‘No Showstoppers’ Found to Prevent August Shuttle Flight
The National Research Council said today that its 14-month review of the Challenger disaster has found “no showstoppers” to prevent NASA from resuming manned spaceflights in August.
“We are all quite comfortable with what has been done to get ready for the next flight,” said Alton D. Slay, a retired general who headed a 12-member committee that audited the space agency’s efforts to recover from the accident that killed seven astronauts.
But, he cautioned, “no matter how good you are, you never reach Mecca; there is always room for improvement.”
“Although we have criticisms, we did not find anything that will delay the next space shuttle launch,” said Slay, a former head of the U.S. Air Force Systems Command. Launch of the shuttle Discovery is scheduled Aug. 4.
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