NASA engineers and mission managers are
weighing their options on how best to fix thousands
of dings in the foam-covered fuel tank of the space shuttle Atlantis.
William
Gerstenmaier, NASA's associate administrator for space operations, said
engineers remain hopeful that they can repair Atlantis' fuel tank in time for a
late April or early May launch [image].
But switching the damaged tank with a pristine one - which NASA has said would
push the planned space shot to June - is not off the table, Gerstenmaier added.
"We've
gotten a good look at all the damage on the tank," Gerstenmaier told a
congressional subcommittee this week. "There're probably about 2,000 areas of
hail damage on the tank that are going to need some evaluation."
Hail
battered Atlantis' Pad 39A launch site at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in
Cape Canaveral, Florida during a freak storm on Feb. 26, leaving pockmarks in
the vital foam insulation coating the orbiter's 15-story external tank [image].
The damage spurred NASA managers to delay
Atlantis' planned March 15 launch to late April at the earliest, and roll
the shuttle back into the space agency's cavernous Vehicle Assembly Building
for repairs [image].
Atlantis is
currently slated to launch between late April and May 21, with the next flight
window opening around June 8, NASA spokesperson Kyle Herring, at Johnson Space
Center in Houston, told SPACE.com.
NASA shuttle
officials are expected to meet next week to discuss the ongoing tank inspection
and repair work, as well as layout a forward plan for Atlantis' upcoming
spaceflight.
"The
program is optimistic that we can still use this tank," Herring said.
Not all of the
fuel tank's 2,000 hail dings require an extensive repair, Gerstenmaier said. Some
are acceptable for launch while others may require simple sanding to smooth out
the tiny divots gouged by hail, though tank engineers may have to pour new foam
to fill in larger damage areas, he added [image].
"If it
turns out the work is significant and it takes a lot of time, we may choose to
use the next tank," Gerstenmaier said. "If the work looks bounded and it's
understood, and we can make those repairs on the tank, then we'll fly that
tank."
Shuttle
workers have also repaired minor, hail-related coating damage to more than 20
of Atlantis' black heat-resistant belly tiles, NASA has said.
Atlantis is
expected to ferry NASA's six STS-117
astronauts, commanded by veteran
spaceflyer Rick Sturckow, to the International Space
Station (ISS) on an 11-day flight to deliver a new pair
of starboard solar arrays. The mission is expected to be the first of up to
five planned shuttle flights dedicated to ISS construction in 2007.
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