NASA probes new space shuttle fuel tank problem

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - NASA will hold off launching any more space shuttles until it understands why strips of insulating foam peeled off the fuel tank used by shuttle Endeavour, the U.S. space agency shuttle program manager said on Thursday.

Endeavour arrived safely in orbit after Wednesday's liftoff from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida though video and images of the launch showed about a dozen pieces of debris flying off the fuel tank

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Related AboveTopSecret.com Discussion Threads:
Endeavour Finally Launches! Mission STS-127 begins. Follow with NASA TV link
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[edit on 17-7-2009 by kiwifoot]


[mod edit: title to same as source]

[edit on 17-7-2009 by 12m8keall2c]

It just beggers belief that the same issues that resulted in the loss of Columbia in 2003 can be affecting Endeavour in 2009.



They seem pretty confident that this mission will be ok, however they will need to sort this out before any more will launch.



[mod edit: title to same as source]

[edit on 17-7-2009 by 12m8keall2c]

Sorry Mod! Copy & Paste error obviously!





[edit on 17-7-2009 by kiwifoot]

It's not the first time since columbia they've put a hold on future missions due to foam loss. Putting your heat shield parallel to a cryogenic tank is intrinsically risky. I just hope they get to complete the final 7 missions safely before the program ends.

maybe the technicians are using epoxy resin to glue it on wich melts at like 250 c degrees.

reply to post by MR BOB


I really wouldn't be surprisdd, I mean seriously, they've known about the foam issue for 6 years, it's a joke.

If they were a civilian company they would have been sued to hell and back by now!

reply to post by kiwifoot


Update ti the foam problem:

Reuters- Fuel Tank Foam

No experiments are aboard the new platform yet. Those will be installed later during Endeavour's planned 11-day stay. The crew Sunday transferred a pallet of spare parts over to the station, using robot arms aboard both the shuttle and station.

NASA also laid out plans on Sunday to test the foam on the external fuel tank earmarked for shuttle Discovery's launch next month to the space station. NASA has seven missions after Endeavour's to complete construction of the $100 billion orbital outpost and retire the shuttle fleet.

Endeavour's tank shed an unusually large amount of the insulating foam in a way not previously seen during shuttle launches.

NASA redesigned the tanks and implemented inspections after losing shuttle Columbia in 2003 from a foam debris impact during launch. The resulting damage to the heat shield caused the shuttle to break apart as it re-entered the atmosphere for landing. All seven astronauts aboard died in the accident.

Shuttle program manager John Shannon told Reuters the pieces of foam lost from Endeavour's tank were tiny compared to the 2.2-pound (1 kg) chunk that impacted Columbia's wing.

Endeavour's tank also is believed to have shed most of its debris late during ascent, when aerodynamic forces were too weak to slam the foam into the ship and cause damage.

"It looks like this foam, and the way it came off, would not have been an issue. We are still doing the reconstruction," Shannon told Reuters in an e-mail.

Before Discovery is cleared to launch, NASA will need to be sure it understands why Endeavour's tank shed foam and be convinced that a similar event would not occur earlier during ascent when it could do harm.

They seem confident for the re-entry of Endeavour, but there will be a lot of head scratching before Discovery goes up.