CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Inspectors found a 5-inch-long crack inthe foam insulation covering the shuttle Discovery's external fueltank, and NASA managers were deciding Monday whether to call off thescheduled Fourth of July launch.
The crack was spotted during an overnight inspection. NASA hadscrubbed launch plans Saturday and Sunday because of poor weather andhad removed fuel from the tank.
NASA found the crack, which was an eighth- to quarter-inch wide,in the foam on a bracket about two-thirds of the way up on the sideof the external fuel tank facing the orbiter. That location wouldmake it easy to hit the shuttle if a piece of foam came off.Officials were trying to determine whether it could be fixed for aTuesday liftoff.
"We don't know if it's a problem or not," NASA spokesman GeorgeDiller said Monday.
One option considered by NASA was to sand down the area of foam,which would take a couple of hours and could be done on the launchpad. Another would be to cut out the area of foam and replace it,which could take several days, said Marion LaNasa Jr., a spokesmanfor Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co., which makes the tank.
LaNasa said he didn't know if foam had ever fallen from that areaduring previous launches.
If NASA decides to go ahead with the launch Tuesday, it would bethe first manned launch by the United States on the nation'sbirthday, and only the second liftoff of a space shuttle since the2003 Columbia disaster.
Concerns about cracks in the fuel tank's foam insulation havedogged the program since Columbia exploded over Texas on Feb. 1,2003. A chunk of flyaway foam had damaged Columbia's wing duringliftoff, allowing superheated gas to penetrate the shuttle when it re-entered the atmosphere.
NASA tried to fix the problem before trying another launch, butmore foam broke off Discovery's redesigned tank last July, barelymissing the shuttle.
NASA Administrator Michael Griffin decided the shuttle should gointo orbit despite the concerns of two top agency managers who wantedadditional repairs to the foam insulation.
The mission for Discovery's crew this time is to test shuttle-inspection techniques, deliver supplies to the international spacestation and drop off German astronaut Thomas Reiter for a six-monthstay.
The weather forecast for a Tuesday liftoff was better than it wason Sunday or Monday, with a 40 percent chance that storms at launchtime would prevent liftoff, said U.S. Air Force 1st Lt. KalebNordgren, a shuttle weather forecaster. NASA planned to make launchattempts on Tuesday and on Wednesday if necessary.
On the Net:
spaceflight.nasa.gov
Crack found in foam on shuttle fuel tank; holiday launch uncertain
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Inspectors found a 5-inch-long crack inthe foam insulation covering the shuttle Discovery's external fueltank, and NASA managers were deciding Monday whether to call off thescheduled Fourth of July launch.
The crack was spotted during an overnight inspection. NASA hadscrubbed launch plans Saturday and Sunday because of poor weather andhad removed fuel from the tank.
NASA found the crack, which was an eighth- to quarter-inch wide,in the foam on a bracket about two-thirds of the way up on the sideof the external fuel tank facing the orbiter. That location wouldmake it easy to hit the shuttle if a piece of foam came off.Officials were trying to determine whether it could be fixed for aTuesday liftoff.
"We don't know if it's a problem or not," NASA spokesman GeorgeDiller said Monday.
One option considered by NASA was to sand down the area of foam,which would take a couple of hours and could be done on the launchpad. Another would be to cut out the area of foam and replace it,which could take several days, said Marion LaNasa Jr., a spokesmanfor Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co., which makes the tank.
LaNasa said he didn't know if foam had ever fallen from that areaduring previous launches.
If NASA decides to go ahead with the launch Tuesday, it would bethe first manned launch by the United States on the nation'sbirthday, and only the second liftoff of a space shuttle since the2003 Columbia disaster.
Concerns about cracks in the fuel tank's foam insulation havedogged the program since Columbia exploded over Texas on Feb. 1,2003. A chunk of flyaway foam had damaged Columbia's wing duringliftoff, allowing superheated gas to penetrate the shuttle when it re-entered the atmosphere.
