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CX2SA > NASA 18.06.06 17:19l 84 Lines 2983 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
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Subj: NASA gives go for STS-121
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From: CX2SA@CX2SA.LAV.URY.SA
To : NASA@WW
SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468
June 17, 2006
Allard Beutel
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-4769
Tracy Young
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
321-867-2468
RELEASE: 06-241
NASA GIVES 'GO' FOR SPACE SHUTTLE DISCOVERY'S LAUNCH
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- NASA senior managers on Saturday cleared the
Space Shuttle Discovery for a July 1 flight to the International
Space Station.
The decision was announced after a lengthy Flight Readiness Review, a
traditional meeting in which top NASA managers and engineers set
launch dates, determine whether the shuttle's complex array of
equipment, support systems and procedures are ready for flight and
assess any risks associated with the mission.
"We had two full days of an intensive Flight Readiness Review," said
Administrator Michael Griffin. "It was spirited and one of the most
open, yet non-adversarial meetings I've seen since returning to
NASA."
Commander Steve Lindsey and his six-crewmates are scheduled to lift
off at 3:48 p.m. EDT to begin a 12-day mission, designated STS-121.
Discovery's crew will test new hardware and techniques to improve
shuttle safety, as well as deliver supplies, make repairs and bring a
third crew member to the station.
"We were really careful to evaluate everything as thoroughly as we
could," said Associate Administrator for Space Operations Bill
Gerstenmaier, who chaired the Flight Readiness Review. "But the
review of the ice/frost ramp was one of the most vigorously
discussed."
The ice/frost ramps are structures made of insulation foam that cover
34 brackets on the outside of the shuttle's external fuel tank. The
ramps have been cited as a potential source of foam loss, which could
cause damage to the shuttle. The Flight Readiness Review board
decided the current design does not pose sufficient risk to delay the
upcoming mission while design improvements for later flights are
under way.
Joining Lindsey aboard Discovery will be pilot Mark Kelly, mission
specialists Mike Fossum, Piers Sellers, Lisa Nowak and Stephanie
Wilson. European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Reiter will launch on
Discovery and stay on the station for several months.
Aboard the station, Expedition 13 Commander Pavel Vinogradov, a
Russian Federal Space Agency cosmonaut, and Flight Engineer and NASA
Station Science Officer Jeff Williams will greet Discovery and its
crew. Vinogradov and Williams began their six-month mission on the
station March 31.
For more information on the STS-121 mission, including images and
interviews with the crew, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle
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