Shuttle material may cause re-entry danger

SHORT strips of filler material dangling from Discovery’s belly had NASA scrambling yesterday to determine whether they might endanger the space shuttle during re-entry.

The potential trouble has nothing to do with launch debris, but rather material used to fill the spaces between thermal tiles, a common problem in the past.

Flight director Paul Hill said engineers will spend the next day analysing the situation and decide today whether to have the crew’s two spacewalkers cut, pull out or shove back in the hanging material.

It is possible that it is perfectly safe for Discovery and its crew of seven to fly back with the two drooping pieces, Hill stressed, as shuttles have done on many previous flights.

One piece is sticking out an inch between thermal tiles. The longest protruding gap filler seen on a returning shuttle before was a quarter-inch, but Hill said measurement was taken following re-entry, and the intense heat could have burned some of it off.

Any repair, if deemed necessary, could be performed during the mission’s third spacewalk, now set for Wednesday or a fourth unplanned spacewalk might be required, Mr Hill said.

He said there are strong arguments for and against most of the repair options.

Anything dangling from the bottom of the shuttle during re-entry will overheat the area, as well as downstream locations. The ongoing analysis is to decide whether that overheating will be within safety limits.

NASA has cleared all of Discovery’s thermal tiles - the damaged items which doomed the shuttle Columbia in 2003 - for landing on August 8.

The only remaining issues are the reinforced carbon panels that line the wings and nose, and the two hanging gap fillers.