Space Station Glitch Won’t Impact Shuttle Launch

STENNIS SPACE CENTER — A malfunction this week aboard the international space station should not affect NASA’s targeted launch date for space shuttle Discovery, officials said Thursday.

For the second time in less than a year, a circuit breaker malfunction caused a gyroscope to shut down. The same gyro failed in April.

The gyroscopes help keep the space station stable in orbit, and now, using just two of its four main steering devices, the station must remain steady enough for Discovery to dock during the shuttle’s return to flight mission.

During a media briefing Thursday at Stennis Space Center, NASA space shuttle program manager Bill Parsons said officials are confident that Discovery will make its launch window of May 15-June 3.

"We’ve had this similar problem before, but the space station can still fly with just two (gyroscopes)," Parsons said. "Currently, I have a schedule that shows me launching on May 15."

NASA’s shuttle fleet has been grounded since the Columbia disaster in February 2003, and historically other shuttle disasters have halted space missions for about two years.

"I think we all thought we could have done this a bit sooner," Parsons said, "but 24 to 36 months is right in the ballpark of other missions to return to flight."

The two-year delay in space travel has allowed the organization to beef up its safety procedures, including a major effort to revamp the external fuel tank.

A piece of foam from Columbia’s tank tore away during liftoff and damaged its left wing, causing the shuttle to break apart over Texas just minutes before it was scheduled to touch down.

Other safety procedures include tests at Stennis of the shuttle’s main engines, and officials have scheduled the next two missions for daylight launch times, hoping to get a better view of the takeoff through video cameras on the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

NASA also has installed a camera to a 50-foot arm aboard Discovery that will be used to evaluate the shuttle once in space, checking for any damage the craft may have suffered during the launch.

"When we say that we believe Discovery will be the safest launch ever," Stennis Director Tom Donaldson said, "it’s because the whole organization has assessed what happened and redoubled our efforts to see that it doesn’t happen again."

Officials are convinced their efforts will keep the mission on pace to launch on time.

Plans, however, to move Discovery to the launch pad Thursday were canceled to give workers time to recheck a few minor problems. NASA now hopes to have the shuttle on the pad before the end of the month.

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