50-50 Chance Of Late Discovery Launch

SHUTTLE NEWS

Discovery Starts Crawling To The Launch Pad
Cape Canaveral (SPX) Apr 07, 2005 - At 2:04 p.m. EDT Wednesday, Discovery began moving out of the VAB, beginning its trek to Launch Pad 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The rollout is one of the last major milestones before Discovery's launch on STS-114, currently targeted for the May 15 to June 3 time frame. NASA has determined that a small hairline crack in the foam on the Shuttle's External Tank is a minor imperfection that does not need repair.

See larger image.

Houston (UPI) Apr 06, 2005
NASA officials say there is a 50-50 chance the shuttle Discovery will not be ready for launch within the upcoming window in May.

NASA spokesman William Parsons said delays in safety assessments and routine preflight preparations are making it hard to reach the goal of launching Discovery at the beginning of a 20-day window that begins May 15.

However, he said he was confident the craft would be ready to begin its 12-day mission to the International Space Station before June 3, the New York Times reports.

Parsons said while workers at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida have done everything they can to get the ship ready, a series of minor delays has used up all contingency days allowed in the schedule for unexpected problems.

NASA's shuttles - Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour - have been grounded since the Columbia and its crew of seven were lost Feb. 1, 2003, in a fiery re-entry accident.

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SHUTTLE NEWS

New Abort Landing Site For Shuttle In Istres, France

Marseille, France (SPX) Apr 04, 2005
The United States and France have agreed that the Istres Air Force Base, near Marseille, will be a formal Transatlantic Abort Landing (TAL) site for space Shuttle launches when the fleet returns to flight later this year, Air & Cosmos recently reported.

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