Atlantis Delayed, Again

The January 10th launch of Atlantis has been scrubbed as NASA tries to fix the problem with fuel sensors. There could wind up being a mini traffic jam at the International Space Station as the Europeans are preparing to launch Jules Verne, a robotic supply craft that is larger than the Russian's Progress supply craft.

Rep. Dave Weldon (R, FL) has proposed keeping the Shuttle fleet flying past Bush's plan to decommission them in 2010. If the Shuttles are retired in 2010, there is a five year gap between then and the first flight of the Orion spacecraft, which means for five years, the only way for people to get to the ISS will be by using Russia's Soyuz spacecraft. This just makes good sense. Anyone who remembers the development of the Shuttle itself will recall that the first flight of the Space Shuttle was delayed for almost two years. It could be that for one reason or another, Orion won't be ready on time.