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NASA finds cracks on shuttle tanks
Washington (AFP) Aug 26, 2007 NASA found tiny cracks in the insulation on fuel tanks due to be installed on two space shuttles scheduled for missions this year, the US space agency said on Sunday. The minute fissures shown by X-rays could explain why the shuttle Endeavour lost bits of insulating foam when it blasted off on the latest US mission this month, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) said. "Foam loss from the liquid oxygen feedline brackets on the ... external tank during launch caused thermal tile damage to Endeavour," it said in a statement. "While a change to the brackets was already in progress on tanks now in production, the problem on the tank being used for STS-120 will be remedied by using different foam on the brackets," it said, referring to NASA's next planned mission to the International Space Station. One of the pieces that fell off Endeavour struck the shuttle's underbelly, causing a small gash in a heat tile that raised concerns for safety during the craft's re-entry to Earth's atmosphere. Safety is a major concern after a tile broke off the shuttle Columbia as it took off in 2003 and hit its wing. The damage caused the shuttle to break up on re-entry, killing all seven crew members. The damage to Endeavour was judged not serious enough to jeopardize its re-entry. The shuttle landed safely on August 21 after a 13-day trip during which it installed equipment on the orbiting space station. The cracks found on the new tanks were on a layer of cork covering the aluminum brackets which hold "feedlines" to carry liquid oxygen at very low temperatures. The brackets are coated with foam to stop ice forming. Now the cork and foam will be removed and the brackets coated with a new layer of lightweight foam, shuttle program manager Wayne Hale said in a statement by NASA, adding that the work was likely to take about nine days. "We will take the amount of time that we need to get this repair done properly and we will not rush," he said, stressing that the extra work was unlikely to delay the launch of the shuttle Discovery due from October 23. Hale said last week however that the repairs to the tanks due to be used on later missions could delay the launch planned for December 5, when NASA is due to deliver the European Columbus space laboratory to the station. Afterwards, brackets on new fuel tanks will made instead from titanium, a metal which will require much less foam coating. Related Links Shuttle at NASA Watch NASA TV via Space.TV Space Shuttle News at Space-Travel.Com
US shuttle makes textbook return landing
Cape Canaveral, Florida (AFP) Aug 21, 2007US shuttle Endeavour returned safely to Earth Tuesday, despite damage to its underside, after a 13-day mission in which the first teacher in space gave lessons to children back home. |
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