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NASA OKs Discovery launch despite Russian lifeboats' problems

The Russian capsule at the space station remains an 'acceptable' emergency escape vehicle, NASA says.

Robert Block | Sentinel Space Editor

May 20, 2008

CAPE CANAVERAL - NASA managers on Monday concluded that the Soyuz craft now docked to the international space station can be counted on as an emergency lifeboat, giving the green light to space shuttle Discovery's scheduled launch May 31 at 5:02 p.m.

Discovery will go on a 14-day mission to the station to deliver and install the main portion of a giant Japanese laboratory.

While the spacecraft passed its flight-readiness review with flying colors, managers were worried about the status of the Russian craft.

The last two Soyuz capsules plummeted to Earth in steep descents and landed hundreds of miles off course, prompting worries among Russian and American officials that something might be amiss with Russia's workhorse spaceship.

But NASA space operations chief Bill Gerstenmaier told a news conference Monday that while the cause of Soyuz's problem is still unknown, the capsule remains an "acceptable" emergency escape vehicle.

He said NASA calculated the odds of a situation that would require an emergency escape from the station in the next six months to be one in 124. The agency decided it was an acceptable risk to send U.S. astronaut Greg Chamitoff to serve as the station's flight engineer alongside two Russian cosmonauts until next October.

By then, Gerstenmaier said, the Russians should have figured out what is causing the Soyuz to drop into an emergency "ballistic" re-entry when it returns to Earth.

Russian engineers at first thought the problem was a faulty cable but now say they are looking at manufacturing and design flaws.

The flight-readiness review examines all issues facing an upcoming shuttle mission and whether it's safe to launch. Gerstenmaier said the review found no reason to delay the scheduled May 31 launch.

During the three-spacewalk mission, Discovery's crew of seven will deliver the 32,600-pound Kibo module to the space station and latch it into place.

Robert Block can be reached at 321-639-0522 or rblock@orlandosentinel.com.

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