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A kinked Freon hose on a payload bay door likely will be pushed back into its storage box on Monday as Atlantis' doors are closed in preparation for a Thursday launch.
And Atlantis' crew will rely on a backup system to cool the orbiter bay if the hose unexpectedly fails.
"We're seeing a path to fly (on Feb. 7)," NASA spokesman George Diller said.
NASA officials intend to reveal the plan to work around the hose Friday.
X-rays show the kinked hose is undamaged and has not leaked.
The greatest stress on the hose would come during launch, with less stress during re-entry. Opening the payload bay doors during the mission would pull the hose out of its storage box.
The hose might kink again when the doors are closed just before re-entry. But the shuttle crew would not be threatened even if the hose began to leak in orbit, said Diller.
"For landing we have a completely manageable scenario," said Diller. "We don't know what that hose'll do."
Engineers in Huntington Beach, Calif., are testing a similarly bent hose found on Discovery. They must determine how the hose will react to being pushed back into its storage box and whether it could leak. Engineers also must devise a tool to reach the hose and unkink it Monday as the payload bay doors close.
"And away we go," Diller said.
This kinked refrigerant hose does not leak and likely will be pushed back into a storage box before launch. A backup cooling exists if the hose leaks.
The kinked hose, one of four, is the flexible connection between the radiators and the coolant system:
SOURCE - United Space Alliance
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