This story was updated at 5:07 p.m. EDT.
Sabotaged wires inside a computer
box bound for the International Space Station (ISS) won't delay the planned
Aug. 7 launch of NASA's shuttle Endeavour, the agency said Thursday.
NASA's Inspector General Office has
launched an investigation into intentionally cut wires in a data relay box
slated to launch aboard Endeavour next month and be installed inside the space
station's U.S.-built Destiny laboratory, NASA's associate administrator for space operations Bill
Gerstenmaier told reporters Thursday.
"It will be repaired and it
will fly on this flight," Gerstenmaier said of the damaged ISS hardware,
which if flown as-is would have prevented the collection of structural
performance data on the space station's backbone-like main truss. If left in
place, the damage would have posed no risk to astronauts aboard the space
station, he added.
The subcontractor responsible for
building the damaged computer box reported the apparent wire sabotage about a
week ago, said Gerstenmaier, though he would not disclose the name of the
subcontractor while an investigation is underway. The damage found on the ISS
box was apparently caused during its preparations at the subcontractor's
premises, which are not located in Florida, he added.
Gerstenmaier spoke at NASA's Kennedy
Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida after shuttle program managers,
engineers and contractors concluded a two-day Flight Readiness Review to set an
official Aug. 7 launch target for Endeavour
and its astronaut crew.
The officials did not discuss the
details of an independent health panel which found, according to
a report by the weekly trade journal Aviation Week & Space
Technology, "heavy use of alcohol" by NASA astronauts before
launch.
The report, posted to the journal's
Web site, cites findings from one of two astronaut health panel committees
which found that, on at least two occasions, astronauts were allowed to launch
even after fellow spaceflyers and flight surgeons deemed them unfit from
intoxication and possible flight safety risks.
"There has not been a disciplinary
action or anything I've been involved with regarding this kind of issue,"
said Gerstenmaier, adding that it was inappropriate to delve deeper into the
details of the report, as well as those of a separate astronaut health panel,
which NASA will release Friday.
NASA plans to hold a press
conference at 1:00 p.m. EDT (1700 GMT) Friday to discuss to two reports. Both
studies were instigated
earlier this year by the arrest of former astronaut Lisa Nowak, who is
accused of attacking a woman she perceived to be a romantic rival for the
affections of a fellow spaceflyer. Nowak has pleaded not guilty to charges of
attempted kidnapping and battery.
Distractions aside, NASA remains
committed to launching Endeavour on Aug. 7 at about 7:02 p.m. EDT (2302 GMT). The planned 11-day mission may be extended three additional days to deliver fresh cargo, spare parts and a new starboard side piece of the space station.
The only major obstacle currently
standing between Endeavour and orbit is an unmanned rocket slated to launch
NASA's Phoenix mission to Mars on Aug. 3 from a launch pad at the Cape
Canaveral Air Force Station near NASA's Florida spaceport. That mission
currently has about two liftoff attempts before Endeavour steps up to the
launch plate, but the shuttle flight could be delayed a day or so to allow
Phoenix more flight opportunities, Gerstenmaier said.
"Phoenix has essentially a
month to get launched," Gerstenmaier said, adding that after that the red
planet lander would have to wait two years until Mars and the Earth were in the
correct orbital position for another attempt. "So clearly, in the overall
sense, to get to Mars is pretty important and they have a pretty constrained
launch window."
Commanded by veteran astronaut Scott
Kelly, Endeavour's STS-118 mission will mark NASA's second shuttle flight of
the year and follows last month's successful STS-117 spaceflight to the ISS
aboard Atlantis. Included among Endeavour's seven-astronaut crew is former Idaho
schoolteacher Barbara Morgan, NASA's first official educator astronaut to fly.
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