Word: foams
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Shannon spent five hours with a team of about 200 engineers and mission management folks going over the data on Endeavour's gouge, caused by the seemingly unstoppable shedding of foam insulation off the external fuel tank during launch. The gouge was determined to be of a size and in a location that would not create danger to the crew or ship. Shannon says the vote was not unanimous but "pretty overwhelming" for Endeavour to return home without repair...
Fifty-eight seconds after launch, a fragment of ice or insulating foam once again broke away from the shuttle's external fuel tank and - once again - left a deep divot in the ship's insulating tiles. It was foam damage that killed the shuttle Columbia in February 2003, when superheated gases generated during reentry entered the ship through a breach in the insulation. Ever since then, astronauts have given their spacecraft a close visual inspection upon reaching orbit to look for any troublesome chips. On Sunday, a 3D laser imager attached to Endeavour's robotic arm revealed what could...
...greater the jagged area exposed to the force of rentry - something which can, in theory, lead to a catastrophic peeling away of whole stretches of tiles. The comparative severity of the injury to Endeavour is leading NASA to conclude that it was probably denser ice, not comparatively light foam, that is responsible for the damage...
...most vivacious movie musical in ages, and Travolta is a big reason why. Encased in a foam-rubber fat suit, and channeling Blanche DuBois and Miss Piggy, he reveals his feminine side in a way that could have made Stanwyck smile in appreciation. And though Edna hasn't quite the agility of Saturday Night Fever's Tony Manero, Travolta is still a dancing champ at any weight...
...opportunity for office-seeking outsiders. Michael Bloomberg of Massachusetts is an old-fashioned naturalized New Yorker. He had a long and lucrative career on Wall Street before running for mayor in 2001. Hillary Clinton, by contrast, was no more a New Yorker than the average gawker in a foam Statue of Liberty hat when she began her first "listening tour" of the state in 1999. She staged a friendly takeover of the local Democratic Party, running a thorough, well-researched campaign in 2000 and zealously filling constituents' potholes ever since. New York's shrunken fortunes make it unthreatening...