New space vehicle hits snag
NASA has abandoned plans to get its replacement for the space shuttle into service by 2013 because of funding and technical problems, manager Jeff Hanley said from the Johnson Space Center in Houston.
The U.S. space agency had hoped to fly astronauts to the International Space Station aboard a new spaceship called Orion as early as September 2013. Now, the agency is setting its sights a year later.
The shuttle fleet is due to retire in 2010. Until its new vehicle is ready, NASA intends to rely on Russia to ferry crews and on private firms to deliver cargo.
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