Space Shuttle Endeavour & Columbia: Similar Heat Shield Problem

by Barry ORegan | August 12, 2007 at 05:01 am

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The uneasiness the Astronauts must feel knowing Space Shuttle Columbia experienced almost the exact same problem when it's heat shield failed 4 years ago and tragically breaking up over the skies must weigh heavily on everyones mind. Hopefully HadField will be able to patch this hole in the heat shield in Endeavour. Perhaps another Space Shuttle should be sent to take everyone home and a skelton crew should be used to man Endeavour. Failing this, leave Endeavour attached to the Space Station as semi permanent part of the Space Station. I hear they can always use more storage space and parts. May be a good idea for parts if ever needed in future if another space shuttle runs into difficulty in space.

CAPE CANAVERAL, FLA. -- Canadian spacewalking astronaut Dave Williams and fellow astronaut Rick Mastracchio installed a new beam to the International Space Station yesterday as engineers back on Earth scrutinized images of a disturbing gouge in shuttle Endeavour's heat shield.

The 7.6-cm gash in the shuttle's belly will be inspected in greater detail today, when the shuttle crew pulls out its 30-metre robotic arm and extension boom and probes the difficult-to-reach area with lasers.

Until then, NASA has only camera and radar images to examine.

Mission managers suspect a chunk of ice flew off Endeavour's external fuel tank one minute after liftoff on Wednesday and struck tiles on the shuttle's underside, near the right main landing gear door.

Ice is heavier than the tank's foam insulation, and even a small piece could cause major damage to the shuttle's thermal covering, which protects against the intense heat of atmospheric re-entry at flight's end.

1,260C HEAT

The area where the gouge is located is exposed to as much as 1,260C during re-entry.

Today's laser inspection will ascertain exactly how deep the gouge is, then engineers will determine whether repairs are needed.

Columbia was brought down four years ago by a half-kilogram chunk of foam that slammed into the left wing at liftoff and left a hole estimated between 15 cm and 25 cm across.

Work in orbit went on as usual yesterday, a day after the gouge was discovered in zoom-in photos taken by the three-man crew of the space station as Endeavour closed in for docking.

On the first spacewalk of the shuttle mission, Williams and Mastracchio installed a two-tonne square-shaped beam to the backbone of the station.

The beam, or truss, was delivered by Endeavour along with other station equipment that will be hooked up during at least two more spacewalks in coming days.