NASA Makes Progress Understanding Shuttle Tank Foam Loss

NASA Makes Progress Understanding Shuttle Tank Foam Loss

Engineers are moving closer to resolving the problem of large foam insulation falling off space shuttle external fuel tanks during launch. A “tiger team” is making recommendations addressing the factors that may have contributed to foam loss when the space shuttle Discovery (STS-114) was launched in July. The next shuttle mission is also on Discovery. It will be the second test flight in the Return to Flight sequence. At a news conference today at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, Houston, space shuttle managers emphasized they have not set a specific launch date. NASA is using the May 3 to 23, 2006, launch window as a target for work to prepare Discovery for the mission.

Shuttle workers will likely replace and modify areas of insulation on the external tank where foam came loose during the July launch. Space Shuttle Program Manager Wayne Hale said a series of tests over the next several weeks would help further clarify the tank issues. “I think we’re beginning to have our hands well around the technical problems we have and we are defining the fixes necessary to fly again,” he said. Factors contributing to the decision to target the May launch window include outstanding tank work and the effect on the NASA workforce by Hurricane Katrina. NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility near New Orleans and the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi were in the storm’s path. Much of their workforce has been displaced by the storm.

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