STUPID PEOPLE IN THE NEWS....


New and Improved External Tank
Shuttle to Fly Without Tank Fix

By Irene Klotz, Discovery News

April 28, 2006— Despite ongoing concerns about foam insulation breaking off and damaging the space shuttle during launch, NASA will not make any more changes to the tank's design until after the next flight, which is targeted for July, officials said Friday.

Shuttle program manager Wayne Hale acknowledged a slight risk that during launch a two- to three-ounce chunk of foam could break off from a newly exposed part of the external fuel tank and critically damage Discovery's heat shield.

The insulation prevents ice from building up and breaking off during launch.

Shuttle Columbia and its crew of seven astronauts were lost during atmospheric re-entry on Feb. 1, 2003, due to wing damage from a 1.4-pound piece of foam insulation that fell off and hit the shuttle during launch.

The tank was redesigned, but foam from another part of the tank was lost during the first post-Columbia launch of Discovery last July.

Engineers then removed two aerodynamic ramps of foam that had protected a box of cables and two pressurization lines from the tremendous winds and turbulence created by the shuttle's supersonic climb to orbit.

Hale said the ramps' removal was "the largest aerodynamic change that we have made since the shuttle first flew."
Tests to determine if the new design is safe to fly remain under way.

After much debate, Hale decided making more than a major change in the tank's design was riskier than the slight chance of a critical impact by the small foam wedges. Those chunks cover metal brackets that attach the cable tray and pressurization lines to the outside of the tank.

"We had to ask whether it's appropriate to make more than one change to the outer shell of the vehicle," Hale said. "If we go fly and have another accident that will be the end of the program."
Upon Discovery's safe return, engineers will redesign the small foam wedges, Hale added.

NASA wants to fly the shuttle another 16 or 17 more times to complete construction of the International Space Station and possibly service the Hubble Space Telescope before the fleet is retired in 2010.

Managers expect to make a decision about whether the shuttle's redesigned tank is safe to fly at a review scheduled for June 16.

NASA's next opportunity to fly a shuttle to the space station under its post-Columbia safety protocols, which include a daylight launch, is between July 1 and 19.

...sooo, do I have to say it?

posted by Wanting at 1:39 PM