Australian Broadcasting Corporation August 2, 2005
Astronaut to make repairs to shuttle
TV PROGRAM TRANSCRIPT
Reporter: Norman Hermant
TONY JONES: NASA will be holding its breath tonight as an astronaut walks in
space to make running repairs to the shuttle for the first time. The US Space
Agency says it anticipates no problems in the maintenance mission, but admits if
it doesn't work that it could mean the shuttle Discovery will not be able to
return to Earth safely. Norman Hermant reports.
NORMAN HERMANT: As the shuttle Discovery orbits in space, back on Earth, mission control will be watching this latest space walk anxiously. Tonight, the astronaut who will perform some very specialised maintenance said he was ready.
STEVE ROBINSON, DISCOVERY ASTRONAUT: Well, like most kinds of repairs, it's conceptually very simple, but it has to be done very, very carefully.
NORMAN HERMANT: This is what is causing the latest problem - a thin sheet of material called gap filler used to keep the shuttle's heat-resistant tiles apart. Two of those gap fillers are sticking out and that could cause big problems on re-entry when the lack of a smooth surface could mean a deadly heat build-up.
JOHN PIKE, GLOBALSECURITY.ORG: It could exceed the temperature capacity of tiles towards the back of the shuttle. That could cause a burn-through and that could lead to the destruction of the vehicle.
NORMAN HERMANT: To fix it, astronaut Steve Robinson will be carried underneath the shuttle on its mechanical arm, something NASA has never tried before. Then he'll either pull the gap fillers out or saw them off. It's the latest hiccup in a mission that started with a repeat of the problem that doomed the shuttle Columbia - foam insulation again broke loose on launch. Everyone, including Australia's Andy Thomas, thought that problem had been fixed.
ANDY THOMAS, ASTRONAUT: We were disappointed. We were surprised, too. We were very surprised. It was very unexpected. The biggest emotion was one of disappointment that all of that work that had been done to make sure that foam would not come off had failed to address one critical area where foam was liberated and it was a great surprise.
NORMAN HERMANT: Eyebrows were raised earlier when one of the top shuttle officials had this to say about the ramifications of the insulation problem.
WAYNE HALE, SHUTTLE PROGRAM MANAGER: The Columbia actually made us realise that we had been playing Russian roulette with the shuttle crews.
NORMAN HERMANT: Tonight, Andy Thomas was asked if he knew that was the case would he have flown on four previous shuttle flights?
ANDY THOMAS: Naturally, there's a lot of risks associated with space flights. That's true of this mission. It's true of every mission that's preceded it. And it will be true of every mission that follows. Hopefully we can learn to properly mitigate that risk and that's what is one of the aims of this mission is that we are trying to achieve. Yes, I would have flown those missions. I've enjoyed space flight. It's a really unique experience. I feel very strongly about it and I would like to keep doing it.
NORMAN HERMANT: Tonight's repairs could be crucial for the future of the shuttle program. Discovery's crew has already had success fixing a gyroscope on this mission. NASA hopes tonight's space walk has similar results. Norman Hermant, Lateline.
© Copyright 2005, ABC
