Cape Canaveral, July 17: A US space agency official downplayed the potential of damage to Endeavour by debris that could be seen hitting the shuttle as it launched into orbit on Wednesday.
The debris could be ice or isolating foam that broke off from the external fuel tank about two minutes after the launch, said Nasa associate administrator for space operations Bill Gerstenmaier.
“We had some foam loss events,” Gerstenmaier said. “There were several losses that occurred.”
“You can clearly see, on the front part of the orbiter, some white indications where the tiles were dinged. We don’t consider those an issue for us, those are probably coating losses.”
Gerstenmaier however said that specialists will scrutinise the images, and later the shuttle exterior will be closely examined by its crew and that of the International Space Station (ISS).
Biggest risk
“The issues will be in the back of the vehicle and we’ll take a look at those when we do the roll-pitch manoeuvre that’s planned,” Gerstenmaier said.
He said debris that peels off in the minute and 35 seconds after takeoff presents the biggest risk of damaging the shuttle’s protective coating. After that the risk of damage is diminished because the atmosphere is lighter and the speed of the debris is less, he said.
The Endeavour lifted off from the Kennedy Space Centre at 18:03 (2203 GMT) in its sixth bid in recent weeks to launch toward the orbiting ISS.
Nasa has been extra cautious about conditions for the exit and return of space shuttle missions since the Columbia blew apart some 20 000 metres above the Earth in 2003 as it was returning from a 16-day space mission to land in Florida.
A chunk of insulation that broke off from the shuttle’s external fuel tank during takeoff had gouged Columbia’s left wing heat shield, allowing superheated gases to melt the shuttle’s internal structure, leading to its explosion and the death of its seven astronauts.
The Columbia tragedy was the second shuttle accident since the programme was launched in 1981. On January 28, 1986 the Challenger shuttle blew up 73 seconds after liftoff, also killing seven astronauts on board.
—-Agencies