Michael Griffin says Space Shuttle good to go in July

Michael Griffin says Space Shuttle good to go in July

NASA boss Michael Griffin has said that they are quite sure that the Space Shuttle Discovery is ready to go to space on its scheduled launch date sometime next month. This comes just a day after the safety panel said that the Space Organization has failed to meet three guidelines advised by it to confirm the safety of the shuttle and the crew during the launch period.

Griffin told the U.S. House of Representatives Science Committee: “I think, based on what I know now, we’re ready to go.” The Shuttle is currently scheduled for a launch between the dates July 13 and July 31. The Space Organization has worked hard for the last 2.5 years to comply with the 15 recommendations by an independent board that investigated the Columbia Space Shuttle accident.

The three guidelines NASA seems to have failed to meet are: the elimination of debris that might damage the shuttle, which was the problem that doomed Columbia; the “hardening” of the spaceship to withstand such debris; and the development of a reliable in-flight repair system to fix debris damage. However, they also said that the Shuttle is quite safe otherwise for a launch.

Mike Griffins seems to have acknowledged these shortcomings in their efforts but has said in the past that NASA would have the final word on the launch of the Space Shuttle. He said before the lawmakers yesterday: “At this point, we must say that we have reduced the level of risk from debris damage to an acceptable level … or we must say we don’t want to fly the shuttle again.”