NASA Targets Late-September Shuttle Launch

NASA hopes to launch the space shuttle Discovery on the first post-Challenger flight about Sept. 25, Richard Kohrs, a top shuttle manager at the Johnson Space Center, said Monday.

Engineers from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and Morton Thiokol Inc., maker of the shuttle’s rocket booster, have disassembled the aft skirting and nozzle section of the rocket test-fired last week with deliberate flaws, and its safety features appear to have performed as designed, a company spokesman said. The test was the fifth and final full-scale firing needed to qualify the solid-fuel booster for flight.

A recommendation on a firm launch date was expected to be presented to NASA managers Tuesday in Washington for a formal announcement later in the week.

Program Grounded

NASA grounded the shuttle program after the Challenger explosion, in which seven crew members died on Jan. 28, 1986.

The only known open items of any significance that could threaten a late September launch involved a tiny hydrogen leak in a fuel line and data indicating sluggish operation of two key valves in the shuttle’s engine compartment.

Kohrs said neither problem appeared likely to delay the launch.

Meanwhile, attorneys in Richmond, Va., said the widow of Challenger pilot Michael J. Smith has reached a tentative settlement of a wrongful death suit against Morton Thiokol.

Details were not disclosed by attorneys for the company and Jane J. Smith.