spacetoday.net: NASA sets May 15 launch date for shuttle

Posted: Sat, Feb 19, 2005, 6:23 AM ET (1123 GMT)
STS-107: launch (NASA/KSC)

NASA shuttle managers said Friday that they are currently planning to launch the space shuttle on the first post-Columbia mission on May 15. NASA set the launch date for the shuttle Discovery on STS-114 during a meeting Friday; the launch window extends through June 3. Officials said Friday that they feel confident that they can meet that launch date, particularly once the shuttle gets into the standard workflow leading up to a launch. At the same meeting NASA set July 12 for the launch of Atlantis on STS-121. The announcement came a day after the Stafford-Covey Return to Flight Task Group found that NASA has met seven of the 15 recommendations set out by the Columbia Accident Investigation Board, including inspecting damage to the leading edge panels on the orbiters. The task force plans to review work on the final eight recommendations in late March, and issue a report to NASA in April.