Shuttle Atlantis launch off until June

NASA will continue repairs to a hail-damaged external tank but will not be able to launch shuttle Atlantis and six astronauts on an International Space Station mission until early June.

The earliest launch date would be June 8, NASA managers said today. They hope to finish repairs to the 15-story tank in the next few weeks and are looking to move the shuttle back to its launch pad around May 6.

NASA is aiming to launch Endeavour in early August and still hopes to get four missions off the ground before the end of the year. But the schedule won't be clear until the agency determines exactly how long it will take to finish tank repairs and get the Atlantis mission under way.

"Flying four flights is not outside the realm of possibility, but we want to do this in a safe and orderly manner, and we'll just have to see how it all works out," NASA shuttle program manager Wayne Hale said.

NASA had hoped to launch Atlantis in April or May, but the amount of repair work and the rate at which it could be completed made that impossible. Its mission had been slated for launch March 15, but the hail storm on Feb. 26 peppered its tank, creating several thousand dings, divots and gouges in the thermal insulation that covers its aluminum-lithium shell.

The Expedition 14 and Expedition 15 crews, meanwhile, held a joint news conference early this evening that included billionaire space tourist Charles Simonyi, who arrived at the outpost Monday with two Russian cosmonauts. The three said they were adapting well to weightlessness and added that the station felt like home.

Simonyi and cosmonauts Fyodor Yurchikhin and Oleg Kotov docked at the station at 3:11 p.m. Monday after a two-day trip from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Click here to read our story about the docking and a new $719 million contract Russia inked to ferry 15 U.S. astronauts on round trips to the station between 2009 and 2011: Docking & Deal

Also, for inquiring minds, the actor who played Mr. Sulu on the classic TV series Star Trek visited Kennedy Space Center Monday. You can see that story here: Takei treks to KSC

IMAGE NOTE: Click to enlarge the NASA photo of workers repairing hail damage done in late February to the external tank of shuttle Atlantis. The work is being done in the Kennedy Space Center Vehicle Assembly Building. Photo Credit: NASA/George Shelton.