Hale: shuttle foam loss may be caused by worker damage
Posted: Wed, Oct 5, 2005, 8:33 AM ET (1233 GMT)
NASA shuttle program manager Wayne Hale said Tuesday that workers may have inadvertently damaged foam on the exterior tank, causing a chunk of it to fall off during July's launch of Discovery. An in AP interview, Hale said workers may have cut or crushed foam while performing modifications to the tank prior to launch. That could have weakened the foam enough to allow it to come off during flight, although Hale said engineers are still investigating that and other possibilities, such as "normal thermal stresses", to explain the foam loss. Hale said that the recent hurricanes caused NASA to lose up to three months of work on the shuttle program, but was optimistic that the shuttle would return to flight in the spring, most likely May.
NASA shuttle program manager Wayne Hale said Tuesday that workers may have inadvertently damaged foam on the exterior tank, causing a chunk of it to fall off during July's launch of Discovery. An in AP interview, Hale said workers may have cut or crushed foam while performing modifications to the tank prior to launch. That could have weakened the foam enough to allow it to come off during flight, although Hale said engineers are still investigating that and other possibilities, such as "normal thermal stresses", to explain the foam loss. Hale said that the recent hurricanes caused NASA to lose up to three months of work on the shuttle program, but was optimistic that the shuttle would return to flight in the spring, most likely May.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
Friday, February 10
Europe Turns to Russia as NASA Cuts Loom
Wall Street Journal — 7:07 pm ET (0007 GMT) Commercial Spaceflight Federation Announces Formation of The Suborbital Coalition
Commercial Spaceflight Federation — 7:05 pm ET (0005 GMT) NASA Glenn Completes Space Hardware for Launch to International Space Station
NASA/Glenn — 7:04 pm ET (0004 GMT) Glenn Director to Discuss NASA's Fiscal Year 2013 Budget
NASA/Glenn — 7:04 pm ET (0004 GMT) NASA Deputy Administrator Holds Space Coast Media Availabilities
NASA/KSC — 7:03 pm ET (0003 GMT) |