It looks like it's going to be very unlikely that we're going to be able to just remove the...ramp and fly. |
It's great that our Russian partners are here to help us during this time. It would never have occurred without the tragedy of Columbia. So out of that tragedy has come a remarkable relationship between our two countries and our two space programs. |
It's really too difficult to predict. |
May looks very doable, |
The question is, what is the work force ready to do. |
There's lots of options being investigated. We're not really sure where things are right now. |
We know a lot about the cracking phenomenon, but we still haven't pinpointed the cause. We know it's related to the chill down process and to some pressurization of the tank, but how those fit together...it's not an easy problem. |
We know that oxygen generating systems in general have had a lot of problems over the years during start-up. We want to fly it early so we can work those out. |
We think that's the best thing to do, just take it off. I think we ought not to think about May right now. |
We'll get a ride home for [McArthur] on a Soyuz, ... We'll have a ride for him. |
We'll get a ride home for [McArthur] on a Soyuz. We'll have a ride for him. |
We're 'go' for the crew exchange and 'go' to continue flying to the space station. |
We're going to do the right thing and let the data drive us where we need to go. I think we've got a unique opportunity to get this right. |
We're going to have to make some modifications to the tank, so that probably puts the September (launch) window into a not very likely possibility. |
We're in the process of evaluating it. |