NASA grounds shuttle fleet
Falling debris during liftoff draws concern
Wednesday, July 27, 2005; Posted: 8:53 p.m. EDT (00:53 GMT
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Florida (CNN) -- There will be no more shuttle launches until NASA engineers determine the effect of the debris that fell from the shuttle Discovery during blastoff Tuesday, said space shuttle program manager Bill Parsons.
"We are treating it very seriously," he told reporters. "Are we losing sleep over it? Not yet."
He added, "We will continue to do the evaluation."
Discovery is due to return to Kennedy Space Center August 7. A date for the next planned mission has not been set.
Earlier Wednesday NASA lead flight director Paul Hill said that, based on engineers' "first-blush" analysis of falling debris, there was "no significant problem" with the orbiting shuttle.
Hill spoke to reporters after astronauts, using a robotic arm equipped with a camera and laser, spent "one hell of a day" poring over every inch of Discovery for surface damage.
Of the Discovery's seven-member crew, three spent the entire day operating the 50-foot robotic arm and its 50-foot boom extension. Other members who had a spare moment from their tasks "were also there helping to look out the windows and look at camera views," Hill said.
NASA was analyzing data from the launch and from the robotic arm to decide what steps to take next.
"We should start seeing the jury coming in on those decisions by the end of the crew's day tomorrow," Hill said.
Although the search for damage was already included as part of the mission, video from an array of cameras raised concerns after showing a piece of debris falling away from the orbiter's underside during Tuesday's liftoff.
NASA officials said the debris could have broken off from a tile near a door covering the nose landing gear. Space shuttles have shed tile during previous missions without consequences.
But falling debris from the shuttle Columbia during its ascent was blamed for damaging the craft -- and its ultimate destruction upon re-entry into Earth's atmosphere, killing all seven crew members in February 2003.
The disaster prompted NASA to ground the shuttle fleet and make safety-related activities a priority.
NASA flight operations manager John Shannon said the debris that broke off may be the tile covering rather than the tile itself. He said that initial estimates show it was about 1.5 inches long.
Footage from Discovery's launch also showed a piece of debris falling from the external fuel tank at the time it separated from the orbiter. That debris did not strike the orbiter, he said.
Footage also showed that the external fuel tank's nose cone hit a bird about 2.5 seconds after liftoff -- when Discovery was probably traveling too slowly to sustain any damage, he said.
As the orbiter approaches the international space station for a scheduled Thursday 7:18 a.m. ET docking, the station's crew will photograph Discovery to look further for any damage.
Shuttle crew members plan to test repair techniques during three scheduled space walks by astronauts Steve Robinson and Soichi Noguchi of Japan. The astronaut pair also plans to service the space station.
Since Columbia, NASA has developed contingency plans for astronauts to try to repair damaged shuttles so they can return to Earth. In the event a spacecraft cannot be repaired, plans call for the crew to take refuge in the space station until a rescue mission can be launched.
Falling debris during liftoff draws concern
Wednesday, July 27, 2005; Posted: 8:53 p.m. EDT (00:53 GMT
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Florida (CNN) -- There will be no more shuttle launches until NASA engineers determine the effect of the debris that fell from the shuttle Discovery during blastoff Tuesday, said space shuttle program manager Bill Parsons.
"We are treating it very seriously," he told reporters. "Are we losing sleep over it? Not yet."
He added, "We will continue to do the evaluation."
Discovery is due to return to Kennedy Space Center August 7. A date for the next planned mission has not been set.
Earlier Wednesday NASA lead flight director Paul Hill said that, based on engineers' "first-blush" analysis of falling debris, there was "no significant problem" with the orbiting shuttle.
Hill spoke to reporters after astronauts, using a robotic arm equipped with a camera and laser, spent "one hell of a day" poring over every inch of Discovery for surface damage.
Of the Discovery's seven-member crew, three spent the entire day operating the 50-foot robotic arm and its 50-foot boom extension. Other members who had a spare moment from their tasks "were also there helping to look out the windows and look at camera views," Hill said.
NASA was analyzing data from the launch and from the robotic arm to decide what steps to take next.
"We should start seeing the jury coming in on those decisions by the end of the crew's day tomorrow," Hill said.
Although the search for damage was already included as part of the mission, video from an array of cameras raised concerns after showing a piece of debris falling away from the orbiter's underside during Tuesday's liftoff.
NASA officials said the debris could have broken off from a tile near a door covering the nose landing gear. Space shuttles have shed tile during previous missions without consequences.
But falling debris from the shuttle Columbia during its ascent was blamed for damaging the craft -- and its ultimate destruction upon re-entry into Earth's atmosphere, killing all seven crew members in February 2003.
The disaster prompted NASA to ground the shuttle fleet and make safety-related activities a priority.
NASA flight operations manager John Shannon said the debris that broke off may be the tile covering rather than the tile itself. He said that initial estimates show it was about 1.5 inches long.
Footage from Discovery's launch also showed a piece of debris falling from the external fuel tank at the time it separated from the orbiter. That debris did not strike the orbiter, he said.
Footage also showed that the external fuel tank's nose cone hit a bird about 2.5 seconds after liftoff -- when Discovery was probably traveling too slowly to sustain any damage, he said.
As the orbiter approaches the international space station for a scheduled Thursday 7:18 a.m. ET docking, the station's crew will photograph Discovery to look further for any damage.
Shuttle crew members plan to test repair techniques during three scheduled space walks by astronauts Steve Robinson and Soichi Noguchi of Japan. The astronaut pair also plans to service the space station.
Since Columbia, NASA has developed contingency plans for astronauts to try to repair damaged shuttles so they can return to Earth. In the event a spacecraft cannot be repaired, plans call for the crew to take refuge in the space station until a rescue mission can be launched.
