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Next NASA shuttle flight likely to be delayed

Posted on: Friday, 13 February 2004, 06:00 CST

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The next Space Shuttle flight, tentatively set for fall, is likely to be delayed, according to NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe.

NASA officials have said for months that the September launch schedule was ``at the earliest'' with at least some postponement possible as the agency recovers from the Columbia disaster.

On Thursday, O'Keefe told the House of Representatives' Science Committee that the agency's management council will meet in Houston next week to review progress and determine launch dates and a delay is ``likely.''

While O'Keefe didn't specify how long a delay might be, he said the next best conditions for a daylight launch occur in January and March of next year.

Just last week, Air Force Brig. Gen. Duane Deal, an investigator of the Columbia disaster, warned of the danger of making another launch before all needed safety repairs and precautions are taken.

NASA's top spaceflight official said then that the plan for resuming shuttle flights as early as September or October will be driven by milestones, not schedule. He stressed that those months are merely planning dates.

``If we don't meet milestones, we don't fly in September or October. It's that simple,'' said Bill Readdy, a former shuttle commander in charge of the spaceflight office.

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