Space Shuttle Discovery is expected to emerge from its Kennedy Space Center hangar next week, but NASA officials say the agency will be hard-pressed to meet an early December launch date for its Hubble Space Telescope repair mission.
With a crew of seven astronauts aboard, Discovery is scheduled to blast off at 4:31 a.m. EST on December 2 on a high-profile mission to repair the $3 billion observatory, which is flying uncomfortably close to a science-stopping shutdown in orbit.
A crucial telescope pointing system could blink off any day, halting the telescopes near-daily stream of discoveries. But NASA officials say the need to conduct extensive tests to the shuttles recently repaired electrical wiring system will make it difficult to meet the December 2 launch date.
"December 2 is still our target date and it is still doable, but the schedule is tight," said KSC spokesman Joel Wells. NASA had hoped to launch the mission in October but the agency grounded its $8 billion shuttle fleet for electrical inspections and repairs after the July 23 launch of sister ship Columbia.
A short circuit five seconds into that flight crashed two engine computers. Had back-ups failed, Columbias crew -- which included Eileen Collins, the nations first female space mission commander -- would have faced a risky and unprecedented emergency landing.
The short circuit was traced to an exposed wire within Columbias 122-foot fuselage. Similar problems were uncovered on NASAs three other shuttles, triggering fleet-wide inspections and repairs which effectively have grounded the ships.
Some 57 exposed wires were found and repaired on Discovery, Wells said. Tests to the repaired electrical system are ongoing.
Shuttle program managers, meanwhile, will meet Thursday to discuss the next milestone in Discoverys launch campaign: A planned November 1 move out of its hangar and into KSCs 52-story Vehicle Assembly Building.
"Theyll be talking about whether the vehicle is ready to come out of the shed and go into the barn," Wells said.
Once in the assembly building, Discovery will be hoisted atop a mobile launcher platform and outfitted with a 15-story external tank and attached solid rocket boosters. The assembled shuttle is scheduled to roll out to KSCs launch pad 39B on November 7.
A firm launch date for the mission will be selected at a traditional flight readiness review to be held November 19.
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