WHEN bad weather forced NASA to delay the launch of its space shuttle Atlantis last week, all that was lost was time. It might have been very different, though, had Discovery’s flight in July developed problems. Its crew would still be marooned in space waiting for Atlantis to rescue them. Could NASA have coped?
Since the Columbia disaster of 2003, every mission is “backed up” by the next shuttle due for launch. Until Discovery landed on 17 July, Atlantis was ready for two possible scenarios: a regular mission with a crew of six, or an unprecedented rescue mission with a…
