No space repair will be required for the shuttle Endeavour

This is the estimate at NASA before final tests, after which it will be clarified whether it will be possible to land without repairs

NASA officials are optimistic about the chances that the dent discovered in the lower part of the space shuttle Endeavor will not require repair. According to officials, it is unlikely that it will be necessary to send astronauts out to repair the dent, which is about 9 centimeters long.
The NASA website stated that the mission managers determined that the damage caused to a small area of ​​Endeavor's heat shield does not pose a threat to the safety of the crew or to the operation of the mission, however, they are still discussing options for repairs that are more designed to ensure that there is no problem in the next flights of Endeavour.

During the August 8 launch, a piece of insulating foam hit the shuttle and created a square dent the length and width of a business card. A shard penetrated a pair of two-inch-thick heat shield tiles and exposed a piece of felt that was there as the final barrier before the shuttle's aluminum frame. NASA officials conducted experiments on Earth to decide whether it was necessary to send the astronauts on a spacewalk to repair the damage. The heat shield is designed to protect the shuttle from the great heat during penetration into the atmosphere - about two thousand degrees Celsius.
Analyzes performed so far have shown that Endeavor can safely return to Earth despite the dent, says John Shannon, chairman of the mission management team. "All experiments and surgeries will be completed tonight." added

The third spacewalk is underway
Astronauts Rick Mastracino and Clay Anderson began their third spacewalk outside the space station. The two are preparing the station for the transfer of the P6 component and the solar collectors on it from the top of the station to the end of P5, a procedure that will be carried out on mission STS-120. Among other things, the astronauts moved caravans to a new location.
Earlier they relocated the antenna from P6 to P1. In addition to repositioning the antenna, the two installed a transmitter and signal processor to upgrade the communication system at S-band frequencies.
Later, the two are expected to bring in some scientific experiments that were placed outside the station in August 2006 and they will be returned to Earth for analysis.

teacher in spaceIn the meantime, NASA is carrying out its old mission - a teacher teaching a lesson from space. On Tuesday, teacher-astronaut Barbara Morgan found time to answer questions from students via video link.

Morgan, 55, who first trained at NASA as backup for Christa McAuliffe who was chosen to be the teacher who will learn from space, an initiative announced by President Reagan in the 1986s. McAuliffe and six other astronauts were killed in 73 aboard the space shuttle Challenger, a leaking booster causing an explosion 1998 seconds after launch. After the incident, NASA asked Morgan to stay on as a teacher in space. However, when NASA decided to stop flying civilians into space, Morgan was forced to become a full-time astronaut and she joined NASA in XNUMX.
She spoke from space to an audience of hundreds of students gathered at a convention center in Idaho, about 150 km from the elementary school where Morgan taught before becoming an astronaut. One of the students asked what it was like to be a teacher versus an astronaut, and Morgan replied: “Astronauts and teachers do essentially the same job. We investigate, we discover and we share the discoveries. The best thing about being a teacher is that you have direct contact with the students and the best thing about being an astronaut is that you do it from space. Both professions are fascinating professions."
Another student asked about physical fitness in space and Morgan picked up the two large men floating beside her, one in each hand and pretended to be straining.