Shuttle launch set for Dec. 7

NASA officials gave the go-ahead Wednesday for a Dec. 7 launch of the space shuttle Discovery -- the first night launch since NASA resumed shuttle flights after the loss of Columbia in 2003.

The last three shuttle missions launched in daylight so newly installed cameras on the ground and aboard the shuttle could get the best possible views of any debris loss during liftoff.

Columbia was damaged during launch by a piece of insulating foam that flaked off its giant external fuel tank. But because it wasn’t observed, the crew had no idea their ship was in danger. All seven crew members died when the shuttle broke apart during reentry.

Officials said there were no dissenting votes for Discovery’s launch following a two-day Flight Readiness Review meeting at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The success of the last three flights have led NASA engineers to reduce the perceived danger from flaking foam as much as one order of magnitude in some areas, said shuttle program manager N. Wayne Hale Jr.

“I am looking forward to a spectacular launch a week from” today, Hale said.

The launch is set for 9:35 p.m. EST from the space center.

Officials said the shuttle’s mission will be one of the most challenging to date.

Discovery’s payload bay will carry a new truss segment for the International Space Station. The crew’s most sensitive job will be to rewire the station into the new solar powered electrical system that was delivered earlier this year.

To do that, the temporary power system that has run the station for eight years must be turned off, half the station at a time. After spacewalking astronauts make 112 new power connections, ground controllers will order the switch to the new power system.

Because the power distribution system controls all the life-support systems on the station, a problem could have serious consequences. If the power doesn’t come on after the new connections are made, NASA could be forced to go back and reconnect the temporary system.

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john.johnson@latimes.com