Shuttle Discovery to carry emergency repair patches

Patches that someday could be used to repair damage to the leading edge of a space shuttle's wing will be carried aboard Discovery in the launch planned next month. The astronauts will demonstrate that in zero gravity they can assemble the patches, which look like flat discs with anchor bolts through them.

Patches that someday could be used to repair damage to the leading edge of a space shuttle's wing will be carried aboard Discovery in the launch planned next month. The astronauts will demonstrate that in zero gravity they can assemble the patches, which look like flat discs with anchor bolts through them.

HT Image

The flight will carry 12 patches, differing in their curvature to match different parts of the wing. In later flights, the shuttle will carry 30 to 50 of the patches, which were designed by ATK Thiokol in Utah.

In January 2003, the shuttle Columbia was damaged during liftoff when a piece of insulation foam struck its left wing. At the end of its mission, as Columbia was descending for landing, superheated air burned into the wing and broke apart the shuttle, killing the seven crew members.

Discovery is scheduled to be launched between July 13 and July 30. As with all of the flights, the spacecraft will be powered in part by two solid-fuel booster rockets built in Utah by ATK Thiokol.