HOUSTON -- NASA
engineers are conducting a series of tests to determine how best to repair a
torn heat-resistant blanket on the space shuttle Atlantis.
John
Shannon, NASA's deputy shuttle program manager, said astronauts and engineers
on Earth are testing repair options that range from using a medical stapler to what
amounts to a spacesuit darning needle to secure
the blanket swatch, which ripped free of its mount at the aft end of
Atlantis during the orbiter's June 8 launch.
"They have
several different solutions to put the blanket down and keep it down," Shannon
told reporters here at NASA's Johnson Space Center during a mission briefing.
Wire ties
and tools to pin the 4-inch by 6-inch (10-centimeter by 15-centimeter) triangular
blanket flap into heat-resistant tiles nearby its location on Atlantis'
left Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS) pod are also among the options, said
Shannon. Duct tape, it turns out, won't work in the vacuum of space, he added.
The front
runner is the spacesuit
needle using a stainless steel wire as thread. But a final decision is expected
sometime in the next two days, during which time mission managers will also decide
whether to perform the repair during the third STS-117 spacewalk set for Friday
or wait until the newly
added fourth excursion on Sunday, Shannon said.
While not a
threat to the safe return of Atlantis' STS-117 astronaut crew, there is a risk
that heat of reentering the Earth's atmosphere could damage honeycomb-like
graphite-epoxy material beneath the torn blanket and require a repair after
landing that could be avoided, mission managers have said.
Later this
week, NASA engineers will conduct a series of wind tunnel tests and heating
studies on mockups of the damaged blanket to evaluate the repair techniques.
Wing
sensor reading eyed
Shuttle
engineers continue to study a few minor items associated with the rest of
Atlantis' heat shield, including a wing sensor reading suggesting the orbiter's
right wing leading edge may have been hit by a piece of orbital debris, Shannon
said.
The sensor is
one of 88 accelerometer and temperature detectors that sit behind the
heat-resistant reinforced carbon carbon (RCC) panels along each of Atlantis'
wings. But other nearby sensors did not register similar indications as the
original, which would occur in the event of an actual strike, Shannon said.
"What we
have seen does not indicate that we have been hit by anything," he added. "I
think characterizing this as an impact would be premature at this point."
Similar
sensor returns were seen during
NASA's last shuttle flight and were found to be a false report, Shannon
added.
However, Atlantis'
STS-117 astronauts are already scheduled to perform a second inspection of the
orbiter's heat shield later in their mission, so the area is already one that
will be surveyed again.
Known as a
late inspection, the scan is a duplicate of the survey performed by the shuttle
crew just after launch and is designed to search for any signs of damage from micrometeorites
and orbital debris.
The new
inspections and shuttle wing sensors were put in place following the 2003 loss
of Columbia and its astronaut crew after the orbiter suffered heat shield
damage during launch.
Commanded
by veteran shuttle flyer Rick Sturckow, Atlantis' STS-117 crew is delivering new
solar arrays, trusses and a new crewmember to the ISS during a planned 13-day
mission.
NASA is
broadcasting the space shuttle Atlantis' STS-117 mission live on NASA TV. Click here for mission updates and
SPACE.com's video feed.
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