April 09, 2005

Discovery Ready

NASA is poised to return a crew of astronauts to space, for the first time since Columbia disintegrated while coming home from space, in 2003. . Shuttle commander Eileen Collins said Thursday her crew won't fly if NASA doesn't meet a task force's safety recommendations "I'm confident in that fact that we've come a long way, and in that respect we're ready to fly this mission," Eileen Collins, who will command the Discovery during its 12-day space mission, told a crew news conference.

"At this point, I'm not worried. I'm focused on our training," she said.

Collins said NASA had in many cases exceeded recommendations made by the board investigating the accident that destroyed the shuttle Columbia and killed its seven astronauts in 2003, the second fatal accident in the U.S. shuttle program. An investigation placed part of the blame on a NASA culture

We're a work in progress. Are we ever going to get there? No, we're never going to be perfect. ... But I'm proud of the fact that we're really trying hard."

USAtoday reports NASA attitudes about safety that contributed to the Columbia accident have started to shift but still need to change further, according to the astronauts who will be the first to fly on a shuttle since the disaster.

"If we do get to the point where a recommendation is not fulfilled in anyone's mind, we are not going to fly until we're ready to fly," she added. "I feel very confident in that."

Nasa plans a mid-May liftoff, during a window of opportunity from then until June dictated by the position of the international space station, Discovery's destination.

"It's a great sight to see Discovery rolling out," its commander, Eileen Collins, said in Houston.

SPONSOR ADS

	Advertisement