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: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.