NASA tried to fix the problem before trying another launch, butmore foam broke off Discovery's redesigned tank last July, barelymissing the shuttle.
NASA Administrator Michael Griffin decided the shuttle should gointo orbit despite the concerns of two top agency managers who wantedadditional repairs to the foam insulation.
The mission for Discovery's crew this time is to test shuttle-inspection techniques, deliver supplies to the international spacestation and drop off German astronaut Thomas Reiter for a six-monthstay.
The weather forecast for a Tuesday liftoff was better than it wason Sunday or Monday, with a 40 percent chance that storms at launchtime would prevent liftoff, said U.S. Air Force 1st Lt. KalebNordgren, a shuttle weather forecaster. NASA planned to make launchattempts on Tuesday and on Wednesday if necessary.
On the Net:
spaceflight.nasa.gov
Crack found in foam on shuttle fuel tank; holiday launch uncertain
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Inspectors found a 5-inch-long crack inthe foam insulation covering the shuttle Discovery's external fueltank, and NASA managers were deciding Monday whether to call off thescheduled Fourth of July launch.
The crack was spotted during an overnight inspection. NASA hadscrubbed launch plans Saturday and Sunday because of poor weather andhad removed fuel from the tank.
NASA found the crack, which was an eighth- to quarter-inch wide,in the foam on a bracket about two-thirds of the way up on the sideof the external fuel tank facing the orbiter. That location wouldmake it easy to hit the shuttle if a piece of foam came off.Officials were trying to determine whether it could be fixed for aTuesday liftoff.
"We don't know if it's a problem or not," NASA spokesman GeorgeDiller said Monday.
One option considered by NASA was to sand down the area of foam,which would take a couple of hours and could be done on the launchpad. Another would be to cut out the area of foam and replace it,which could take several days, said Marion LaNasa Jr., a spokesmanfor Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co., which makes the tank.
LaNasa said he didn't know if foam had ever fallen from that areaduring previous launches.
If NASA decides to go ahead with the launch Tuesday, it would bethe first manned launch by the United States on the nation'sbirthday, and only the second liftoff of a space shuttle since the2003 Columbia disaster.
Concerns about cracks in the fuel tank's foam insulation havedogged the program since Columbia exploded over Texas on Feb. 1,2003. A chunk of flyaway foam had damaged Columbia's wing duringliftoff, allowing superheated gas to penetrate the shuttle when it re-entered the atmosphere.
NASA tried to fix the problem before trying another launch, butmore foam broke off Discovery's redesigned tank last July, barelymissing the shuttle.
NASA Administrator Michael Griffin decided the shuttle should gointo orbit despite the concerns of two top agency managers who wantedadditional repairs to the foam insulation.
The mission for Discovery's crew this time is to test shuttle-inspection techniques, deliver supplies to the international spacestation and drop off German astronaut Thomas Reiter for a six-monthstay.
The weather forecast for a Tuesday liftoff was better than it wason Sunday or Monday, with a 40 percent chance that storms at launchtime would prevent liftoff, said U.S. Air Force 1st Lt. KalebNordgren, a shuttle weather forecaster. NASA planned to make launchattempts on Tuesday and on Wednesday if necessary.
On the Net:
spaceflight.nasa.gov
Crack found in foam on shuttle fuel tank; holiday launch uncertain
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Inspectors found a 5-inch-long crack inthe foam insulation covering the shuttle Discovery's external fueltank, and NASA managers were deciding Monday whether to call off thescheduled Fourth of July launch.
The crack was spotted during an overnight inspection. NASA hadscrubbed launch plans Saturday and Sunday because of poor weather andhad removed fuel from the tank.
NASA found the crack, which was an eighth- to quarter-inch wide,in the foam on a bracket about two-thirds of the way up on the sideof the external fuel tank facing the orbiter. That location wouldmake it easy to hit the shuttle if a piece of foam came off.Officials were trying to determine whether it could be fixed for aTuesday liftoff.
"We don't know if it's a problem or not," NASA spokesman GeorgeDiller said Monday.
