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Cause of shuttle trouble

LOS ANGELES: Engineers have found the most likely answer to why the insulating foam outside the fuel tank broke off during the space shuttle launch, according to Michael Griffin, administrator of U.S. space agency NASA. Super-cooling of the external fuel tank may have led to cracks in the insulating foam, when it was filled with liquid propellant, making it vulnerable to falling off, Mr. Griffin told Saturday's Los Angeles Times. Insulating foam is plastered on space shuttle's fuel tank to prevent ice-forming on the surface. NASA engineers have learned that the foam always breaks off during shuttle launch, making an extreme threat to the mission safety. A piece of falling foam damaged the wing of shuttle Columbia in 2003, causing the craft's destruction on re-entry and the death of all seven astronauts aboard. — Xinhua

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