NASA Debates Second Discovery Repair

An anonymous reader writes "NASA is debating today whether or not they should attempt a second repair attempt of the Space Shuttle Discovery to repair a possible problem with the thermal blanket. On Wednesday, an astronaut removed two protruding cloth fillers from between the ceramic tiles on the space shuttle's heat shield. "I think in the old days we would not have worried about this so much," said shuttle programme deputy manager Wayne Hale The astronaut extended his gloved hand and quickly removed the first fiber strip, which was sticking up from Discovery's smooth, tiled underside. "It's coming out very easily," the astronaut said. Arm operator Jim Kelly then maneuvered the arm about three meters to the second protruding strip, known as a gap filler, and Robinson gently pulled that piece out as well. The concern now is whether or not a damaged thermal blanket under one of the cockpit windows would tear apart during re-entry and strike the orbiter."

Comments

Waited too long...

[Anonymous Coward]

> BREAKING NEWS NASA determines droopy shuttle insulation blanket not a danger to Discovery, no fourth spacewalk required. Details soon.

Re:Waited too long...

[jdunlevy]

Yeah, the "Latest News" at NASA's "Return to Flight" site:

No Fourth Spacewalk Needed

Mission control radioed the Discovery crew today with news that they will not need to make a fourth spacewalk to fix a thermal blanket near the Commander's left window. Mission Control and the crew agreed that it was "good news."

The Mission Management Team, which made the decision based on extensive analysis, is still meeting. More details about the decision will be discussed at a news conference at 3 p.m. EDT today.

Slashdot is a bit slow today ...

[xmas2003]

NASA says they will NOT do this ...

Re:Keep Pulling Till You Find Out.

[Mindwarp]

One of the gap fillers was there to prevent tiles vibrating together on take-off, and therefore isn't necessary during re-entry. In fact this gap filler wasn't even designed for thermal protection.

The second gap filler is there to stop repeated thermal exposure to the part of the orbiter sub-frame surrounding the front landing gear. Luckily since that is an area of high heating on the orbiter the sub-frame is designed to withstand extremely high temperatures. The gap filler is really to stop that part of the orbiter from repeatedly being exposed to high temperatures mission after mission. It should be absolutely fine for one re-entry.