A Crust Of Foam, A Jug Of Fuel And Thou, Baby - Thundercats Are Go!
Shuttle OK'd For Launch Despite Foam Loss
Meanwhile, the debate goes on....except the part about the launch. Oh, yeah. It's on.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - NASA managers gave the go-ahead Monday night for a Fourth of July space shuttle launch, even though a piece of foam insulation the size of a corner of bread crust fell off Discovery’s external fuel tank.
The foam fragment measures about 3 inches (7.5 centimeters) wide and weighs only .0057 pounds (2.6 grams). That's roughly the weight of a penny, and less than half the weight of debris that would spark concern about damage to the shuttle orbiter (.013 pounds).
Some outside observers have wondered whether NASA was moving too resolutely toward launch, a phenomenon known as "go fever." Mission managers already have modified their flight rules once by determining that Discovery's crew could work around a bad heater for a maneuvering thruster rather than waiting for a fix.
Managers weighed three other issues before clearing the tank for launch:
Engineers believed the foam loss would not pose problems for the shuttle during ascent, but NASA wanted engineers to do further analysis of the aerodynamics. "They fully have shown that the foam is good and ready to go fly," Gerstenmaier said Monday night.
NASA wanted to make sure the missing foam wouldn't lead to excessive ice buildup on the tank in the hours before launch. Gerstenmaier said projections indicated that a maximum of .024 pounds of ice might build up, within the .026-pound criterion for that area. Nevertheless, inspectors would keep a close watch on the area during the countdown, and if excessive ice were to form, the countdown would be halted, he said.
Mission managers also wanted reassurances that there were no heightened risks of additional foam loss. Gerstenmaier said workers improvised a new inspection device, consisting of a boroscope camera mounted on the end of an 8-foot-long (2.4-meter-long) flexible plastic tube, which could peer around corners and document that the foam appeared safe. "The ground ops team came to the rescue with a great inspection technique that allowed us to get a really good close look at this," he said.
Meanwhile, the debate goes on....except the part about the launch. Oh, yeah. It's on.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - NASA managers gave the go-ahead Monday night for a Fourth of July space shuttle launch, even though a piece of foam insulation the size of a corner of bread crust fell off Discovery’s external fuel tank.
The foam fragment measures about 3 inches (7.5 centimeters) wide and weighs only .0057 pounds (2.6 grams). That's roughly the weight of a penny, and less than half the weight of debris that would spark concern about damage to the shuttle orbiter (.013 pounds).
Some outside observers have wondered whether NASA was moving too resolutely toward launch, a phenomenon known as "go fever." Mission managers already have modified their flight rules once by determining that Discovery's crew could work around a bad heater for a maneuvering thruster rather than waiting for a fix.
Managers weighed three other issues before clearing the tank for launch:
Engineers believed the foam loss would not pose problems for the shuttle during ascent, but NASA wanted engineers to do further analysis of the aerodynamics. "They fully have shown that the foam is good and ready to go fly," Gerstenmaier said Monday night.
NASA wanted to make sure the missing foam wouldn't lead to excessive ice buildup on the tank in the hours before launch. Gerstenmaier said projections indicated that a maximum of .024 pounds of ice might build up, within the .026-pound criterion for that area. Nevertheless, inspectors would keep a close watch on the area during the countdown, and if excessive ice were to form, the countdown would be halted, he said.
Mission managers also wanted reassurances that there were no heightened risks of additional foam loss. Gerstenmaier said workers improvised a new inspection device, consisting of a boroscope camera mounted on the end of an 8-foot-long (2.4-meter-long) flexible plastic tube, which could peer around corners and document that the foam appeared safe. "The ground ops team came to the rescue with a great inspection technique that allowed us to get a really good close look at this," he said.
Stay tuned..........
posted by FancyPants @ 8:59 PM
2 Comments:
...A piece of foam insulation the size of a corner of bread crust fell off Discovery’s external fuel tank. The foam fragment measures about 3 inches (7.5 centimeters) wide and weighs only .0057 pounds (2.6 grams).
And it's delicious toasted, with butter and jam! A-OK!
HA!!!!
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