Wednesday\u2019s fuelling test was carried out in real time on the launch pad to check for any flaws. The Debris Verification Board were evaluating concerns of foam impacts from the main fuel tank, while engineers have been checking the effect of ice upon the External Tank (ET-120).\n<\/p>\n
Both tanks have been modified since the Columbia (STS-107) disaster in 2003 \u2013 when the Shuttle tore apart on re-entry into the Earth\u2019s atmosphere \u2013 because of a piece of insulation foam that had broken off the main fuel tank. This subsequently breached the left wing\u2019s leading edge on assent and caused the Orbiter to break up. <\/font><\/p>\n Ice formation is also a potential concern, particularly upon blast off by way of shedding whilst the shuttle\u2019s main engines fire uphill.<\/font><\/p>\n \u201cIce is a biggie,\u201d stated Wayne Hale, deputy Shuttle manager. \u201cOne of the things we were very interested to look at was the performance of the tank and ice growth on the tank.\u201d<\/font><\/p>\n The fuelling test consisted of a process involving 500,000 lbs of super-cooled liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen being pumped into the ET, while also testing how Discovery, her Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs) and the launch pad itself performed under extremely cold temperatures. Hale remarked that, \u201cThe main tank has [now] been provided with new insulation and four heaters to prevent ice formation.<\/font><\/p>\n \u201cWe had an outstanding day,\u201d Hale went on to announce. \u201cThe new external tank performed well, Discovery performed in an outstanding manner and the launch pad performed almost without flaws.\u201d <\/font><\/p>\n However, a concern has been noted on a double sensor fault, with a story expanding on this on-going issue to follow.<\/font><\/p>\n The deputy Shuttle manager however, did add, \u201cIt performed very well, that is heartening news. But that is not all the story.<\/font><\/p>\n Aerospace & Defense (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re doing some testing at Redstone Arsenal and other places regarding the potential for ice to shed off the tank during the ascent and we think there are a number of ways we\u2019re going to come to a good conclusion on that. But there is work remaining before us on that.\u201d <\/font><\/p>\n New NASA Administrator Michael Griffin told employees that he was determined to resume the space shuttle program: \u201cAll other commitments will flow around what I have to do in order to support the return-to-flight decision.\u201d Griffin \u2013 under the authority of President Bush \u2013 will give the final clearance for the $6 billion ship to launch.<\/font><\/p>\n It seems that in light of this recent testing, Griffin\u2019s determination to see the Space Shuttle fleet return to flight will pay off. <\/font><\/p>\n \u201cWith the completion of this tanking test, NASA is one step closer to returning the Space Shuttle fleet to flight,\u201d said Michael Kostelnik, NASA\u2019s deputy associate administrator for International Space Station and Space Shuttle Programs. <\/font><\/p>\n \u201cAlthough we have further milestones to complete before we fly, we are proud of the technical advancements we have made the last two years to ensure a safe mission.\u201d<\/font><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Wednesday\u2019s fuelling test was carried out in real time on the launch pad to check for any flaws. The Debris Verification Board were evaluating concerns of foam impacts from the main fuel tank, while engineers have been checking the effect of ice upon the External Tank (ET-120). Both tanks have been modified since the Columbia […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42412","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42412"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42412"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42412\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42412"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42412"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42412"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}