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Shuttle Launch In September Unlikely As Engineers Ponder Falling Foam
NASA said Thursday it is unlikely to meet a September target for its next space shuttle flight as engineers try to figure out why foam fell off Discovery 30 months after a similar problem doomed Columbia. "We probably won't make the September 22 window," said Bill Gerstenmaier, who is leading an investigation into why pieces of foam insulation fell off Discovery's massive external fuel tank upon launch on July 26. He said two engineering teams examining the possible causes of the problem would need more time to make their assessment and probably modify the external tank. "We didn't find anything that showed the specific root cause, we just need to keep looking," said Gerstenmaier, the International Space Station's International Manager. "More than likely, we'll have to do some minor engineering modifications to the tank," he said in a telephone news conference. NASA already had spent 30 months and millions of dollars to improve the shuttle after foam insulation fell off Columbia's tank and damaged the left wing, causing the orbiter to disintegrate upon re-entry into Earth's atmosphere, killing all seven astronauts on board on February 1, 2003. But foam again tore off the tank of Space Shuttle Discovery, which safely landed in California Tuesday. All rights reserved. � 2005 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse. Related Links SpaceDaily Search SpaceDaily Subscribe To SpaceDaily Express 
NASA Launches Shuttle 'Foam' Investigation
Houston TX (AFP) Aug 10, 2005NASA said Wednesday engineers have launched an elaborate review into why pieces of foam insulation fell off the space shuttle Discovery's fuel tank, hoping to clear the way for more manned space flights.
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