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Space
Shuttle tentatively cleared for launch
Associated Press
Published June 25, 2005
CAPE CANAVERAL - NASA officials believe the risk of potentially lethal pieces of ice flying off the external fuel tank and striking the space shuttle is low enough to proceed with plans for a mid July launch of Discovery.
The conclusion came after a Friday meeting of NASA managers and engineers who have spent the past six weeks running computer simulations and testing various ways ice might strike the orbiter. The launch window opens July 13.
"There are still some areas we're going to continue to watch very closely and will probably continue to look for ways to mitigate those areas in the future, but we believe that it's an acceptable risk at this particular time," said Bill Parsons, program manager.
Discovery was transported to the pad in April but removed May 26 after NASA determined pieces of ice could form on the external fuel tank after the super-chilled fuel was loaded. Managers decided to install a heater along the feed line for liquid oxygen.
Falling chunks of ice could be even more menacing than pieces of the fuel tank's insulating foam, which was responsible for Columbia's destruction during re-entry and the deaths of seven astronauts in 2003.
[Last modified June 25, 2005, 00:35:14]
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