From SPACEFLIGHTNOW.COM: MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2001 SCRUB. Tonight's launch of the Athena rocket has been postponed after a massive solar flare erupted from the sun earlier today. The powerful space storm could disrupt the rocket's guidance computer during flight, so officials had no choice but to delay the Kodiak Star mission yet again. "The proton flux is three times that is allowable for launch," NASA spokesman George Diller said. "The concern is it would cause a data upset in the rocket's guidance system." The flare occurred at 1038 GMT (6:38 a.m. EDT) today. A coronal mass ejection is headed for Earth, likely causing geomagnetic storms, space weather scientists announced. Liftoff has been tentatively rescheduled for Tuesday if the proton level decreases. But scientists say it could be Wednesday or Thursday before conditions are again acceptable for launch. Mission managers are working on longer launch window for upcoming attempts that would extend from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Alaska Time (9:30 p.m. to 12 a.m. EDT; 0130-0400 GMT). The launch weather forecast for Tuesday calls for an 80 percent chance of meeting the liftoff rules in Alaska. The forecast worsens some on Wednesday. SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2001 With a troublesome tracking radar now working, a Lockheed Martin Athena rocket will make a third try at launching from Alaska on Monday evening, but bad weather could again spoil liftoff plans. Officials announced late today that Monday's target launch time will be 5:30 p.m. Alaska Time (9:30 p.m. EDT; 0130 GMT Tuesday). The duration of the launch window will be set on Monday morning. However, there is just a 30 percent chance of weather permitting the rocket to blast off Monday because of clouds and rain. The forecast is much improved for Tuesday, should the mission slip again. Lousy weather forced Friday's countdown to be called off hours before launch time. Weather conditions were perfect on Saturday only to have a technical glitch with a downrange tracking radar cause a scrub. The launch team took Sunday off. Lockheed Martin says the radar problem has now been resolved. Technicians have successfully repaired and retested the radar system, which is needed to track the Athena rocket as it travels downrange. ------------------------------ Jonathan T. Wojack tlj18@juno.com 39.706d N 75.683d W http://www.angelfire.com/stars2/projectorion 4 hours behind UT (-4) ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe from SeeSat-L by sending a message with 'unsubscribe' in the SUBJECT to SeeSat-L-request@lists.satellite.eu.org http://www.satellite.eu.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
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