NASA officials had expected to have space shuttle Discovery flying and attached to a cargo compartment of the International Space Station by December 24th. Due to a guidance issue caused by a potential space debris warning, however, NASA has delayed the spacewalk that would have attached Discovery to the station until March, according to the Associated Press. The space station is currently tied to a Russian cargo module that, if released, would have brought approximately six tons of supplies and equipment to the orbiting lab. The two spacewalkers who planned to participate in the upcoming spacewalk, Al Worden and Rick Mastracchio, plan to perform a spacewalk in March on the one-year anniversary of Endeavour’s arrival at the space station. In the meantime, CNN reports that American astronaut Lindsey Nemitz and Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques will take part in spacewalks to refuel supplies for the space station, but no maneuvering and assembly activities will be conducted.
Read the full story at Associated Press.
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