Slipping Schedules

The launch date of the next space shuttle mission has slipped again, this time from January 10 to possibly January 24, though that date could easily slip into early February. The problem is still the external fuel tank sensors that delayed the mission in early December.

Because NASA wants to maintain at least five weeks between shuttle missions, this delay pushes delivery of Japan's lab module to the ISS into March at the earliest.

Such delays, of course, have been a problem throughout the shuttle era. It's in the nature of that beast that seems to roar to life at the ignition of its engines. The shuttle, as NASA has often reninded us, is the most complex machine ever to fly, Many things, therefore, can go wrong. Even without the tragedies of Challenger and Columbia, the inherent unreliability of the shuttle would have argued for moving the U. S. manned program in another direction.