Aviation News

NASA Announces New Window For Next Space Shuttle Mission

NASA announced today July 1 to 19, 2006, is the new launch planning window for Space Shuttle Discovery's mission (STS-121). The window gives the agency time to do additional engineering work and analysis to ensure a safe flight for Discovery and its crew.

Space Shuttle Program Manager Wayne Hale made the announcement during a news conference from NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. The decision to target July followed a two-day meeting on the external fuel tank's engine cutoff (ECO) sensors. The sensors indicate whether the tank still has fuel during liftoff. During testing, one of the four ECO sensors had a slightly different reading than is expected. Shuttle officials have decided they will remove and replace all four liquid hydrogen sensors.

"We've been saying for months that our engineering work would determine when we fly our next mission. Targeting July is the right choice in order to make smart decisions," said Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA associate administrator for Space Operations.

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	Did You Know?
	Aviation Insurance loss (Aircraft Hull and Liability, War Risks, and Hangar) totals are very high from 1990-1998 Hull loss value ($M) of Western built aircraft - total losses and major partial losses Source: Aviation Insurance Offices Association (AIOA) Losses totaled since 1990 $6.565 billion dollars.