Foam removed for May shuttle launch
February 19, 2006
The next NASA crew to fly a shuttle mission took questions from reporters about their scheduled May liftoff and the dangers since the Columbia tragedy.
Air Force Col. Steven W. Lindsey, the commander of the shuttle Discovery, told a news conference at the Kennedy Space Center Friday changes have been made to ensure as little foam loss as possible.
A 1.7-pound piece of foam insulating the external fuel tank broke off Columbia as it took off in February 2003.
That damaged the left wing, which led to the shuttle breaking apart upon reentry to Earth 16 days later, killing all on board, The New York Times reported.
The space program was put on hold to investigate the problem, until Discovery's launch in the summer of 2005.
Another piece of foam broke off, raising concern of another reentry tragedy, which never materialized. NASA has removed foam from the suspect area.
The upcoming Discovery launch will take a European astronaut to the space station as well as needed supplies. The seven astronauts also will conduct three spacewalks.
Copyright 2006 by United Press International
-
During shuttle era, Goddard provided the critical path
Sep 19, 2011 |
not rated yet |
0
-
US shuttle debris surfaces amid Texas drought
Aug 02, 2011 |
4.3 / 5 (7) |
1
-
Major moments in the US shuttle program
Jul 20, 2011 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Astronauts load storage bin on last space shuttle
Jul 18, 2011 |
4 / 5 (1) |
0
-
Last space shuttle crew bids historic goodbye
Jul 18, 2011 |
5 / 5 (1) |
0
-
Engineers build first sub-10-nm carbon nanotube transistor
Feb 01, 2012 |
4.9 / 5 (31) |
30
-
Something old, something new: Evolution and the structural divergence of duplicate genes
Jan 31, 2012 |
4.6 / 5 (7) |
1
-
The hidden nanoworld of ice crystals: Revealing the dynamic behavior of quasi-liquid layers
Jan 30, 2012 |
5 / 5 (3) |
1
-
Stock market network reveals investor clustering
Jan 27, 2012 |
3.9 / 5 (23) |
8
-
Of microchemistry and molecules: Electronic microfluidic device synthesizes biocompatible probes
Jan 26, 2012 |
5 / 5 (1) |
0
More news stories
Europe stakes billion-dollar bet on new rocket
A pencil-slim rocket is scheduled to lift into space from South America on Monday, carrying a billion-dollar bet that Europe can grab a juicy slice of the market to place satellites in low orbit.
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
7 hours ago |
3.5 / 5 (2) |
0
NASA sees wide-eyed cyclone Jasmine
Cyclone Jasmine's eye has opened wider on NASA satellite imagery, as it moves through the Southern Pacific Ocean.
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
23 hours ago |
3.5 / 5 (2) |
2
NASA sees Giovanna reach cyclone strength, threaten Madagascar
Tropical Storm 12S built up steam and became a cyclone on February 10, 2012 as NASA's Terra satellite passed overhead. Residents of east-central Madagascar should prepare for this cyclone to make landfall ...
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
23 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
Political leaders play key role in how worried Americans are by climate change: study
More than extreme weather events and the work of scientists, it is national political leaders who influence how much Americans worry about the threat of climate change, new research finds.
Feb 06, 2012 |
5 / 5 (6) |
68
Humans may have helped the decline of African rainforests 3000 years ago
(PhysOrg.com) -- Large areas of rainforests in Central Africa mysteriously disappeared over three thousand years ago, to be replaced by savannas. The prevailing theory has been that the cause was a change ...
Feb 10, 2012 |
4.3 / 5 (13) |
16
|
Walney offshore wind farm is world's biggest (for now)
(PhysOrg.com) -- The Walney wind farm on the Irish Sea--characterized by high tides, waves and windy weather--officially opened this week. The farm is treated in the press as a very big deal as the Walney ...
GPS court ruling leaves US phone tracking unclear
A US Supreme Court decision requiring a warrant to place a GPS device on the car of a criminal suspect leaves unresolved the bigger issue of police tracking using mobile phones, legal experts say.
Study finds that anti-diabetic medication can prevent the long-term effects of maternal obesity
In a study to be presented today at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine's annual meeting, The Pregnancy Meeting, in Dallas, Texas, researchers will report findings that show that short therapy with the anti-diabetic medication ...
Netflix settlement trims 14 pct off 4Q earnings
(AP) -- Netflix pressed the rewind button on its fourth-quarter earnings after settling allegations that the video subscription service violated a consumer-privacy law.
Europeans protest controversial Internet pact
Tens of thousands of people marched in protests in more than a dozen European cities Saturday against a controversial anti-online piracy pact that critics say could curtail Internet freedom.
Google users warned of threat to smartphone wallets
Users of Google smartphone wallets were being warned on Friday that there is a way to crack pass codes intended to thwart thieves from going on illicit shopping sprees.
