NATION : Discovery Launch Set for Oct. 6
NASA said today it will try to launch the space shuttle Discovery on Oct. 6 and hopes to end a frustrating lull in flights that has lasted almost half a year.
Discovery is scheduled to lift off with five astronauts who will send a European solar probe on a five-year journey to study the sun.
Discovery was the last shuttle to fly, when it carried the flawed Hubble Space Telescope into orbit in April.
The shuttle Columbia is grounded until the hydrogen fuel leaks in its engine compartment are pinpointed and repaired, probably late this year or early next year.
Atlantis has been in the hangar since early August, undergoing repairs for leaks in hydrogen lines.
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