Discovery landing delayed due to bad weather

Discovery landing delayed due to bad weather

NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) has delayed the landing of the Discovery Space Shuttle due to bad weather condition at the Florida landing site. Discovery Space Shuttle had two good chances to try making a landing today. However, both the time NASA decided against having the shuttle fire its engines for descent. First landing was discarded because of low cloud levels while NASA decided that the second landing chance was not safe for landing as well.

Capsule communicator Ken Ham told shuttle commander Eileen Collins from Mission Control in Houston: “We’ve been working this pretty hard, as I’m sure you can imagine from our silence down here. We just can’t get comfortable with the stability of the situation for this particular opportunity so we are going to officially wave you off for 24 hours.”

The crew is patient and would be spending another day in the orbit. NASA has now said that Discovery would indeed see a landing sometime later today. NASA Administrator Mike Griffin said in his own statement: “There’s no agony. We’re going to land one way or another, one place, or another, and all we’re talking about is where.”

Even if the NASA fails to okie the landing today, the Shuttle has enough supplies to last them till Wednesday. A safe recovery is very important for NASA and the Discovery Space Shuttle considering Columbia disintegrated while returning to earth killing the entire crew onboard in 2003.

Flight director Paul Hill told reporters in Houston: “We are going to be pretty darn happy to get to wheels stop and see this good crew step off Discovery. We all are going to feel a huge sense of accomplishment having gotten through the last 2 1/2 years and demonstrated that we still know how to do this very difficult and dangerous business.”