Space Shuttle Discovery launch in July

BY A CORRESPONDENT
March 17, 2006

NASA has announced a new launch planning window (July 1 to 19, 2006) for the Space Shuttle Discovery's mission (STS-121) at a news conference from NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. Additional engineering work and more comprehensive safety for Discovery and its crew will be facilitated by this extra time.

Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA associate administrator for Space Operations said:, "We've been saying for months that our engineering work would determine when we fly our next mission. Targeting July is the right choice in order to make smart decisions."

Since one of the four ECO sensors had a slightly different reading than expected, the officials had decided to replace all four liquid hydrogen sensors.

In addition, the move was also influenced by the decision to make adjustments to the STS-121 planning window.

The modified external tank has to be tested and analyzed in order to verify whether the tank is safe to fly without the protuberance air load (PAL) foam ramp, which had been removed following the July 2005 launch when a large chunk of foam had fallen off. In addition, the decision on whether changes are required to be made on the tank's ice frost foam ramps requires further analysis. The shuttle's robotic arm
had also been accidentally damaged last week and would be requiring repairs.

Shuttle Commander Steve Lindsey and six crew members will be flying on the STS-121 mission, which is the second mission in the Return to Flight sequence. The mission will be evaluating the heat shield inspection as well as repair techniques. It will also deliver supplies and equipment to the station.