Discovery leaves launch pad for Vehicle Assembly Building Photo Credit/Spaceflightnow.com and Justin Ray
Shuttle Discovery will spend the holidays in the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.
The winged spacecraft was moved by crawler-transporter from Launch Pad 39A to the VAB late Tuesday and early Wednesday, arriving at the protective hangar just after 7 a.m. EST.
Discovery’s final mission has been on hold since Nov. 5, when a hydrogen leak forced a launch scrub.
Subsequently, technicians discovered four small cracks on Discovery’s external fuel tank.
The unexpected damaged to a pair of 21-foot-long support stringers on the upper portion of the fuel tank prompted a round of troubleshooting, including a Dec. 17 launch pad test in which the shuttle was filled with chilled rocket propellants.
During the operation, the external tank was instrumented with strain gauges and temperature sensors to record changes to the 154 foot tall fuel tank structure. Visually, engineers saw nothing out of the ordinary.
However, the tank’s stringer sections will be X-rayed in the coming days to ensure there has not been further damage. Portions of the tank could not be x-rayed at the launch pad.
Some modifications to the tank to fortify the stringer section are under consideration as well.
Discovery could be returned to Launch Pad 39A in mid-January.
If so, NASA’s senior orbiter could be ready to launch on an 11-day assembly and supply mission to the International Space Station between Feb. 3 and Feb. 10.
Discovery’s crew includes six astronauts.