Discovery Astronauts To Inspect Orbiter

By Frank Morring, Jr.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. - Astronauts on the space shuttle Discovery planned to spend March 16 using a 50-foot-long boom to inspect the belly, nose and wing leading edges of their orbiter for any of the sort of damage that doomed the shuttle Columbia.

Known as the Orbiter Boom Sensor System (OBSS), the robotic-arm extender was invented after Columbia's thermal protection system was damaged by a piece of insulating foam that fell onto the left wing during ascent, cracking it so the superheated gas of re-entry could get inside and melt its lightweight aluminum structure.

The team that watches long-range video of shuttle launches saw no immediate indication that anything struck Discovery's ceramic thermal tiles and reinforced carbon-carbon wing leading edges and nose cap during the March 15 launch to the International Space Station (ISS). But that was just a first look, and the next two days will consume a lot of astronaut and engineering time to make sure the first reports were accurate.

Experts in Houston will work around the clock analyzing the data that comes back from the OBSS and its laser imager. When Discovery approaches the ISS for docking tomorrow, Mission Commander Lee Archambault will fly the now-standard rendezvous pitch maneuver at a range of about 600 feet, back flipping Discovery so the station crew can photograph its belly tiles with digital cameras and 400mm and 800mm lenses.

If any damage turns up, the OBSS may be called into action later in the mission for a focused inspection of the suspect area or areas.

Follow the On Space blog for updates on the mission.

Shuttle boom photo: NASA