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Julie Payette's Journal

Kennedy Space Center, Florida -
Monday, June 15, 2009

Hello my friends,

As you can see from the picture, our NASA technicians are busy at work repairing the hydrogen valve that leaked during tanking on Saturday. This valve is located just outside the external tank, next to one of the solid rocket boosters, and a leak would have been catastrophic during takeoff. The Mission Management Team is meeting this morning and we are awaiting their final decision. We have already been informed that if the valve repair goes as planned, we will resume the countdown and attempt to launch on Wednesday morning, June 17, at 5:40 a.m. EDT.

The crew stayed in quarantine the whole time at Kennedy Space Center. We are in good spirit and will be ready to take off on Wednesday. We are still on a 12-hour sleep shift to remain synchronized with the International Space Station and we sleep during the day, between 11:00 a.m. and 6:45 p.m. I'm actually going to bed as soon as I finish writing this message to you.

I will have more information when I wake up. For those of you who are still in Florida, thanks for being here and be sure to check your email later tonight.

Ad astra!
Julie