Atlantis liftoff date set for Aug. 27
NASA managers on Wednesday unanimously picked Aug. 27 for the first attempt to launch the space shuttle Atlantis on a mission to resume construction of the International Space Station – but two precariously attached bolts securing a crucial antenna could delay those plans.
Engineers suspect that two of the bolts are too short on the KU-band antenna, which transmits images and other essential data between the space shuttle and Mission Control. They want to make sure the bolts are secure enough so that the antenna doesn’t fly off while in the payload bay during a launch, which could cause catastrophic damage.
NASA officials likely won’t decide until this weekend whether to leave the bolts in place or change them.
Washington, D.C.
Motorcyclist deaths increase by 525
More Americans are taking up motorcycling, but more riders are dying each year, too.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration was expected to announce today that the number of motorcycle riders killed in crashes rose again last year, by 525, to 4,553.
Most worrisome to federal officials is that the number of motorcycle fatalities and injuries are rising faster than the number of two-wheelers on the road.
The deaths account for a growing portion – almost one in 10 – of the more than 40,000 Americans a year who die on the roads.