Large Hail Damages NASA Shuttle
UPDATE: I have watched the NASA TV report mentioned below. A summary based on what I heard:
They didn't see any irony in that the main speaker was Wayne Hale.
NASA had recently made external improvements and was proud to have "the cleanest tank ever flown" -- until the hail started.
The storm was "an unusual set of circumstances", extremely severe and localized over Launch Complex 39 where the shuttle was parked. It was described as an "explosion" of meteorological mayhem, with a lot of golf ball sized, 1.5" diameter of hail, accompanied by 62-mph wind gusts. Hail is not unusual in Florida, though this is early in the season. Usually the hail is quite small and rarely causes damage.
Damage was 360 degrees on the foam -- it was the worst damage they have ever seen from hail on the external tank foam. Hundreds of spots will have to be sanded or blended, or they will have to pour foam into the divots. The Shuttle will have to be moved back to the assembly building. Two dozen orbiter tiles suffered cosmetic surface damage and will require slurry or putty. The wings were damaged by wind blown, ricocheting hail which got under the orbiter weather-protection system. There was some damage on ice frost ramps. They will inspect other parts of the shuttle for damage through thermography.
A couple of weeks will be needed to repair, but need more examination is needed before that time can be confirmed. Non-standard repairs could require verification of repair techniques, causing additional time to be spent. They cannot make launch window for the March launch of Atlantis. Also a review of whether or not it can be repaired at KSC will take place. Most likely launch would be after the Russian Soyuz change-out on April 20th, with a window for the next 30 days. A June launch cannot be ruled out. NASA should be able to catch up with the launch schedule by the end of the year.
ORIGINAL POST:
Large hail during a severe thunderstorm Monday damaged the exterior of the Space Shuttle Atlantis at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The photo below shows the damage. Below is a radar image from when the hail hit (the "X" shows the approximate location of the Space Shuttle). The SPC [JessePedia] did not record any reports of hail in east-central Florida yesterday, but a Severe Thunderstorm Warning issued for the storm mentioned "large destructive hail" for Merritt Island, which includes the Kennedy Space Center.
(from AccuWeather.com RadarPlus)
(from Plymouth State)
Here is an article from MSNBC about the damage.
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