Posted: Sat, Jan 29, 2005, 8:42 AM ET (1342 GMT)
A task force said Friday that NASA has met six of the 15 shuttle return to flight recommendations made by the Columbia Accident Investigation Board, with the possibility that some of the remaining recommendations will not be completed before the shuttle is cleared to fly again. The Stafford-Covey Return To Flight Task Group, in its third interim report, said that NASA has completed work on six of the recommendations, has partially fulfilled two more, and is making good progress on the remaining. However, the group's leaders said that they don't plan to issue a final decision on whether the shuttle is ready to fly, only report to the agency how many of the recommendations have been completed. The group also suggests that some recommendations, like the need for an in-flight TPS repair capability, may not need to be fully completed for NASA to clear the shuttle for flight. The report also recommended that NASA not rely heavily on computer models that estimate the damage to the orbiter from debris strikes during launch. The first post-Columbia shuttle flight, STS-114, is scheduled for mid-May.

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