Endeavor's accident has been caused by ice by Corina Ciubotaru

There is a problem concerning NASA scientists these days: a block of ice hit the underbelly of Endeavour and created a gouge. What is Endeavour, you may ask. Well, it's the spaceship that carried its crew of seven to the International Space Station for some inspections and repairs. After the take-off, a chunk of ice from the fuel tank seems to have broken off and hit protective insulation tiles on the underside of the ship, which are intended to keep it from burning up when entering the atmosphere. Although scientists aren't sure it was ice that caused this mess, one thing’s for sure: the damage must be fixed before the crew comes back to Earth, in order to avoid a disaster like Columbia a few years back. Then, a piece of insulation foam the size of a briefcase broke off, causing the overheated spaceship to burn up when it re-entered the atmosphere. The astronauts have 3 ways to fix the tile problem: they can screw on a plate, apply black paint or try to apply some goo. They have a week to do this, as this is the time they are expected to spend in space on this particular trip. The mission was to connect an additional truss to the Space Station, which was done on Saturday, as well as install a new storage unit for spare parts, replace a gyroscope and, if the mission extends, check for any damage that needs repairs. The Endeavor is also testing a new system that allows spaceships to draw their power directly from the Space Station. By using this, it may be possible for the crew to spend a record 10 days on the Station.

related story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6942573.stm

by Corina Ciubotaru for PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv)

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