Avi Blizovsky and Fraser Kane (Universe Today)
The shuttle Discovery on the launch pad. Photo: NASA
Flight controllers at NASA reported last Saturday (the day before yesterday) that the launch window for the Space Shuttle Discovery opened on July 1 at 15:48 PM Eastern Time (22:48 PM Israel Time). If all goes well, the Discovery will take off at the same time for Flight 121. As part of the flight, the astronauts will spend 12 days outside the Earth on a supply mission to the International Space Station and continue the experiments on the safety improvements that were imposed on NASA following the Columbia disaster.
NASA Administrator Michael Griffin says: "We had two days of in-depth examination of whether the shuttle is ready for flight. It was a quasi-legal and open inspection like I haven't seen since I returned to NASA." Concluded.
The debates focused on the question of what to do regarding the risk that still exists of insulation foam blocks falling. Although NASA personnel removed about 16 kg of foam from potentially dangerous points, the agency still does not rule out the possibility that foam from other places may still fall.
The decision was even more controversial after representatives from NASA's safety department, as well as the chief engineer, said that the shuttle should not fly until the dangerous "ice ramps" were redesigned, to reduce the risk of falling foam.
The shuttle program manager also said that the shuttles should not return to flying until NASA proposes a new design. However, they all signed the shuttle's readiness for flight after stating their claims for the records.
Unfortunately, the shuttle software is running out of time. The Navy is scheduled to retire in 2010, after the construction of the space station is completed. A further delay after July this year will add pressure on the ferries to make more frequent flights to cover the gap.
In the end, Griffin made the decision to continue with the launch procedures, balancing the risks and the objections of the agency personnel due to the pressure to complete the station. He also sadly admitted that losing another shuttle like Columbia or Challenger would put an end to the program.
Yedan "back to space."
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