NASA Memo: Shuttle Flight Delay to Fall 2006 Possible
By Tariq Malik
Staff Writer
posted: 8 September 2005
11:56 a.m. ET

NASA’s next space shuttle flight may have to wait until fall 2006, as the agency grapples with the effects of Hurricane Katrina and external tank concerns, according to an internal memo by a top shuttle official.

Damage sustained to NASA’s shuttle external tank factory, in New Orleans, and main engine test site in Mississippi have left many employees homeless and left the facilities inoperable. But the memo states that, even without the hurricane, meeting a March 2006 launch target could have been a challenge.

http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/050908_rtf_shuttle_delay.html