However, there is still a fear that the upgrade works will not be completed and another postponement will be necessary
The American space agency NASA said this weekend that the first space shuttle mission after the Columbia disaster in 2003 will be launched in May or early June 2005. This is after the agency made many improvements to the shuttle and its launch vehicles.
The original plan to resume the launches in March 2005 was scrapped after a series of hurricanes hit the state of Florida in July and August, where the launch base is located. The senior NASA official responsible for manned flights, William Reedy, said that the decision to resume the shuttle launch in May is a great relief for the space agency.
As mentioned, Florida experienced the worst hurricane season in history this year. Three of the four hurricanes that have hit the country have passed over or near the Kennedy Spaceport on Florida's east coast. Even before the storms hit, NASA engineers warned that the work on adapting the shuttles to the requirements of the investigative committee was behind schedule. "Even now there is still a fear of another postponement". said senior officials
Columbia lessons
The Columbia disaster was caused by a malfunction of the shuttle's wing. This damage was caused by damage to the foam that protects the external fuel tank from heating, which disintegrated during the launch. The damage was not discovered until Columbia made its way to Earth. By then it was already late. Extremely hot air penetrated into the wing and caused the shuttle to disintegrate in flight. It was the second disaster out of 113 shuttle missions.
About 28 missions are planned after the resumption of launches, most of them in aid of the construction of the International Space Station. Critics say that the shuttle fleet is too old and too expensive and that building the space station can be done using disposable launch vehicles.
