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Washington DC (SPX) March 7, 2006 NASA officials confirmed Tuesday that technicians have discovered a fault in one of the liquid hydrogen engine cutoff sensors on shuttle Discovery's external fuel tank. Although the sensor probably will have to be replaced, agency officials have not yet decided whether to postpone Discovery's next launch, currently scheduled for May 10 or later. "No decisions have been made about whether there needs to be a swap-out of the sensor," NASA spokeswoman Katherine Trinidad told SpaceDaily.com. "No decision has been made about the next step." Trinidad explained that technicians discovered the fault about a week ago, during a normal check-out procedure that occurred just before the external tank was shipped from Lockheed Martin's Michoud, La., facility, where it was built, to Kennedy Space Center in Florida. "They discovered what was called a shift in a reading in one of the liquid-hydrogen ECO sensors from its normal reading," she added. The tank has been placed in the giant Vehicle Assembly Building at KSC, where it is being prepared for launch. If NASA decides to replace the sensor, the work must be done before ET-119 is mated to the shuttle's twin solid-fuel rocket boosters. "There are so many issues that could affect a launch date or launch window," she said. "This is just one of them. Right now the program is still focused on targeting no earlier than May 10 for Discovery's next flight." Trinidad also said NASA has not yet scheduled a news conference or briefing on the issue. Related Links Shuttle Kennedy Space Center
Researchers Still Tackling Shuttle Foam Problems
Ames IO (SPX) March 5, 2006Iowa State University researchers are studying how X-ray backscatter imaging and computer simulations can help NASA examine the insulating foam on the space shuttle's giant external fuel tank to find any defects that could threaten future missions.
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