Discovery launch set for Tuesday morning July 26
NASA has rescheduled space shuttle Discovery's launch for next Tuesday, but the cause of last week's fuel sensor problem remains a mystery.
Shuttle program manager Bill Parsons told a Wednesday news conference NASA engineers are nearing the end of testing designed to determine the problem.
"We believe the best way to go through this is to do a countdown," he said. "If the sensors work like we think they will, then we'll launch on that day. If anything goes not per the plan we have in front of us, then we'll have a scrub."
The mew countdown will begin Saturday afternoon, with liftoff scheduled for 10:34 a.m. EDT Tuesday. The current launch window ends July 31, after which the mission might have to be postponed until Sept. 9 to obtain maximum lighting conditions so Discovery's ascent can be photographed by a new network of cameras.
The cameras will help the space agency evaluate design changes made after the 2003 Columbia disaster.
Discovery's launch would mark the first space shuttle flight since Columbia disintegrated over Texas on Feb. 1, 2003, during re-entry, killing all seven astronauts on board.
Copyright 2005 by United Press International
