 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| . |  |
. |
Resumption Of Shuttle Flights Up In The Air: NASA
Resumption of space flights depends on the pace of repairing foam insulating the shuttle's large external fuel tank, which may not happen by May, NASA said Tuesday. NASA still needs to find where a bit of foam that broke off in July's launch came from. And, X-rays have revealed small cracks in the insulating foam. The shuttle external tank program's manager said the cracks could have contributed to the problem. "It would be premature to say that the cracks played a factor in that, but they might have," John Chapman said. He said nine fine cracks were found in the foam of a fuel tank attached to the Discovery before its July flight, but which was replaced for other technical reasons. Discovery's tank still lost a piece of foam, which struck the delicate ceramic tiles that make up the craft's re-entry heat shield. Wayne Hale, deputy manager of the Space Shuttle Program, also said that in any case, the pace of the tank repairs would determine the launch schedule, which is tentatively set for May. "We have not set (May) as the flight date. We have rather set our schedule to work toward that date," Hale said. "The technical progress will drive the schedule not the other way around... We are committed to do it safely, returning to flight as soon as is practical to do so but in a safe manner," he said. He added that the shuttle program was set back three months because of Hurricane Katrina, which flooded its Michoud site used to build the external tanks. NASA decided to ground its three remaining shuttles after the Discovery's July flight. That was the first flight since the 2003 downing of space shuttle Columbia, killing all seven aboard. NASA earmarked 1.5 billion dollars to fix the crumbling foam that prevents the build-up of ice on the outsides of the gigantic tanks of liquid oxygen and hydrogen, which fuel the takeoff. All rights reserved. � 2005 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse. Related Links SpaceDaily Search SpaceDaily Subscribe To SpaceDaily Express 
Tile Test System Could Make Space Shuttle Safer
Wright-Patterson AFB (SPX) Oct 24, 2005In February 2003, Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated on re-entry, killing all seven crewmembers. The shuttle was hit by a piece of foam that damaged the thermal-protection tiles on its left wing, leading to failure when superheated air surged into the wing and, possibly, a wheel compartment.
|
|
| |||||||||
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2016 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement All images and articles appearing on Space Media Network have been edited or digitally altered in some way. Any requests to remove copyright material will be acted upon in a timely and appropriate manner. Any attempt to extort money from Space Media Network will be ignored and reported to Australian Law Enforcement Agencies as a potential case of financial fraud involving the use of a telephonic carriage device or postal service. |
