Both the Discovery and Atlantis missions will be test flights to the international space station to demonstrate the shuttle is once again safe to fly.The CAIB made 15 recommendations to NASA on ways to improve the shuttle program.He's already proved himself to be a modern-day Magellan. In 2002, Fossett became the first solo balloonist to circle the globe nonstop, despite an on-board fire and dangerous winds. Two years later, he and his crew made the fastest circumnavigation on a sailing ship -- 58 days.Next Wednesday or Thursday, weather permitting, the 60-year-old retired investor plans to board the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer in Salina, Kansas, and begin his journey toward Europe and the Middle East, over Asia and the Pacific, and back to Kansas.The CAIB made 15 recommendations to NASA on ways to improve the shuttle program.Discovery and Atlantis will be so-called rescue shuttles for each other should something go wrong. NASA has been readying both shuttles side by side.Discovery's crew of seven is to be led by Commander Eileen Collins.Because of these restrictions there are only a limited number of opportunities to launch the space shuttle. The first starts May 15 and runs through June 3, when NASA hopes to launch Discovery. The second window opens July 12, when NASA hopes to launch Atlantis. Soloing around the globe in a plane is now "the last great aviation record left inside the Earth's atmosphere," Branson said when the mission was announced in 2003.The prize was offered to the first manned flight to return safely from two trips 62 miles (100 km) high into suborbital space.Discovery's crew of seven is to be led by Commander Eileen Collins.Readdy admitted he hoped the techniques would be further along, but said that two years ago repairing the shuttle's thermal protection system while in flight was thought impossible.Discovery and Atlantis will be so-called rescue shuttles for each other should something go wrong. NASA has been readying both shuttles side by side.NASA said Discovery's launch is to be followed by a July 12 Atlantis launch.Because of these restrictions there are only a limited number of opportunities to launch the space shuttle. The first starts May 15 and runs through June 3, when NASA hopes to launch Discovery. The second window opens July 12, when NASA hopes to launch Atlantis. Three suicide bombings and a mortar attack killed at least five people in Iraq today. At least 62 others were wounded in a wave of insurgent attacks. The violence coincides with the climax of Ashura, a major Shiite religious festivalFor this latest challenge, Fossett and his mission control team at Kansas State University face a tricky triple threat: weather, sleep deprivation and conserving precious fuel.The prize was offered to the first manned flight to return safely from two trips 62 miles (100 km) high into suborbital space.