May 20 1987
From The Space Library
NASA announced that the first post-Challenger Space Shuttle launch had again been rescheduled, this time for June 1988. The four-month delay was caused by the need to perform further tests on the liquid-fuel main engines and because of needed redesigning and testing of the Shuttle's rocket boosters.
The postponement caused a decrease in the number of crew-tended flights planned for 1988 and 1989. NASA said that three Space Shuttles, instead of the five originally planned, would be flown in 1988 and seven, instead of the ten planned, would be flown in 1989. The reductions in Space Shuttle launches, NASA believed, would further slow U.S. efforts to regain primacy in space exploration and utilization. (LA Times, May 21/87; NY Times, May 21/87; B Sun, May 21/87; W Post, May 21/87)
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