Shuttle Discovery's external tank is filled with more than 535,000 gallons of supercold propellant and an inspection team is heading out to Kennedy Space Center's launch pad 39A as part of an investigation into cracks in the ribbed midsection of the 15-story fuel reservoir.A vent line that leaked hazardous gaseous hydrogen and triggered a Nov. 5 launch scrub worked as intended during a three-hour fueling operation, proving subsequent repairs in fact fixed the problem.
Armed with infrared telescopes, binoculars and other devices, the inspection team will walk down the 36-story launch tower and perform a 360-degree evaluation of orange thermal insulation designed to prevent ice build-up on the aluminum lithium tank.
The inspectors will pay special attention to four cracks discovered on two structural braces on the ribbed mid-section of the tank after the Nov. 5 launch scrub. Engineers still are trying to pinpoint the cause of the cracks. The tank has been outfitted with strain gauges and temperature sensors in an attempt to gather data required for an extensive evaluation of the defects and what might have caused them.
The eight-member inspection team will be at the launch pad for about three hours. About 2:20 p.m., the tank will be pressurized just as it would on a launch day. Engineers then will drain the tank over the following two hours.
2 comments:
Can the fuel used for this test be reused?
Hey Mark.
Need enormous capacity to store these two cryos as gases. And keeping them as liquids (especially the LH2 at minus 425F) for six weeks would surely beget a humongous electric bill. Maybe Air Liquide has other customers for the LO2; but the LH2...?!?
Let's hear from somebody at NASA who actually deals with both of these babies...
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