After 2½ years of setbacks and delays, NASA plans to finally return to manned space flight on July 13 with the launch of the shuttle Discovery.

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Shuttle Mission Still On Schedule

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It will be the first shuttle flight since 2003's Columbia tragedy.

NASA Administrator Michael Griffin said Thursday the space agency green-lighted the mission after "a very thorough and very successful flight readiness review."

Discovery will carry seven astronauts to the international space station, along with sorely needed supplies and replacement parts. The crew will test a new thermal-tile replacement system and replace a failed gyroscope on the space station.

Earlier in the week, an advisory panel concluded that NASA had failed to meet three of the 15 safety recommendations issued by the Columbia accident probe.

But Griffin and others at NASA believe those risks have been reduced to an acceptable level. However, earlier this week Griffin said the first two missions should be considered test flights.

All seven Columbia astronauts were killed when the shuttle broke apart during re-entry. It is believed that debris from an external fuel tank punched a hole in the leading edge of one of the shuttle's wings. Superheated gasses entered that hole during re-entry.