Sat, Mar 10, 2007
Inspections To SRBs Complete; Orbiter, Fuel Tank Damage Still
Being Assessed
NASA told Aero-News Friday the agency is almost finished
inspecting the damage sustained to the space shuttle Atlantis
during a February 26 hailstorm at
Kennedy Space Center.
Inspections to the shuttle's solid rocket boosters are complete,
with engineers wrapping up analysis of the orbiter. NASA reports 20
of 28 hail-damaged areas on Atlantis -- all on the left side of the
vehicle -- have already been repaired.
As for the shuttle's external tank, crews are expected to finish
their inspections next week. Some foam sanding has begun in the
nose cone area of the tank, to smooth out ridges caused by the
impact of ricocheting hail stones (shown above)
A new target launch date has not been determined, but teams will
focus on preparing Atlantis for liftoff in late April.
Mission STS-117 to the International Space Station will be
scheduled sometime after a Russian Soyuz spacecraft returns from
the station. The Soyuz is delivering new station crew members and
returning others to Earth in late April, and NASA wants to make
sure crews on the ISS have some time between visits.
During the 11-day mission, the six-member crew will install a
new truss segment, retract a set of solar arrays and unfold a new
set on the starboard side of the station. Lessons learned from two
previous missions will provide the astronauts with new techniques
and tools to perform their duties.
Atlantis Commander Rick Sturckow, Pilot Lee Archambault and
Mission Specialists Jim Reilly, Patrick Forrester, Steven Swanson
and John "Danny" Olivas will continue training at NASA's Johnson
Space Center in Houston as they await a new target launch date.
The STS-117 flight crew will return to Kennedy Space Center a
few days before launch.
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