Cape Canaveral, Fla. – A routine shuttle mission, highlighted by a teacher’s first spaceflight and space station construction, is overshadowed by a potentially serious gash in Endeavour’s thermal shield.
A detailed laser inspection today of the difficult-to-reach area on Endeavour’s belly may send astronauts out to repair the 3-inch wound later in the week. A severe penetration could let in searing gases when the shuttle returns to Earth in a possible replay of the Columbia accident.
As a pair of spacewalking astronauts installed a new beam on the international space station Saturday, engineers on Earth scrutinized images of the gouge, believed to be the result of a strike by ice at launch.
The ice, which would have come from the external fuel tank, is denser than the tank’s insulating foam, and even a small piece could cause major damage to the shuttle’s thermal covering.
In a scene eerily reminiscent of the foam smack to Columbia four years ago, radar showed a whitish spray or streak emanating from Endeavour’s right side 58 seconds after Wednesday evening’s liftoff.
The 1986 Challenger launch explosion already was at the forefront of everyone’s minds, given the presence of teacher- astronaut Barbara Morgan – Christa McAuliffe’s backup – aboard Endeavour.
Mission managers promptly ordered a focused inspection of the gouged area today, using Endeavour’s 100-foot, laser- tipped robot arm and inspection boom. They also had engineers and other experts poring over the radar launch imagery as well as photographs of the damage that were taken by the space station crew right before the shuttle’s docking Friday.
Today’s inspection will ascertain the depth of the gouge. The damaged area, a few feet from the right main gear landing door, is subjected to as much as 2,300 degrees Fahrenheit on re-entry. The wings and nose cap get hotter, and any damage there would be even more worrisome.
