2007-06-11 15:59:48 · 7 answers · asked by panayoti74 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
It was announced today that the mission has been extended from 11 to 13 days to fix that flap of fabric that peeled away during assent.
HOUSTON (Reuters) - Two astronauts ventured into space on Monday to install a giant new piece on the International Space Station on a mission NASA will extend to repair a rip in space shuttle Atlantis' heat shield.
Two days and an additional spacewalk will be added to a flight to fix the inches-long tear in an insulating blanket at the back of the shuttle, said deputy shuttle program manager John Shannon.
"It was 100 percent consensus that the unknowns in the engineering analysis and the potential damage ... was not acceptable and we wanted to go and fix it," he said in a briefing at Johnson Space Center.
The tear was not thought to be a catastrophic threat to the shuttle, Shannon said, but has nagged at NASA engineers since it was spotted shortly after launch from Florida on Friday.
If not fixed, it could cause heat damage to Atlantis when it returns to Earth on its new landing day, June 21, he said
2007-06-11 16:41:33 · answer #1 · answered by ericbryce2 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
it WAS scheduled to land on Tuesday, June 19th at around 2:45 EDT, but that has now been moved to Thursday, June 20th because mission managers decided that the tear that happened in the insulation blanket during launch was too much of a risk to go ahead with, without being repaired
2007-06-12 16:03:37 · answer #2 · answered by mcdonaldcj 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's due to land on Friday as early as 12:26.
2007-06-11 16:07:45 · answer #3 · answered by Jessia123 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Don't forget to call the airline an hour before the expected landing time, in case they are running early or late. And you also have to allow some time for them to get through Customs and Immigration.
2007-06-11 16:41:13 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
4 years!
2007-06-11 16:02:56 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
june 19th 2:44 pm edt
2007-06-11 16:06:56 · answer #6 · answered by glenn t 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
not for awhile. They have to finish upgrading the ISS
2007-06-11 16:07:13 · answer #7 · answered by Fastily 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