Time for the shuttle mission STS-119 came and went in February. Delays have kept me at home, and at work waiting to go to Florida and see the launch. Originally scheduled for February 12th, the mission is now tentively scheduled for March 12th. What has caused all the delay?
At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a technician holds one of Discovery's gaseous hydrogen flow control valves after its removal. The valves channel gaseous hydrogen from the main engines to the external tank.
So what exactly does it do? When I asked my local expert (aka husband) he said think of it like this; have you every sucked the water out of a water bottle? What happens? It collapses right? Same thing happens with the fuel tanks on the shuttle because so much fuel is burned so quickly. So the valves replace mass in the tank to keep the vacuum from collapsing the tank in on itself. So why the delays? Of the three valves located on the shuttle one was found to have failed during one of the previous flights. The other two compensated for the loss of the first, but what if two were to fail? To make sure they have a successful flight they are replacing the valves with newer ones from another shuttle. Valves on all the shuttles were checked my NASA.
So what exactly does it do? When I asked my local expert (aka husband) he said think of it like this; have you every sucked the water out of a water bottle? What happens? It collapses right? Same thing happens with the fuel tanks on the shuttle because so much fuel is burned so quickly. So the valves replace mass in the tank to keep the vacuum from collapsing the tank in on itself. So why the delays? Of the three valves located on the shuttle one was found to have failed during one of the previous flights. The other two compensated for the loss of the first, but what if two were to fail? To make sure they have a successful flight they are replacing the valves with newer ones from another shuttle. Valves on all the shuttles were checked my NASA. So I will be here for Storytime classes this week and if all goes well Connie will be substituting for Storytime classes on March 10th and 11th. What if we get delayed yet again? The launch window may be lost and we may have to wait until April. Hope that NASA can fix the problem and get off the ground this time.
Michele, Children's Librarian
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