NASA confirmed on Tuesday that it will try to launch the space shuttle Discovery on 23 October on a construction mission to the International Space Station, ruling out a need to replace possibly defective heat shield panels.
The shuttle will haul a key connection node to the space station that will allow additional science laboratories owned by the European and Japanese space agencies to be hooked up to the orbital outpost.
The agency had briefly considered delaying October鈥檚 shuttle mission after an independent group of engineers raised concerns about microscopic cracks in three heat shield panels.
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The panels protect the wings from the extreme heat of atmospheric re-entry. The wings鈥� leading edges can get as hot as 1600 掳Celsius, which is about the temperature of the Sun鈥檚 surface.
Managers reviewed the analysis and decided the slight degradation posed no threat to the shuttle or its seven-member crew, NASA officials said at a news conference.
鈥淭he preponderance of evidence in my mind says that we have an acceptable risk to go fly,鈥� said space shuttle programme manager Wayne Hale.
NASA has paid close attention to heat shield damage since the 2003 Columbia disaster. A hole in Columbia鈥檚 wing panels, caused by insulating foam falling off the shuttle鈥檚 fuel tank during lift-off, caused the craft to tear apart as it returned to Earth, killing the seven astronauts on board.
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