Post by Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe on Apr 29, 2005 18:53:57 GMT -6
NASA Delays STS-114 Mission to July
The expected delays have arrived...
Around 6:00 pm EDT Thursday evening NASA decided to delay the launch of STS-114 until July. The new launch window extends from 12 - 31 July.
Although NASA will eventually have to roll Discovery back to the VAB for External Tank modifications, it is not likely to do so right away.
Instead, NASA will continue to conduct tests at the pad to better understand several anomalies observed during tests last week - tests that could only have been done at the pad.
NASA will hold a press conference on Friday at 10:30 am EDT at NASA Headquarters with Space Mission Operations Directorate AA Bill Readdy and NASA Administrator Mike Griffin. This will be followed at 11:30 am EDT by another press event from Johnson Space Center. Both events will air live on NASA TV.
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This is good and ok. Get it all right and safe now. Take your time and let's make it a good one to prove we can still utilize the Shuttle for a Hubble repair mission later.
That means we will have two cool missions for July, the Shuttle launch and the Deep Impact slam. Excellent!