After shuttle repair, NASA weighs one more fix

Stunning images
Those who watched from space and on the ground were fascinated by the never-before seen views.

“Steve, could you move your hand out of the field of view,” astronaut Andrew Thomas radioed Robinson, who had a camera attached to his helmet. “We were enjoying the view as much as you were.”

NASA thought the first gap filler was the trickier of the two. They believed it remained glued to a shim that was bonded to a thermal tile.

There are 24,300 glass-coated tiles on the shuttle, a majority of them on its belly. The tiles protect the shuttle from the extreme temperatures in orbit and, more importantly, insulate the ship during launch and re-entry.

The filler material protects the tiles from bumping against one another during launch, but isn’t needed for landing because of the difference in the airflow.

One last picture
Once the work was complete, Thomas asked the spacewalkers to return to the shuttle and cut short the expected 7-hour orbital outing. He said it had been a long day.

Robinson, however, urged Mission Control to let him take a picture from beneath the shuttle before the station’s arm brought him back up.

“You guys are going to be happy I had a camera,” Robinson said. “It is so beautiful to see the orbiter against the Earth at these angles.”

An astronaut in Mission Control told Robinson the photo sounded nice.

“I think the team down here would like an autographed copy when you get back,” Michael Massimino radioed from the Houston control center. “You guys did a great job. Congratulations.”

Robinson chipped in with his own compliments: “That was the ride of the century,” he told astronaut James Kelly, who operated the station’s arm during the filler repair. “Very nice job.”

Stowage platform installed
Before Robinson began the filler repair Wednesday, he and Noguchi spent about two hours installing an external tool and parts platform on the international space station, where Discovery has been docked since last Thursday.

The platform’s installation had been considered the key task of the mission’s third spacewalk until NASA officials determined the exposed fillers could threaten Discovery’s re-entry.

The main aims of Discovery's 13-day mission are to resupply the space station, bring back tons of old equipment and trash from orbit, and test the safety procedures developed since the Columbia tragedy.

Columbia broke apart over Texas in 2003 as its crew returned to Earth from a 16-day mission. The disaster was blamed on a chunk of foam that fell from the external tank during liftoff and tore a hole in one of spacecraft’s wings. All seven astronauts died. Discovery, set to land Monday, was the first shuttle to return to orbit since the tragedy.

During Discovery's ascent, cameras recorded yet another significant loss of foam from an area of the fuel tank that was not redesigned after the Columbia disaster. As a result, NASA put a hold on future shuttle flights until it fixes the problems encountered with the foam and the gap fillers.

This report includes information from The Associated Press and MSNBC.com.

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