Shuttle cleared for May 31 launch
Posted: Tue, May 20, 2008, 7:02 AM ET (1102 GMT)
NASA shuttle managers approved plans Monday to launch the space shuttle Discovery on a mission to the International Space Station at the end of this month despite continuing concerns about the safety of the station's Soyuz spacecraft. Discovery is scheduled to launch on mission STS-124 at 5:02 pm EDT (2102 GMT) on May 31. The primary purpose of the mission is to install the main elements of the Japanese lab module Kibo to the station. In addition, the mission will replace ISS crew member Garrett Reisman with Gregory Chamitoff. NASA had considered either delaying the mission or not bringing Reisman to the station until Russia better understands why the last two Soyuz missions have ended in ballistic reentries, but elected to go forward since Chamitoff would only use Soyuz in the event of an emergency evacuation.
NASA shuttle managers approved plans Monday to launch the space shuttle Discovery on a mission to the International Space Station at the end of this month despite continuing concerns about the safety of the station's Soyuz spacecraft. Discovery is scheduled to launch on mission STS-124 at 5:02 pm EDT (2102 GMT) on May 31. The primary purpose of the mission is to install the main elements of the Japanese lab module Kibo to the station. In addition, the mission will replace ISS crew member Garrett Reisman with Gregory Chamitoff. NASA had considered either delaying the mission or not bringing Reisman to the station until Russia better understands why the last two Soyuz missions have ended in ballistic reentries, but elected to go forward since Chamitoff would only use Soyuz in the event of an emergency evacuation.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
Sunday, July 26
Arianespace to launch weather satellite MTG-I2 on Ariane 6's first mission to geostationary orbit on August 27, 2026
Arianespace — 8:26 am ET (1226 GMT) How stars die: Astronomers detect magnetic fingerprint of a cosmic explosion for the first time
Univ. of Arizona — 8:25 am ET (1225 GMT) Voyager Wins Contract with Sandia National Laboratories
Voyager Space — 8:24 am ET (1224 GMT) Emergency Injunction Sought to Protect Texas Wildlife Refuge From SpaceX
Center for Biological Diversity — 8:23 am ET (1223 GMT) QuantX Labs Announces Successful In-Orbit Commissioning of World's First Optical Frequency Comb
QuantX — 8:22 am ET (1222 GMT) |
