Crack in shuttle engine
2002-12-13 11:05
Washington - Nasa has discovered a crack in a joint in the space shuttle Discovery's main propulsion system, a Nasa spokesperson said on Thursday.
"It's a single crack on a single ball joint in the main propulsion system," spokesperson Bruce Buckingham said.
No other cracks have been found on Discovery or any of the other three shuttles but inspections have not yet finished, Buckingham said.
The round joints, also known as knee joints, give a certain amount of flexibility to the oxygen and hydrogen supply to the propulsion system.
The four shuttles were grounded for several months earlier in the year after tiny cracks were found in the hydrogen flow liners of their propulsion systems.
It is too early to tell if the new crack will have any effect on Nasa's current launch schedule.
The next launch is scheduled for January 16. The space shuttle Columbia will spend 16 days in space on a science mission. - Sapa-AFP
- SAPA