Agency May Attempt Repair Anyway To Protect Orbiter

Engineers at NASA determined late Monday evening launch damage to the shuttle Endeavour poses no threat to crew safety or mission operations, and repairs are not necessary to ensure the orbiter will survive reentry into the Earth's atmosphere.

NASA is discussing options for possible repair work, however, to prevent possible heat-related structural damage that would complicate the ground turnaround for Endeavour's next flight. Engineers will announce their decision on that mission Wednesday, according to news reports.

"If we have to [[make repairs], I feel fully confident that we could execute it with a minimum impact to the mission," shuttle mission manager John Shannon told the Melbourne Herald Sun.

As ANN reported Monday, possible repair options include bolting a repair plate over the damage, or filling the gouge with a heat-resistant liquid sealant, or a thicker caulking compound. Only the latter method has ever been tested in orbit.

Endeavour suffered a gouge to its heat shield (below) during launch last week, when a chunk of insulating foam from the shuttle's external fuel tank struck two tiles near the shuttle's right maingear door.

Meanwhile, with the use of Canadian-built robotic arms, STS-118 astronauts installed a new stowage platform Tuesday on the exterior of the International Space Station.

External stowage platform-3 (ESP-3) is the third of its kind to be installed on the station. The first two, however, were attached during spacewalks on previous missions. The stowage platforms are used to hold spacewalk tools and spare equipment.

Mission Specialists Tracy Caldwell and Barbara Morgan used Space Shuttle Endeavour’s robot arm to lift ESP-3 out of the payload bay and to hand it off to the station arm. STS-118 Pilot Charles Hobaugh and Expedition 15 Flight Engineer Clay Anderson used the station arm to attach the platform to the station’s Port 3 truss segment.

Inside the shuttle/station complex, cargo transfers between the two spacecraft continue. Also on tap for Tuesday were preparations for STS-118’s third spacewalk, scheduled for Wednesday.

The crew began the day at 0607 EDT, with a wakeup call wishing Caldwell happy birthday. Not a bad way to celebrate growing a year older!

FMI: www.nasa.gov