Avi Blizovsky
Direct link to this page: https://www.hayadan.org.il/shuttle200205.html
The American space agency (NASA) has updated its target date for the launch of the shuttle Discovery to May 15. The main mission of the shuttle, which will be its first flight since the Columbia disaster on February 1, 2003, is to test the new safety procedures imposed on NASA following the disaster.
In accordance with these guidelines, the launches will be conducted during daylight hours, so that mission managers can test all systems in detail during the launch.
Mission engineers will closely examine the foam performance of the external fuel tank, the tiles on the heat shield and the carbon compound used for the wings. The team will test the heat shield while the shuttle is in orbit and experiment with several repair techniques.
As part of the tight safety procedures, a second shuttle, Atlantis, will be included for launch, should a rescue mission be required.
The launch is the first of two launches that will be used to test these procedures. If they go well, NASA plans to resume assembling the International Space Station at the first opportunity.
Lynn Klein, Vice President of NASA's Space Missions Directorate, said that the changes made as a result of the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry into the Columbia disaster do not refer only to the shuttle program, but were extended to the entire agency.
Some of the recommendations require the establishment of an independent technical authority and engineering and safety centers so that people outside the program will be used for balances and brakes." She added that she felt the changes "will stand the test of time."
The launch window will last until June 3.
For news at the BBC
Yadan returned to the flight
https://www.hayadan.org.il/BuildaGate4/general2/data_card.php?Cat=~~~1165018~~~188&SiteName=hayadan
