"We wont delay things gratuitously ... But we wont launch precipitously either," Griffin said Monday at his first press briefing since he was appointed to head the National Aeronautics and Space Administration on Thursday.

"I want to make sure that we leave absolutely no stone unturned in making certain that we are as safe as we know how to be in flight," he said.

The Discovery is set to break a shuttle flight fast of more than two years after the February 1, 2003 disintegration on reentry of the shuttle Columbia that killed all seven astronauts on board.

The May 15 launch date, first of a 20-day launch window for the Discovery's mission, still remains in doubt since NASA still has to conduct a technical review of the shuttle and meet the 15 recommendations made by an investigative panel set up after the Columbia tragedy.

The crucial review will take place on Tuesday at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, where Griffin said he would meet with the Discovery team.

He said he would make sure he had all the technical assurances needed before giving the go-ahead for the launch.

The oversight group monitoring the "return-to-flight" operations at the space center, cannot make a decision before the technical review, which has been delayed several times, Griffin said.

The NASA chief said he would take the independent panel of experts' advice very seriously on whether the space agency has met the 15 recommendations they made before shuttle missions can resume, essentially to finish building the orbiting ISS.

Nonetheless, Griffin stressed that the final decision was up to NASA, regardless of what the experts conclude.

He also said that once the shuttle flights are back on track "we will begin to examine the option to extend the service life for the Hubble Space Telescope" to 2010, in a reversal of his predecessor Sean O'Keefe's decision to let the telescope die.

Griffin said he intended to speed up the Crew Exploration Vehicleprogram, which is slated to replace the shuttle, to shorten the time between its expected birth in 2014 and the end of the shuttle program in 2010.

"It's a major priority today to reduce the gap between the Shuttle and the CEV," he said, adding that he agreed with members of the government and Congress who consider the four-year gap excessive.

earlier related report
US Shuttle Discovery Passes Fuel Test With Flying Colors
Washington (AFP) Apr 15, 2005
The space shuttle Discovery has passed a key test ahead of its May 15 launch when its external fuel tank was pumped full of propellant, the space agency NASA said.

"I could not be happier at the conclusion of the test," Deputy Space Shuttle Program Manager Wayne Hale told reporters after Thursday's test at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

The fueling test was carried out in real time on the launch pad to check for flaws in the main fuel tank, which was modified after the 2003 tragedy of the Columbia shuttle.

It tore apart on reentry into the Earth's atmosphere because of a piece of insulation that had broken off the main fuel tank on takeoff.

New NASA Director Michael Griffin told employees that he was determined to resume the space shuttle program: "All other commitments will flow around what I have to do in order to support the return-to-flight decision."

Discovery is scheduled to take off on May 15 on a mission to the orbiting International Space Station.

Begun at 8:14 am (1214 GMT), the fueling process involving super-cooled hydrogen and oxygen also served to test the shuttle, its booster rockets and the lauch pad itself under extremely cold temperatures.

"We had an outstanding day today. The new external tank performed in an outstanding manner, the shuttle performed in an outstanding manner and the launch pad performed almost without flaws," Hale said.

The main tank has been provided with new insulation and four heaters to prevent ice formation, which is a constant concern whenever a shuttle blasts off.

The test, which ended at 2:30pm (1830 GMT) when the Discovery's main fuel tank was drained of its propellant, cost around 500,000 dollars. It has been carried out very few times during the shuttle's 24-year history, NASA said.

The Columbia disintegrated on February 1, 2003. A crack in its left wing caused by a loose piece of insulation on takeoff allowed superheated air to seep inside the structure during reentry, destroying the shuttle and killing all seven astronauts inside.

NASA believes it has fixed the problem by modifying the insulating material of the main fuel tank in such a way that only small pieces of it can break off on takeoff.

The shuttle crew has also been provided with the means to inspect the craft in orbit to ensure it is safe for reentry.

All rights reserved. � 2005 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.

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