ABC News is reporting it has confirmation from at least two sources that Astronaut Tim Kopra has broken his hip and it's serious enough that he will likely not make this next space shuttle mission, STS-133 Discovery.Kopra, a long-stay veteran at the ISS, was scheduled as the lead spacewalker for next month's shuttle Discovery launch, but his injury could delay the final mission for Discovery. That was scheduled for February 24, 2011 and delayed since November 1, 2010.
NASA does not train backup crews and a replacement, even a recently flown veteran, would need time to rehearse spacewalk scenarios and receive mission-specific training for Discovery's flight. How long that might take, if required, and what impact it might have on the shuttle's launch date is not yet known.
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