NATION : Discovery’s Launch on Military Mission Delayed at Least 2 Days
The shuttle Discovery’s planned launch Monday on a military flight has been delayed at least two days to Thanksgiving eve because of possible short circuits in two key booster control devices, officials said today.
Discovery and its four-man, one-woman crew had been scheduled for a night liftoff around 7:30 p.m. Monday from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The goal of the flight, the seventh since the 1986 Challenger disaster, is classified. But Discovery’s payload is believed to be a 6,000-pound spy satellite capable of eavesdropping on Soviet military communications.
The countdown to launch had been scheduled to begin Friday, but NASA said today that the flight has been put off to no earlier than Nov. 22 because of concern about potential wiring problems in electrical units attached to each of Discovery’s solid-fuel boosters. In addition, small leaks were found in hydraulic power units used to move the booster nozzles for steering during the first two minutes of flight.
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