Space Shuttle Endeavor Struck by Debris From External Fuel Tank

This morning the Space Shuttle Endeavor lifted off. This was the sixth attempt. The previous five launches were postponed due to weather and fuel line concerns. As she lifted off this morning, debris separated from the external fuel tank with at least one of the flying pieces of debris striking the shuttle's underside.

Engineers on the ground are in contact with the astronauts in space, and will determine through examination, and analyzing the damage, to determine if the shuttle will be safe to re-enter Earth's atmosphere.

Images of the dislodged debris was captured by a camera on the external tank. The piece of debris that struck the orbiter left three marks on the underside of the shuttle, scoring the heat-resistant tiles. The belief is the tiles have only minor damage to the coating, and that the strikes were not deep enough to cause great concern.

The Endeavor's 16-day construction mission to the International Space Station, otherwise, began as planned, without any major hitches. The mission includes five spacewalks. The Endeavour brought the final pieces for completion of the Japanese laboratory on the space station. One of the laboratory's tasks is to expose experimental samples to the extremes of outer space, and observe the effect of space on the samples.

One of the Endeavor's occupants, Colonel Kopra, will remain on the International Space Station while a Japanese astronaut returns to Earth in his place. Koichi Wakata of the Japanese Space Agency has been in orbit since March. Kopra will serve as flight engineer on the space station until he is replaced at a later date.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary

By Douglas V. Gibbs

Debris Strikes Endeavour in Liftoff - The New York Times, Kenneth Chang