D-Bone
Sep 26th '06, 10:06 AM
With two tough missions complete and a third planned before the end of the year, NASA is feeling confident the changes made after the 2003 Columbia accident are working, giving the agency a good shot at completing the shuttle's ultimate mission ? building the International Space Station within four years.
There appears to be little wiggle-room in the deadline, as shuttle contractors and suppliers already are being phased out in anticipation of the fleet's retirement in 2010. The ships will be decommissioned in phases, with Atlantis, which returned from an assembly mission last week, leaving service first.
NASA plans to retire Atlantis in 2008 before its next mandatory maintenance and upgrade period. Endeavour, which has just undergone its major overhaul, is scheduled to return to flight next year and Discovery, which flew the first two post-Columbia missions to test safety upgrades, is scheduled to fly again in December.
Read More: http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2006/09/25/afteratlantis_spa.html?category=space&guid=20060925070000&dcitc=w19-502-ak-0000
There appears to be little wiggle-room in the deadline, as shuttle contractors and suppliers already are being phased out in anticipation of the fleet's retirement in 2010. The ships will be decommissioned in phases, with Atlantis, which returned from an assembly mission last week, leaving service first.
NASA plans to retire Atlantis in 2008 before its next mandatory maintenance and upgrade period. Endeavour, which has just undergone its major overhaul, is scheduled to return to flight next year and Discovery, which flew the first two post-Columbia missions to test safety upgrades, is scheduled to fly again in December.
Read More: http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2006/09/25/afteratlantis_spa.html?category=space&guid=20060925070000&dcitc=w19-502-ak-0000