Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Repair decision not expected; more data needed

In a space to ground conference, Capsule Communicator Shannon Walker told Endeavour Commander Scott Kelly that the Mission Management Team's meeting continued on without deciding whether to repair a gouged tile, possibly adding a spacewalk and extending the mission.

"We do not expect a decision today on whether we're going to repair or not repair," said Walker. "At the moment they don't have all the data."

However, Walker did announce some "big picture" changes to the crew.

Friday's spacewalk will be moved to Saturday, which will give the crew more time to prepare for a tile repair, if one is decided upon. Falling foam a minute after launch gouged a 3-inch divot in the shuttle's thermal tile underbelly.

"Plan your day tomorrow as if it is a TPS repair," said Walker, who added that she did not know which way the mission management team was leaning.

"Unfortunately, we have no idea which way the wind is blowing at the moment," she said.

Despite a torn outer layer on a glove, Rick Mastracchio and Clay Anderson had a successful spacewalk today, preparing the way for the relocation of the P-6 truss in October. The spacewalk was shortened when a small tear was seen in the outer layer of Mastracchio's glove. He was in no danger, but the EVA was ended.

"You guys did a fantastic job with the EVA," said Walker. "Sorry we had to cut it short."

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