Comments on: BREAKING NEWS: Shuttle belly damaged; uncertain how badly

By: Robert

Robert — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 17:42:54 +0000

I have seen a Tile, and if the damage is not too deep, the tile should be fine. they might out a filler in there, but that is just to protect it before re-entry. That and the coating of the other tiles will burn off then anyway.

They want the gash not to be too deep, so they don’t have to replace a tile, It would be Very Hard to replace a tile in space. because the tolerance between tiles is so critical. you don’t want to replace a tile with one that would leek even more than the one you are replacing.

By: Lurchgs

Lurchgs — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 21:32:36 +0000

NASA obviously doesn’t know about the Handyman’s Secret Weapon (thank you, Red Green) - Duct Tape!

By: Astrolink [Global Edition] » The Moon, the rocket, the Shuttle | Latest astronomy news in 11 languages

Mon, 13 Aug 2007 19:03:23 +0000

[…] of the Shuttle, NASA is pondering what to do about the 3-inch gouge in a tile on the Shuttle’s belly; replace it in-flight (hard, time-consuming, never been done before) or leave it be and, […]

By: Space Shuttle Endeavour News « Round Here

Space Shuttle Endeavour News « Round Here — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 14:31:35 +0000

[…] over at Bad Astronomy has an excellent photo of the damage. (I’m too lazy to go searching for any […]

By: papertiger

papertiger — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 04:48:18 +0000

Thank God it isn’t serious. (t least it looks like a minor blemish to me)
If it needs to be fixed I am sure they have the neccesary astro goop to fill a 3 inch divot.
No worrys right?

By: Stuart

Stuart — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 15:47:41 +0000

Ironically, NASA’s [i]bragging[/i] that the new Constellation system puts the humans above and away from the SRB o-rings, and that it has no main tank to shed foam chunks.

Yipee, they’ve fixed the problems that they caused in the first place! Now all we have to worry about is the hundreds of dangers inherent in space flight, not the “own goals” that the Shuttle designers scored.

By: StevoR

StevoR — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 03:57:32 +0000

Maybe having a schoolteacher on board is the kiss of death … ;-~

Mind you I really hope NOT! Hoping ‘Endeavour ‘ gets back fine -at least we know about the problem & take steps to correct it.

Perhaps the best idea is having the external tank below the orbiter as was one of the original plans?