NASA has postponed next week’s mid-December for the launch of space shuttle Discovery, which will carry cargo and supplies to the International Space Station.
The extra time will allow engineers to understand why two metal fuel tank split when the shuttle was being fueled with liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen in early November.
In 2003 due to piece of foam broke loose from the tank at the time of liftoff and struck the shuttle Columbia, causing an explosion at his return to the earth’s atmosphere, with the deaths of seven crew members.
Discovery’s launch on November 5 was canceled due to a leak in the hydrogen tank.
The mission, planned to last 11 days, is one of the last space shuttle, which will be retired next year. The U.S. plans to develop another type of vehicle to carry astronauts to space.
The International Space Station is a project of 16 countries, under construction since 1998 at 350 km altitude, at a cost of 100 billion dollars.
Delaying Discovery’s takeoff leaves room for the company Space Exploration Technologies makes a test flight of a space module load developed for commercial purposes.
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