Astronauts Prepare for Spacewalk, Engineers Recommend Against Extra Inspection

HOUSTON (AP) – NASA engineers studying whether space shuttle Discovery’s heat shield was damaged during launch recommended on Tuesday against any extra inspection of the spacecraft’s belly and wings.The engineers’ advice doesn’t mean the shuttle was cleared of any damage, since experts were still reviewing data, but it was a positive sign. NASA managers still need to approve the recommendation.“I don’t think they’re finished with all of their analysis of everything on the heat shield, so I think it’s premature,” said NASA spokesman James Hartsfield. “When the data says it’s clear, then it’s clear.”The additional inspection had been considered for Wednesday to get a better look at dings spotted on the heat-resistant tiles on Discovery’s belly and at the shuttle’s left wing, where a sensor detected a “very low” reading, possibly from a micrometeoroid.The space agency has been especially alert to damage to the shuttle’s heat shield since the Columbia tragedy in 2003 when a piece of insulating foam broke off during launch gashing a wing. The hole allowed hot gases to penetrate the spacecraft during its return to Earth, breaking it apart and killing all seven astronauts.In post-Columbia missions, NASA has images taken during liftoff as well as meticulous camera inspections using the shuttle’s robotic arm attached to a boom. Another inspection of Discovery’s heat shield is planned next week after the shuttle undocks from the international space station.Specialists were examining the images to see how deep the nicks were in tiles on the shuttle belly. John Shannon, chairman of the mission management team, said late Monday he was not worried about the tiles and astronauts could repair them if they were chipped.Meanwhile, the astronauts made preparations to install a 2-ton addition to the space station during a spacewalk Tuesday. The $11 million addition delivered by Discovery will act both as a spacer between a pair of the station’s power-generating solar arrays and as a channel through which lines of electricity, data and cooling liquid will run.Two spacewalking astronauts, veteran Robert Curbeam and the European Space Agency’s Christer Fuglesang, were scheduled to install the addition Tuesday in the first of three spacewalks during the 12-day shuttle mission.Discovery’s crew members were awakened Tuesday morning by “Waterloo” by the Swedish group Abba, in honor of Fuglesang, who is the first Swede in space.“We wish you well as you step outside the airlock for the first time today,” Mission Control told Fuglesang.Curbeam and Fuglesang will have to guide mission specialists Sunita “Suni” Williams and Joan Higginbotham as they use the station’s robotic arm to install the addition in a space where clearance at times will be less than 3 inches. everything will power up after the rewiring. Astronauts can undo their work if that’s the case.Williams became only the third woman to take up long-term residence at the space station. She replaces German astronaut Thomas Reiter, who will return with the Discovery crew in a little more than a week.

Astronauts Prepare for Spacewalk, Engineers Recommend Against Extra Inspection

Astronauts Prepare for Spacewalk, Engineers Recommend Against Extra Inspection

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