At NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians in the Vehicle Assembly Building are removing foam and sensors from space shuttle Discovery’s external fuel tank in preparation for additional scans of the entire intertank area.
Next week, crews will take x-ray scans beneath the foam insulation of all 108 support beams, called stringers, on Discovery’s external tank.
On Dec. 21 Space Shuttle Program managers also decided to protect the option of performing known and practiced modifications on some of the stringers, if additional testing and analysis indicates that it is necessary.
Managers are expected to decide whether modifications are needed on Dec. 30.