NASA Finds 4-5" Crack in Shuttle Insulation

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.""

Comments

And what about the pilots?

[DHalcyon]

"...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.

Re:And what about the pilots?

[jonnythan]

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.

Does anybody at NASA have a MEMORY?

[wowbagger]

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.

Re:How can they fix this

[Nimey]

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.