ANN REAL TIME NEWS: 0620 EDT -- With a makeshift hacksaw
in hand, Discovery astronaut Stephen Robinson is making his way to
the orbiter's underbelly, hoping to tug, saw or snip two dangling
pieces of ceramic-covered fabric. If left untouched, NASA worries
those gap-filler strips could cause overheating upon re-entry and
threaten the shuttle itself.
Pratt & Whitney (P&W) Space Propulsion recently
completed fabrication of a hypersonic Ground Demonstration Engine
(GDE-2) successfully completing a three-phase, nine-year, $58
million contract with the US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL).
The GDE-2 is unique in that it features a variable geometry inlet
and a bolted construction, simulating the configuration of a
reusable access-to-space or global-reach propulsion system.
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