NASA this week named a replacement for a US astronaut who was supposed to fly on the space shuttle Discovery mission but was grounded after a bike accident.
Tim Kopra, 47, "was injured in a bicycle accident over the weekend," US space agency NASA said in a statement that offered no other details of the event.
"Tim is doing fine and expects a full recovery, however, he will not be able to support the launch window next month," said Peggy Whitson, chief of the Astronaut Office at NASA\'s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
Kopra, a retired army colonel, has flown on two previous shuttle missions, did a tour of duty at the orbiting International Space Station, and performed a five-hour spacewalk.
His replacement will be astronaut Steve Bowen, NASA said.
The shuttle Discovery is scheduled to launch on February 24.
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