Atlantis, local astronaut delayed until January
BY FROM STAFF REPORTS Gulf Breeze News news@gulfbreezenews.com

Poindexter

Naval aviator, astronaut and former local resident Cmdr. Alan Poindexter will have to wait just a little longer until his lifelong dream comes true. Poindexter is the pilot for NASA's STS-122/1E mission, which was delayed from its original launch date of Dec. 6. A new date was tentatively scheduled for Jan. 10.

According to a NASA press release, the liftoff from Kennedy Space Center depends on the resolution of a problem in a fuel sensor system. The shuttle's planned launches on Dec. 6 and Dec. 9 were postponed because of false readings from the part of the system that monitors the liquid hydrogen section of the tank.

Poindexter is one of an eightmember crew aboard the Atlantis space shuttle. Their mission is to deliver the European Space Agency's Columbus Laboratory to the International Space Station (ISS), currently in orbit 220 miles above Earth.

Poindexter is originally from Rockville, Md. and currently lives in Houston. The astronaut says he still considers the Pensacola Bay Area a second home. During his time here from 1980 to 1983 Poindexter met his wife, the former Lisa Pfeiffer, whose parents live in Gulf Breeze. The mission will be Poindexter's first trip into space.

Space shuttle Atlantis rests on Pad 39A awaiting launch on mission STS-122