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Shuttle Program Halted Over Debris

Posted on: Thursday, 28 July 2005, 15:00 CDT

Jul. 28--CAPE CANAVERAL -- Future space shuttle flights were grounded again Wednesday by the same launch debris problem that doomed shuttle Columbia and its seven astronauts -- a flaw NASA claimed was fixed after spending more than $1 billion.

At least two dangerous chunks of foam insulation flew off Discovery's redesigned external fuel tank during blastoff Tuesday, one of them about three feet long and 10 inches wide. Only pure luck kept it from colliding with Discovery and possibly causing another accident, mission managers said.

Discovery and its seven astronauts were in no immediate danger, but the dramatic development raised new questions about the troubled shuttle program and NASA's ability to resolve the issue responsible for the Columbia catastrophe.

"Until we fix this, we're not ready to go fly again," said Bill Parsons, NASA's shuttle program manager. "You can say that means we're grounded."

He said at least two pieces of debris peeled off the huge tank during liftoff, one considerably smaller than the three-foot-long chunk. Engineers are still studying the trajectory of the second piece.

Meanwhile, the flight, which includes a rendezvous today with the International Space Station, is continuing and a normal landing is expected at the Kennedy Space Center on Aug. 7. The crew has been informed of the situation, NASA said.

"It didn't cause any damage to the orbiter that we are aware of at this time," Parsons said. "But it does cause us pause and will make us take a step back and look at what we have to do."

He said he could not estimate how long that would take, but no shuttles will blast off until the issue is resolved. Atlantis was to begin a mission in September that now almost certainly will be delayed.

The agency spent about $1.5 billion on modifications after the loss of Columbia, with most of the work focused on the fuel tank. A piece of fuel-tank insulation punched a hole in Columbia's left wing, initiating the chain of events that destroyed that ship and killed its crew in February 2003.

After more than two years of work, NASA officials said they were confident that the tank -- and the shuttle -- were safe to fly.

"You have to admit when you're wrong. We were wrong," Parsons said. "We're telling you right now, it should not have come off."

Said deputy manager Wayne Hale: "It's not acceptable . . .. Perfection is our goal in this business. You very seldom get perfection in anything you do, and we need to do better than this."

Discovery's first full day of flight was devoted almost entirely to damage inspection as the crew conducted a sweeping survey of the shuttle's wings and nose, and engineers at Mission Control methodically examined video images and other launch data.

Using a camera attached to a new 50-foot extension to the shuttle's robotic arm, astronauts spent nearly seven hours beaming images of the wing edges and nose cone to Mission Control.

These areas, covered in a high-tech material called reinforced carbon-carbon, are particularly vulnerable to damage inflicted by debris during liftoff.

Meanwhile, NASA engineers in Houston attempted to assess the significance of a 1 1/2-inch chip of tile that popped off the edge of a landing-gear door. They said they did not believe it posed a hazard.

But given the persistent, vexing problems, Parsons was asked directly whether the shuttle program can still be salvaged.

"We think this vehicle is safe and we can fly this vehicle," he said. "We feel very, very confident of our ability to make this vehicle safe."

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Source: The Miami Herald

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