Sunday, May 22, 2011

STS134: Heat shield OK'ed for landing

Small chunk missing from tiles under the orbiter.

NASA engineers have examined the photos of Endeavour's heat shield and determined there is no danger for the orbiter to re-enter the atmosphere on it's last return to Earth. The damage was probably cause by a piece of falling insulation from the External Tank during liftoff. It was larger damage than this that caused shuttle Columbia to lose integrity during re-entry and its destruction.

No comments: