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Liquid nitrogen shortage delays Landsat 9 launch - SpaceNews:
WASHINGTON — A one-week delay in the launch of the next Landsat satellite on an Atlas 5 is the result of a ripple effect in the supply chain caused by increased demand for liquid oxygen to treat COVID-19 patients.
NASA announced Aug. 27 that the launch of Landsat 9 on an Atlas 5 from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California had slipped a week, from Sept. 16 to no earlier than Sept. 23, because "pandemic demands for medical liquid oxygen have impacted the delivery of the needed liquid nitrogen supply." Liquid nitrogen, or LN2, is used to create gaseous nitrogen needed to support launch site activities.
During an Aug. 31 virtual news briefing about the upcoming launch, Del Jenstrom, NASA Landsat 9 project manager, said the issue was not an overall lack of liquid nitrogen but instead a transportation issue.
"There's plenty of liquid nitrogen in the Los Angeles area. The problem is they need some trucks to bring it up to Vandenberg," he said. "Because of the pandemic, from what we understand, liquid oxygen deliveries have been paying much higher premiums than liquid nitrogen deliveries, and LN2 trucks have been converted to carry liquid oxygen."
[...] Airgas, the company that handles the nitrogen supply at Vandenberg, is bringing in "a dozen or so" liquid nitrogen tankers from the Gulf Coast temporarily to increase deliveries. "We're seeing a substantial increase of the number of LN2 deliveries to the base right now," he said, "and as far as we know, based on latest reports, we're on track to support our launch on Sept. 23."
(Score: 3, Funny) by Kitsune008 on Wednesday September 01 2021, @09:38AM (2 children)
one would think that an aerospace outfit could figure out how to produce liquid nitrogen as needed.
Alternate headline: Space Force grounded due to lack of chill.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday September 01 2021, @03:50PM (1 child)
Even if a rocket launch site could produce N2 (and for that matter O2) on site, I shore hope they are not planning on releasing these gasses unfiltered into the atmosphere when they're done with them.
Someone let Jeff Bozos know this might be an environmental impact issue that must be investigated!
The anti vax hysteria didn't stop, it just died down.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 02 2021, @12:18AM
Some launch facilities do produce their own liquid oxygen. Liquid nitrogen is a waste product from that process. Releasing unused nitrogen and oxygen back into the atmosphere is the normal way to dispose of them.
It wasn't until I saw 'Bozos' that I realized that you were joking. Well played.