Back to newsletter listDate:
Mon, June 02, 2008 12:25:19 PMFrom:
CBS Space News
Subject:
1220p 6/2 Update: NASA assesses pad damage
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CBS NEWS STS-124 STATUS REPORT: 20
Posted: 12:01 PM, 6/2/08
By William Harwood
CBS News Space Analyst
Changes and additions:
SR-17 (06/01/08): Launch pad damaged during shuttle takeoff
SR-18 (06/02/08): Discovery closes in on space station
SR-19 (06/02/08): Shuttle begins terminal rendezvous sequence
SR-20 (06/02/08): More pictures of pad damage
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11:30 PM, 6/1/08, Update: Shuttle launch pad damaged during liftoff (UPDATED at 12 p.m. 6/2 with additional pictures)
Launch pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center suffered extensive damage during the shuttle Discovery's blastoff Saturday, NASA officials say. Photographs by news media photographers and others provided by NASA sources show heat-resistant bricks lining large sections of the "flame trench" wall beneath the shuttle's mobile launch platform were blown out by Discovery's booster exhaust, littering the area behind the pad and damaging a perimeter fence.
A photograph of the side of the pad directly behind the pad shows debris splashing into water as Discovery climbed away. Pictures from NASA sources show buckled concrete and numerous concrete blocks or bricks littering a road behind the pad.
The Apollo-era launch complexes, modified for the space shuttle, must endure enormous pressures and extreme heating when shuttles take off but its not yet clear what caused the damage or whether the debris could have posed a risk for Discovery. Based on photos from cameras around the pad perimeter, the damage appeared to occur after Discovery was well off the pad.
The next launch from pad 39A is scheduled for Oct. 8. NASA sources say engineers believe the damage can be repaired by then with no impact on plans to launch Atlantis on a mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope.
Photo 1: Debris splashing into water during launch (photo by Ben Cooper for Spaceflightnow.com):
http://cbsnews.cbs.com/network/news/space/124/pad/pad_damage.jpg
Photo 2: Damaged wall of the flame trench at pad 39A:
http://cbsnews.cbs.com/network/news/space/124/pad/trench1.JPG
Photo 3: Buckled concrete at pad 39A:
http://cbsnews.cbs.com/network/news/space/124/concrete.jpg
Photo 4: Debris littering pad perimeter road:
http://cbsnews.cbs.com/network/news/space/124/fence.jpg
Photo 5: View looking from the pad toward debris-littered field:
http://cbsnews.cbs.com/network/news/space/124/pad/field.jpg
Photo 6: View of the field behind pad 39A:
http://cbsnews.cbs.com/network/news/space/124/pad/field1.JPG
Photo 7: Damaged fence behind launch pad:
http://cbsnews.cbs.com/network/news/space/124/pad/fence2.JPG
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Quick-Launch Web Links:
CBS News STS-124 Status Reports:
http://www.cbsnews.com/network/news/space/current.html
CBS News STS-124 Quick-Look Page:
http://www.cbsnews.com/network/news/space/currentglance.html
NASA ISS Expeditions Page:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/index.html
NASA Shuttle Web: http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/index.html
NASA Station Web: http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/index.html
Spaceflight Now: http://spaceflightnow.com/index.html
GoogleSatTrack: http://www.lizard-tail.com/isana/tracking/
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