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Avi Blizovsky, the editor of the site, 8/9/03 time 17:30 p.m
NASA has developed a "return to flight" plan for the next shuttle missions by March 2004 at the earliest.
The 78-page report provides an inside look at the steps the space agency has already taken or is considering taking to meet the recommendations of the Columbia disaster committee.
Update from morning:
By Natan Gutman, a reporter for "Haaretz" in the USA
Washington. The American space agency NASA formulated a plan to resume space shuttle flights next year, while correcting the immediate deficiencies pointed out by the investigative committee established after the Columbia shuttle crash last February.
The main points of the plan, which will be presented today to NASA personnel and the special external team that was established to handle the safety of the flight, were already published yesterday in the "New York Times" newspaper. The report shows that NASA has already begun practical actions to implement the short-term recommendations that were specified in the report the investigation committee, and that if the plan is indeed approved and proceeds as planned, it will be possible to launch the "Atlantis" shuttle into space in April 2004. However, NASA has yet to present a plan that addresses the long-term recommendations of the committee, headed by retired Admiral Harold Gaiman, or to change the dysfunctional management and organizational culture that the committee voted on.
The first component of the plan is strengthening the resistance of the shuttle's body to minor injuries during the flights, especially injuries from fragments of the type that caused the loss of the "Columbia". The intention is to strengthen the external insulation bodies of the shuttle and the way they are installed on the body of the space vehicle, to prevent a situation where small fragments can cause perforations or loss of insulation tiles during flight. NASA also began the development of a special material made of silicon, a kind of glue intended for the repair of the shuttle during its stay in space. This is a glue that is sealed under vacuum conditions and which, according to experiments conducted, can withstand temperatures of thousands of degrees. The International Space Station will be trained as a repair station and stand Emergency for the space shuttles and their crew members in the event that a fault is detected while in space.
To enable diagnosis of damage to the shuttle after launch, NASA proposes to install external cameras in the shuttle, which will examine the shuttle's body and the external fuel tanks that are disconnected after launch. It was also recommended to completely remove the external insulation from the pipe that connects the fuel tank to the shuttle, the same pipe from The piece of insulation that damaged the body of the "Columbia" was cut off. Instead of the external insulation, an internal heating system will be installed, which will prevent freezing the pipes at launch.
In accordance with the early recommendations published by the Gaiman Committee, it has already been decided that for each shuttle mission, NASA will order photographs from satellites to examine the shuttle's body from the outside.
As for the team of astronauts - they will undergo special training to train them to carry out repairs in space and will even learn rescue techniques in space, to enable work outside the shuttle or its abandonment, in case it is damaged.
Columbia disaster - latest updates
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