WASHINGTON, 19 June 2006 - NASA said on Saturday it would forge ahead with its space shuttle program, announcing a 1 July 2006 launch of the Discovery, while admitting that certain safety issues have not been resolved.

After a final review in which not all officials agreed with the decision to proceed with a new mission, the U.S. space agency, NASA set a window for the first shuttle launch in nearly one year for July 1-19.

"I don't see any reason why we could not launch July 1st," said Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for space operations in the shuttle program.

But NASA officials acknowledged they had not resolved problems which dogged the Discovery mission in July 2005 involving pieces of foam which broke off during launch.

The foam did not cause damage to the shuttle, and after several days of camera study and spacewalks to inspect the craft, it was judged safe to return to Earth.

The U.S. space agency suspended the shuttle program after the mission to resolve the problem, but after months of research and testing officials admitted they still don't understand it.

Even so, NASA officials insisted Saturday that the issue poses relatively minor danger.
"We do not believe we are risking the crew," Gerstenmaier said.

"If we are going to fly we are going to have to accept some programmatic risks," NASA administrator Michael Griffin said.

NASA continues to be extremely sensitive about safety issues since the Columbia shuttle disintegrated upon re-entry in February 2003, killing all seven astronauts aboard.

That accident was caused by a foam ramp breaking off during launch and bashing into the shuttle's wing, damaging crucial insulation panels.

The shuttle program was suspended for nearly three years as NASA reviewed both technologies and operations procedures to ensure vulnerabilities were not overlooked.

Griffin stressed that even if damage is incurred on lift-off in the upcoming mission, the seven-man crew would not be at risk because they could seek refuge in the International Space Station, where they could eventually be rescued by another shuttle or the Russian Soyuz space vehicle.

"We will have a decision to make but we will have time to make the decision ... We are not in the situation with Columbia when we did not know we had a problem," Griffin said.

But he acknowledged that another catastrophic event could force an end to the NASA space shuttle program.

"If we have a major incident in launching the space shuttle I would not wish to continue with the program," he said.

Gerstenmaier admitted that, after months of study, the agency had not made any modifications to overcome the phenomenon of pieces of foam breaking off ice frost ramps on the craft's fuel tanks during take-off, as occurred in the previous two missions.

The foam is there to prevent ice buildup on the fuel tanks, which contain super-cooled liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen.

Gerstenmaier said NASA will use this launch to study the foam issue in hopes of devising better equipment for future flights, following the liftoff closely with cameras and other equipment.

"It's a difficult situation to be where we are," Gerstenmaier said in a NASA news conference. "In a sense we almost need to go fly to gain some more data."

During the upcoming mission the seven Discovery crew, including European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Reiter of Germany, will test safety equipment and procedures, deliver supplies to the space station and perform maintenance on it.

Griffin noted the need to get on with the shuttle program, which is necessary to complete construction of the ISS.

Sixteen or more flights have been envisioned for the shuttle program before it concludes in 2010.