Shuttle program managers today will hold a special meeting to assess the progress of repairs to Discovery and the possibility of launching its final mission as soon as Dec. 3 -- a week from Friday. Since a scrubbed Nov. 5 launch attempt, engineers and technicians have worked for nearly three weeks to repair a hydrogen gas leak and cracks in the shuttle's external tank.
Managers must decide if Discovery is safe to fly after the repairs and analyze the potential impacts if similar cracks were to reoccur during flight. They may consider a tanking test to confirm a hydrogen vent line is fixed.
If the results are positive today, senior NASA executives would gather Monday to review the analysis and set a launch date.
If Dec. 3 is the likely new target, Discovery's crew of six would go into quarantine this Friday and fly to Kennedy Space Center early Monday, hours before that day's briefing officially sets the launch date.
The launch window extends to Dec. 6 to fly with no impact to the planned 11-day mission to the International Space Station.
A Dec. 7 launch would sacrifice the contingency day typically reserved to handle any problems that arise on orbit.
If that window is missed, NASA is considering a Dec. 17-20 window that would have the shuttle flying over Christmas.
Image: Over the weekend, technicians sprayed foam insulation on a section of repaired stringers on space shuttle Discovery's external fuel tank. Credit: NASA
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