spacetoday.net: NASA still planning early 2004 shuttle flight

Posted: Tue, Sep 9, 2003, 10:51 AM ET (1451 GMT)
STS-107: launch (NASA/KSC)

NASA shuttle managers said Monday that they were still working towards returning the shuttle to flight in March or April of next year, but acknowledged that they had no firm timetable for putting the shuttle back in service. NASA made the announcement as it released its plan for tackling the return-to-flight recommendations made by the Columbia Accident Investigation Board in its final report released last month. NASA is currently planning to launch Atlantis on mission STS-114 some time between March 11 and April 6, but officials said that they will select a launch date based on the progress they make implementing the return-to-flight plan. If the shuttle is not ready to launch by April, NASA has identified two other windows, May 19 through June 28 as well as July 18 through August 26, which would allow the shuttle to launch during daylight hours and still dock with the International Space Station. Officials said that they plan to treat STS-114 as a test flight so that they can test techniques such as inspecting the shuttle while in orbit to look for tile damage. The shuttle will still dock with the ISS and carry supplies, but it will not carry a relief crew or any major station hardware.