NASA: Crack Found in Discovery’s External Tank won’t delay July 4th Launch

As Alaric S. wrote this morning, weather concerns have caused officials to delay the scheduled launch of Shuttle Discovery until July 4th. Unfortunately, new concerns have been discovered since then that bring the future of the program further into doubt.

Officials leaving a high level meeting this morning have recommended one of two paths for NASA to take: the first choice is to do nothing and allow the launch to take place as scheduled with no additional intervention; the second option is to do minor repairs “in the field” that would allow for a larger margin of safety during the launch. At the press conference after the meeting NASA went public with its decision to continue cautiously toward a launch on July 4th.

Many have said that this launch will make or break the Shuttle Program, so a lot is riding on the launch politically. The crack itself is a four to five inch crack in the foam insulation surrounding the external fuel tank near the nose of the Shuttle. Cracks in the foam insulation have been a serious concern of engineers ever since the Columbia disaster that was caused by a piece of this very foam falling off the tank at high velocity during launch.

NASA officials are under intense scrutiny and pressure to complete a successful launch and landing sequence in order to show politicians that NASA is still competent and likely to provide them a return on their investment. If things go badly for the Shuttle this time around some think that it could be a fatal blow for the program.

In the most recent press conference, NASA officials claimed that the missing chunk of foam poses no danger to the orbiter and the launch should go ahead as scheduled. However, to be safe they have also decided to allow the inspection team additional time to look for cracks in the foam, ice formation and other anomalies that could endanger the launch. The eyes of the world will remain focused on the outcome of this launch as the fate of NASA (and its budget) hangs in the balance.

As Alaric S. wrote this morning, weather concerns have caused officials to delay the scheduled launch of Shuttle Discovery until July 4th. Unfortunately, new concerns have been discovered since then that bring the future of the program further into doubt.

Officials leaving a high level meeting this morning have recommended one of two paths for NASA to take: the first choice is to do nothing and allow the launch to take place as scheduled with no additional intervention; the second option is to do minor repairs “in the field” that would allow for a larger margin of safety during the launch. At the press conference after the meeting NASA went public with its decision to continue cautiously toward a launch on July 4th.

Many have said that this launch will make or break the Shuttle Program, so a lot is riding on the launch politically. The crack itself is a four to five inch crack in the foam insulation surrounding the external fuel tank near the nose of the Shuttle. Cracks in the foam insulation have been a serious concern of engineers ever since the Columbia disaster that was caused by a piece of this very foam falling off the tank at high velocity during launch.

NASA officials are under intense scrutiny and pressure to complete a successful launch and landing sequence in order to show politicians that NASA is still competent and likely to provide them a return on their investment. If things go badly for the Shuttle this time around some think that it could be a fatal blow for the program.

In the most recent press conference, NASA officials claimed that the missing chunk of foam poses no danger to the orbiter and the launch should go ahead as scheduled. However, to be safe they have also decided to allow the inspection team additional time to look for cracks in the foam, ice formation and other anomalies that could endanger the launch. The eyes of the world will remain focused on the outcome of this launch as the fate of NASA (and its budget) hangs in the balance.