Discovery's landing gear is shown in this 1997 landing photo, when the shuttle touched down in darkness on Runway 15 of the KSC Shuttle Landing Facility, bringing to a close the 10-day STS-82 mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope. Image credit: NASA
Hydraulic seals to repair Discovery's right landing gear strut were expected to arrive today, slightly ahead of schedule, clearing the way to install the seals on Wednesday, said NASA spokesman George Diller.
"The bulk of the work will be Wednesday," he added.
Technicians will repair the leaking strut, which acts as a shock absorber. Replacing the seals could take most of Wednesday, with reassembly taking longer.
"That's going to be an all day job," said Diller.
The seals then must be tested before Discovery can be rolled over to the Vehicle Assembly Building for mating to the external tank and solid rocket boosters. Rollover, delayed from Wednesday, has not been rescheduled.
"We still think the middle of next week, give or take a day," said Diller, who added that the testing procedure for the new part had not been determined.
Though the launch schedule has five contingency days, a brief launch delay is likely, said Diller.
Discovery was scheduled to launch Oct. 23 on a construction mission to the International Space Station. It will deliver the 21-foot Harmony module, which will serve as a node to connect other laboratories and expand the station.
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