Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Shuttle rollback due to hail damage



I bet the external tank has to go back to Alabama for reprocessing the foam from NASA here.
NASA officials have decided to remove propellants that were loaded this week on Space Shuttle Atlantis before returning the spacecraft to the Vehicle Assembly Building. This work results in additional time at the pad, and rollback is now expected to occur Sunday or Monday.

Monday's severe thunderstorm with hail caused what could be 1,000 to 2,000 divots in the giant tank's foam insulation and minor surface damage to about 26 heat shield tiles on the shuttle's left wing.

Further evaluation of the tank is necessary to get an accurate accounting of foam damage and must be done in the Vehicle Assembly Building, where the entire tank can be more easily accessed.

Once an up-close look at the damage is complete, the type of repair required and the time needed for that work can be determined.

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