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...mission control inside the Johnson Space Center in Houston, the sense of calm was noticeably higher than that during liftoff nearly a month ago when two minutes into the flight it was learned that foam debris which doomed Columbia had also fallen from Discovery's detachable fuel tank...
...back to Florida where it will be ready as Atlantis's backup for a mission tentatively scheduled for September. Had Discovery touched down in Florida, of course, it would have been easier to stick to their time-table. Before that next mission, NASA must continue to answer questions about foam debris. The growing consensus, however, is that personnel walking on the craft during preparations may have accidentally dented the external fuel tank, leading to the dislodged foam. In other words, NASA is beginning to think that is was not a problem with tank design...
WHAT WENT WRONG . . . The largest piece of foam missed Discovery entirely. Another piece may have struck the wing but did no obvious damage. Protective tiles on the orbiter's underside, including one near its vulnerable nosewheel well, seem to have been gouged during launch, perhaps by more falling foam...
...UNDER THE SHUTTLE The orbiter didn't escape unharmed. There are at least 25 dings on its underside, including one near the nose, where temperatures can climb dangerously high ?FOAM DEBRIS The biggest chunk was 2 to 3 ft. wide (0.6 to 0.9 m), about 1 ft. long (0.3 m) and up to 8 in. (20 cm) thick; it probably weighed 0.9 lbs. (0.4 kg), about half the size of the piece that downed Columbia ?THE TROUBLESOME RAMP Most of the falling bits came from the so-called PAL ramp, a ridge of hand-sprayed foam designed...
...FOAM -- 1 in. (2.5 cm) ?Fuel ?Aluminum casing ?Epoxy...