NASA dissenters weigh in on launch date

Two senior NASA officials who voted to delay the planned July 1 launch of Discovery to fix a serious safety problem said Monday that the test flight can be flown without jeopardizing the seven-member shuttle crew.

"Crew safety is our first and most important concern. We believe that our crew can safely return from this mission," NASA Chief Engineer Christopher Scolese and Bryan O'Connor, the agency's top safety officer, said in a joint statement.

However, both said they still feel NASA should redesign foam covers on the shuttle's external tank before the flight to prevent the possible loss of insulation pieces large enough to cause severe damage to the orbiter's heat shield.

"We both feel that there remain issues with the orbiter -- there is the potential that foam may come off at the time of launch. That's why we feel we should redesign the ice/frost ramp before we fly this mission. We do not feel, however, that these issues are a threat to the safe return of the crew," Scolese and O'Connor said.

"We have openly discussed our position in the Flight Readiness Review -- open communication is how we work at NASA. The Flight Readiness Review board and the administrator have heard all the different engineering positions, including ours, and have made an informed decision and the agency is accepting this risk with its eyes wide open."