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Ascent debris spotted; no apparent threat BY WILLIAM HARWOOD STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION Posted: September 9, 2006; Updated after imagery briefing
"The bottom line is, we are looking at nits, nothing of any remote consequence," shuttle Program Manager Wayne Hale told reporters at a quick-look imagery news conference. "The reason I don't have any pictures for you is there's just nothing to look at here, folks," he said. "Of course, we will inspect the underside of the orbiter, the entire heat shield system with a fine tooth comb and prove there is nothing that caused any damage." Hale said four debris events were noticed in ascent video and radar data. Two were foam incidents at four minutes and five seconds into flight and again at five minutes 28 seconds after launch. A piece of ice detached after external tank separation that struck the orbiter near its nose landing gear doors, but that happened as the shuttle was slipping into orbit and no damage was seen. Radar tracking indicated a possible debris event around the five-minute 40-second mark, but engineers don't yet know what that might have been. In addition, a paper rain cover used to protect a maneuvering rocket nozzle before launch failed to separate as early as desired, but it did not appear to strike the orbiter. In all cases, Hale said, initial examination of ascent video revealed no signs of any damage to the shuttle's heat shield. For foam debris to pose a threat to the shuttle's tiles or wing leading edge panels, it must come off early in flight when the shuttle is still within the denser regions of the atmosphere. That can cause separated foam to decelerate very rapidly, allowing the shuttle to ram into it at a high relative velocity. After about two minutes and 15 seconds, the shuttle is beyond that danger zone. The video showed the tank's externally mounted 17-inch-wide liquid oxygen feedline flexing a fair amount as the shuttle thundered away. But Hale said the movement was normal and that it was not related to Atlantis' so-called high-Q ascent, which subjected the shuttle to higher aerodynamic stress. Engineers will need several days to evaluate footage from a variety of cameras, data from wing leading edge sensors, a detailed inspection by the astronauts Sunday and additional inspections Monday during final approach to the station before Atlantis will be given a clean bill of health. In the meantime, "what you saw today was a flawless count, a majestic launch and it was tough to get here," said NASA Administrator Mike Griffin. "This vehicle has not flown in many years and not everything in the count leading up to this day was easy. And in between we had to dodge tropical storms, lightning strikes and things like that. But we got here and it was just a flawless day."
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