Astronauts Will Repair Shuttle Thermal Blanket
Space shuttle Atlantis is to remain an additional two days in orbit so that a 4×6-inch gap in a thermal blanket can be repaired. NASA engineers are not worried about the gap on re-entry as much as they are about possible required repairs after landing.
No decision had been made on whether the loosened blanket, covering a 4-by-6-inch area over a pod for engines, will be repaired during a previously planned third spacewalk or a fourth, extra one, managers said.
The loosened blanket was discovered Saturday during an inspection of the shuttle.
Engineers think the blanket was loosened by aerodynamic forces during launch, not by being hit by a piece of debris during liftoff. The rest of the vehicle appeared to be in fine shape, NASA said.
Engineers didn't think the intense heat when the shuttle re-enters Earth's atmosphere could burn through the graphite structure underneath the blanket, but they worried it might cause some damage that would require repairs on the ground.
With three additional shuttle flights to the space station planned this year, NASA can't afford any delays.
"I don't want to take the risk of damaging my flight hardware," said John Shannon, chairman of the mission management team.
While mission managers debated fixing the thermal blanket, two astronauts floated outside the international space station Monday to begin connecting the orbiting outpost's newest addition: a 35,000-pound segment that will increase its power capability.
The start of the spacewalk was delayed by more than an hour because the four spinning gyroscopes that keep the space station properly positioned became overloaded. Space shuttle Atlantis was used to help control the station's orientation until the gyroscopes were able to take over again.
According to NASA, there will be an additional spacewalk to make the repairs (the linked article was written before that decision was made). The gap can be seen in the NASA image gallery for day two of the shuttle mission (image gallery here).
By BubbaB, Tuesday, 12 June , 2007 @ 5:45 pm
Wow, repairing a blanket in space. Can you imagine what that needle looks like? Or maybe it is a whole sewing machine!!