Originally published August 7 2005
Astronauts remove shuttle's gap fillers
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Astronaut Steve Robinson successfully removed two dangling pieces of fabric from shuttle Discovery's belly in an unprecedented spacewalk earlier this week.
Astronaut Stephen Robinson on Wednesday carried out a risky operation to clear two fibres hanging from the Discovery shuttle that could cause it to overheat when it returns to Earth.
Perched on the end of a 17.7m long robotic arm and carrying a hacksaw and forceps, Robinson became the first astronaut to carry out a space walk under the shuttle during its orbit.
Robinson, who was accompanied outside the shuttle by Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi, then inched toward the second ceramic strip which also came out with no trouble.
Engineers had feared that the tile fillers could upset the stability of the shuttle as it re-enters the Earth's atmosphere and cause it to overheat in similar way to the Columbia disaster on February 1 2003.
Temperatures on the shuttle skin can reach 1 370�C during re-entry and the contour of the vessel's belly has to be smooth to make sure it does not overheat.
Discovery is now expected to leave the International Space Station on Saturday and return to Earth on Monday after its mission was extended by one day.
Shards of foam debris came off the external fuel tank during Discovery's lift-off on July 26 and Nasa experts have carried out extensive monitoring of the skin to make sure it is not critically damaged.
Nasa deputy shuttle programme manager Wayne Hale admitted on Tuesday that Nasa engineers were also analysing a thermal blanket below Discovery's cockpit which apparently was hit by debris during lift-off on July 26.
"I have people who will come back and report within 48 hours, so I will get a status report tomorrow," Hale said, adding that there was some concern the blanket might tear off during re-entry.
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