Astronauts board space shuttle for practice launch

By Irene Klotz

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) – The crew set to fly
aboard space shuttle Discovery scrambled into the spaceship on
Thursday for a practice countdown ahead of next month’s launch.

The U.S. space agency NASA has not launched a shuttle since
July 2005 when Discovery blasted off to test safety upgrades
imposed after the 2003 Columbia disaster.

Though the mission to the International Space Station was
accomplished without significant problems, the shuttle’s
external fuel tank, which had been redesigned to stem the loss
of potentially deadly debris, flunked its debut test flight.

NASA removed more foam and now believes there is no risk of
large pieces falling off the tank during launch and striking
the spaceship, as happened during Columbia’s liftoff.

Columbia, its protective heat shield pierced by debris,
broke up as it returned through the atmosphere for landing,
killing the seven astronauts aboard.

Thursday’s mock countdown, with the five-man and two-woman
crew clad in bright orange flight suits, was a routine
pre-launch test and one of the final steps before NASA clears a
shuttle for launch.

Discovery’s primary mission will be to prove that its
latest safety upgrades have made it secure. It will fly to the
space station to deliver supplies, equipment and a new crew
member, the European Space Agency’s Thomas Reiter of Germany.

If successful, NASA plans another 16 missions to the
station to finish construction of the half-built outpost and
possibly one last servicing call to the Hubble Space Telescope
before the shuttle fleet is retired in 2010.

Managers are scheduled to set a firm launch date for
Discovery on Saturday following a two-day flight review. The
target date is July 1-19.

“I don’t really know of anything out there that would
preclude a July 1 launch,” Discovery Commander Steve Lindsey
told reporters.