...And The STS-114 Commander Is Just Fine With Delay

With the space shuttle's Return to Flight delayed for at least two months, Discovery's crew is getting in a little extra practice this week. Commander Eileen Collins and her six crew members were at the Kennedy Space Center Tuesday for a countdown exercise to be conducted before the space plane is rolled back to the Vehicle Assembly Building. There, engineers will further modify Discovery's external fuel tank to mitigate the possibility that falling debris might damage the orbiter.

If you ask STS-114 Commander Eileen Collins about NASA's decision to delay the launch of Discovery until at least July, she'll tell you she's just fine with the idea.

"I truly believe we've made the right decision in going to July," Collins told Florida Today. "It's going to give the teams more time to prepare. And like anything in life, the longer you prepare for something, the better it's going to be. We want this mission to be very, very successful."

The countdown exercise continues through Tuesday, culminating Wednesday at approximately 1100 local, when the crew, which will be on board the shuttle, simulates a main engine shutdown.

"This is a great event for our crew," Collins (below) said. "This is great practice for them as well as it is for us."

As ANN reported last week, NASA leaders decided to hold off on the first launch since the destruction of shuttle Columbia two years ago because of potential ice build-ups on the external tank. Engineers were also pondering other, less critical problems that, together, prompted them to delay the launch beyond the May 15th - June 3rd window. The next launch window opens on July 13th.

FMI: www.nasa.gov