NASA to inspect Discovery Space Shuttle closely

NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) has decided to undertake more tests on the Space Shuttle discovery especially on the main landing gear doors after a defective part was found on the other Space Shuttle Atlantis. Discovery is still on the launch pad and this latest news is not expected to delay the launch to a further date.

A NASA spokesperson confirmed in a statement: “We don’t see this as a schedule impact.” However, this will delay the return of the Space Shuttle back to its assembly hangar on Tuesday for work planned to be done on its external fuel tank and twin booster set with new equipment.

The flight originally planned for a May launch was delayed after problems with fuel tanks were discovered in pre-flight tests. The latest news means that the organization has decided to delay the flight’s return back to its hanger until Thursday for their engineers to look into these latest discovered problems with the shuttle’s landing gear door.

Discovery is scheduled to become the first shuttle to launch since the fatal Columbia disaster in 2003.