STS-114 was the first "Return to Flight" Space Shuttle mission following the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. The Space Shuttle Discovery launched at 10:39 EDT (14:39 UTC), 26 July 2005. The launch, 907 days (approx. 29 months) after the loss of Columbia, was approved despite unresolved fuel sensor anomalies in the external tank; those anomalies had prevented the shuttle from launching on 13 July, its originally scheduled date.
The mission was co...
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STS-114 was the first "Return to Flight" Space Shuttle mission following the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. The Space Shuttle Discovery launched at 10:39 EDT (14:39 UTC), 26 July 2005. The launch, 907 days (approx. 29 months) after the loss of Columbia, was approved despite unresolved fuel sensor anomalies in the external tank; those anomalies had prevented the shuttle from launching on 13 July, its originally scheduled date.
The mission was completed on 9 August 2005. Due to the poor weather at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, the shuttle landed at Edwards Air Force Base, California, a secondary landing site.
The problem that resulted in the destruction of Columbia – debris separating from the external tank during ascent – unexpectedly recurred during the launch of Discovery. As a result, NASA decided on 27 July 2005 to postpone future shuttle flights pending additional modifications to the flight hardware. On 4 July 2006, NASA resumed shuttle flight with STS-121.
This mission was to...
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