Space Shuttle damaged

Breaking news. It appears a protective window cover fell and damaged the protective tiles covering the tail. Does anyone have any additional information on this issue?

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) -- With the countdown for Discovery in its final hours, NASA was dealt a setback Tuesday when a window cover fell off the shuttle and damaged thermal tiles near the tail. But the space agency said it could fix the problem in time for Wednesday's launch.

The plastic-and-foam cover fell at the launch pad and struck a bulge in the fuselage housing an orbital-maneuvering engine. NASA planned to inspect and repair the area -- which is protected by fragile thermal tiles -- late Tuesday.

Stephanie Stilson, the NASA manager in charge of Discovery's launch preparations, said that the tiles on an underlying metal panel were damaged and that a new panel would be put in its place. She said the work could be done quickly and should not delay the launch.

tv.ksl.com...


Bleys

Buba, get the $10,000 a roll duct tape...
Yep, it is next to the $500 hammer.

Wow.....I hope the need never arises to arm these ducks and use them in action. They won't last 5 minutes.

This is like nearly mirror events of what caused the last disaster, only they caught this one.


I have a bad feeling about this.

Originally posted by Dulcimer
This is like nearly mirror events of what caused the last disaster, only they caught this one.

Agreed.

I hope this isn't a bad omen.

Do not fret. Discovery got us back into space once, and it'll do it once again. Have faith in her!

I'm really excited, the only problem is, it means I have to get into work before 8am (I work at Kennedy Space Center). It's going to be an extremely chaotic day.

I read that NASA was considering postponing the next launch anyway, due to hurricane weather, so that should give them a bit of time to fix it that they would have had to wait, anyway.

Man, I looked at the article Bleys provided; I cannot believe it has already been 2 1/2 years since the Columbia disaster. It sure doesn't seem that long ago to me. I must be getting old for time to fly by so quickly...

DragonsDemesne,

The problem was already fixed earlier this evening and the launch is still on for tomorrow.

Originally posted by djohnsto77
DragonsDemesne,

The problem was already fixed earlier this evening and the launch is still on for tomorrow.

Good, good! I look forward to having the shuttle up and operational once again

Originally posted by Dulcimer
This is like nearly mirror events of what caused the last disaster, only they caught this one.


I have a bad feeling about this.

I too have a bad feeling. I hope the launch is postponed. 13th spooks me. Maybe it's just my NWO/Illuminati paranoia. Probably nothing.

[edit on 12-7-2005 by whaaa]

weird how such fragile heat plates protect the ship from heat.
u'd think that they would be a bit more stronger than that.
anyways. glad to hear this will not set back the launch.
im glad were going back to space, its been to long it seems