CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- NASA set May 15 for the first space shuttle launch since the Columbia disaster two years ago.

While considerable work remains before Discovery's test flight, ''this date feels real good to me,'' launch director Mike Leinbach said.

NASA's top space flight official, former astronaut Bill Readdy, said the biggest challenge is to complete all the paperwork not only for Discovery but also for Atlantis, the shuttle that would attempt a rescue mission in mid-June if there were serious launch damage to Discovery...