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Spacewalk to fix damaged blanket a 'remote' possibility BY WILLIAM HARWOOD STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION Posted: August 3, 2005 With a successful spacewalk repair job today, engineers believe the shuttle Discovery's heat shield is in good shape for re-entry and landing Monday. But one question mark remains: What, if anything, to do about a damaged insulation blanket just below commander Eileen Collins' left cockpit window.
"We wanted you to know that they are looking at the remote possibility, but yet if indeed the damage on the blanket warrants it, that they might have to plan for a fourth EVA," astronaut Julie Payette radioed from mission control in Houston. "This is a small probability, but we wanted you to know about their thinking, and also get any comments from your crew and especially from the EV (spacewalk) crew members about this idea so we can put that in the pot for planning." "OK, thanks for the heads up," Collins replied. Cameras on Discovery's robot arm were used to photograph the torn, puffed-up blanket today, providing zoomed-in views showing what looked like impact damage on the slender segment. At a change-of-shift news briefing, lead flight director Paul Hill said engineers hoped to complete a thorough damage assessment by Thursday morning. Unlike the consequences of the protruding gap fillers removed by spacewalker Stephen Robinson earlier today, the blanket does not pose a threat during the high-speed, high-heating part of re-entry. Rather, the concern is that when Discovery reaches the denser, lower atmosphere, a piece of the blanket could rip away, possibly hitting the back of the orbiter. "It's not an entry heating concern," Hill said. "The concern is if something comes off and then flies aft and hits some critical surface, whether its a control surface, the front of an OMS (rocket) pod or something like that. So we're taking a look at this as a debris problem, not an entry heating problem." Hill said engineers are trying to assess "how significant it would be if we made impact with the amount of material that could come off in the worst case." "There are also folks off doing statistical analysis on where the most likely areas are that could be hit," he added. "We'll have more data tomorrow. ... But we are definitely looking at various areas on the vehicle aft and what it would mean to us if we were to hit it with the predicted masses that could come off." Mission management team chairman Wayne Hale likely will address the issue at his daily news briefing later today.
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Status Summary
Discovery safely touched down at 8:11 a.m. EDT (1211 GMT) Tuesday morning at Edwards Air Force Base in California.
Weather worries off the coast of Florida thwarted both landing opportunities this morning at Kennedy Space Center, forcing a detour to the backup landing site.See the Status Center for full play-by-play coverage.  Recent updates Thursday, August 4 07:00 AM NASA TV sked (rev. J)Spacewalk StatsWednesday, August 3 06:15 AM Flight PlanQuicklook DataEntry TimelineAres 1-X Patch  The official embroidered patch for the Ares 1-X rocket test flight, is available for purchase.U.S. STOREWORLDWIDE STOREApollo Collage  This beautiful one piece set features the Apollo program emblem surrounded by the individual mission logos.U.S. STOREExpedition 21  The official embroidered patch for the International Space Station Expedition 21 crew is now available from our stores.U.S. STOREWORLDWIDE STOREHubble Patch  The official embroidered patch for mission STS-125, the space shuttle's last planned service call to the Hubble Space Telescope, is available for purchase.U.S. STOREWORLDWIDE STORE |
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