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| ||||| Wednesday, February 27, 2002 - 10:51 am On the Shuttle JSC web the launch window for 109 is TBD. Is that defined? If it does go on the first attempt, how many attempts and what are the times? | |
| ||||| Wednesday, February 27, 2002 - 07:37 pm The latest release from Kennedy Space Center shows that launch window is on Friday from 6:22 - 7:24 a.m. EST. If it does not happen within that time frame they will reschedule for another day. As far as how many attempts may be made, I don't think there is any set limit. | |
| ||||| Thursday, February 28, 2002 - 10:57 am Can you explain why the Hubble count down page, http://sm3b.gsfc.nasa.gov/launch-info/countdown.html , says launch time is 6:22 but the count down clock is counting to a launch time of 6:48 am. The diffenence is great for my family who will be at the launch taking photos. They had gathered from 4 states just to view the launch for the first time. They have purchased tickets and will ride the bus to a viewing area. (Is that the area by the countdown clock? I can see that on the web cam) The one day delay, hopefully, was not a problem. But the earlier time makes for better photos as the sun will not be completely up yet. | |
| ||||| Thursday, February 28, 2002 - 11:26 am The correct time for the launch window is 6:22 am with a 62 minute window. | |
| ||||| Thursday, February 28, 2002 - 11:49 am The countdown clock has been fixed. Thanks for noticing. | |
| ||||| Thursday, February 28, 2002 - 12:23 pm We are planning on driving over from Fort Myers to view the launch. Do you have a suggestion as to where we should watch the launch? Any information would be greatly appreciated! | |
| ||||| Thursday, February 28, 2002 - 12:36 pm For ways of viewing a launch, see http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/launchingrockets/viewing.html | |
| ||||| Friday, March 01, 2002 - 02:14 am I've noticed that when rendevous with the ISS is part of a mission, the launch window is something like 5 minutes. I assumed that the window for a HST rendevous would be as small, if not smaller due to the much higher altitude of the HST. But the window for the HST rendevous launch is 60+ minutes. How can it be so large? | |
| ||||| Friday, March 01, 2002 - 10:03 pm I'm no rocket scientist, but I think it has to do with the orbital inclinations. For the shuttle to get to an orbiting object, it first needs to get into an orbit in the same plane. The way to do this the uses the least fuel is to take off when Kennedy Space Center is near that plane, and make your flight path keep you in the plane until you're in orbit. The HST orbit has an inclination equal to the latitude of Kennedy Space Center. As the Earth rotates, carrying KSC along, there's a relative long time that KSC is near the plane. ISS has an orbital inclination much larger than the latitude of KSC, so there's a shorter time that KSC is near the plane. | |
| ||||| Saturday, March 02, 2002 - 09:56 pm It looked as if the shuttle headed in a more Easterly direction this time. It usualy looks like it goes more Northeast. Am I right? | |
| ||||| Sunday, March 03, 2002 - 01:40 am To meet up with HST, the shuttle needs to head pretty much due east. To meet up with ISS, which is a high inclination orbit, it needs to go northeast. | |
| ||||| Sunday, March 03, 2002 - 09:34 am HSTs orbital inclination matches the lattitude of KSC. For this reason, our launch was in a almost easterly direction. Most launches today are to Station, and as Dave mentions its inclination is higher, so that shuttle has to head NE from the pad. | |
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