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WEEKLY NEWS 3: NASA to Launch Shuttle

The National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA) has announced its plan to launch the space shuttle Discovery on Tuesday, July 26, 2005, just two weeks after the mission was called off. A problem with a fuel tank sensor led to the cancellation of the launch just hours before the shuttle was to lift off on July 13, 2005.

Members of Discovery’s mission management team are still trying to determine the exact cause of the sensor malfunction. John Muratore, NASA’S manager for shuttle systems engineering, has said that technicians believe that electrical grounding might be the problem. Muratore added that the best chance for finding the problem might come during the process of preparing the shuttle for launching.

William Parsons, manager of the shuttle program, said that a new countdown will begin on Saturday. This countdown will lead to the launch of Discovery on Tuesday at 10:39AM. If the sensors work the way that engineers predict, said Parsons, “then we’ll launch on that day.” If they don’t, he added, the mission will be canceled, “and we’ll talk about it.”

NASA shuttles have not flown since the Columbia broke apart on re-entry on February 1, 2003. All seven astronauts on board were killed in that tragic event. (contributing: New York Times)

--Written by Patricia Daniels

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