Risks of space launch too high
2005-05-05 06:48
Florida - The risks of launching the Discovery in May were "unacceptable," commander Eileen Collins said a week after National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) delayed for two months the resumption of space shuttle flights that have been suspended since the 2003 Columbia disaster.
"We can't fly with anything that's an unacceptable risk," the commander and six other members of the Discovery crew told a news conference on Tuesday near the launch pad where the Discovery awaits its mid-July lift-off — it was originally scheduled to go up between May 15 and June 3.
Nasa delayed the Discovery's mission to the orbiting International Space Station to carry out a more exhaustive review of the modification the shuttle has undergone since the Columbia disintegrated on re-entry on February 1 2003, killing all seven astronauts on board.
The US space agency had no other choice but to delay the Discovery flight, Collins said.
"I truly believe we've made the right decision in going to July," added the first woman commander of a space shuttle mission.
The Discovery crew was at the Kennedy Space Centre to participate in a launch rehearsal on Wednesday. Afterwards, they will return to the Johnson Space Centre in Houston, Texas, to continue training for their upcoming mission.