Engineers are moving closer to resolving the problem of large foam insulation falling off space shuttle external fuel tanks during launch.
A "tiger team" is making recommendations addressing the factors that may have contributed to foam loss when the space shuttle Discovery (STS-114) was launched in July.
The next shuttle mission is also on Discovery. It will be the second test flight in the Return to Flight sequence. At a news conference today at NASA's Johnson Space Center, Houston, space shuttle managers emphasized they have not set a specific launch date.
NASA is using the May 3 to 23, 2006, launch window as a target for work to prepare Discovery for the mission.
