Space shuttle launch date set

Press, 29 January 1988, Page 7

Space shuttle launch date set

NZPA-Reuter Washington Two years after the shuttle Challenger exploded, the United States is setting its sights on an August 4 launch date to put the troubled shuttle programme back into space. Rear-Admiral Richard Truly, the head of the shuttle programme, announced the date during an appearance before the House of Representatives Sub-committee on Space Science and Applications. In Washington and at National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) bases across the country, quiet ceremonies were scheduled yesterday to mark the second anniversary of the worst accident in the history of space flight. The Challenger exploded shortly after liftoff from Cape Canaveral, Florida, when a faulty seal on one of its two booster rockets allowed super-hot gases to escape and ignite tonnes of fuel, engulfing the craft and its crew in an enormous fireball. Relatives of the seven crew members who perished in the accident

were expected to join congressmen, schoolchildren and NASA officials to recall the January 28, 1986, tragedy. President Reagan, who was expected to unveil a new national space policy during his final year in office, was not expected to take part in any of the ceremonies. Earlier this week, the White House cancelled without explanation a high-level briefing at which NASA administrator, James Fletcher, and other top officials were to provide details of the new space strategy. A series of test failures has forced NASA to twice postpone a launch date for the next shuttle mission. Admiral Truly defended the time it has taken to get the shuttle programme to this point. “It has clearly demonstrated that we have struck the proper balance between our first priority of safety and quality while still maintaining our commitment to return the space shuttle to flight just as quickly as we can reliably do so,” he told the congressional panel.