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.

FMI: www.nasa.gov/shuttle