Discovery's Oct. 23, 2007 mission may be delayed

William Atkins
Thursday, 11 October 2007 18:23

Science - Space

NASA officials confirmed on Wednesday, October 10, 2007, that three panels on the edge of Discovery’s wings may need to be repaired before the mission can be launched. A decision should be made next week.            

NASA space shuttle managers are considering the delay of the NASA STS-120 mission because the outer coating of three of the forty-four reinforced carbon panels is degraded. If the decision is made to repair the panels, then space shuttle  Discovery will be removed from the launch pad and returned to its hanger for the work—what to NASA is called a “rollback”.

The problem has been known for several months. Although not visible with the naked eye, NASA engineers and scientists can look at the problem through special sensing instruments.

The NASA Engineering and Safety Center has recommended that the panels be replaced, but officials with the space shuttle program are considering leaving them alone and flying with them. They contend that the panels have flown before in this condition and can do so again. A Flight Readiness Review (FRR), scheduled for next week, should produce a decision, whether to repair the panels and delay the mission or go ahead and fly with the panels as is.

The space shuttle program uses a series of reviews and a Flight Readiness Review to provide status for upcoming flights of the space shuttle. Each current review, or “status report,” states the progress made since that last review for an eventual launch of a mission and, ultimately, whether or not that mission is ready to fly.

According to the home website of the NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC): “NESC is an independently funded program with a dedicated team of technical experts that provides objective engineering and safety assessments of critical, high-risk projects. This is the charge of the NESC: an organization dedicated to promoting safety through engineering excellence, unaffected and unbiased by the programs it is evaluating. The NESC is a resource and is meant to benefit the programs and organizations within the Agency, the Centers, and the people who work there.”

The NESC website asks the question “Why was the NESC formed?":

“The NESC was formed to respond to the observations of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) that NASA's current safety organization lacks adequate technical expertise and resources for independent technical reviews of NASA's programs. The NESC is comprised of the best engineering expertise from across the Agency and also includes partnerships with other government organizations, National Laboratories, universities, and expert consultants. The country's best experts are brought to bear on the problems and challenges of NASA programs.”

According to the NASASpaceFlight.com website “NASA reviewing showstopper for STS-120 - RCC panels in question,”: “NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) have officially recommended for three of Discovery's RCC (reinforced carbon-carbon) panels to be replaced, after they were found to have “weakened SiC to carbon substrate adherence," or 'debonding' of the top layer.”

NASA officials involved with the STS-120 mission are currently reviewing the NESC recommendation.

Further technical information about the problem is found at the NASASpaceFlight.com website quoted above: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/content/?cid=5249.