ROARING COMEBACK.

This article reports that the orbiter Discovery's 8-min. 30-sec., zero-to-Mach 25 launch to orbit will be propelled by Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSME) and Solid Rocket Boosters (SRB) that have undergone substantially increased testing and rigorous quality oversight in the two years since the Columbia space shuttle accident. Any serious propulsion emergency on the 4.5-million-lb. vehicle, climbing initially on 7.4 million lb. thrust, could be a life-or-death issue for the seven-member STS-114 crew. In preparation for the return-to-flight, testing has been doubled for the SSME and SRB programs during the last year, even though neither system was involved in the Columbia accident.