The Last Flight of the Space Shuttle Has Been Scheduled For June

Atlantis Preparations Workers finish the installation of space shuttle Atlantis' three main engines in Orbiter Processing Facility 1 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA

After months of delays and unusual personnel issues, NASA finally has a launch date for the last space shuttle mission. Just one snag remains: there’s no money to pay for it.

Discovery is set to launch Feb. 24 on a resupply mission to the International Space Station, and Endeavour will make its last voyage in April. Meanwhile, Atlantis will be waiting on the launch pad to fly to the rescue if anything goes wrong. If Endeavour’s mission goes without a hitch, then NASA wants to squeeze in one last mission for Atlantis. On Thursday, mission managers set a tentative date of June 28.

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Now that appears to be worked out, as NASA announced this morning that engineers had completed modifications on 61 of 94 stringers. The mission is a go for Feb. 24, and astronauts are scheduled to meet with mission managers and visit the shuttle today.

Meanwhile, their crew changed slightly when astronaut Tim Kopra was replaced after he was hurt in a bike accident near his Houston home. Veteran spacewalker Stephen Bowen will fly in his place.

Endeavour’s mission is also seeing some crew changes, as NASA named a backup commander for Mark Kelly, husband of congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. Kelly remains the mission commander, and he said he hopes to fly in April, but he has been at his wife’s side in Arizona since she was shot Jan. 8.

Amid all this drama, NASA doesn’t have the money to pay for Atlantis’ last mission. The agency’s budget directs NASA to conduct the mission, but Congress didn’t earmark the $100 million in required funding for it. Using funds from the shuttle program’s regular budget, NASA is starting on baseline preparations, because if it waits for funding, it may take too long to get the shuttle ready. NASA administrator Michael Curie told the AP that Congress is expected to appropriate the funds in March.

[AP, NASA]