spacetoday.net: NASA plans gap filler repair after successful gyro work

Posted: Tue, Aug 2, 2005, 5:32 AM ET (0932 GMT)
STS-114: EVA 2 (NASA)

Hours after astronauts successfully replaced a gyroscope on the International Space Station, NASA officials said late Monday that spacewalkers would attempt repairs to "gap fillers" on the underside of shuttle Discovery later this week. According to the current plan, astronaut Steve Robinson, attached to the end of the shuttle's robot arm, will venture to the underside of the orbiter and pull out or cut two gap fillers protruding from between tiles there. Engineers are concerned that the gap fillers, made of ceramic cloth, could disrupt the flow of air during reentry, creating turbulent heating that could damage the orbiter. The repairs will take place during a previously-scheduled EVA planned for Wednesday. That decision came after Robinson and Soichi Noguchi completed the second spacewalk of the mission. During that EVA the two astronauts replaced a failed gyroscope on the ISS that provides attitude control for the station.