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NASA Finds 4-5" Crack in Shuttle Insulation

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the debilating-or-not dept.

PresidentKang writes "Spaceflight Now is reporting that a large crack has been found in an external tank foam of Space Shuttle Discovery on the launch pad. According to the article: "Engineers inspecting the shuttle Discovery's external tank following Sunday's launch scrub found a crack in the tank's foam insulation near a bracket holding a 17-inch oxygen feed line in place. Some engineers believe the crack must be repaired but senior managers say a variety of options are on the table, from fly as is to making repairs.""

6 of 193 comments (clear)

  1. And what about the pilots? by DHalcyon · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "...but senior managers say a variety of options are on the table, from fly as is to making repairs."

    I wonder what those managers would say if they had to fly the shuttle.

    1. Re:And what about the pilots? by jonnythan · · Score: 4, Insightful

      From what I hear, the actual astronauts are much, much more accepting of risk than the engineers or management.

      So, I don't think you'd hear the astronauts being the most conservative on this decision just because they're in the ship.

  2. Does anybody at NASA have a MEMORY? by wowbagger · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Does anybody at NASA have a working memory? Don't they remember the results of the Challenger inquest, wherein plenty of evidence of engineers saying "DON'T LAUNCH! BAAAAD!" was ignored?

    I fear we may very well get a "fourth to remember", and NOT in a good way! It is all very well for a bottlerocket to explode in flight, NOT A MANNED SHIP!

    I fear that NASA is going to launch, come hell or high water, and damned be the consequences.

    --
    www.eFax.com are spammers
  3. Re:How can they fix this by Nimey · · Score: 5, Insightful

    But if NASA does the sensible thing and mounts the Shuttle's replacement on top of the stack like they did for Apollo, you don't have to worry about ice falling and hitting heat-resistant tiles, because all that's mounted above the fuel tank.

    I wouldn't be suprised if the external tank is insulated just because of how the shuttle is mounted on the assembly.

    --
    Hail Eris, full of mischief...

    E pluribus sanguinem
  4. Cold? Maybe. Still needs to be said. by voice_of_all_reason · · Score: 3, Insightful

    If you can't take a little bloody nose, maybe its time to go home and crawl back under your bed. It's not safe out here. The galaxy is wonderous -- with treasures to satiate desires both subtle and gross -- but it's not for the timid..."

    -Q, "Q Who?"

  5. Not surprising by ClosedSource · · Score: 3, Insightful

    NASA commited itself to solving the foam problem but when it turned out to be difficult they decided they didn't have to solve it. So they found evidence that the problem wasn't solved. How could this be in any way surprising?