Astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) yesterday were to examine and measure a troublesome gash in the shuttle Endeavour's heat shield by means of a camera and a laser atop a robotic arm.
The 56cm2 gouge near a landing gear hatch was apparently made by a piece of ice that broke off the shuttle's external fuel tank 58 seconds after Wednesday's launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
The laser device will provide the exact measurement and depth of the gash so NASA engineers can decide whether repairs are needed, for which the Endeavour mission would be prolonged to allow for an additional spacewalk.
Endeavour's mission was initially planned for 11 days, with three space walks.
NASA may extend the mission by three days, and add a space walk, after they test a new system that transfers electricity from the ISS to the orbiter, prolonging the life of the shuttle's batteries.
Separately, if NASA decides that the damaged shuttle tiles need fixing, an additional space walk is possible.
NASA on Saturday studied pictures of the damage taken on Friday, while two astronauts completed the first spacewalk of the shuttle's 11-day mission.
Mission specialists Rick Mastracchio of the US and Canadian Dave Williams spent six hours, 17 minutes installing and activating a new, 1.58 tonne segment for the International Space Station that the Endeavour had delivered.
The two astronauts attached the Starboard 5 truss segment to the Starboard 4 segment, with the help of shuttle pilot Charles Hobaugh, who from inside the ISS operated the station's robot arm holding the 3.37m x 4.24m truss.
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
Armed with 4,000 eggs and a truckload of sugar and cream, French pastry chefs on Wednesday completed a 121.8m-long strawberry cake that they have claimed is the world’s longest ever made. Youssef El Gatou brought together 20 chefs to make the 1.2 tonne masterpiece that took a week to complete and was set out on tables in an ice rink in the Paris suburb town of Argenteuil for residents to inspect. The effort overtook a 100.48m-long strawberry cake made in the Italian town of San Mauro Torinese in 2019. El Gatou’s cake also used 350kg of strawberries, 150kg of sugar and 415kg of
RSS