spacetoday.net: NASA makes progress on shuttle repairs

Posted: Thu, Oct 9, 2003, 9:17 AM ET (1317 GMT)
NASA administrator Sean O'Keefe said Wednesday that engineers had made progress implementing repairs and upgrades to the shuttles, including finding a low-tech, low-cost way of repairing damaged tiles in orbit. O'Keefe said that a simple foam brush, available at hardware stores for no more than one dollar, worked well in tests to apply a patching material that would be used by spacewalkers to fix damaged tiles. The material would not work, however, on the reinforced carbon-carbon panels on the leading edge of the wings; a panel damaged during launch eventually led to the loss of the shuttle Columbia on February 1. Another NASA official told Reuters they hope to address the limitations against night launches of the shuttle by using aircraft that can photograph areas of the shuttle, particularly the forward areas of the orbiter that cannot be seen by tracking cameras on the ground during night launches because of the bright engine plume. The system will be tested on the first two shuttle flights, both of which will be launched during the day.