International   

Shuttle crew confident of safe return

SPACE CENTER (HOUSTON): Discovery commander Eileen Collins said from orbit on Friday that she was surprised to learn a large piece of foam broke from the shuttle's external tank, despite years of work to prevent such shedding in the wake of the Columbia tragedy.

However, Ms. Collins said she's confident Discovery, which unlike Columbia was not hit by the large piece of foam, will get her crew home safely.

``Personally, I did not expect any large pieces of foam to fall off the external tank,'' the commander said during her first interviews from space on Friday morning. ``I thought we had that licked.'' Ms. Collins and astronaut Andy Thomas described the setback to the programme as a disappointment, but said they believe the problem can be fixed. ``I don't think we should fly again unless we do something to prevent this from happening again,'' she said.

``The shuttle is due to be retired eventually, but we've got more years in them. ... I'm not ready to give up yet.''Discovery's astronauts spent Friday morning unloading 15 tonnes of supplies onto the space station. ``I would say there is no significant damage to the shuttle,'' Ms. Collins said.

— AP

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

IRA: from terrorist group to political force
Pakistan signs terrorism pact with ASEAN
From the Jurassic age
Rice tops power list; Sonia misses it
Korea talks to continue amid differences
Shuttle crew confident of safe return
Double standards: Russia
Musharraf: we want to move ahead
Musharraf expels foreign students in madrasas

Copyright © 2005, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu