麻豆传媒

IT鈥橲 all systems go and all fingers crossed at NASA. Even as the agency鈥檚 new administrator, Michael Griffin, emphasised that returning the space shuttles to flight was his priority, technicians finished pumping 2 million litres of fuel into the shuttle Discovery鈥檚 redesigned external fuel tank. The fuel-up on 14 April was part of a successful dress rehearsal for the possible relaunch next month.

It was the first time a fuel tank had been filled with the cryogenic liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen since the shuttle Columbia鈥檚 accident in 2003. Investigators determined that the accident was caused by a piece of foam insulation that fell off the external tank during launch, damaging the leading edge of the shuttle鈥檚 left wing.

鈥淚t is the first time a tank has been filled with the cryogenic fuel since the Columbia crash鈥�

After the accident, NASA and Lockheed Martin redesigned the tank to reduce the amount of foam that falls away during lift-off. One design change, for example, has been to remove foam from an area called the bipod ramp and replace it with heaters. Once the tank was full, eight technicians examined it for frost or ice. They did see some ice, but nothing that would delay a launch. 鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 be happier at the conclusion of today鈥檚 test,鈥� said Wayne Hale, deputy space shuttle programme manager.