CAPE
CANAVERAL, Fla. - Engineers conducted minor repairs to NASA's space shuttle
Discovery late Tuesday after an errant window cover fell from the orbiter and
damaged its aft section. The incident will not delay tomorrow's planned
launched of the orbiter.
Earlier
today, a soft plastic cover with foam-lined edges fell from one of Discovery's
two overhead windows and struck the heat-resistant tiles of the shuttle's left
Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS) pod. No engineers were working in the area at
the time, NASA officials said.
The window
cover hit a carrier panel on the pod lined with three of the black,
heat-resistant tiles that protect the orbiter from searing temperatures during
atmospheric reentry. Two of those tiles were damaged, prompting engineers to
swap out the panel with a spare, shuttle officials said.
"This is a
minor repair for us," said Stephanie Stilson, NASA's vehicle manager for the
Discovery orbiter. "We change out carrier panels on a daily basis."
But
Discovery is less than 24 hours from launch here at NASA's Kennedy Space Center
(KSC), so shuttle engineers at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas are busy
tonight studying the orbiter's internal structure to ensure the incident did
not cause additional damage.
"We fully
expect they will give us a go in the morning," Stilson told reporters during an
ad hoc press briefing tonight.
Discovery's
launch countdown was in a long, planned hold when the damage was reported. The
one-hour repair was conducted so swiftly that no changes to the shuttle's July
13 launch at 3:50:53 p.m. EDT (1950:53 GMT), NASA officials said.
Stilson
said the shuttle window cover that damaged Discovery weighs less than two
pounds and fell about 65 feet before it hit the OMS pod. Its carrier panel
target is a piece of aluminum which was pre-bonded with tiles before
installation on the orbiter, she added.
Engineers
discovered the loose window cover during preparations to rollback the rotating
service structure that has shrouded Discovery since it arrived at the launch
pad on June 15. That rollback was delayed from its planned 7:00 p.m. (2300
GMT) start due to the needed repairs, NASA officials said.
Discovery will
be NASA's first shuttle to fly since the 2003 Columbia disaster that killed
seven astronauts and destroyed one orbiter.
During
Columbia's Jan. 16, 2003 launch, a piece of foam insulation shook loose from
the orbiter's external tank and struck its wing, gouging a hole that
subsequently allowed hot thermal gases enter the wing and destroy the vehicle
during reentry. Although that damage occurred with Columbia's thermal
protection system, it was the orbiter's reinforced carbon carbon panel lining
the wing - not tiles - that were struck.
NASA has
spent the last two and half years redesigning shuttle and external tank system
to prevent such launch debris from occurring again.
"I'm
actually very proud that we saw it, caught and were able to act so quickly,"
Stilson said. "That's a great amount of work in a short period of time."
advertisement
