NASA keep to launch schedule despite concerns about cracks in foam

NASA managers were last night not ruling out a July 4 launch for space shuttle Discovery, even after inspectors found a five-inch-long crack in the foam insulation on its external fuel tank.

Officials said they needed more time to evaluate the problem and planned to meet at about 11pm Irish time to decide whether to go ahead with the launch.

The space agency’s engineers believe the crack was caused by the expanding and shrinking of the tank as it was fuelled with super-cold propellant, which also caused a 3-inch-long triangle-shaped piece of foam to fall off the area and land on a platform below.

The piece of foam was too small to have caused damage if it had fallen during the launch, said John Shannon, deputy manager of the shuttle program.

“What we think happened yesterday, when we had all of that rain, we had condensation,” Shannon said. “It’s very cold. It froze.”

The crack was spotted during an overnight inspection. NASA had scrubbed launch plans Saturday and Sunday because of poor weather and had removed fuel from the tank.

The crack was found on the side of the external fuel tank facing the orbiter.

Officials were trying to determine whether the crack could be fixed for a Tuesday liftoff.

“We don’t know if it’s a problem or not,” NASA spokesman George Diller said shortly after the problem was revealed.

One option considered by NASA was to sand down the area of foam, which would take a couple of hours and could be done on the launch pad.

If NASA decides to go ahead with the July 4 launch, it would be the first manned launch by the United States on its national birthday, and only the second lift-off of a space shuttle since the 2003 Columbia disaster.

The weather forecast for a Tuesday lift-off was better than it was on Sunday or Monday, with a 40% chance that storms at launch time would prevent lift-off.