Weather in Florida delays shuttle return again

By Deborah Zabarenko

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) – A chance of rain near the
Florida landing site prompted NASA to delay the return to Earth
of space shuttle Discovery on Tuesday, once again extending the
first shuttle mission since the 2003 Columbia accident.

NASA twice rejected landing opportunities on Monday and did
the same with the first chance to land the shuttle on Tuesday
at the Kennedy Space Center on Florida’s east coast.

“At this time we’re going to ask you guys to watch the
Earth go by for one more rev (orbit),” astronaut Ken Ham
radioed from Mission Control to the shuttle.

“We understand how unstable weather is in Florida so we’re
not surprised at all,” shuttle commander Eileen Collins
replied.

NASA has several chances to land the shuttle on Tuesday,
including a second Florida opportunity at 6:43 a.m. EDT (1043
GMT) in Florida and at 8:12 a.m. EDT (1212 GMT) and 9:47 a.m.
EDT (1347 GMT) at Edwards Air Force Base in California, the
primary backup site.

Discovery also could land at the secondary backup site, the
White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico, at 6:39 a.m. EDT (1039
GMT) or 8:13 a.m. EDT (1213 GMT).

Barring emergencies, NASA will only land Discovery if there
is at least 5 miles of visibility for the approach to the
runway and no rain, lightning or thunderstorms within 35 miles.

The landing will bring to a close NASA’s first shuttle
mission since Discovery’s sister ship, Columbia, was destroyed
on Feb. 1, 2003, 16 minutes from landing.

$1 BILLION IN REPAIRS

Columbia’s wing was critically damaged during launch by a
piece of insulating foam that fell from the shuttle fuel tank.
As the spacecraft raced through Earth’s atmosphere 16 days
later for landing, superheated gases blasted into the hole,
ripping the ship apart and killing all seven astronauts on
board.

NASA spent $1 billion on repairs and safety upgrades. But a
chunk of insulating foam almost as large as the one that
damaged Columbia flew off Discovery’s fuel tank at launch on
July 26, telling NASA managers they had failed to fix the
problem.

The space agency grounded the shuttle fleet again and said
they would not fly until the foam problem is solved.

Discovery spent nine days at the International Space
Station on a servicing and resupply mission. The crew delivered
a new steering gyroscope to the outpost and revived a second
failed device.

The astronauts also made the shuttle program’s first
in-flight heat shield repair. Astronaut Stephen Robinson rode
the space station’s robot arm to Discovery’s belly to remove
two protruding cloth strips from the smooth surface of the
ship’s belly.

NASA managers were concerned the strips could disrupt air
flow over the shuttle and raise temperatures beyond what the
shuttle can withstand.

NASA prefers landing the shuttle in Florida rather than
California. A landing at Edwards involves a week of processing
time, a $1 million expense and the risk of a cross-country
ferry flight to return a shuttle to Florida. (Additional
reporting by Jim Loney and Irene Klotz in Cape Canaveral)