NASA is targeting the launch of Discovery on its next shuttle mission to the International Space Station for April 5, a day after a new crew is scheduled to arrive at the outpost aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft.Discovery and seven astronauts would blast off from launch pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center at 6:27 a.m. that day, the middle of a 10-minute, predawn opportunity to put the shuttle on course for a two-day trip to the station. The Soyuz crew, which includes two Russian cosmonauts and U.S. astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson, is slated to launch April 2 from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
Discovery had been set to launch March 18. But unusually cold weather, which can damage shuttle steering thrusters, has prevented NASA from moving the orbiter from its processing hangar to the Vehicle Assembly Building. An external tank and solid rocket boosters are stacked and waiting in the 52-story building.
An on-time launch would lead to a landing at KSC at around 12:30 a.m. April 18.
It's unclear whether the delay will cause slips in the target launch dates for NASA's final three shuttle missions. They now are slated for launch May 14, July 29 and Sept. 16.
Discovery's crew is slated to ferry up an Italian-built cargo carrier filled with supplies and science experiments for the station. Mission commander Alan Poindexter will led a crew that includes pilot James Dutton and mission specialists Rick Mastracchio, Dorthy Metcalf-Lindenburger, Clay Anderson, Stephanie Wilson and Naoko Yamazaki of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.
ABOUT THE IMAGE: Click to enlarge the NASA photo of the external tank and twin solid rocket boosters that now are stacked in the Vehicle Assembly Building, awaiting the arrival of the orbiter Discovery. The winged spaceship now is scheduled to move to the assembly building next Monday and roll out to the launch pad on March 2. Photo credit: NASA/Amanda Diller.
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