Nasa scraps shuttle launch date

Posted on: Aug. 12th, 2005 || Source: news.bbc.co.uk | E-mail Article | Print Article

The US space shuttle fleet is to remain grounded until November at the earliest, Nasa officials have said.

A September launch was cancelled amid confusion over why pieces of insulation break off the fuel tank at lift-off.

A large piece of foam fatally damaged the Columbia shuttle in 2003, causing it to burn up on re-entry, while a smaller piece snapped off Discovery.

Solving the problem may prove expensive ahead of the planned retirement of the entire shuttle fleet by 2010.

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