CAPE CANAVERAL - NASA would fly the upcoming Hubble Space Telescope mission over the Christmas holiday if need be, but under no circumstances will Space Shuttle Discovery be in orbit for the onset of the year 2000. That was the word Monday from NASA shuttle program director Ron Dittemore.
In an exclusive interview with space.com, Dittemore said NASA is not taking any chances when it comes to the Y2K computer bug and the potentially dangerous effect it might have on an orbiting spaceship and an astronaut crew. After all, NASA's $2 billion shuttles rely heavily on flight computers and software - not to mention computers in the agency's Mission Control Center in Houston - to safely carry out piloted space voyages.
"We've gone to great lengths to certify ourselves so we can say with certainty that we can operate in a Y2K environment," Dittemore said. "But good common sense and prudent judgment says if you don't have to do it, don't do it."
Discovery and seven astronauts are scheduled to blast off from Kennedy Space Center December 2 on a high-profile mission to fix Hubble's troubled pointing control system, which enables the telescope to lock on to stars, planets, galaxies and other celestial objects. Extensive inspections, repairs, and testing of Discovery's electrical wiring system, however, are making it increasingly difficult for NASA to meet the target launch date.
Dittemore said the agency still has a shot at making the December 2 target date. A slip of three or four days, however, is a real possibility. "I want to be satisfied that we've got all the work done," he said. "If we can make December 2 and do it comfortably, then we'll do that. But if we want to take a couple of extra days, then we'll do that."
Discovery is still in its hangar at KSC while senior shuttle managers review the results of electrical systems tests and other more routine launch processing work. A planned move to KSC's 52-story Vehicle Assembly Building had been slated for early this week, but is on hold until the review work can be finished.
NASA's self-imposed deadline for launching the Hubble repair mission in 1999 is December 14, Dittemore said. Launching December 14 would enable the crew to complete a full 10-day mission and have two extra days to fly in orbit should bad weather on Earth prevent a safe landing attempt. It also would enable ground teams to secure the ship in its KSC hangar and power down all computer systems by December 28 or 29, thus avoiding any potential trouble from the Y2K bug.
The latter scenario, if it came to pass, would call for the crew to be in space on Christmas Day -- something NASA historically has tried to avoid. The agency typically grants its Mission Control and KSC ground teams the holiday off.
The last all-American astronaut crew to spend Christmas Day in space was on-board NASA's Apollo 8 mission in December 1968. Astronauts Frank Borman, James Lovell, Jr. and William Anders circled the moon 10 times on what was the first piloted mission to another planetary body. During one of the most memorable Christmas television broadcasts in history, each crew member read Biblical verse from the opening book of Genesis.
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