Why a night launch is the right launch

NASA will still watch in the dark
This is not to say that there is no value in observing when and where junk comes off the shuttle’s fuel tank and heat shield. NASA has by no means given up trying to detect such events, even in the dark, and has deployed a new set of sensors for that purpose.

"We expect to see quite a bit," shuttle program manager Wayne Hale told journalists during a preflight briefing last month. He referred to "a whole suite of cameras and radars" that will be following the ascending shuttle, as well as the array of cameras installed on the shuttle itself.

As to the problem of darkness, Hale pointed out that the shuttle carries its own light source for the first two minutes of ascent — the period when aerodynamic stresses are greatest, and when separating debris can be whipped most strongly into delicate shuttle surfaces.

That light is the flame of the two solid rocket boosters — and a recent scheduled test of an improved booster design at the manufacturer’s test range in Utah was held at night so NASA camera technicians could precisely measure the brightness and determine the best camera exposure settings.

ATK A solid rocket booster shoots flames into the dark at a test range in Utah, during an exercise aimed at determining how much illumination is provided during a night launch.

A precise timeline for when debris comes off is important for making further improvements to the insulation system on future external fuel tanks. That activity, over the next year or so, will reduce debris shedding even further.

Hale did admit that visual coverage of the ascent is still important, for other reasons that cannot be precisely described. "We’ve seen some unexpected things from time to time that have nothing to do with debris," he explained. "It is highly desirable to see such things."

The "daylight or darkness" questions, as well as the precise configurations of sensors and cameras, are far less important than Hale's basic attitude, which seems so different from that taken during the launch of the doomed Columbia. This time, NASA planners aren't trying to explain things away or shrug them off. Instead, they went into the launch with their eyes wide open, with a devotion to look for anything unusual. It’s that view that allows the space team to see what really needs to be seen.

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