After a lengthy meeting with engineers, the space agency believes potential ice damage has been brought to an acceptable risk.
“We are ready to go fly,” said Bill Parsons, the shuttle program manager. “The recommendation is that we are in an acceptable risk posture, and I accepted that recommendation.”
The debris evaluation has been an ongoing process for NASA in the two and a half years since the Columbia disaster. Proposed launch windows for the shuttle Discovery have been moved twice, to the most recent launch window of July 13 to 31.
One significant update to the shuttle was the installation of a heater on a bellow joint through which liquid oxygen passes. By doing this, NASA engineers feel they have reduced risk to the mission and the astronauts “by an order of magnitude.”
“We just spent eight hours discussing results and six weeks generating them,” said John Muratore, the shuttle systems engineering and integration manager. “It doesn’t lend itself to a single number. You can’t say, like in blackjack, ‘If I have a 15, these are my odds of winning.'”
Engineers also ordered the change of the external tank to one that was planned for use by Discovery’s sister craft Atlantis. The new external tank was mated to Discovery before the shuttle was moved back to the launch pad.
NASA wants the Discovery mission to rendezvous with the International Space Station. Should the shuttle mission be unable to launch during the window beginning July 13, they would have to postpone the launch to September 9th.
More meetings will be held this week, to discuss the forthcoming Discovery launch as well as future missions. Today, the Return To Flight Task Group will meet in Washington, and discuss whether NASA has completed their recommended 15-point to-do list.
Wednesday and Thursday will see Flight Readiness Reviews held, as NASA Administrator Michael Griffin and senior NASA officials and shuttle program managers discuss any remaining issues and set a launch date for Discovery.
David Utter is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business. Email him here.
