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Wan LixinOpinion deputy editor of Shanghai Daily
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We have liftoff, but shuttle's 6th attempt causes concerns
Source: Agencies |
July 17, 2009, Friday
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Print Edition
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SPACE shuttle Endeavour rocketed toward the international space station yesterday as engineers on Earth pored over launch pictures showing debris breaking off the fuel tank and striking the craft.
Mission Control told the astronauts late on Wednesday that the damage looked less extensive at first glance than what occurred on the last shuttle flight, but it will take days to sort through available data to reach a conclusion.
The astronauts have planned an inspection of their ship's thermal shielding, using a 30-meter laser-tipped boom. The procedure has been standard since shuttle flights resumed after the Columbia accident.
Endeavour's liftoff early Wednesday evening was the sixth try and came more than a month late. It occurred on the eve of the 40th anniversary of the launch of man's first moon landing mission.
"Persistence pays off," launch director Pete Nickolenko told the astronauts, who are carrying up a veranda for Japan's space station lab.
The shuttle had been grounded by hydrogen gas leaks last month and, since the weekend, thunderstorms.
Eight or nine pieces of foam insulation came off the external fuel tank during liftoff, and Endeavour was hit at least two or three times, said Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA's space operations chief. Some scuff marks were spotted, but that probably is coating loss and considered minor.
The impacts that occurred not quite two minutes into the flight were around the edge of the shuttle where the right wing joins the fuselage.
Any other damage should be evident today, when the space station residents use zoom lenses to photograph the entire shuttle as it performs a backflip right before docking.
"The bottom line is we saw some stuff," said Mike Moses, chairman of the mission management team. "Some of it doesn't concern us. Some of it you just can't really speculate on right now. But we have the tools in front of us and the processes in front of us to go clear this vehicle for entry" in 16 days.
Gerstenmaier said the Endeavour has shuttle repair kits on board. In case of irreparable damage, the astronauts could move into the space station for two to three months to await rescue by another shuttle.
Columbia was destroyed during re-entry in 2003 because of a hole in its wing caused by flyaway foam at liftoff.
Mission Control told the astronauts late on Wednesday that the damage looked less extensive at first glance than what occurred on the last shuttle flight, but it will take days to sort through available data to reach a conclusion.
The astronauts have planned an inspection of their ship's thermal shielding, using a 30-meter laser-tipped boom. The procedure has been standard since shuttle flights resumed after the Columbia accident.
Endeavour's liftoff early Wednesday evening was the sixth try and came more than a month late. It occurred on the eve of the 40th anniversary of the launch of man's first moon landing mission.
"Persistence pays off," launch director Pete Nickolenko told the astronauts, who are carrying up a veranda for Japan's space station lab.
The shuttle had been grounded by hydrogen gas leaks last month and, since the weekend, thunderstorms.
Eight or nine pieces of foam insulation came off the external fuel tank during liftoff, and Endeavour was hit at least two or three times, said Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA's space operations chief. Some scuff marks were spotted, but that probably is coating loss and considered minor.
The impacts that occurred not quite two minutes into the flight were around the edge of the shuttle where the right wing joins the fuselage.
Any other damage should be evident today, when the space station residents use zoom lenses to photograph the entire shuttle as it performs a backflip right before docking.
"The bottom line is we saw some stuff," said Mike Moses, chairman of the mission management team. "Some of it doesn't concern us. Some of it you just can't really speculate on right now. But we have the tools in front of us and the processes in front of us to go clear this vehicle for entry" in 16 days.
Gerstenmaier said the Endeavour has shuttle repair kits on board. In case of irreparable damage, the astronauts could move into the space station for two to three months to await rescue by another shuttle.
Columbia was destroyed during re-entry in 2003 because of a hole in its wing caused by flyaway foam at liftoff.
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