NASA orders emergency repairs on Discovery

HOUSTON – Discovery astronauts were yesterday preparing tools and techniques they will use for an unprecedented repair operation on the shuttle’s thermal shield to ensure it can make a safe return to Earth.

NASA on Monday decided to cut off two ceramic fibre strands hanging from the belly of the shuttle to end any “uncertainty” about whether it would be in danger on re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere, said Wayne Hale, deputy head of the US shuttle programme. He said it was an example of NASA’s new space shuttle programme, adding that only when the Discovery was safe for its return to Earth would the repair operation be deemed successful.Either Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi or American Steve Robinson will carry out the repairs during their third spacewalk of the mission today, officials said.NASA experts are worried that the shuttle could overheat because of instability that the gap fillers, dangling from between thermal tiles on the underside of the shuttle, could cause.”Given that large degree of uncertainty, life could be normal during entry or some bad things could happen,” Hale told a news conference.”We examined our options to set our minds at rest and make sure that we didn’t stay up late at night worrying about bad things happening,” Hale added.NASA engineers have spent the past three days “working very hard” to assess the risk from the gap fillers, which are only about an inch (2,5 centimetres) long.He said the teams had “put together a very simple plan with good safety precautions and mitigations of any hazards that will allow a crew-member to go out and remove those two gap fillers.”Yesterday, the Discovery crew was going over the repair operation and assembling a makeshift hacksaw with which to cut off the protruding gap filler should it be necessary, NASA said.The ceramic fibre fillers are used to keep hot gas from flowing into gaps between the thermal outer protection tiles.The shuttle is scheduled to leave the space station on Saturday and return to Earth early on Monday, August 8.- Nampa-AFPHe said it was an example of NASA’s new space shuttle programme, adding that only when the Discovery was safe for its return to Earth would the repair operation be deemed successful.Either Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi or American Steve Robinson will carry out the repairs during their third spacewalk of the mission today, officials said.NASA experts are worried that the shuttle could overheat because of instability that the gap fillers, dangling from between thermal tiles on the underside of the shuttle, could cause.”Given that large degree of uncertainty, life could be normal during entry or some bad things could happen,” Hale told a news conference.”We examined our options to set our minds at rest and make sure that we didn’t stay up late at night worrying about bad things happening,” Hale added.NASA engineers have spent the past three days “working very hard” to assess the risk from the gap fillers, which are only about an inch (2,5 centimetres) long.He said the teams had “put together a very simple plan with good safety precautions and mitigations of any hazards that will allow a crew-member to go out and remove those two gap fillers.”Yesterday, the Discovery crew was going over the repair operation and assembling a makeshift hacksaw with which to cut off the protruding gap filler should it be necessary, NASA said.The ceramic fibre fillers are used to keep hot gas from flowing into gaps between the thermal outer protection tiles.The shuttle is scheduled to leave the space station on Saturday and return to Earth early on Monday, August 8.- Nampa-AFP