Shuttle Discovery Tanking Test No Earlier Than Dec. 15

Space Shuttle Program managers reviewed plans Tuesday for conducting a test of shuttle Discovery’s external fuel tank no earlier than Wednesday, Dec. 15 at NASA Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39A in Florida. Details of the tanking test, which include placing instruments on several locations of the external tank, will be briefed to NASA senior management Wednesday afternoon.

Engineers and technicians have been meeting this week to evaluate plans for the test. It will help verify repairs associated with cracks on the tops of two 21-foot-long, U-shaped aluminum brackets, called stringers, on the external tank and help engineers determine what caused the cracks in the first place. Technicians repaired the cracks and reapplied foam insulation on the stringers last month. Tanking test plans call for recording temperature and strain gauge measurements in the intertank region near the top of the external tank where the stringers are located.

Managers determined last week more tests and analysis were needed before proceeding with Discovery’s STS-133 mission to the International Space Station. Discovery’s next launch opportunity is no earlier than Feb. 3 at 1:34 a.m. EST.