Sep 8 2003
From The Space Library
NASA released its first preliminary return-to-flight plan, briefing reporters at JSC in Houston, Texas. The 158-page report, which Associate Administrator William F. Readdy called “an evolving document,” indicated that 11 March 2004 was the earliest possible date for a Space Shuttle to return to flight. However, Readdy emphasized that NASA would be safety-driven, not schedule-driven, in its efforts to launch the first Shuttle to fly since the Columbia disaster. NASA had tentatively scheduled Atlantis for a launch between 11 March and 6 April 2004. In the preliminary plan, NASA indicated that it had changed Atlantis's original mission of ferrying supplies and a new crew to the ISS. Instead, the mission would be a developmental flight during which the crew would test the new procedures and safety equipment that the CAIB had recommended. Although the ISS would still be Atlantis's destination, the mission would not carry ISS replacement crew. NASA's Space Shuttle Program Manager William W. Parsons Jr. said that the greatest challenges for future Shuttle missions would be developing methods to minimize the shedding of foam from the orbiter's external tank and to repair tile and protective heat panels while in space. In addition, NASA would have to install cameras and sensors on the Shuttles and on the ISS robotic arms, to detect vehicle damage. (John Schwartz and Warren E. Leary, “NASA Says It Won't Rush Shuttle Back to Space,” New York Times, 9 September 2003.
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