Lift-off could be delayed after discovery of corrosion in rudder speed brake actuators
The next launch of the Space Shuttle could be delayed from March 2005 into early 2006 following the discovery of corrosion and microscopic cracks in some of the orbiter fleet's rudder speed-brake actuators.
If detailed examinations cannot be performed and some type of replacement found, the STS 114 Discovery return-to-flight mission could be set back by nine months, says Mike Kostelnik, NASA's head of the Space Shuttle programme. "It's not the foam that's critical now, but the rudder speed brakes," he says. Discovery's actuators are acceptable, says Kostelnik, but spares are needed to be installed on the orbiter Atlantis, which under Columbia Accident Investigation Board recommendations, needs to be available to provide a "safe haven" should there be problems on the STS 114 flight.
TIM FURNISS / LONDON
Source: Flight International
