SPACE WIRE
NASA eyes early next year for return of shuttle flights
WASHINGTON (AFP) Sep 08, 2003
 NASA revealed plans Monday to resume shuttle flights following the Columbia shuttle disaster, and is eyeing early next year to launch the shuttle Atlantis for a rendezvous with the International Space Station.

In a 156-page document the space agency said changes to the shuttle and in launch procedures would improve safety, after seven astronauts perished when Columbia broke apart on reentry February 1.

The plan mentions a launch window between March 11 and April 6 "for planning purposes only, that's our first available milestone. It's not we must, we are going to or we have to," said Doc Mireslon, a NASA spokesman in Washington.

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