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Space shuttle Discovery launched on critical mission

Posted on: Tuesday, 4 July 2006, 20:14 CDT

By Irene Klotz

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - The U.S. space shuttle Discovery blasted off from its seaside Florida launch pad on Tuesday on a do-or-die mission for NASA's beleaguered shuttle program and the half-built International Space Station.

The shuttle and its seven-member crew lifted off at 2:38 p.m. EDT (1838 GMT) following two postponements over the weekend because of poor weather at the Kennedy Space Center.

Five hours after launch, NASA managers had preliminary answers to concerns about the shuttle's twice-modified fuel tank and its foam insulation, which triggered the 2003 Columbia accident.

"We saw nothing that gives us any kind of concerns or any cause that it would not be safe to fly the next tank," shuttle program manager Wayne Hale told reporters.

"It did not perform flawlessly," he added.

Engineers will continue to assess pictures and video of the launch that show several small pieces of foam insulation popping off the fuel tank. However, all the incidents occurred after the shuttle was high enough in the atmosphere that the debris posed no risk to the shuttle, Hale said.

Shuttle managers have warned for weeks that the shuttle's fuel tank, which was blamed for the 2003 Columbia accident, would continue to shed debris, but that no pieces would be large enough to damage the shuttle in case of impact.

Of the pieces seen flying away from Discovery's tank, only one might be larger than predictions, Hale said.

Imagery experts also determined that a large chunk of debris that Discovery astronaut Mike Fossum originally thought might be one of the shuttle's insulating blankets actually was ice that had formed inside the main engine nozzles and was of no concern.

NASA needs a successful mission to resume construction of the planned $100 billion space station, a project sponsored by 16 nations. Assembly of the outpost has been on hold since the Columbia disaster.

FUEL TANK

NASA had hoped to resume station construction last year following the first post-Columbia mission but the shuttle's fuel tank, like the one on Columbia, shed large pieces of insulating foam during launch. Managers grounded the fleet again for repairs.

Columbia was destroyed when a 1.67-pound (756-gram) chunk of foam broke off the fuel tank and smashed into the ship's left wing. The damage was undetected until after Columbia broke apart 16 days later as it flew through the atmosphere, killing all seven astronauts aboard.

Another accident or serious problem on the current shuttle mission could ground the fleet permanently, but Griffin decided to proceed with the launch over the objections of his chief engineer and head of safety who argued for additional modifications to the tank.

Delaying Discovery's launch, Griffin said, would put too much pressure on the shuttle program, which needs to fly 16 missions to the station to complete construction before 2010.

On Wednesday, the Discovery crew will begin detailed examinations of their ship's heat shield for signs of damage from debris impacts.

NASA has spent about $1.3 billion fixing the shuttle's fuel tank and developing other safety upgrades since the Columbia accident.

Shuttle commander Steve Lindsey, 45, pilot Mark Kelly, 42, and mission specialists Fossum, 48, Lisa Nowak, 43, Stephanie Wilson, 39, and British-born American Piers Sellers, 51, waved small American flags as they headed from their quarters to the launch pad, marking the U.S. Independence Day.

Thomas Reiter, 48, of Germany, waved a German flag. He will be the first European to live on the space station and is scheduled to return home in December.

Source: REUTERS

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