NASA Still Debating Space Shuttle In-Flight Repairs..... Discovery Due to Launch on May 14.....

NASA Still Debating Space Shuttle In-Flight Repairs

Reuters

Feb. 10, 2005 - Just three months before launching the first space
shuttle mission in two years, NASA is still undecided about which
techniques for in-flight repair on the heat shield to test to ensure
the Columbia accident is not repeated.

After the 2003 Columbia disaster, which blew up the spacecraft and
killed seven astronauts, NASA is putting a high priority on showing it
will never be caught again without options to repair a shuttle in
orbit. The heat shield repair techniques are a crucial part of the
Discovery mission, due to launch on May 14.

NASA engineers are debating three procedures for in-flight repairs of
the shuttle's protective tiles and two methods of patching carbon
panels on the leading edges of the wings, both critical to keeping the
shuttle intact during its fiery re-entry into Earth.

Mission commander Eileen Collins, who was at the Kennedy Space Center
in Florida with her six crewmates for training, said NASA had not yet
decided on which repair techniques to test.

"Normally you'd have to make the decision a lot sooner," she said.
"We've been training for over three years -- and we have a lot of
flexibility in the sense that we're trained to maybe pick up some
tasks late," Collins said, seemingly good-natured about the problem.

"But it is late, we're three months from launch."

Columbia was destroyed after a chunk of insulation fell off the
shuttle's fuel tank during launch and smashed a hole in the orbiter's
left wing. The damage was undetected until after the shuttle attempted
to re-enter Earth's atmosphere on Feb. 1, 2003, and was torn apart by
searing temperatures and high pressure.

NASA's first priority was to redesign the fuel tank and Discovery will
fly with a new one.

MIXING MATERIAL IN SPACE

The heat shield repair technique that spacewalkers Soichi Noguchi of
Japan and Steve Robinson have practiced the most involves a complex
caulk gun and a heat-resistant material known as STA-54. Ground tests,
however, indicate there may be problems mixing and applying the
material in the weightless environment of space.

"I don't know if we're ready to do it in space or not," Robinson said.
"We are not going to fly it if it's not ready," he added.

NASA managers and engineers were meeting on Thursday to review options
for the heat shield repair techniques and Collins said she was hopeful
there would be a decision by the end of this month.

There are no options, however, to fix a hole as large as the one that
downed Columbia. If that were to happen again, NASA is developing a
plan to temporarily house the shuttle crew aboard the International
Space Station.

Among the hundreds of items the Discovery crew is delivering to the
station are supplies to sustain the seven astronauts aboard the
outpost if they ended up having to abandon ship and take refuge there.

A second shuttle would presumably be launched to retrieve the crew
within a month or so.

"This is not a certified thing that we're doing," Collins said,
meaning that it was an option that might be used if needed rather than
meeting the stringent requirements for flight operations. "We don't
plan on doing it. But we do have the capability to stay if we had to."

The use of the space station as a refuge was called into question last
week by Russian cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev, who will be the next
station commander. He said the emergency plan raised safety issues and
he had pressed managers on the issue.

In article ,
Mike R. wrote:

NASA Still Debating Space Shuttle In-Flight Repairs

Betcha a quarter the next Shuttle destroyed is done in by landing gear
collapse.

"richard schumacher" wrote in message
...
Betcha a quarter the next Shuttle destroyed is done in by landing gear
collapse.

Picking your favorite Crit-1 failure? There are many things that can fail
which will destroy a shuttle. Trying to pick which one will happen next is
a real crap shoot.

Jeff
--
Remove icky phrase from email address to get a valid address.