Briefing members of the NASA Advisory Council at agency headquarters here June 10, Greenfield said removing the foam and adding heaters to the bipod ramp emerged as the favored redesign candidate following an effort that examined multiple alternatives. The redesign proposal has been submitted to NASAs Program Control Review Board for final approval.

I believe this will be confirmed very shortly to be the design, Greenfield told reporters during a break in the meeting. By removing the foam you remove the hazard.

But it also adds at least some complexity. Without the foam, the bipod ramp will require electric heaters to keep it from freezing. While the shuttle has many onboard heaters, the bipod redesign adds another electric component that has to be monitored for failure in the hours and minutes leading up to launch.

Greenfield said the new design could be implemented in time for the Dec. 18 return-to-flight date for the shuttle orbiter fleet that NASA has chosen for planning purposes.

If approved, the new bipod ramp design would be the first redesign approved since the Columbia accident and likely would be adopted officially before the projected July 25 release of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board report.

Greenfield also told the advisory panel that NASA has decided to launch the shuttle only during daylight hours for the foreseeable future. That operating constraint will allow NASA to keep a close eye on shuttle performance during launches using specialized video equipment.