Yes. Some time before the launch a bird tried to land on top of the External Tank (the big, orange one). It could not get a good grip, so it broke off a few small chunks and eventually flew away. The mission managers at the time called it "an aborted landing attempt." The damage was repaired and, from what I understand, there is no real concern about it. There was another piece of the tank that came off and flew away after the SRBs fell away. Looking at the video, it is pretty obvious that it flew away from the Shuttle and poses no threat. There is something that they are looking at closely, however. It appears as though a tile, or a piece of tile, may have come off of the bottom of the Shuttle. There are a lot of unknowns right now. Is there significant damage? Can the crew return saefly? Is it even a tile? This morning, the robotic arm took imagery of the entire underside, so that should give us a better idea. Also, when the Shuttle docks with the ISS, the ISS crew will photograph the underside (the Shuttle will perform a kind of space-pirouette). People need to remember that there has always been debris, and there always will be debris. Shuttles have returned before with cracked or broken tiles, it just depends on where the damage is. Columbia was lost because the debris put a hole in the leading edge of the wing, an area that sees some of the most extreme heat. -monkey
One does wonder if Steve Robinson and Soichi Noguchi will have to put the 'Thermal Protection System' demo (repairing tiles ) in to practice sooner than thought.
Damn, was gonna watch the webcast but was at work Glad everythings gone ok this time, fingers crossed they're back on their feet again and things go well. Have to say, visiting NASA in the US (kennedy, johnson and Ames centers) was the best 10 days of my life. Utterly amazing. Keep up the great work supermonkey, kudos to you all at NASA for getting things back up and running after Columbias untimely death
Wow, I did not see this coming. The above-mentioned piece of foam is one of the primary reasons that the Shuttle fleet has once again been grounded. The next launch (Atlantis, Mission STS-121) has been indefinitely postponed due to renewed concerns about debris. Personally I can see why they are playing it safe, but part of me wonders if they are being overly cautious. Not a single one of those astronauts would have boarded the Shuttle if they felt unsafe. Even though the Safety Commission noted conerns about debris, the few asronauts on the commission all stated that they would still fly. If they asked me, I wouldn't have to think for a moment. I would go up in a heartbeat. -monkey
Shuttle lands safely! And the award for "Worst TV Coverage of the Year" goes to NBC. If only Katie Couric would have been quiet so we could hear the discussion between Mission Control and Eileen Collins. -monkey
