Space Shuttle Struck by Small Piece of Debris
Posted on: Wednesday, 26 March 2008, 06:51 CDT
The shuttle Endeavour was struck by a small piece of orbital debris that left a ding in the cockpit window to the left of mission commander Dom Gorie, NASA said Tuesday night.
The strike left a pit about the size of a BB.
The damage was assessed by shuttle engineers and is not considered a threat to the spacecraft nor the astronauts as they descend to Earth Wednesday evening, said NASA flight director Richard Jones, who will supervise the landing from Mission Control.
Endeavour's seven astronauts are scheduled to touch down at Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 6:05 p.m. CDT, ending a 16-day mission, the longest of the shuttle's space station assembly missions.
Favorable weather conditions are forecast for the prime landing opportunity and a backup at 7:39 p.m. CDT.
The window ding was noticed by the astronauts as they pulled away from the space station on Monday night. Endeavour was docked at the orbital base for 12 days.
The source of the debris, a bit of meteoroid or something manmade, is unknown, Jones said.
"The orbiter has performed marvelously this whole flight, and we don't have any concerns at all about it," Gorie said Monday night. "We are looking forward to getting back to Florida just before sunset."
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Source: Houston Chronicle
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