Oct 14 2005
From The Space Library
NASA announced findings from its investigation into the causes of the foam loss on Discovery's external tank during the Space Shuttle's launch in July 2005, a problem similar to the one that had caused the destruction of Space Shuttle Columbia in February 2003. A team of NASA investigators stated that they had uncovered several possible factors that may have caused a 3-foot (0.9-meter) portion of insulating foam to separate from Discovery during launch. They reported that the most likely cause was inadequate methods of applying and repairing the foam on Discovery's external tank. The investigators stated that workers might have sprayed the foam in a manner that introduced fissures into it and might have crushed the foam while standing on it in the course of conducting the repairs on Discovery. Although the foam debris had not damaged Discovery, the incident had prompted NASA to suspend Shuttle launches until May 2006, so that engineers could identify the problem and correct it. (Guy Gugliotta, “Discovery Launch Is Still On for May,” Washington Post, 15 October 2005.)
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