spacetoday.net: NASA planning to delay next shuttle flight to 2005

Posted: Wed, Feb 18, 2004, 7:07 PM ET (0007 GMT)
STS-107: launch (NASA/KSC)

NASA will likely delay the first post-Columbia shuttle flight until at least March 2005, officials suggested this week. The next shuttle mission, STS-114, is still officially scheduled for September 2004, but last week NASA Administration Sean O'Keefe said that it was highly unlikely return-to-flight preparations would be complete by then. Shuttle officials said at a conference this week that the launch would likely slip until 2005, and, given only a short launch window available in January, the launch would likely be rescheduled for March 2005, when a longer launch window exists. This would likely delay the following mission, STS-121, to May 2005. No timetable for officially announcing the delay was reported. If confirmed, it would make 2004 the first year since 1987 with no shuttle launches.