Scrub-a-dub-dub

I was telling people yesterday about how I was about to have 3 on-time launches in a row. I was confident that we’d launch today because it’s always weather that delays us, and the weather in Florida was looking absolutely beautiful. Alas, those finicky engine cut-off sensors decided to start acting up again, and the launch was scrubbed. Bummer, yet necessary. The sensors are there to make sure the main engines shut down safely before the fuel in the external tank is gone. It’s like a gas gauge in your car. The only difference is that if your gas gauge fails and you run out of gas, your car just stops. If the shuttle runs out of gas, the high-speed turbines in the engines tear themselves apart and the whole back end of the shuttle goes boom. That would obviously be bad, and that’s why we like to have at least 3 of the 4 sensors working properly for liftoff.
So, no launch today. I made cupcakes and everything, which are now sitting downstairs in the refrigerator along with the massive amounts of other food people brought in. We scrubbed late enough that no one got the notice before coming in for the ascent shift, food in tow.

I blew off the steam with a 5-mile run on the treadmill. I ran inside because I wanted to be able to watch the launch scrub press conference, which was supposed to be at 4:00. Then it was supposed to be at 4:30. By the time I finished my run (in a nice and comfy 57:00), it was supposed to be at 5:00. It didn’t finally start until 6:30, at which point I was already home and showered and sitting on the couch in my pajamas.
And the news from the conference? No launch attempt tomorrow. We’ll try on Saturday at the earliest.
Stupid sensors.