Posted: Thu, Apr 5, 2001, 10:55 AM ET (1455 GMT)
NASA is considering rescheduling the launch of the space shuttle Endeavour later this month to avoid a "traffic jam" at the International Space Station, but it remains uncertain if they will delay the launch or move it up. SPACE.com reported Wednesday that the agency was looking at postponing the launch of mission STS-100 from April 19 to May 6, the day that a Soyuz spacecraft is scheduled to depart the station. However, Spaceflight Now said that NASA is also looking at moving up the launch a day to April 18 to give it three chances to launch the shuttle before delaying the mission until May. NASA is trying to avoid a situation where the shuttle is docked to ISS at the same time a Soyuz spacecraft, carrying two Russian cosmonauts and space tourist Dennis Tito, is at the station: officials fear that having 13 people at ISS at one time could tax the station's life support resources and interfere with critical operations. A decision on a launch date for the mission is expected to be made Thursday during the standard pre-launch flight readiness review.
