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UA9CIR > SAT 15.06.03 11:06l 40 Lines 1448 Bytes #999 (0) @ AMSAT
BID : ANS-166.09
Read: GUEST
Subj: Shuttle May Launch Before End of Year
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Sent: 030615/0742Z 1880@UA9CIR.SVR.RUS.EU [Ekaterinburg] $:ANS-166.09
From: UA9CIR@UA9CIR.SVR.RUS.EU
To : SAT@AMSAT
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 166.09 From AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD. June 15, 2003
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-166.09
NASA wants to return its shuttle fleet to flight by about Dec. 18 and
then launch six missions to complete the U.S. core of the International
Space Station by February 2005, agency officials said Tuesday, June
10th.
New ground rules already are being adopted along with other changes
designed to prevent a repeat of the Feb. 1 accident that destroyed
shuttle Columbia and claimed the lives of seven astronauts.
Among them: No nighttime launches, an external fuel tank redesign to
prevent foam debris from damaging shuttles and new methods for handling
potentially deadly problems once a mission is under way.
NASA also is studying the possibility of using the station as a safe
haven for shuttle crews in case of emergencies while in orbit. And the
agency even is contemplating the benefits of having a second shuttle on
standby when a sistership launches.
Senior agency officials, meanwhile, acknowledge the target date is
ambitious and that NASA will approach the fleet's return to space with
caution.
"We are going to be deliberate to ensure that we return to flight in a
safe manner," said Michael Greenfield, NASA's Deputy Associate
Administrator for Technical Programs. "We will take as long as it takes."
[ANS thanks Florida Today for the above information.]
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