Spaceflight is complex. Scheduling is complex. I knew that. But it is even more complex than I thought. I am very happy with the apparent good processing flow on shuttle Discovery. But guess what — I looked at far too few places.
Not only space shuttle processing flow is a constraint. The IIS (International Space Station) must also be ready for the shuttle visit. And I nearly missed an important event: there is a crew swap scheduled a few days before Discovery launches. With a Russian rocket, the new expedition 16 crew will ride to the skies. If that launch is delayed, we’ll probably end up with space traffic jam. And, guess what, that would of course affect Discovery’s launch date.
So let’s cross our fingers and hope for the best. Thankfully, the Russian rockets have an excellent track record…