Word: launchful
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That in effect is what NASA feared might happen to the shuttle unless its computers were reprogrammed, a task they figured would delay the launch by at least a day. Taking no chances, NASA pushed back the launch time, while meteorologists continuously monitored the winds with weather balloons. Before long, the winds did shift and pick up a little, but they were still outside NASA's criteria for a launch. After a detailed analysis, the mission- management team agreed that the shuttle was not endangered. Astronaut Robert Crippen, charged with making the final go or no-go decision...
...Still, gnawing doubts remained. Despite exhaustive ground testing of the new and modified shuttle parts, none had been tried in the harsh environment of a launch, or in orbit or re-entry. Moreover, some of them are among the more than 1,500 "criticality 1" parts -- that is, items without backup whose failure could end the mission, perhaps catastrophically...
...behind NASA's confident facade, reality was beginning to set in. Beset by technical problems and delayed launches, the agency reduced its estimate of annual launches from 60 to 40, then to 24, but was unable to attain even that. Given the shuttle program's tremendous overhead and fewer flights, the cost for each launch rose from a promised $10 million to as high as $300 million. In a frantic effort to accelerate its schedule, NASA began to cut corners. Officials at the Marshall Space Flight Center responsible for certifying the launchworthiness of the external tank, the boosters...
NASA took steps to improve the astronauts' chances of survival should such a mishap occur. For the first time since the summer of 1982, the crew left the launch pad ensconced in bulky space suits, each partly pressurized and equipped with an oxygen tank, a parachute and an inflatable raft. In addition, a new emergency escape system was designed to give the astronauts a chance to leave the orbiter quickly in the event of a "benign disaster" after the boosters had fallen away. In such a crisis, the crew would jettison the huge external fuel tank and stabilize the winged...
Right up to the moment of Discovery's launch, the space agency displayed caution -- and in the view of some critics, excessive caution -- in preparing to resume shuttle flights. Time and again during the past year, as problems cropped up during tests of new and redesigned shuttle equipment, officials pushed back Discovery's launch date, from February to August, finally settling on Sept. 29. Even during the final stages of the countdown, mission manager Crippen polled top weather advisers individually before waiving the restriction about the winds aloft...