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Discovery launch deals serious damage to launch pad |
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Written by Derek Kessler on
Friday, 06 June 2008
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 Launch Complex 39A, the primary launch pad for NASA’s space shuttle fleet at the Kennedy Space Center, suffered serious damage during last weekend’s launch of the space shuttle Discovery. Regularly inspected after launches, the north flame trench, which is designed to catch and redirect the flames that shoot out from the shuttles’ external booster rockets, was found to have an unprecedented amount of damage. Brick and mortar debris blasted from the trench was found all the way up to the perimeter fence, some 450 meters from the pad.
While the flame trenches regularly experience minor damage during launches, this level of damage has never been seen before. NASA engineers aren’t even sure of what caused the destruction and have assembled and investigation team to get to the root of the issue.
The stripped brick and mortar walls of the north flame trench.
The Kennedy Space Center only has two shuttle launch complexes, 39A and 39B. The next shuttle launch, Atlantis to the Hubble Space Telescope, is scheduled to lift off from 39A in October. Because the shuttle will not be able to reach the International Space Station should it be too damaged to safely return to Earth, NASA has elected to have a second space shuttle, Endeavour, on standby at Launch Complex 39B to launch a short-notice rescue mission if needed.
Debris from the launch pad damage at the perimeter fence, 450 meters from the pad.
Debris from the launch pad damage lands in the ocean.
With only ten shuttle missions left, it would seem logical for NASA to just switch to primary use of Launch Complex 39B. However, anticipating the 2010 retirement of the space shuttle fleet, and its exclusive use if 39A, NASA has already started converting 39B to a site capable of launching the Ares I rocket system. Launch Complex 39B was last used for a shuttle launch in December 2006.
Both shuttle launch pads date all the way back to the Apollo program of the 1960s and 70s. NASA officials admit that the damage may be the result of the launch sites simply aging, having been subjected to dozens of launches of the powerful Saturn V rockets and the shuttle’s booster rockets and main engines. Even so, they are confident that repairs will have been affected well before Atlantis launches in October.
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