Don't Expect Shuttle Flights This Year, NASA Says
Posted: 6:44 am PDT August 12, 2005
NASA says it doesn't expect another space shuttle mission until at least late this year because of a problem with foam loss during last month's Discovery lift-off.A one-pound slab of foam insulation broke away from Discovery's external fuel tank shortly after it took off on July 26. Also, smaller pieces of foam broke off in four other areas.As a result, NASA's chief investigator into the foam loss said the shuttle's fuel tanks will need more modifications. Bill Gerstenmaier said that eliminates any chance for a shuttle launch next month, which had been the intended time for Atlantis to go up.He said the next available launch window would be in November and then, after that, missions would have to wait until next year.Gerstenmaier said the foam problem is "an extremely difficult engineering problem to solve."Insulation shedding from the tank is blamed for the 2003 destruction of shuttle Columbia. A piece of it fell off during launch and smashed a hole in the craft's left wing, allowing superhot gases inside during re-entry.Discovery's mission, which ended Tuesday morning, was the first test flight since the disaster.President George W. Bush has called for the retirement of the fleet by 2010, but the orbiters were also supposed to complete the international space station before then.
Previous Stories:
- August 10, 2005: Hundreds Welcome Discovery Crew In Houston
- August 9, 2005: Discovery Crew Celebrates Successful Mission
- August 9, 2005: NASA: 'Good To Be Us' After Safe Landing
- August 8, 2005: NASA Outlines Backup Sites To Land Shuttle Tuesday
- August 7, 2005: Discovery Crew Heading Home
- August 6, 2005: NASA 'Ecstatic' About Discovery's Mission
- August 4, 2005: Discovery Blanket Doesn't Need Repair, NASA Says
- August 2, 2005: Spacewalk Preparations Under Way
- August 1, 2005: Astronauts Will Attempt Shuttle Repair In Space
- July 31, 2005: NASA Considering Repairs To Discovery Damage
- July 30, 2005: Discovery Mission Could Be Extended By A Day
- July 29, 2005: NASA Leader Says 2005 Flights Still Possible
- July 28, 2005: Foam Piece Likely Struck Shuttle; Discovery Still OK To Fly
- July 26, 2005: Discovery Returns U.S. To Spaceflight
- July 19, 2005: NASA Still Stumped By Fuel Gauge Problem
- July 15, 2005: NASA Could Launch Four Days From Fix -- If It's Found
- July 13, 2005: Shuttle Won't Be Ready Again Until At Least Saturday
- July 13, 2005: Planned Shuttle Flight Scrubbed By Glitch
- July 13, 2005: Cover Falls Off Shuttle, But Damage Can Be Fixed, NASA Says
Distributed by Internet Broadcasting Systems, Inc. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.












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