NASA will delay mating of STS-120's external tank and solid rocket boosters to study how to prevent loss of foam pieces, similar to the foam that fell from a bracket on Endeavor (pictured here) and damaged a thermal tile after bouncing off an external tank strut. NASA photo.
The mating of the STS-120 external tank with its solid rocket boosters, scheduled for Monday at Kennedy Space Center, will be delayed to study foam loss from the liquid oxygen feed line, launch integration manager Leroy Cain announced late Friday.
A small piece of foam, likely pried off by ice, fell off Endeavour's external tank on launch and gouged a 3-inch divot in the shuttle's thermal tile underbelly.
"We've come to understand that's a (foam) loss we can expect," said Cain. "It's a serious problem for us and we recognized we need to resolve it before we go fly."
Cain said he did not expect the delayed mating to move back the Oct. 23 launch of STS-120, which is shuttle Discovery. However, he added that solving the foam loss problem might delay missions scheduled for launch in early December and February. By April, a tank with a new design will be available. Titanium brackets are installed to reduce foam loss.
An engineering team has examined several possible solutions, including trimming away some foam and spraying a kind of oil to prevent ice buildup. Reducing the time between fueling and launch has been suggested to reduce ice buildup.
"They've determined there may be more foam in that area than we need," said Cain, who estimated the tank and the solid rocket boosters could be joined within a week and a half.
Processing the shuttle for launch could then continue.
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