Atlantis' November Launch May Slip Due to Knob Stuck in Window Pane
Bill Harwood of CBS’ Space Place reports that space shuttle Atlantis’ November launch date may slip due to an unusual problem — a knob from a work light attachment apparently floated away from the last Atlantis crew (the Hubble servicing mission) while on orbit and is now lodged between a cockpit window pane and part of the shuttle’s control panel.
The knob must be removed to ascertain whether the window pane is damaged. Months may be required if the pane needs to be replaced, according to the report.
NASA has a full schedule of 8 shuttle flights coming up with the goal of completing all by September 30, 2010, the end of Fiscal Year 2010 and currently the end of funding for the shuttle program. The Obama Administration has stated that it is committed to completing all of the remaining flights regardless of whether they can be completed on the current schedule. Where the money will come from for flights in FY2011 is unclear, but NASA officials have assured Congress that safety remains the number one priority for the shuttle program.
According to NASA’s website, the 8 remaining shuttle missions are currently scheduled as follows:
| Endeavour | July 11, 2009 |
| Discovery | Aug. 18, 2009 |
| Atlantis | Nov. 12, 2009 |
| Endeavour | Feb. 4, 2010 |
| Discovery | Mar. 18, 2010 |
| Atlantis | May 14, 2010 |
| Endeavour | July 29, 2010 |
| Discovery |
Sept. 16, 2010 |
User Comments
SpacePolicyOnline.com has the right (but not the obligation) to monitor the comments and to remove any materials it deems inappropriate. We do not post comments that include links to other websites since we have no control over that content nor can we verify the security of such links.