NASA: Discovery crew may have to repair shuttle
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NASA is trying to determine if two bits of material sticking up from the shuttle Discovery’s thermal tiles present an unacceptable risk of overheating when the shuttle returns to Earth, the flight director said just a couple hours ago.
NASA managers already have deemed 90 percent of Discovery’s heat shield able to withstand the tremendous forces and high heat of atmospheric re-entry on Aug. 8.
But NASA has discovered two protruding gap fillers, which is material used to fill any minute gaps between heat shield tiles. A decision about whether the crew will be asked to fix them is expected on Monday, Hill said.
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