Stuck Knob on Shuttle Atlantis Removed, Analysis Ahead

Stuck Knob Puts Shuttle Atlantis in Tight Spot

Workers prepare to remove the hoist from Atlantis that was used to separate it from the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, or SCA, which returned it to Kennedy from California on June 3, 2009 after a ferry flight that ended its STS-125 mission to the Hubble Space Telescope. (Image credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller.)

A knobwedged against a cockpit window in shuttle Atlantis was freed, NASA saidTuesday, giving engineers a chance to look more closely at any damage itcaused.

It's not yet clear if thewindow's nicked pressure pane, the innermost of three panes, might needto be replaced.

"We're used toswapping the outside panes after every flight," said Kyle Herring, a NASAspokesman. "The inner pane is typically not changed."

The notched steel rotaryknob, used to fasten a work light to a bracket, wedged itself between theshuttle's dashboard and one of six forward windows during the final mission to repairthe Hubble Space Telescope in May.

Technicians' attempts atKennedy Space Center to loosen the crescent-shaped knob using dry ice failed.

But it was freed Mondaynight after technicians pressurized Atlantis' crew cabin, causing it to expandslightly and ease the knob's grip.

"It's probably way toopremature to say what the ramifications are now that the knob has beenremoved," Herring said.

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James Dean is a former space reporter at Florida Today, covering Florida's Space Coast through 2019. His writing for Space.com, from 2008 to 2011, mainly concerned NASA shuttle launches, but more recently at Florida Today he has covered SpaceX, NASA's Delta IV rocket, and the Israeli moon lander Beresheet.