Workers Focus on Shuttle Rollback Preps

Having collected data through the weekend from Friday's tanking test on space shuttle Discovery, workers at NASA's Kennedy Space Center are preparing the shuttle for a return to the Vehicle Assembly Building, or VAB. The move is to take place tomorrow, starting at about 3 a.m. EST. Once inside the VAB, the back side of the intertank region of the external tank will be scanned and foam will be reapplied to areas where sensors were placed for the tanking test.

Initial data and a walk down by the inspection team identified no cracks in the foam or anything out of the ordinary. Analysis could take several weeks. Engineers are looking at what caused two stringers on the tank's ribbed section to crack during fueling on Nov. 5. Discovery’s launch attempt was scrubbed after a leak developed in the ground umbilical carrier plate, GUCP, which also was evaluated. The GUCP did not leak during the tanking test. Analysis could take several weeks.

‪The STS-133 mission to the International Space Station is planned to launch no earlier than Feb. 3, 2011.