KSC preparing to tackle repairs of vent line, cracked foam

Kennedy Space Center teams tonight plan to disconnect a hydrogen gas vent line that scrubbed Discovery's launch Friday when it leaked during fueling of the external tank.

A 48-foot arm provides access to the vent line and the ground umbilical carrier plate, known as the "gup," that attaches the line to the tank at the pad's 167-foot level. Technicians tonight will take detailed measurement's of the plate's alignment and demate and lower the vent line.

They'll wait until daylight Wednesday to remove a seven-inch quick disconnect device inside the line, and later the carrier plate from the tank, for thorough inspections.

Replacement of all the parts is expected to be completed Friday, but there's no word yet on the likely cause of Friday's significant hydrogen leak. A similar problem scrubbed three launch attempts last year.

Expected to take longer is work to inspect and dissect a 20-inch cracked section of insulating foam on the external tank that was discovered after the scrub. Terahertz imagery will help determine if tank structure beneath the foam is damaged, while the foam itself will be analyzed for flaws.

Discovery will launch no earlier than Nov. 30, the opening of a seven-day window of middle-of-the-night launch opportunities.

In other activity today at KSC, the six-man crew of Endeavour's Feb. 27 flight -- the last shuttle mission scheduled -- is in the midst of training at the spaceport, reviewing orbiter systems (left) and payloads. The crew is due to return to Houston Wednesday afternoon.

IMAGES: On launch pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center today, workers prepared to begin removing the quick disconnect from the ground umbilical carrier plate (GUCP) on space shuttle Discovery's external fuel tank. Credit: NASA/Troy Cryder. In the Orbiter Processing Facility-2 today, STS-134 pilot Gregory H. Johnson inspected the windows on space shuttle Endeavour. Credit: NASA/Cory Huston.