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NASA Sets New Shuttle Launch Dates
By Glen Golightly
Houston Bureau Chief
posted: 04:50 pm ET
07 October 1999
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Shuttle managers set possible launch datesHOUSTON Based on wiring inspection and repair progress aboard the shuttles, managers have set new possible launch dates. Discovery is tentatively scheduled to launch a Hubble Space Telescope service mission on December 2, Endeavour on a radar mapping mission of the Earth on January 13, and Atlantis on a flight to the International Space Station on February 10, 2000. A firm launch date for Discovery should be set in mid-November. If Discovery keeps the December 2 date, it would launch at 4:32 a.m. ET and land at about 2 a.m. on December 12. Wiring problems grounded the shuttle fleet after an electrical short circuit knocked out two main engine computers during Columbias launch on July 23. The cause of the short was traced to a damaged wire. "As a result of our inspections, we've made significant changes in how we protect electrical wiring," said Ron Dittemore, the shuttle program manager, in a prepared statement. "We believe those changes, along with changes to the work platforms and procedures we use in the Shuttle's payload bay, will prevent similar wire damage from recurring." Inspection of Discoverys wiring should be finished by the end of the week, in addition to replacing a corroded oxidizer valve in the crafts orbital maneuvering system.
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