Discovery Set To Launch May 31 Despite Concerns
Posted on: Tuesday, 20 May 2008, 10:41 CDT
The space agency expressed confidence Monday in the Soyuz capsule as a lifeboat for fliers on the international space station, while the Russians continued to investigate the vessel's steep re-entry on its most recent flight.
The endorsement came as top NASA officials set May 31 as the date for the launch of the space shuttle Discovery for a 14-day mission to the space station. The spacecraft will carry American Gregory Chamitoff, who is to join the resident crew for a six-month tour on the orbiting science lab.
Chamitoff is to return to Earth aboard the shuttle Endeavour in the fall. However, if he and two Russian crewmates face an emergency aboard the station after Discovery leaves, they would use the Soyuz to evacuate.
Top space agency officials decided against delaying Discovery's mission to give the Russians more time to investigate the cause of the steep descent, called a ballistic re-entry. Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA spaceflight chief, said agency managers also decided against delaying Chamitoff's flight.
"If we had to use (Soyuz), we think there is a good chance it will return the crew and do what it needs to do as a parachute or backup system," Gerstenmaier said.
Gerstenmaier, who traveled to Russia last week to discuss the issue, said investigators have not settled on a cause for the steep re-entry. NASA's analysis revealed a less than 1 percent chance of an emergency arising on the space station that is serious enough to warrant an evacuation. The space agency intends to wait until the Russians complete the investigation before deciding whether to send another American to the space station on a Soyuz.
The Russians opened a wide ranging investigation after a wild, April 19 descent of a Soyuz capsule carrying American Peggy Whitson, Russian Yuri Malenchenko and South Korean So-yeon Yi.
The steep descent of the capsule into remote Kazakhstan sent the spacecraft nearly 300 miles off course and interrupted communications. Search teams took an hour to reach the three fliers.
A previous Soyuz landing, in October 2007, made a similarly steep descent with two Russians and a Malaysian. The Russians made changes in the capsule in the belief that an electrical short in the control system and a problem with explosive bolts that separate two parts of the spacecraft were to blame.
"They are doing a very thorough investigation," Gerstenmaier said. "It's probably better that we don't push on them too much or rush them to an answer that is not a good answer. We just asked them to keep us informed."
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Source: Houston Chronicle
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