Last year, Congress restored the mission and told NASA to delay until April 30 taking any steps that would preclude shuttle operations beyond 2010. The idea was to give the new administration a chance to keep the shuttles flying longer so that the United States wouldn't have to be dependent on Russia for ferrying crews to the station while the new vehicles are being built. The shuttle replacement is not expected to debut until about 2015. But with no new orders from the Obama administration, NASA is poised to resume shutting down shuttle manufacturing and assembly lines as early as May 1, preserving the option for just one additional mission: flying AMS. "We are prepared to be able to fly that mission," said LeRoy Cain, deputy shuttle program manager. "But that requires some additional funding that we have not yet secured." "AMS is a fitting experiment for the International Space Station," added Trent Martin, who is overseeing the project for NASA at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. "It's very big science. It's international cooperation at its best." Related Links: |
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