spacetoday.net: NASA delays shuttle return to flight

Posted: Sat, Oct 2, 2004, 1:42 PM ET (1742 GMT)
STS-107: launch (NASA/KSC)

Citing delays caused by a series of hurricanes, NASA announced late Friday that the first post-Columbia shuttle flight will be pushed back to no earlier than mid-May of 2005. NASA had been planning to launch Discovery on mission STS-114 during a launch window that opened in March 2005. However, a series of hurricanes that struck the Kennedy Space Center over the course of a month shut down the spaceport for extended periods, delaying preparatory work. Another hurricane that hit the Gulf Coast last month also delayed work at the New Orleans facility that manufactures the shuttle's external tank. NASA is now targeting a launch window that begins on May 14, 2005, and extends to June 3. Another meeting of NASA officials is planned at the end of October to discuss the shuttle status, which could lead to another delay to July or September. Shuttle launches are constrained to launch windows that both allow the shuttle to reach the ISS as well as launch in daylight to photography of the shuttle during ascent.