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Discovery Crew Finds No Initial Shuttle Damage
Houston (AFP) Jul 05, 2006 The space shuttle Discovery's crew found no damage Wednesday after inspecting the orbiter's nose and wings for damage with a special robotic arm, a top NASA official said. "We have a very clean vehicle," shuttle flight director Tony Ceccacci said of the initial safety check, which came on the first full day of orbit. The two-woman, five-men crew was checking for possible damage from loose foam that came off the craft a couple of minutes into Tuesday's critical launch, only the second since the February 2003 Columbia disaster. NASA said the team was "working very hard" to complete the safety check in 24 hours and that initial indications were all good. "It will take about eight to 10 hours to get a very good look at the first part of the survey and we should have ... that completed within 24 hours," Ceccacci said. "Everything seems to be clear." Discovery's crew members -- Commander Steven Lindsey, pilot Mark Kelly and mission specialists Michael Fossum, Lisa Nowak, Stephanie Wilson, Piers Sellers and European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Reiter of Germany -- deployed a robotic arm equipped with cameras and a laser to check on the shuttle. The crew focused on the protective heat shield on the shuttle wings' leading edge. The astronauts will then configure their spacesuits in preparation for two or three spacewalks after the shuttle docks with the International Space Station (ISS) on Thursday. Reiter will join the ISS's two other crew members, Commander Pavel Vinogradov of Russia and Flight Engineer Jeffrey Williams, for a long-term stay and will undertake two spacewalks. Tuesday's launch marked just the second shuttle mission since Columbia splintered apart upon re-entry into Earth's atmosphere, leading to the grounding of shuttle flights for nearly two and a half years. But NASA appeared pleased with the performance of Discovery's external fuel tank, which lost only small pieces of foam insulation Tuesday, without posing any serious threat to the shuttle's heat shield. NASA officials have struggled to fix problems associated with the persistent loss of foam insulation since the debris doomed Columbia. Foam fell off Columbia's fuel tank 70 seconds after liftoff, piercing its heat shield. Foam also peeled off Discovery's tank in the first post-tragedy launch last year, but the debris missed the shuttle. Nevertheless, NASA grounded the 25-year-old fleet until now to make further modifications. NASA placed more than 100 cameras around Discovery's launch pad for Tuesday's liftoff to detect any loose debris. The ISS will then take pictures of the vessel's heat shield while it performs a back flip during its approach. The agency had said the seven astronauts could take refuge at the ISS and wait for a rescue mission in the event the shuttle suffered irreparable damage. During their 12-to-13-day mission to the ISS, the astronauts will test new equipment and procedures aimed at increasing shuttle safety. They will also deliver 12 tonnes of critical supplies and other cargo to the ISS, including a new oxygen generator for the space station that would allow crews of six people -- double the current amount -- for the ISS starting in 2009.
Source: Agence France-Presse Related Links Shuttle at NASA
Up To Six Pieces Of Debris Fell Off Discovery Says NASA
Cape Canaveral (AFP) Jul 04, 2006Discovery's fuel tank "performed very well" during the shuttle's launch Tuesday, shedding small pieces of debris as expected without endangering the astronauts, a top NASA official said. |
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