Image Scans of All Discovery External Tank Stringers Under way

X-ray type image scans of ‪space shuttle Discovery's external fuel tank are under way.

Technicians in the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida have removed the foam insulation and test sensors from the external tank, and Sunday they started computed radiography scans of all 108 support beams, called stringers, on the outside of the tank’s intertank section.

While additional scans are under way, engineers at various other NASA locations continue data analysis to help determine what caused small cracks on the tops of two stringers during Discovery’s launch countdown on Nov. 5.

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The latest scans are scheduled to continue through Thursday (Dec. 30) when Space Shuttle Program managers are set to decide whether testing and analysis indicate technicians need to perform known and practiced modifications on some of the stringers.