Shuttle cleared for reentry
Posted: Mon, Jul 10, 2006, 8:02 AM ET (1202 GMT)
Shuttle managers have concluded that the shuttle Discovery doesn't require any repairs to its thermal protection system before returning to Earth at the end of its current mission. Analysis of data collected during launch and in orbit led engineers to conclude that the shuttle's external tank shed far less foam than on any previous mission and the orbiter suffered virtually no damage to its fragile tiles and leading edge panels. An inspection of the shuttle while in orbit did turn up two gapfillers protruding between tiles on the orbiter's underside, but officials concluded there is no need to remove the gapfillers prior to reentry. The STS-121 crew, which spent Sunday helping move cargo into the station, is not preparing for the mission's second EVA on Monday, where astronauts Piers Sellers and Mike Fossum will repair the station's mobile transporter, a "railcar" that runs along the station's truss.
Shuttle managers have concluded that the shuttle Discovery doesn't require any repairs to its thermal protection system before returning to Earth at the end of its current mission. Analysis of data collected during launch and in orbit led engineers to conclude that the shuttle's external tank shed far less foam than on any previous mission and the orbiter suffered virtually no damage to its fragile tiles and leading edge panels. An inspection of the shuttle while in orbit did turn up two gapfillers protruding between tiles on the orbiter's underside, but officials concluded there is no need to remove the gapfillers prior to reentry. The STS-121 crew, which spent Sunday helping move cargo into the station, is not preparing for the mission's second EVA on Monday, where astronauts Piers Sellers and Mike Fossum will repair the station's mobile transporter, a "railcar" that runs along the station's truss.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
Wednesday, June 24
Rakuten to Launch Japan’s 1st Domestic Smartphone Satellite Communication Network, Aiming to Compete with Starlink
Yomiuri Shimbun — 6:28 am ET (1028 GMT) Falcon 9 Launch of Starlink Satellites from Vandenberg SFB Scheduled for Wednesday Night
KEYT-TV Santa Barbara, CA — 6:28 am ET (1028 GMT) SpaceX launch planned for Wednesday from Vandenberg Space Force Base
KSBY-TV San Luis Obispo, CA — 6:26 am ET (1026 GMT) Space Force must prepare for all-out warfare, think tank says
Defense One — 6:26 am ET (1026 GMT) War games in orbit: Rocket Lab shows US Space Force it's good to go
Radio New Zealand — 6:25 am ET (1025 GMT) |
