Checks on wiring inside the payload bays of all Space Shuttle orbiters following the short circuits during the STS93 Columbia launch have revealed similar damage to all the spacecraft. The orbiter Endeavour has the most serious problems, with over 20 damaged areas of wiring, including some sections down to bare wire. Less damage has been found on the Atlantis and Discovery.
As a result, the launch of the STS 101 Atlantis logistics mission to the International Space Station (ISS) has been delayed from 2 December to 22 January 2000, while the STS99 Endeavour radar mission is likely to be pushed into November. The STS103 Discovery Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission is planned for late October.
NASA and Thiokol Propulsion, meanwhile, have completed negotiations for a contract worth up to $1.73 billion for 73 Space Shuttle reusable solid rocket motors, with delivery starting this autumn, and support for Shuttle launches through to 2004.
In a move to safeguard Space Shuttle assembly schedules, the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida is being modified to include a third stacking area in high bay 2. A new crawler way will be built for the Space Shuttle to leave the VAB.
Source: Flight International
