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Old 10th Aug 2007, 08:20
  #28 (permalink)  
ORAC
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
 
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External Tank Foam Hits Shuttle

Probably no substantial damage, but it means all the work they did to eliminate foam loss will have to be revisited, with only knows what effect on future launch schedules...

"......As Endeavour climbed to orbit, tracking cameras appeared to capture nine pieces of debris darting toward the shuttle.

Three with the highest prospect of having struck the shuttle are under scrutiny, though each appeared too small to pose a hazard, said NASA's John Shannon, who chairs the mission management team.

One, which appears to have originated from insulation around a shuttle fuel line, seemed to hit near the underside of the tail section. Also, a spray of ice or foam insulation, as well as a second foam fragment, appear to have struck the right wing.

Questions about the fragments could be cleared up today. As Endeavour nears the space station, commander Scott Kelly will steer the ship through a slow back flip. The maneuver will enable cosmonauts Fyodor Yurchikhin and Oleg Kotov aboard the station to photograph the shuttle's underside heat shielding......"
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