FL Today: Shuttle Discovery tile dinged during en

[erauskydiver]

Complete FLORIDA TODAY coverage delivered to your door. Subscribe now. <br /> Email this page to a friend. <br /><br />Dec. 9, 2004<br /><br />Shuttle Discovery tile dinged during engine installation<br /><br />FLORIDA TODAY<br /><br />CAPE CANAVERAL - Technicians damaged a heat-shielding tile on shuttle Discovery this week in what NASA deemed minor damage during engine installation. <br /><br />The orbiter was dinged while technicians installed one of the shuttle's three main engines in preparation for next year's return to flight.<br /><br />A lifting machine called a Hyster, a sort of front-end loader, started to tilt on Monday while lifting one of the giant main engines into position at the rear end of the orbiter. The engine bumped the orbiter, damaging one tile.<br /><br />"They can repair the minor tile damage in place," NASA spokesman Bruce Buckingham said this morning.<br /><br />Thorough inspections of the orbiter and the main engine were done over the last few days and the Discovery team is satisfied that neither the orbiter nor the engine sustained any damage that could prove dangerous in flight.<br /><br />NASA is moving forward with installation today of the last of the three main engines that will help propel Discovery on the first post-Columbia shuttle mission. The launch is set for no earlier than May 14, at about 4:11 p.m.<br /><br />NASA's official launch window stretches from May 12 to June 3, but May 14 is the first day a shuttle could fly under new constraints against night launches<br /><br />http://www.floridatoday.com/topstories/120904discovery.htm<br />

 

[rocketwatcher2001]

Even Shuttles get hanger-rash. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[CalliArcale]

"Hanger-rash" -- I like it! <img src="/images/icons/tongue.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em>  -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>

 

[CalliArcale]

Well, then you've expanded my vocabulary! Thanks! <img src="/images/icons/cool.gif" /> It's cool knowing genuine aviation people. <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em>  -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>

 

[rocketwatcher2001]

Also ramp-rash. The "ramp" is really an airplane parking lot.<br /><br />I've even heard of pad-rash, from a guy that's working on Delta IV. He's been on Delta's for many years. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[scottb50]

I remember, when I was a line person at what is now Centenial Airpark, in Denver when a 172 taxied by a P-38 and hit the nose with the wing. The P-38 got a few scratches in the paint and the 172's right wing came off. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[spayss]

Sometimes damage can be very subtle. Finely machined parts can work just fine with no indication that they have been thrown off center a thousandth of an inch by a seemingly unrelated 'ding'. This can lead to wear and failure down the road. This is most often seen on an automobile but applies to all machines.

 

[acid_frost]

Oh, Watch out it might put it off another year to get her into space again! <br /><br />Frost

 

[scottb50]

I doubt there is much precision hardware in the nose of a P-38. With unit body construction it takes only minor damage to tweak a car though. But, it's cheap and easily built by robots, I mean we have to get rid of these manufacturing jobs in this country, labor is just too much of an expense. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[rocketwatcher2001]

<font color="yellow"> a 172 taxied by a P-38 and hit the nose with the wing. The P-38 got a few scratches in the paint and the 172's right wing came off.</font><br /><br />I can't see a Cessna losing a wing during a taxi collision. Cessna's have some of the toughest wings in aviation, especially a 172. There have been only a handfull of wing failures, and they were all pretty much due to bad strut repair. <br /><br />Are you sure it was a Cessna? <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[scottb50]

Absolutely. It was in 1973 or 1974 aznd it was a pretty new 172 in an aeroclub that I was a part of. If you look at the loads on a wing, an impact from the front is not an expected occurance.<br /><br />I did not see the collision, but it only makes sense. <br /><br />Your right, not too many Cessna wings have failed in flight. The situatiojn I reference was in the tie-down area. <br /><br />I have over 6,000 hours in single engine Cessna's so I'm not disagreeing with you, and since the majority was over the mountains of Colorado, for ten years, I totally agree, they are hell for stout.<br /> <br /> <br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>