Atlantis Astronauts Inspect Shuttle Heat Shield
- From: jose <josefsoplar@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 09 Jun 2007 23:20:41 -0000
Atlantis Astronauts Inspect Shuttle Heat Shield
Tariq Malik
Staff Writer
SPACE.com
37 minutes ago
A torn insulation blanket (upper right) on the port side of the
Shuttle Atlantis is shown in this video grab from the orbiter's end
effector camera during a survey of the spacecraft's thermal protection
system June 8, 2007. (NASA TV/Reuters)
Astronauts aboard NASA's shuttle Atlantis scanned their spacecraft's
heat shield for any signs of damage Saturday as they continue on
course towards the International Space Station (ISS).
Atlantis launched into orbit late Friday on a planned 11-day
construction mission to the orbital laboratory. Commanded by veteran
shuttle flyer Rick Sturckow, the mission will deliver a pair of new
starboard solar arrays and trusses to the ISS after docking on
Sunday.
But first, the shuttle's seven-astronaut crew used a sensor-laden
extension of Atlantis' 50-foot (15-meter) robotic arm to capture
detailed images of the orbiter's heat shield in what has now a
standard activity since NASA recovered from the 2003 Columbia
accident. The task allows engineers on Earth to verify whether the
shuttle suffered damage from falling debris during liftoff.
"This mission, we've incorporated some of the lessons learned from
previous flights," Cathy Koerner, NASA's lead shuttle flight director
for Atlantis' STS-117 mission, said of the survey. "We've made them
more efficient. We've automated some of the maneuvers."
Today's orbiter heat shield inspection, a traditional Flight Day 2
task since NASA resumed shuttle flights in 2005, is slated to began at
about 3:00 p.m. EDT (1900 GMT) and was slated to run about five hours
in duration.
STS-117 mission specialist Patrick Forrester, who serves as lead
shuttle robotics operator, and his crewmates have already found some
slight damage in the form of a torn thermal blanket on one Atlantis'
two aft-mounted Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS) pods. The damage was
recorded late Friday during robotic arm checks after the orbiter
reached space, and will be studied alongside data collected today,
NASA officials said.
NASA has kept a close eye on the integrity of its shuttle heat shields
during spaceflights after the 2003 loss of the Columbia orbiter and
its seven-astronaut crew. A piece of fuel tank foam insulation fell
free during Columbia's launch and damaged its heat shield, leading to
its loss during landing as it reentered the Earth's atmosphere.
Since then, NASA has modified shuttle fuel tanks to reduce foam debris
during liftoff and instituted several in-flight inspections to ensure
the health of its astronaut-carrying spacecraft.
Cameras mounted to Atlantis' fuel tank did record some foam loss
during its Friday launch, but mission managers said the debris
appeared not to strike the orbiter.
Swifter survey
During today's inspection, laser imagers and digital cameras at the
tip of Atlantis' 50-foot (15-meter) robotic arm extension recorded
detailed views of the orbiter's belly-mounted tiles other areas for
later analysis by experts on Earth.
"I think in the past, it's been almost a seven- or eight-hour
process," Atlantis shuttle pilot Lee Archambault, who also
participated in the survey, told reporters before launch, adding that
the new automated procedures for STS-117 were expected to save time.
"It knocks a couple of hours off the inspection time."
Archambault said the survey also features the first simultaneous use
of both a laser ranging imager and a high-resolution digital camera,
which were used separately in the past when focused inspections were
required after the initial scan.
"It's almost like we're going to be getting a focused inspection at
the same time as the primary inspection," Archambault said.
.
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