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January 07, 2011
Shuttle launch dates still uncertain
If you're planning to go see one of last launches of the Space Shuttle, you'll need to move to Florida or keep your schedule flexible this spring.
The last flight of Discovery, STS-133, originally planned for November, has now been delayed to at least the last week of February--no earlier than February 24. The window remains open until March 6.
The repairs to the big orange external tank couldn't be completed by the earlier Feb. 3 launch window.
No word on the possible launch date for STS-134, the last flight of Endeavour. That had been tentatively planned for the first week of April if Discovery launched the first week of February.
The third shuttle, Atlantis, which flew the last mission in May of 2010, is in the Orbiter Processing Facility at KSC being prepared for a possible rescue flight designated STS-335. Congress authorized a final flight with Atlantis which was tentatively slated for June 2011, but no funding was made available for this flight.
Updates on the shuttles are available on the NASA Shuttle site: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html.
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To the stars,
Marianne Dyson
NSS Advisor
Posted by m_dyson at January 7, 2011 11:49 PM
