BY TIM BONFIELD
The Cincinnati Enquirer
CAPE CANAVERAL, FLA. -- None of the glitches surrounding the launch of space shuttle Discovery appears critical, but NASA officials are continuing to investigate what happened to the drag chute door.
Even before NASA was ready to convene its post-launch press conference, reporters who were watching replays of Harris Corp.'s high-definition television launch coverage immediately noticed that something fell off the shuttle just before it left the pad. At T-minus six seconds, the main engines ignited. Two seconds later, incredibly crisp video showed a square white panel falling off the tail and hitting the nozzle of main engine No. 1.
The shuttle blasted off into space as if nothing had happened.
Reporters also noticed while watching routine coverage of the flight control room that NASA officials had the same image on their computer screens.
Several minutes later, Donald McMonagle, launch integration manager, told reporters that the panel appeared to be the drag chute door, an 18-by-22-inch panel of waffled aluminum with a white insulating coating. The panel is just below the shuttle's tail rudder.
There was no concern that the lost door would force an early return. However, the shuttle's camera-equipped robot arm cannot reach the area, which means an inspection -- if done at all -- would require a spacewalk.
The initial video indicates that the chute did not deploy. Still unclear was whether the drag chute was damaged by the heat of blast-off, or could be damaged during re-entry.
NASA officials are not deeply worried because the shuttle flew 48 times -- including test flights and the 1986 Challenger explosion, which killed seven astronauts -- before a drag chute was installed in June 1992.
The shuttle has landed safely at Kennedy Space Center and at Edwards Air Force Base without a drag chute. In fact, if crosswinds are a problem, the crew would not use the chute anyway -- to avoid being steered off the runway.
Whether the missing door creates a thermal insulation problem was unclear but doubtful. The panel is located in an area that usually does not take high re-entry heat, Mr. McMonagle said.
NASA officials plan to meet this morning to further analyze the problem.
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