ASTRONAUTS aboard the space shuttle Discovery – which was being readied for its Wednesday launch as New Scientist went to press – will be testing five different “puncture repair kits” designed to prevent the kind of disaster that befell the crew of the shuttle Columbia in 2003.
Columbia was doomed after a piece of foam fell from its external fuel tank during lift-off, punching a hole in panels on its left wing. This allowed superheated gas to breach the orbiter’s heat-resistant skin during re-entry, and the shuttle disintegrated in seconds.
“Astronauts will be testing five ‘puncture repair kits’ designed to prevent disaster”…
