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From: mears@hpindda.HP.COM (David B. Mears)
Newsgroups: sci.space.shuttle
Subject: Two Shuttles at Once???
Message-ID: <3330022@hpindda.HP.COM>
Date: 7 Sep 89 21:53:31 GMT
Organization: HP Information Networks, Cupertino, CA
Lines: 27

A few weeks ago I read an article in the San Jose (Ca.)  Mercury News
about the upcoming shuttle flight to retrieve the LDEF.  (I've been
meaning to post this since then, but have been both busy and out of the
country.)  The byline for the story, entitled ``Shuttle will try to save
satellite from fiery death'', simply has the byline of New York Times.
I quote a couple of paragraphs from the middle of the article.

	  NASA is putting two shuttles on launching pads for the
	rescue mission in case of a hold-up for either one.  It
	may also ask the Defense Department to postpone a shuttle
	missions [sic] this year so the NASA rescue attempt can
	be moved up to November.
	  ``We'd like to demonstrate that we have a dependable
	spacecraft we can use for routine servicing,'' said Dr.
	William H. Kinard, chief scientist for the wayward craft,
	at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va.

This is the first time I've ever heard any hint at the possibility of
getting two shuttles ready for launch on separate pads.  Since I haven't
heard anything in this forum about this, I assume that the NYT got their
story mixed up, but I thought I'd post and get people's reactions.

David B. Mears
Hewlett-Packard
Cupertino CA
hplabs!hpda!mears
mears@hpda.HP.COM