Space Shuttle a Go for July 1 Launch

June 17, 2006 — -- After a long debate, NASA's managers said the shuttle Discovery is go for launch on July 1 -- even though two top engineers voted against flying.

"At the end of the day, some people still had reservations, and they expressed those reservations," said Wayne Hale, the shuttle program manager.

Their worry was that pieces of ice and insulating foam might still fall off the shuttle's orange external fuel tank on launch -- just as happened three years ago to Columbia.

The difference now, said NASA's administrator, Michael Griffin, is that shuttle crews will photograph the shuttle's belly inch by inch in orbit -- and if there's damage what would prevent a safe return, a second shuttle would be rushed to the launch pad and sent to rescue the astronauts.

"We are not in the situation we were with Columbia, where we didn't know that we had a problem," said Griffin. "We know we have a problem. We are electing to take the risk; we do not believe we are risking crew."

Shuttle manager Hale, an agency veteran, said he could recall only one so-called "Flight Readiness Review" in program history during which there had been a dissenting vote on whether to launch. But he said this was healthy. Before the Columbia accident, engineers who disagreed with their bosses were afraid to speak up.

"I think that is a great step forward from where we were some time in the past," said Hale.

NASA faces a difficult balancing act. It knows the shuttles have problems -- but they're the only ships that can be used to build the much-delayed International Space Station.

The mission, designated STS-121, is a 12-day flight to deliver supplies to the station; drop off a German astronaut, Thomas Reiter, to join the station's crew; and -- perhaps most important -- make sure the shuttle itself is in shape to resume a schedule of four to five flights a year.

They thought they had the problem solved last year, but during Discovery's last launch, on July 26, 2005, foam still fell from the tank.

Now, they say the risk has been reduced, though it can never be eliminated. A cover has been removed over a conduit for pipes and wiring on the tank's exterior, and more foam will be removed on coming flights.

"I think we're safer," said Steve Lindsey, the commander of next month's mission. "But in the grand scheme of things, are we an order of magnitude safer than before Columbia? No, and I don't think we ever will be with this vehicle."