Next Space Shuttle To Have Back-Up

When shuttle flights resume, NASA will have a craft on standby for a rescue mission in case a crew ends up with a damaged ship and is stranded on the international space station.

Shuttle program manager Bill Parsons said Thursday the second shuttle will not necessarily be on the launch pad, but will be ready to travel to the space station within 45 to 90 days. That is the current estimate for how long seven additional astronauts could remain on the orbiting outpost before food, oxygen and other supplies run out.

"We're certainly interested in reducing the risk," said Michael Kostelnik, deputy associate administrator for the shuttle and space station.

NASA has yet to decide which shuttle — Atlantis or Discovery — will make the first post-Columbia flight and which will be poised for a potential rescue. The fleet has been grounded since the Columbia space shuttle broke apart as it returned to Earth on Feb. 1, 2003, killing all seven astronauts aboard.

The space agency had been targeting the next launch as early as this fall, but officials indicated Thursday it will be bumped into 2005. A new launch date was expected later Thursday, following a meeting by senior spaceflight officials.

Kostelnik said the next shuttle flight will incorporate more changes than previous ones, except for the first mission in 1981, and NASA wants to be ready to launch a rescue in case something goes wrong. He was not certain how many initial flights will require shuttles on standby.

In case of damage, the first shuttle crew would move into the space station. Astronauts assigned to the second flight would train in advance for such an emergency.

NASA managers are still talking about how to pull off a rescue if a damaged shuttle can't reach the space station, or if it's damaged after it leaves there, reports CBS News Correspondent Peter King.

As for resuming shuttle flights, engineers are still trying to figure out how to keep fuel-tank foam insulation from breaking off like a section did during Columbia's final launch. The foam piece tore a hole in the left wing, leading to Columbia's destruction.

Other stumbling blocks identified by Parsons: developing wing repair kits and inspection booms, and improving the rudder speed brakes and other longtime shuttle parts.

"There are a lot of long poles out there," Parsons said at a news conference in Houston, referring to difficult tasks. "Tile repair, we were much further ahead on that, and that's going as well or better than expected. On RCC repair, what we're finding is a lot of promise."

"RCC" is reinforced carbon carbon, the material from which the leading edge of the wing is made.

NASA and contractor officials met Tuesday and Wednesday in Galveston, Texas, to discuss the improvements that will be needed to keep the three remaining shuttles flying safely until 2010, the deadline set by President Bush for space station completion and shuttle retirement. Bush has targeted the moon as the nation's new space goal.

The space agency already has spent more than $200 million on its return-to-flight effort, and millions more will be needed.