CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - NASA conducted a swift series of tests on the ground to determine whether a disturbingly deep gouge in Endeavour's belly needs to be fixed for re-entry as a pair of spacewalking astronauts replaced a broken space station steering device Monday.
The gouge is relatively small - 3 1/2 inches by 2 inches - but part of it penetrates through the protective thermal tiles, leaving just a thin layer of felt material over the space shuttle's aluminum frame to keep out the more than 2,000-degree heat of re-entry.
Mission managers expect to decide by Tuesday whether astronauts should go out and patch the gouge or whether the damage is benign enough for Endeavour to fly safely home.
NASA has never attempted this type of emergency repair on an orbiting shuttle, and two of the three remedies - all developed following Columbia's catastrophic re-entry - are untested in space. As in Columbia's case four years ago, Endeavour's gouge resulted from a piece of foam striking the shuttle at liftoff.
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The gouge is relatively small - 3 1/2 inches by 2 inches - but part of it penetrates through the protective thermal tiles, leaving just a thin layer of felt material over the space shuttle's aluminum frame to keep out the more than 2,000-degree heat of re-entry.
Mission managers expect to decide by Tuesday whether astronauts should go out and patch the gouge or whether the damage is benign enough for Endeavour to fly safely home.
NASA has never attempted this type of emergency repair on an orbiting shuttle, and two of the three remedies - all developed following Columbia's catastrophic re-entry - are untested in space. As in Columbia's case four years ago, Endeavour's gouge resulted from a piece of foam striking the shuttle at liftoff.
Discuss Add this link to... Bury
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