One option considered by NASA was to sand down the area of foam,which would take a couple of hours and could be done on the launchpad. Another would be to cut out the area of foam and replace it,which could take several days, said Marion LaNasa Jr., a spokesmanfor Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co., which makes the tank.
LaNasa said he didn't know if foam had ever fallen from that areaduring previous launches.
If NASA decides to go ahead with the launch Tuesday, it would bethe first manned launch by the United States on the nation'sbirthday, and only the second liftoff of a space shuttle since the2003 Columbia disaster.
Concerns about cracks in the fuel tank's foam insulation havedogged the program since Columbia exploded over Texas on Feb. 1,2003. A chunk of flyaway foam had damaged Columbia's wing duringliftoff, allowing superheated gas to penetrate the shuttle when it re-entered the atmosphere.
NASA tried to fix the problem before trying another launch, butmore foam broke off Discovery's redesigned tank last July, barelymissing the shuttle.
NASA Administrator Michael Griffin decided the shuttle should gointo orbit despite the concerns of two top agency managers who wantedadditional repairs to the foam insulation.
The mission for Discovery's crew this time is to test shuttle-inspection techniques, deliver supplies to the international spacestation and drop off German astronaut Thomas Reiter for a six-monthstay.
The weather forecast for a Tuesday liftoff was better than it wason Sunday or Monday, with a 40 percent chance that storms at launchtime would prevent liftoff, said U.S. Air Force 1st Lt. KalebNordgren, a shuttle weather forecaster. NASA planned to make launchattempts on Tuesday and on Wednesday if necessary.
On the Net:
spaceflight.nasa.gov
Crack found in foam on shuttle fuel tank; holiday launch uncertain
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Inspectors found a 5-inch-long crack inthe foam insulation covering the shuttle Discovery's external fueltank, and NASA managers were deciding Monday whether to call off thescheduled Fourth of July launch.
The crack was spotted during an overnight inspection. NASA hadscrubbed launch plans Saturday and Sunday because of poor weather andhad removed fuel from the tank.
NASA found the crack, which was an eighth- to quarter-inch wide,in the foam on a bracket about two-thirds of the way up on the sideof the external fuel tank facing the orbiter. That location wouldmake it easy to hit the shuttle if a piece of foam came off.Officials were trying to determine whether it could be fixed for aTuesday liftoff.
"We don't know if it's a problem or not," NASA spokesman GeorgeDiller said Monday.
One option considered by NASA was to sand down the area of foam,which would take a couple of hours and could be done on the launchpad. Another would be to cut out the area of foam and replace it,which could take several days, said Marion LaNasa Jr., a spokesmanfor Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co., which makes the tank.
LaNasa said he didn't know if foam had ever fallen from that areaduring previous launches.
If NASA decides to go ahead with the launch Tuesday, it would bethe first manned launch by the United States on the nation'sbirthday, and only the second liftoff of a space shuttle since the2003 Columbia disaster.
Concerns about cracks in the fuel tank's foam insulation havedogged the program since Columbia exploded over Texas on Feb. 1,2003. A chunk of flyaway foam had damaged Columbia's wing duringliftoff, allowing superheated gas to penetrate the shuttle when it re-entered the atmosphere.
NASA tried to fix the problem before trying another launch, butmore foam broke off Discovery's redesigned tank last July, barelymissing the shuttle.
NASA Administrator Michael Griffin decided the shuttle should gointo orbit despite the concerns of two top agency managers who wantedadditional repairs to the foam insulation.
The mission for Discovery's crew this time is to test shuttle-inspection techniques, deliver supplies to the international spacestation and drop off German astronaut Thomas Reiter for a six-monthstay.
The weather forecast for a Tuesday liftoff was better than it wason Sunday or Monday, with a 40 percent chance that storms at launchtime would prevent liftoff, said U.S. Air Force 1st Lt. KalebNordgren, a shuttle weather forecaster. NASA planned to make launchattempts on Tuesday and on Wednesday if necessary.
On the Net:
spaceflight.nasa.gov
