Originally published December 29 2005
Cracks in fuel tank foam may delay next shuttle launch
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Cracks in a foam "ramp" on the space shuttle's fuel tank may delay NASA's next launch. The shuttle program has only operated once since Columbia disintegrated in February 2003.
Recently discovered cracks in a foam "ramp" on the space shuttle's external fuel tank may present an "unacceptable safety threat" to the orbiter, raising the possibility that NASA could delay its next launch while engineers decide whether to get rid of the ramp altogether, shuttle program manager N. Wayne Hale said in an internal memo.
Discovery of the PAL ramp cracks during an inspection early last month marked a new setback for the troubled shuttle program, which has flown only once since Columbia disintegrated over Texas in February 2003.
Hale had predicted earlier that making changes to eliminate the ramp would delay the next shuttle launch until next fall, at least four months later than currently planned.
An analysis of this photo, taken by Discovery's crew in July, showed that a large piece of foam separated from the fuel tank as the shuttle rose to orbit.
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In the e-mail Sunday to shuttle engineers and managers, Hale said vertical cracks in the external tank's "protuberance air load," or PAL, ramp extended deep into the foam insulation and appear to have been caused by contraction and expansion as the tank was being filled with supercooled liquid hydrogen and oxygen.
Because all shuttle fuel tanks undergo such "cryoloading," cracking "must be presumed possible in any PAL ramp on any flight vehicle," Hale wrote.
Hale stressed his judgments were "preliminary" but it "appears mandatory" that the shuttle team focus on eliminating the ramp altogether for all upcoming shuttle flights, including the May launch.
Despite the dire nature of the e-mail, however, Hale said in a telephone interview yesterday that he intended to challenge his team to "explain to me how we could do anything with the cracks," including devising new foam spraying techniques.
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