Cracks in the Space Shuttle’s heat shield appear to be worrying some NASA staff ahead of tomorrow’s launch. Engineers at the space agency have been overruled by managers according to various news outlets. The NASA Engineering and Safety Center said the launch should be put back to December so at least three heat-resistant panels on the leading edge of the craft’s wings can be replaced, according to the NY Times. They weren’t listened to.
“I didn’t say it’s safe to go fly and I wouldn’t say that,” said Wayne Hale, the shuttle programme manager (Guardian). It’s a dramatic quote, but one rather undermined by the fact he followed it up with, “The preponderance of evidence in my mind says that we have an acceptable risk.” As Hale noted to the NY Times the ageing shuttle “is not a safe vehicle by any normal standard”.
Why the panels keep degrading is something of a puzzle. “Right now, you have kind of a yellow flag out. We are trying to be very careful,” said Hale (Houston Chronicle).
The mission itself is key to NASA’s plans for the space station. A major series of home improvements will be made to the station, including the addition of a room “the size of a school bus” (Orlando Sentinel). “This mission is off-scale high in terms of challenges. We have a lot to sink our teeth into,” said astronaut Scott Parazynski (Houston Chronicle).
In many papers the launch is raising memories of the Colombia disaster. On a more positive note, this is the first time two space missions will be led by women at the same time – the shuttle will be commanded by Pamela Melroy while the International Space Station with which it will be docking is currently under the charge of Peggy Whitson (McClatchy Newspapers). Given the number of missions NASA has flown it may be a bit surprising that it has taken this long. But then one of NASA’s problems is how old fashioned a lot of its things are – shuttle problems are at least partly down to it dating back to the 1960s so maybe we shouldn’t be surprised if they equal opportunities approach hasn’t quite made it to the 21st century yet.
UPDATE
It’s all going well so far…
25/10/07 – still no problems found.
Image: Discovery / NASA