The shuttle Discovery will be launched no earlier than February 3, 2011

NASA wants to be sure that the problems with the external fuel tank have been fixed and do not threaten the safety of the launch * As a result, the launch of the shuttle Endeavor for the last flight of the shuttle project will be postponed to April

NASA managers have set themselves the goal of launching the shuttle Discovery no earlier than February 3rd in the morning (08:34 Israel time). The shuttle managers determined that more tests and analyzes are required before they can proceed with the procedures for launching the STS-133 mission to the International Space Station.

The shuttle control requirements team met Thursday and its members reviewed the engineering estimates involved in the two 7-meter-long cracks. These cracks were opened by U-shaped supports called stringers on the shuttle's outer tank. NASA is repairing these supports and reinstalling insulating foam over them.

The mission managers decided that the results of the analyzes and tests did not indicate the completion of the requirements for a safe launch. They plan to conduct an orchestrated test of the external fuel tank and structural evaluations on the stringers to determine if the results of the analyzes were correct. Details and schedules for testing the tank are still being prepared, but according to the plans, the temperatures and strength of the materials will be measured in the area between the tanks near the top of the tank during the test.

NASA will review and analyze the data from these tests before setting a final launch date. Due to the delay in the launch of Discovery, the first opportunity to launch the last shuttle mission, STS-134 of the shuttle Endeavor will be April 1.