By Kristin Owens
After lying silent for two and a half years, Wednesday Cape Canaveral will resound with the force of the first space shuttle launch since the Columbia disaster.
If all goes according to plan, NASA will send Discovery and its seven-person crew on a three-spacewalk mission to repair the international space station and deliver vital supplies and equipment. A successful launch and, 12 days later, a safe landing, could help put to rest fears that the Columbia tragedy might be repeated.
?Probability is that one in every 25 launches will end in disaster,? said David Long, a BYU professor of electrical and computer engineering. ?We have no reason to think this Discovery launch will be any more dangerous than launches in the past ? in fact it will undoubtedly be a lot safer due to all the precautions taken.?
NASA?s countdown clocks began ticking Sunday evening in spite of the battering winds Hurricane Dennis was delivering the Florida Panhandle to the northwest, according to The Associated Press. On Monday forecasters predicted a 70 percent chance of acceptable weather for Wednesday?s launch; however, NASA flight rules could prevent takeoff if rain moves to within 20 nautical miles of the runway.
The flight will mark the first launch attempted since the Columbia shuttle broke up during re-entry on Feb. 1, 2003, killing the seven astronauts on board. The Columbia Accident Investigation Board found that a piece of insulating foam broke away from shuttle?s fuel tank during liftoff and smashed a hole through its left wing. When the shuttle catapulted back through the earth?s atmosphere, scorching gases melted the damaged wing from the inside out.
One BYU student remembered that he and his friends were in the middle of an all-day video game marathon when they heard the news that Columbia had disintegrated over Texas.
?It was pretty shocking,? said Nels Nielson, a molecular biology major, from Clinton, Wisconsin. ?We get so used to thinking everything is going to work out. To see that happen, a space shuttle just disintegrating ? it makes us realize we?re still fallible.?
Discovery has gone through an extensive overhaul since its last flight four years ago, with several changes prompted by the Columbia tragedy. NASA installed heaters in place of the foam that dislodged, which should prevent ice buildup from the super-chilled fuel. If ice forms it could shake loose and cause as much damage as a chunk of foam. A little less than two months ago, engineers were making changes to external design, delaying the launch from May to July.
The investigation board made 15 recommendations for improving safety and management to be implemented before the resumption of shuttle flights. While an independent panel created to assess implementation concluded that not all recommendations have been met, NASA managers responded that with the technology, time, and funding available, engineers have done the best possible job.
NASA Administrator Michael Griffin told CBS news that NASA had done everything reasonably possible to improve shuttle safety, and that keeping the fleet on the ground would prevent significant further improvement.
?Space travel is inherently very dangerous ? you?re sitting on top of a bomb, a controlled explosion,? Long said. ?A shuttle is so complex that even if all the parts are working it?s not possible to make it perfectly safe ? but nothing ever is. Getting up and breathing in the morning is not perfectly safe.?