it would maintain a tight fix even under the cryogenic conditions that seem to cause the leak. The test was declared a success with no leaks detected on the GUCP. The mission was announced to be targeting a July 11, 2009, launch. On the evening of July 10, 2009, the launch pad region was hit by eleven strikes of lightning, which pushed back the July 11, 2009, launch time by at least 24 hours. Two of the strikes were strong enough to trigger an evaluation by NASA engineers. The inspections revealed that no damage had been done to the Space Shuttle. NASA scrubbed Endeavour' July 12, 2009, launch attempt at T-minus 9 minutes and holding due to Cumulus clouds and lightning near the launch pad. During the final Go/No-Go polls, Mission Control in Houston declared a "No-Go" due to unacceptable weather forecast for a possible Return-To-Launch-Site (RTLS) abort, and planned for emergency scenarios when one or more engines shut down early leaving insufficient energy to reach the Transatlantic Abort Landing (TAL) sites. Similarly, during the July 13, 2009, attempt, RTLS weather was also "no go." Meanwhile, shuttle weather officer Kathy Winters informed the launch director, Pete Nickolenko, that the launch pad weather had changed to RED as the Phase-1 Lightning warning was issued for the Kennedy Space Center. The launch was scrubbed at T-minus 9 minutes and holding and was quickly reset for July 15, 2009 (a 48 hours scrub turn around) due to weather concerns on July 14, 2009, and the desire to replace the Tyvek covers over the forward Reaction Control System thrusters. Mission timeline July 15 (Flight Day 1, Launch) On July 15, 2009, at 18:03:10 EDT, the launch was finally successful. Upon reviewing the launch video footage, imagery analysts noted eight or nine instances of foam shedding from the External Tank. The pictures of the external tank taken when jettisoning showed loss of foam in the intertank ribbing. The chairman of the Mission Management Team was not concerned and felt that the Space Shuttle would be cleared for re-entry on its return voyage—which it was a few days later. The payload doors were opened after reaching orbit followed by deployment of the Ku band antenna and activation of the shuttle's mechanical arm. July 16 (Flight Day 2) The thermal protection system was inspected with the Shuttle Robotic Arm/Orbiter Boom Sensor System (OBSS) and the voluminous data