The Endeavour astronauts are scanning the shuttle's port wing after completing an extensive inspection of the ship's starboard wing and its composite carbon nosecap.
No obvious significant damage has been apparent despite launch imagery that clearly shows eight or nine chunks of foam or ice coming off Endeavour's external tank as it rocketed toward orbit.
Imagery taken by digital cameras aboard the shuttle as the external tank was jettisoned show several spots on the intertank where foam insulation is missing.
NASA mission managers will update the media during a status briefing to be broadcast on NASA TV at 5 p.m. You can watch it here live in The Flame Trench. Simply click the NASA TV box on the right side of this page to launch our NASA TV viewer and be sure to refresh the page for periodic updates.
Four Endeavour astronauts -- Julie Payette of the Canadian Space Agency and mission specialists Tom Marshburn, David Wolf and Tim Kopra -- started scanning the shuttle's starboard wing with a sensor-laden inspection boom around 12:30 p.m.
The astronauts moved on to the shuttle's composite carbon nosecap and now are surveying the 22 U-shaped panels that serve as thermal armor for the port-side wing. NASA flight commentator Josh Byerly said the inspection so far has not uncovered significant problems.
Columbia accident investigators recommended NASA develop the means to inspect and repair shuttle heat shield components in orbit. The Flight Day 2 survey is now standard operating procedure.
1 comment:
As the independent Columbia Accident Investigation Board found in August 2003, NASA needs to implement two strategies before the grounded fleet can return to space. Firstly, the organisation needs to fix the flaws in management oversight that opened the step-by-step path to space disaster. And secondly, it needs to develop a way to detect and fix any future damage to the TPS while a shuttle is in flight. That way, if something goes wrong, and there again is a mortal wound to a shuttle’s heat shield, the damage will be detected in time for astronauts to make repairs that will be good enough for their safe return to Earth. At least, that’s the was the plan at the time.
Brian R. Callahan
Vero Beach, Florida
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