Shuttle Discovery's Launch Will Wait Till February
Space shuttle Discovery’s final launch will not take place until at least February 3, 2011, NASA announced today. Engineers still need more time to assess cracks in two stringers on the External Tank that were discovered after the STS-133 launch was delayed a month ago because of a different problem. That problem — a gas leak — was fixed fairly easily, but the cracks are proving tougher.
If the STS-133 launch gets the final go ahead for February 3, the scheduled time is 1:34 am EST. That would in turn slip the next launch, STS-134, to April 1.
STS-134 is the last scheduled mission for Endeavour and for the space shuttle program as a whole, but the 2010 NASA Authorization Act calls for one more launch, STS-135, as long as it is safe. STS-135 is also referred to as the “Launch-on-Need” mission. At a Senate Commerce subcommittee hearing on Wednesday, a NASA official and the President’s Science Adviser assured the subcommittee that they intend to fly STS-135 as long as it is safe and Congress does not make drastic cuts to the agency’s FY2011 budget request on which congressional action is pending.
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