Move Would Give Controllers, Crews, In-Flight Repair
Option
Members of the Columbia
Accident Investigation Board Friday issued one of their biggest
challenges to NASA since the space shuttle crashed Feb. 1: Come up
with a way for astronauts to repair heat shield damage while still
in orbit.
The CAIB has already announced its members believe foam, which
fell from Columbia's external fuel tank shortly after its Jan. 16
liftoff, damaged the leading edge of the left wing. Although NASA
and Boeing engineers fretted over the possible damage that foam
might have caused, NASA managers refused their request to turn
America's spy satellites on the shuttle to assess the impact. The
CAIB has found that the impact most likely punched a hole in
Columbia's left wing, allowing super-hot gases to flood the landing
gear compartment and burn through the orbiter's wing upon re-entry.
Columbia disintegrated over Texas and Louisiana, killing all seven
astronauts on board.
Take A Look, However You Can
Friday's CAIB recommendation calls
for every shuttle to be inspected while in orbit, whether that
means using imaging satellites or sending the crew out on a Mr.
Fixit-style EVA to inspect the space plane. The board also ordered
NASA to come up with a way astronauts could make emergency repairs
if they do find a problem while in orbit.
NASA has already approved putting a robot arm and astronaut
mobility units on every flight, so astronauts can at least try to
make repairs if necessary. Columbia had neither.
NASA has been plagued with the lack of an in-flight repair
program since 1981, when attempts to formulate one met with little
success. The effort was renewed after the 1986 Challenger disaster.
Again, there was little that could be done, outside providing
astronauts with an escape hatch for low-altitude bailouts.
Still, NASA officials say technology has improved and the
presence of the International Space Station have "greatly improved
the prospects."
No More Debris
CAIB members are also
expected to demand NASA ensure nothing else falls off the orbitor.
In Friday's statement, the board said the latest recommendation on
in-flight repairs "does not reduce the urgency or importance of
aggressively reducing all sources of potential damage to the
orbiter."
NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe (right) isn't expected to
be thrilled with the CAIB report when it's issued before the end of
summer. "When it comes out, it's going to be really ugly. This is
not going to be anything that anybody's going to be particularly
happy with at all," O'Keefe said.
"It's the whole agency that's going to be affected by this.
Everybody."