended rolling back to the VAB. But rolling back could have caused a lengthy launch delay for Discovery which must launch by the end of August. A delay past the end of the month would cause a domino effect on the other six shuttle missions remaining on NASA's manifest as the agency works to fly out the schedule and retire the shuttle fleet by September 30 next year. After some discussion, the decision was made to proceed to the pad, driving the crawler along the firmer outside edge of the soaked roadway. Discovery's now-epic journey was brought to a standstill one final time when a pin inside the crawler-transporter broke as it was lumbering up the inclined ramp of launch pad 39-A. The final leg of the trip resumed after repairs were made, and at 1:50 p.m. EDT, the mobile launch platform with Discovery on top was locked down on the six support pedestals of the launch pad, and exhausting 11 hours and 44 minutes after the vehicle exited the VAB. Discovery is targeted for launch at 1:36 in the morning of August 25. First, however engineers must replace a faulty valve on the left-hand solid rocket booster. The valve failed during testing in the VAB and caused a hydraulic pump and one of two auxiliary power units to spin backward. The APU's are used to power the hydraulic system that moved the rocket's nozzle and steer the shuttle during ascent. Rollout was delayed on day while shuttle managers decided whether or not to make repairs in the Vehicle Assembly Building. In the end, the decision was made to do the repair work at the pad after rollout during normal prelaunch processing. On Wednesday, Discovery's astronauts will fly to Kennedy Space Center for three days of emergency training and a launch dress rehearsal known as the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test. Veteran astronaut Rick Sturckow will command Discovery's STS-128 mission. Flying to the International Space Station along with Sturckow and pilot Kevin Ford will be mission specialists Danny Olivas, Patrick Forrester, Jose Hernandez, KSC's former shuttle Endeavour flow diretor Nicole Stott and European Space Agency astronaut Christer Fuglesang. Stott will remain onboard ISS when Discovery leaves, replacing flight engineer Timothy Kopra who launched to the station on Endeavour July 15. STS-128 will feature three spacewalks and will deliver new science racks for the complex's laboratory modules, replace some of the station cooling system's aging ammonia tanks and will return a European science experiment package to Earth. (The Spacearium)
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