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Worried about Hurricane Dean, Mission Control considered scaling back yesterday's spacewalk at the orbiting space shuttle and station complex to allow for a possible early end to Endeavour's mission.
Nasa wants to keep its options open for moving up Wednesday's shuttle landing by one day, and shortening the spacewalk would be one way to do it, said Le Roy Cain, of the mission management team.
Shuttle managers decided yesterday to put off fuel-tank preparations for the next launch until engineers decide how to best solve the latest foam-loss problem. A piece of foam, ice or a combination of both broke off the tank during Endeavour's launch last week and shot into the shuttle's belly, carving out a deep gouge.
Much of yesterday's spacewalk involved space station chores that could be put off, Cain said.
Hurricane Dean is aiming for Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. If it looks like the storm might veer towards Houston, Mission Control could be forced to relocate to the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida. The operations at Cape Canaveral would not be as good and there would be fewer controllers, which is why Nasa would opt to bring the shuttle home a day early.
- REUTERS
