Space Shuttle Launch Date of July 13th Announced
Posted on July 1, 2005
NASA has selected July 13th as the next launch date for the Discovery space shuttle. It will be the first launch the Columbia disaster in February 2003. The BBC reportsthat the shuttle is safe despite meeting 3 of the recommendations made by the Columbia Accident Investingation Board:
Earlier this week, a panel monitoring Nasa said the agency had failed to meet three of 15 recommendations made by the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (Caib) for the safe resumption of shuttle flights.A NASA press release also has the following comments about the new Space Shuttle mission from NASA Administrator Michael Griffin:But Nasa Administrator Michael Griffin said Discovery was fit for launch.
"Based on a very thorough and very successful flight readiness review, we're currently 'go' for launch of Discovery on 13 July," he announced.
"After a vigorous, healthy discussion our team has come to a decision: we're ready to go," NASA Administrator Michael Griffin said after the meeting. "The past two and half years have resulted in significant improvements that have greatly reduced the risk of flying the Shuttle. But we should never lose sight of the fact that space flight is risky.More about NASA's return to flight can be found here."The Discovery mission, designated STS-114, is a test flight," Griffin said, noting that astronauts will try out a host of new Space Shuttle safety enhancements. In addition, Discovery will carry 15 tons of supplies and replacement hardware to the International Space Station. July 13 is the beginning of three weeks of possible launch days that run through July 31.