alb@alice.UUCP (Adam L. Buchsbaum) (07/11/84)
Back in February, when two communications satellites, Westar-6 and Palapa-B, were placed into errant orbits, it was a Star-48 rocket nozzle that failed. Back in May, engineers at MacDonald- Douglas, which builds the solid fueled upper stage rocket, said they had solved the problem. But, just after the order had been given to begin preparations to roll Discovery back to its hangar so that two satellites from the mission after this could be loaded aboard, in a decision to combine the aborted mission with its successor, tests at MacDonald-Douglas revealed another faulty nozzle. Thus the order was rescinded, and NASA is again confused about the shuttle schedule. If MacDonald-Douglas and its customers decide to wait until more tests can be conducted, the aborted mission may launch by early August; however, the mission after that could very well be postponed several months, thus putting the whole shuttle schedule up in arms. NASA is unsure over just what to do next, and the agency has not released a date for a decision.