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Space Debris Punched Hole In Endeavour's Radiator

Thursday, August 30, 2007 5:04:42 PM
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Shuttle Endeavour Hole (2)

Additional Information

NASA has discovered that Endeavour suffered the worst damage from space debris in the 26-year history of the shuttle program during its mission last week.
 
The damage was just discovered during inspections in the hangar.  
 
Space debris punched a hole right through a radiator on the shuttle.  The hole is just over one-third of an inch wide.  The hole was not in a critical area of the shuttle, but went right through the part it hit.  The radiator that was hit is a part that isn't inspected for damage in orbit because it is stowed in the shuttle when it is coming back to Earth.
 
In another picture of the damage posted on NASASpaceflight.com, the area where the debris exited shows mangled metal. 
 
A spacewalking astronaut told News 13 that a spacesuit can survive a hole that big for 30 minutes if the debris doesn't kill the astronaut by hitting a vital organ and if it doesn't hit the life support of the spacesuit.
 
The last shuttle hit by space debris in the radiator was Atlantis last September.  That hole was only a third the size of the one found on Endeavour.

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