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CJ Cregg
Commodore
Joined: 05 Oct 2002
Posts: 1254
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 Wed Jul 27, 2005 8:12 pm NASA grounds shuttle fleet |
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| Quote: | NASA grounds shuttle fleet
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Florida (CNN) -- There will be no more shuttle launches until NASA engineers determine the effect of the debris that fell from the shuttle Discovery during blastoff Tuesday, said space shuttle program manager Bill Parsons.
"We are treating it very seriously," he told reporters. "Are we losing sleep over it? Not yet."
He added, "We will continue to do the evaluation."
Discovery is due to return to Kennedy Space Center August 7. A date for the next planned mission has not been set.
Earlier Wednesday NASA lead flight director Paul Hill said that, based on engineers' "first-blush" analysis of falling debris, there was "no significant problem" with the orbiting shuttle.
Hill spoke to reporters after astronauts, using a robotic arm equipped with a camera and laser, spent "one hell of a day" poring over every inch of Discovery for surface damage.
Of the Discovery's seven-member crew, three spent the entire day operating the 50-foot robotic arm and its 50-foot boom extension. Other members who had a spare moment from their tasks "were also there helping to look out the windows and look at camera views," Hill said.
NASA was analyzing data from the launch and from the robotic arm to decide what steps to take next.
"We should start seeing the jury coming in on those decisions by the end of the crew's day tomorrow," Hill said.
Although the search for damage was already included as part of the mission, video from an array of cameras raised concerns after showing a piece of debris falling away from the orbiter's underside during Tuesday's liftoff.
NASA officials said the debris could have broken off from a tile near a door covering the nose landing gear. Space shuttles have shed tile during previous missions without consequences.
But falling debris from the shuttle Columbia during its ascent was blamed for damaging the craft -- and its ultimate destruction upon re-entry into Earth's atmosphere, killing all seven crew members in February 2003.
The disaster prompted NASA to ground the shuttle fleet and make safety-related activities a priority.
NASA flight operations manager John Shannon said the debris that broke off may be the tile covering rather than the tile itself. He said that initial estimates show it was about 1.5 inches long.
Footage from Discovery's launch also showed a piece of debris falling from the external fuel tank at the time it separated from the orbiter. That debris did not strike the orbiter, he said.
Footage also showed that the external fuel tank's nose cone hit a bird about 2.5 seconds after liftoff -- when Discovery was probably traveling too slowly to sustain any damage, he said.
As the orbiter approaches the international space station for a scheduled Thursday 7:18 a.m. ET docking, the station's crew will photograph Discovery to look further for any damage.
Shuttle crew members plan to test repair techniques during three scheduled space walks by astronauts Steve Robinson and Soichi Noguchi of Japan. The astronaut pair also plans to service the space station.
Since Columbia, NASA has developed contingency plans for astronauts to try to repair damaged shuttles so they can return to Earth. In the event a spacecraft cannot be repaired, plans call for the crew to take refuge in the space station until a rescue mission can be launched.
CNN's Miles O'Brien, Marsha Walton and Kate Tobin contributed to this report.
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Lord Borg
Fleet Admiral
Joined: 27 May 2003
Posts: 11214
Location: Vulcan Capital City, Vulcan
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| Wed Jul 27, 2005 11:07 pm |
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Well, it sucks that its grounded, but it's also good that they are going to work on correcting a flaw that could cost lives
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Cathexis
The Angel of Avalon
Joined: 26 Dec 2001
Posts: 5901
Location: ~~ Where Dreams Have No End�
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| Wed Jul 27, 2005 11:14 pm |
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Yeah, better to be safe than sorry, right?
I hope they find and correct all possible errors. After that piece flew off of the Discovery, it's a risky move to launch a whole fleet until they're sure about the safety precautions.
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Lord Borg
Fleet Admiral
Joined: 27 May 2003
Posts: 11214
Location: Vulcan Capital City, Vulcan
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| Wed Jul 27, 2005 11:28 pm |
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Yeah, It's also probably dont help that the technology is many years old now, the shuttles at least were biult in the 80's
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Otter
Fleet Admiral
Joined: 12 Oct 2004
Posts: 12895
Location: England
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| Thu Jul 28, 2005 6:22 am |
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Back to the drawing board
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Curtis
Fleet Admiral
Joined: 29 Sep 2001
Posts: 14903
Location: Wisconsin
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| Thu Jul 28, 2005 8:27 am |
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Back to the drawing board again indeed. Well, I agree that it is good they are grounding all potential flights from within the fleet until all problems are fixed, and who knows, with NASA grounding all fleets...maybe some other space program will begin deep space missions with actual starships, just a thought though  .
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PrankishSmart
Rear Admiral
Joined: 29 Apr 2002
Posts: 4779
Location: Hobart, Australia.
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| Thu Jul 28, 2005 8:48 am |
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They have some sort of escape shuttle at the ISS that they can jump into and return to earth if they need to anyway.
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webtaz99
Commodore
Joined: 13 Nov 2003
Posts: 1229
Location: The Other Side
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| Thu Jul 28, 2005 9:26 am |
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Judging by the image, it was foam that came off the Shuttle. Bear in mind that the foam is slightly different and is being applied in a different way. This is the first time this particular combination has been flown.
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"History is made at night! Character is who you are in the dark." (Lord John Whorfin)
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CJ Cregg
Commodore
Joined: 05 Oct 2002
Posts: 1254
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| Thu Jul 28, 2005 11:11 am |
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| PrankishSmart wrote: | | They have some sort of escape shuttle at the ISS that they can jump into and return to earth if they need to anyway. |
That can only fit 3 people in it
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Theresa
Lux Mihi Deus
Joined: 17 Jun 2001
Posts: 27256
Location: United States of America
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| Thu Jul 28, 2005 11:29 am |
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The Russians will save the daaaaaay.
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Some of us fall by the wayside
And some of us soar to the stars
And some of us sail through our troubles
And some have to live with our scars
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Cathexis
The Angel of Avalon
Joined: 26 Dec 2001
Posts: 5901
Location: ~~ Where Dreams Have No End�
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| Thu Jul 28, 2005 4:39 pm |
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Yeah, well..I really think these shuttles are outdated..I wish we could start on some new ones...that way we won't have to deal with repairing these old shuttles....it hasn't worked out too well. And if the Russians "save the daaaaaaaaaay", as T put it, I think we'd be a bit better off. Besides, it would give us a chance to work with them on a major project again . Stuff like that always helps with the peace  .
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CJ Cregg
Commodore
Joined: 05 Oct 2002
Posts: 1254
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Jeremy
J's Guy
Joined: 03 Oct 2002
Posts: 7823
Location: Aberdeen, Scotland
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| Thu Jul 28, 2005 4:58 pm |
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Man, it just doesn't look the same, 
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Lord Borg
Fleet Admiral
Joined: 27 May 2003
Posts: 11214
Location: Vulcan Capital City, Vulcan
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| Thu Jul 28, 2005 5:42 pm |
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No, but they look like "ancestors" to the designs we saw on trek, you know that mars one
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