CAPE CANAVERAL - Workers on
Tuesday dinged foam on an external fuel tank scheduled to fly with the shuttle
in July.
They were preparing to
replace a gaseous oxygen vent valve near the nose and were repositioning a
halogen lamp when it hit the tank, causing "extremely minor" damage
to the insulating foam, NASA spokeswoman Jessica Rye said.
Work continues on the bottom
of the tank, in Kennedy Space Center's Vehicle Assembly Building, as
technicians replace problematic engine cutoff sensors.
The workers are from the
Lockheed Martin-run Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, which makes the
external tanks.
Work at the top is on hold.
"We're in the process
of completing a detailed inspection of the area before we'd be able to
determine what, if any, repairs are required," Michoud spokesman Marion
LaNasa said.
"We have a significant
amount of experience repairing damage in this area of the ET."
Last year, he said, birds
damaged foam near the nose of a tank, and the foam was repaired, though that
tank didn't fly for other reasons.
"We don't think this
is going to be any impact or concern at this point," Rye said.
There are two current
investigations into recent accidents at KSC. In one, a construction worker fell off a roof
and died from his injuries.
In another, a shuttle robot arm was
dinged.
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