May 26 2005
From The Space Library
NASA returned Discovery to the Vehicle Assembly Building from its launchpad, to attach a newer fuel tank and booster set to the Space Shuttle. While Discovery was sitting on the launchpad, NASA had determined that ice could break off the outside of its external fuel tank and could prove as lethal as the falling foam insulation that had led to the demise of Columbia. To minimize the risk of such debris striking the orbiter's fragile heat shield, NASA had decided to install an additional heater on the fuel tank. Ice forms on the external tank when the fuel is extremely cold, and a heater would reduce the amount of ice build-up on the tank. (Irene Mona Klotz, “Shuttle Heads Back to Workshop,” BBC News, 27 May 2005; “Shuttle Rolls Back to Hangar,” Washington Post, 27 May 2005.)
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