Cracks seen in shuttle's external tank
Posted: Thu, Nov 11, 2010, 7:20 AM ET (1220 GMT)
Technicians working the space shuttle Discovery's external tank have found cracks in the tank's structure, complicating plans to complete repairs in time to permit a launch at the end of this month. Workers found the cracks in a structural member of the tank after removing cracked foam on the tank exterior. The cracks are similar to those seen in another external tank, which were repaired by installing "doublers" to reinforce the cracked element, and engineers are studying a similar approach for this problem. It's not yet known what impact, if any, this problem will have on plans to launch the shuttle when the next window opens on November 30. Engineers are also working on a separate issue, a leaking hydrogen vent line, that last week caused the launch to be pushed back to the end of the month.
Technicians working the space shuttle Discovery's external tank have found cracks in the tank's structure, complicating plans to complete repairs in time to permit a launch at the end of this month. Workers found the cracks in a structural member of the tank after removing cracked foam on the tank exterior. The cracks are similar to those seen in another external tank, which were repaired by installing "doublers" to reinforce the cracked element, and engineers are studying a similar approach for this problem. It's not yet known what impact, if any, this problem will have on plans to launch the shuttle when the next window opens on November 30. Engineers are also working on a separate issue, a leaking hydrogen vent line, that last week caused the launch to be pushed back to the end of the month.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
Apex becomes billion-dollar company with $200 million Series D round
Posted: Sun, Sep 14 4:09 AM ET (0809 GMT) |
|
news links
|
|
Monday, September 15
Elon Musk's Starlink reports service outage, thousands of users affected
Reuters — 1:23 am ET (0523 GMT) What does the loss of U.S. Space Command mean to Colorado Springs?
Denver Post — 1:21 am ET (0521 GMT) SpaceX Launches Northrop Grumman Cargo Ship To ISS
Aviation Week — 1:18 am ET (0518 GMT) SpaceX launches Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral on Sunday
WESH-TV Orlando — 1:18 am ET (0518 GMT) Apollo 13 made Jim Lovell a legend generations after the space race
The Hill — 1:09 am ET (0509 GMT) |
