External Fuel Tank Remains A Concern

It could be January or March of next year before NASA is ready to launch its first space shuttle mission since Columbia disintegrated in the sky above Texas in February 2003, a top NASA administrator said on Tuesday. NASA has been targeting a launch date in September or October, but that looks unlikely because of ongoing research into air flow around the shuttle's huge external fuel tank, said NASA shuttle and space station director Michael Kostelnik. He said new research models required a broader look at the fuel tank issue, which was critical because investigators believe insulation foam broke loose from the tank, struck Columbia's wing and caused the spacecraft's demise by damaging its heat shield.

Craft Will Overshadow Soyuz's Size

Russian engineers have begun design work on a new spacecraft that would be twice as big and spacious as the existing Soyuz crew capsules, the nation's top space official said Tuesday. The new craft will be able to carry at least six cosmonauts and have a reusable crew section, Russian Aerospace Agency director Yuri Koptev said at a news conference. Soyuz carries three cosmonauts and isn't reusable. Koptev said that his agency was willing to consider possible participation in the planned U.S. moon and Mars missions, but hadn't yet received any formal proposals from NASA. At the same time, he reaffirmed his skepticism about Bush's space plan, saying that the U.S. administration would have trouble raising resources for the planned missions.