Air Force Col. Eileen Collins will be the first female commander of a US Shuttle mission when the Discovery blasts off in May or June of this year. She has told the press "It's time for us to go fly."
"There has been so much testing done that our confidence has gone way up," Collins said. Saying that the 7 crew have been "very, very heavily involved" in the preparations leading up to the flight.
Repair techniques have been developed for small holes or cracks whilst still in space, and the ISS will be a safe haven should a hole the size of Columbia's develop. Collins believes this will not happen, due to improvements to the fuel tank.
