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NASA Weighs New Shuttle Foam Problem

Posted on: Monday, 3 July 2006, 16:50 CDT

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- NASA wrestled Monday with whether to try a Fourth of July space shuttle liftoff after the startling discovery of a small chunk of foam insulation that broke off Discovery's fuel tank as it sat on the launch pad.

The troubling find came after inspectors discovered a 5-inch-long crack in the foam - a problem that continues to vex NASA ever since a big piece of foam brought down Columbia and killed seven astronauts in 2003.

NASA managers were meeting Monday evening to decide how to tackle the problem and whether a Tuesday launch was possible.

At least one member of the panel of experts that investigated the Columbia accident said he was nervous about the decision.

"If those guys aren't more nervous than I am, they've become jaded and should resign their positions," said Nobel Prize-winning physicist Douglas Osheroff. But two of Osheroff's accident board colleagues said they were comfortable, with board chairman Harold Gehman Jr. saying, "It looks to me like they are following the right decision processes."

NASA managers are leaning toward flying Discovery with no changes to the foam section in question, said John Chapman, external tank project manager.

The other options were to spend a day inspecting the foam area of concern, which would push the launch back to Wednesday, or to try to fix the foam - which would take several days and require NASA to use a new technique since such a repair has never been done in that area before, Chapman said.

"We believe we're getting much more comfortable with the ability to potentially fly as we are right now, but the team is still looking at that," Chapman said. "We want to make sure that we understand all the considerations that caused this foam to be lost."

The 3-inch-long, triangle-shaped piece fell off an area of foam that covers an expandable bracket holding a liquid oxygen fuel line against the huge external tank. NASA engineers believe ice built up in that area from condensation caused by rain Sunday.

The tank expanded when the super-cold fuel was drained after Sunday's launch was canceled because of the weather. The ice that formed "pinched" some of that foam, causing the quarter-inch-wide crack and the piece of foam to drop off, Shannon said.

The size of the fallen foam was less than half the size of one that could cause damage, NASA officials said.

"Although it is in an area that we don't like to see foam come off ... it would not have caused damage to the orbiter itself," said John Shannon, deputy manager of the space shuttle program.

AP Graphic

This photo composite released by NASA

Outside experts had mixed opinions on what NASA should do.

Osheroff said he was disturbed to hear about the small chunk of foam that fell off while the spacecraft was at rest. His own experiments at Stanford University show that the foam would weigh double what NASA anticipates if water gets into it, leading to potentially catastrophic results if it hits the shuttle.

On the other hand, another member of the Columbia accident board, John Logsdon, director of the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University, said NASA doesn't have "all the information, but they have no information that says not to go."

Inspectors spotted the crack in the foam insulation during an overnight check of the shuttle. NASA had scrubbed launch plans Saturday and Sunday because of weather problems.

The forecast for a Tuesday liftoff was better than previous days, with just a 40 percent chance that storm clouds would prevent liftoff.

NASA Administrator Michael Griffin decided last week that the shuttle should go into orbit as planned, despite the concerns of two top agency managers - including the top safety officer - who wanted additional repairs to the foam insulation.

The mission for Discovery's crew this time is to test shuttle-inspection techniques, deliver supplies to the international space station and drop off European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Reiter for a six-month stay.

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AP Science Writer Seth Borenstein in Washington contributed to this story.

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On the Net:

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov

Source: By MIKE SCHNEIDER/AP

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