NASA plans gap filler repair after successful gyro work
Posted: Tue, Aug 2, 2005, 5:32 AM ET (0932 GMT)
Hours after astronauts successfully replaced a gyroscope on the International Space Station, NASA officials said late Monday that spacewalkers would attempt repairs to "gap fillers" on the underside of shuttle Discovery later this week. According to the current plan, astronaut Steve Robinson, attached to the end of the shuttle's robot arm, will venture to the underside of the orbiter and pull out or cut two gap fillers protruding from between tiles there. Engineers are concerned that the gap fillers, made of ceramic cloth, could disrupt the flow of air during reentry, creating turbulent heating that could damage the orbiter. The repairs will take place during a previously-scheduled EVA planned for Wednesday. That decision came after Robinson and Soichi Noguchi completed the second spacewalk of the mission. During that EVA the two astronauts replaced a failed gyroscope on the ISS that provides attitude control for the station.
Hours after astronauts successfully replaced a gyroscope on the International Space Station, NASA officials said late Monday that spacewalkers would attempt repairs to "gap fillers" on the underside of shuttle Discovery later this week. According to the current plan, astronaut Steve Robinson, attached to the end of the shuttle's robot arm, will venture to the underside of the orbiter and pull out or cut two gap fillers protruding from between tiles there. Engineers are concerned that the gap fillers, made of ceramic cloth, could disrupt the flow of air during reentry, creating turbulent heating that could damage the orbiter. The repairs will take place during a previously-scheduled EVA planned for Wednesday. That decision came after Robinson and Soichi Noguchi completed the second spacewalk of the mission. During that EVA the two astronauts replaced a failed gyroscope on the ISS that provides attitude control for the station.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
Sunday, March 22
Isar Aerospace secures first active debris removal mission with Astroscale
Isar Aerospace — 5:50 pm ET (2150 GMT) Voyager Awarded Multi-Million-Dollar NASA Contract
Voyager Space — 5:44 pm ET (2144 GMT) What 'Project Hail Mary' gets right about microbes
Michigan State Univ. — 5:43 pm ET (2143 GMT) BlackSky wins seven-figure Assured extension contract with international customer
Black Sky — 5:42 pm ET (2142 GMT) Extremely Rare Second-Generation Star Discovered Inside Ancient Relic Dwarf Galaxy
National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory — 5:42 pm ET (2142 GMT) |
