Launch dates for the remaining two scheduled shuttle missions are likely to slip, with one possibly moving into next year, Kennedy Space Center Director Robert Cabana said today.
The Discovery flight to the International Space Station, now slated to lift off on Sept. 16, may push back until October, he told a meeting of the National Space Club in Cape Canaveral.
And the following flight, tentatively set for November, could move into next year. That mission's primary payload, a $1.5 billion science instrument called the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, won't be delivered to Kennedy Space Center by July as needed to make the November launch date, Cabana said.
As for an additional mission being added, that's still undecided. NASA officials have said it could cost between $600 million to $800 million to add one more mission.
"For sure we've got two more, and they're going to slip a little from the schedule that you see," Cabana said.
Space news and analysis from Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral 
11 comments:
What a great way to keep the shuttle program going. Just miss a date here and there, that thing'll be going till 2012.
There was an expansive article on this earlier on NASASpaceflight, including the dates for STS-133, STS-134 and STS-135,
http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2010/06/sts-135-june-24-2011-evaluation-extra-shuttle-mission/
Flight schedule delayed for further enjoyment of small quantities of a white powdered substance to be found in various locations around KSC.
So many hater when it comes to NASA. Kennedy Space Center and NASA has done so much for this area. Wait until the jobs are gone and see what this area is like then! Hope you like it!!
The games NASA plays! They had better save that Davis Bacon wage because they will be eating peanut butter on the other side of the river.
This is old news. At the last shuttle mission they publicly announced late October, and it's already well known that February is a likely date for the last one not counting adding 135. Even Leinbach was quoted in the media a while back saying October 29.
Awesome news! Good to know that the Manned Spaceflight Overpaid Engineers Welfare Fund will extend benefits a little longer. new bass boats and 4wheelers all around, boys! Hell, even maybe a new pickem' up truck!
Spent 7 years there. Don't EVER bitch about people on the dole ever again. That's the biggest jobs program in the nation.
It is better to keep the middle class KSC workers employed.
Obama voted to help the fat cat bankers and wall st. executives. These people never achieved a moon landing or launch a reuseable spacecraft.
And the inflated wages for the residual rocket scientists and missile mechanics continue unabated for an undetermined period of time until the welfare checks kick in.
Geez...at this rate, in addition to STS-135, add a few more flights and there won't be any real gap at all, assuming the Dragon is ready around they sayit will.
A big and hidden story in this is that NASA promised last year, under pressure from the public and Sens Nelson and Martinez, after town hall meetings, to put the commercial launch site further to the south. Now in the full article today the hidden gem that NASA wants to demolish 39B and reconfigure for commercial launches. The reason everyone including both senators were up in arms is that launching commercially from the northern end impacts recreation sites. These commercial launches could eventually take place very often and close recreation sites for half the year. Jobs are great but let's put this pad down in the USAF area near pad #26. NASA says they want to be a "good neighbor" but are they any better than State Farm? Yes, when someone says they want to be my good neighbor, now I know what they mean.
Microwave
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