NASA: Four space shuttle missions this year

US Space Agency NASA has said in a statement that they are now scaling down their Space Shuttle launch programs for the current year.

NASA is now planning to launch four missions this year instead of previously planned five. This is mainly because of the delays in the first mission after hail damage sustained by the shuttle Atlantis in February.

The US space agency said in a statement confirming these reports: “The space shuttle and International Space Station programs agreed to the changes during a meeting to evaluate options following the (Atlantis) mission’s delay, which was caused by hail damage to the external fuel tank.”

They now plan to launch the Space Shuttle Atlantis in June this year. It was originally planned for the month of March.

If that mission goes through successfully, NASA has the second mission of the year planned for August this year.

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