NASA's Chief Engineer and Safety Offices Urge Against Liftoff, But NASA Sets Date Anyways...

Associated Press MIKE SCHNEIDER June 17, 2006 at 07:26 PM

NASA managers on Saturday picked July 1 to launch the first space shuttle in almost a year, despite recommendations against a liftoff attempt by the space agency's chief engineer and safety offices.

The decision to launch Discovery on a trip to the international space station was made after two days of meetings by NASA's top managers and engineers at the Kennedy Space Center. The flight would be only the second shuttle mission since the Columbia disaster in 2003.

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