In picture: Stephen Robinson on the third spacewalk
STS-114 was the first "Return to Flight" Space Shuttle (8 pics) mission following the Space Shuttle (8 pics) Columbia disaster. The Space Shuttle (8 pics) Discovery launched at 10:39 a.m. EDT (14:39 UTC), Jul. 26, 2005 (16 years ago). 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 Jul. 13, its originally scheduled date.
The mission was completed on Aug. 9, 2005 (16 years ago). 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 Jul. 27 to postpone future shuttle flights pending additional modifications to the flight hardware. On Jul. 4, 2006 (15 years ago), NASA resumed shuttle flight with STS-121.
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