NASA Grounds Entire Space Shuttle Fleet

 

POSTED: 9:47 am EDT July 27, 2005

 

HOUSTON -- NASA says it is grounding future space shuttle flights because foam debris that brought down Columbia is still a risk.

 

NASA says the mysterious object that came flying off the space shuttle Discovery's fuel tank during liftoff was a large piece of foam insulation.

 

That was the very thing that caused Columbia to break apart during re-entry two and a half years ago, killing all seven astronauts aboard. But this time, the foam didn't hit the spacecraft.

 

NASA expected some debris to fall off during Tuesday's launch, but officials said they won't know for a few days whether any of it will mean a risk to the crew.

 

Discovery astronauts woke early Wednesday morning and started checking the outside of their spacecraft.

 

They were maneuvering a sensor-equipped robotic arm to see if any damage occurred during launch Tuesday. The examination focused on the shuttle's wings and nose.

 

It's one of the new procedures put in place since the 2003 Columbia tragedy.

 

NASA officials say two chunks of debris appeared to break free during launch. Officials say cameras recorded what looks like a piece of thermal tile breaking off the shuttle's belly. And a chunk of what may be foam insulation peeled off the external fuel tank.

 

Officials don't know if the debris did any damage.

 

At an 11 a.m. EDT Wednesday news conference, flight director Paul Hill said that much of the data from the various cameras and scans has been sent back to Earth and is being distilled into engineering reports. If any areas need additional reviews, those will likely happen on the fourth day of the flight.

 

Hill said the process worked well, but that it was a lot of work, requiring full-time attention from three of the seven crew members. NASA hopes not to have to do as much scanning on future flights, if it can rely on other sensors.

 

He noted that although some small damage was reported Tuesday, the shuttle has landed many times with some thermal protection system damage, so NASA knows what can be tolerated.

 

In orbit, astronauts have also tested the tools and equipment they'll use during some space walks. And they're planning to get the airlock ready for Thursday's docking with the international space station.

 

Engineers on the ground are analyzing images and data from the launch to see if there were other incidents, NASA said on its Web site.

 

The crew of the orbiting laboratory will also photograph all sides of Discovery before the two link up.

 

Rendezvous with the station is scheduled for 7:18 a.m. EDT Thursday. Discovery will provide a new gyroscope for the station, as well as other supplies.

http://www.nbc6.net/news/4774859/detail.ht..._05530007272005

Just spend the billions they are going spend on fixing this problem on a new shuttle.

I agree; NASA should retire the old fleet and start building newer versions with all the latest technology applied to them. It would also help their public image to show that they're still on the cutting edge, and not sending up people in contraptions that were designed in the 1970's.

Not exactly the best timing, right after they launched a shuttle into space on Monday.

Its absolutely inexcusable to be using almost 30 year old shuttles this late in the game. I don't expect Nasa to do what they did during the Mercury/Gemini/Apollo days, but come on!! :thumbdown

They need more funding.

They need more funding.

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They would definitely need more funding to do all the things people are mentioning. Right now, most funding for new projects are going towards Mars research and exploration.

 

Bush mentioned that he wanted NASA to start doing missions to the moon again within the next 15 years or so to prepare for future missions to Mars. Wouldn't that be something? A visit to Red Planet?

agreed. I can't see why NASA would even want to continue using those behemoths. They've got to work on some new technologies. Part of the reason the shuttles have to be so big is that it takes so much rocket fuel to break earth's atmosphere... I love the space program but this isn't 1980 anymore. Focus your energies on something else. Look at what they've done with the Mars Rovers, and those missions probably cost a fraction of what the shuttles cost.

 

There's some really amazing cutting edge stuff out there if they'd put the energy (& funding of course) into it.

I have a feeling this kind of thing has been happening during several launches for the last 25 years, but NASA only noticed it now because they are paying more attention.

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I saw a thing on the Columbia disaster on a show called "Seconds from Disasters" where NASA knew about that foam came off during launches. In fact they knew that a piece of foam hit the Colombia's wing. They did not know it caused a hole about 9inches big in the heat shield.

Also, I remember reading that even if NASA had known that such damage had been caused on the Columbia flight, there was nothing else they could have done other than attempt re-entry and hope for the best. A scary situation.

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Yeah they mentioned that also. Tough situation. Im sure they wouldve exhausted every option before commiting suicide.