NASA probes new space shuttle fuel tank problem

Fri Jul 17, 2009 1:46am GMT

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By Irene Klotz

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - NASA will hold off launching any more space shuttles until it understands why strips of insulating foam peeled off the fuel tank used by shuttle Endeavour, the U.S. space agency shuttle program manager said on Thursday.

Endeavour arrived safely in orbit after Wednesday's liftoff from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida though video and images of the launch showed about a dozen pieces of debris flying off the fuel tank during the 8.5-minute climb to orbit.

Some smashed into the ship's heat shield, though NASA does not believe they caused any serious damage.

"We're not worried about this one, but we need to understand what's going on for the next flight," shuttle program manager John Shannon said at a news conference.

"This is new," Shannon said. "I don't know if we have a material issue or a process issue but we'll get to the bottom of it and clear it before the August flight."

He told Reuters in an interview that no new shuttle launches would take place until the foam loss problem was understood.

NASA has seven more shuttle launches planned to complete construction of the International Space Station. Its next flight is targeted for launch on August 18.

The U.S. space agency has been concerned about foam shedding from the tank since losing shuttle Columbia in 2003. A debris impact during Columbia's launch breached the ship's heat shield, which caused the shuttle to break apart as it flew through the atmosphere for landing. Seven astronauts died in the accident. Continued...

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<p>A camera on the Space Shuttle Endeavour's external fuel tank shows falling foam debris during the first critical minutes of the orbiter's launch in this image from NASA TV July 15, 2009. Picture taken July 15, 2009. REUTERS/NASA TV/Handout</p>

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