SPACE.com -- To Swap or Not? NASA Reviews Fuel Tank Repair Plan for Next Shuttle Launch

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The new shuttle external tank being loaded onto a covered barge at the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. Credit: Lockheed Martin.

In Highbay 1 in the Vehicle Assembly Building, the space shuttle Atlantis' orbiter cockpit, nose cone and part of the external tank peak through various levels of scaffolding as work continues to repair the external tank. Credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller. Click to enlarge.

At Launch Pad 39A, the external tank attached to Space Shuttle Atlantis shows damage from hail bombardment during a strong thunderstorm that passed through Kennedy Space Center about 5 p.m. EST on Feb. 26, 2007. Credit: NASA. Click to enlarge.

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	To Swap or Not? NASA Reviews Fuel Tank Repair Plan for Next Shuttle Launch By Tariq Malik Staff Writer posted: 10 April 2007 6:10 am ET

NASA shuttle managers and engineers will meet today to discuss whether to press ahead with repairs to the Atlantis orbiter's hail-damaged tank for the agency's next mission or replace the dinged vessel with a pristine replacement.

Engineers have been working to repair a myriad of divots and dings etched into to the vital foam insulation covering Atlantis' 15-story external tank during a freak Feb. 26 hail storm over its Florida launch pad at NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC). The resulting damage delayed the shuttle's planned 11-day STS-117 construction flight to the International Space Station(ISS) until mid-May at the earliest pending successful repairs.

Replacing the external tank would push the spaceflight to June, NASA officials have said.

Last month, top NASA shuttle managers set April 10 as their deadline to decide whether to press ahead with Atlantis' fuel tank repairs or shift to a new tank altogether. Anew shuttle fuel tank -- currently reserved to feed the launch of NASA's Endeavour orbiter during its STS-118 mission later this year -- arrived at KSC last week

"It's strictly a status report on the progress of the repairs," NASA spokesperson Kyle Herring told SPACE.com Monday of today's shuttle meeting.

Shuttle mission managers are expected to discuss today's meeting during a press briefing slated for no earlier than 6:00 p.m. EDT (2200 GMT).

Meanwhile, NASA engineers are working to remove Atlantis' three main engines and inspect propellant lines to make sure carry no contamination after four small pieces of silicon rubber were found in similar locations aboard the shuttle Discovery.

Commanded by veteran shuttle flyer Rick Sturckow, Atlantis' six-astronaut STS-117 crew will deliver two new massive trusses and solar arrays to the space station's starboard side.

NASA's current window to launch the mission closes on May 21 due to unfavorable Sun angles on the space station's solar arrays, and reopens on June 8

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