"It was a very easy decision to add the task to EVA number three to go and remove those two gap fillers," Wayne Hale, deputy manager of the space shuttle program, told a press briefing here.

NASA is uncertain about how the material, or gap fillers, could affect the shuttle when it re-enters the Earth's atmosphere.

"We investigated that at length. The team has been working for three days," Hale said.

"At the end of the day the bottom line is, there is large uncertainty because nobody has a very good handle on aerodynamics at those altitudes, at those speeds."

"This is the new NASA. If we cannot prove that it's safe, then we don't want to go there," he said.

earlier related report
Shuttle Astronauts Await Word On Whether Return Is Safe
Astronauts aboard the Discovery awaited NASA's decision Monday on whether the space shuttle is safe to return to Earth as they meanwhile prepared for their second space walk.

While NASA engineers and mission managers have given Discovery's outer coating of thermal protection tiles the all-clear, they are still reviewing a problem with protruding gap fillers between the tiles on the bottom of the spacecraft, officials said.

The ceramic fiber fillers are used to keep hot gas from flowing into gaps between the tiles.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration officials were confident they would be able to clear Discovery Monday for its return flight to Earth on August 8 as planned.

"With the exception of the gap filler, I think we are pretty much ready to declare the (shuttle) is safe for reentry," said shuttle program official Steve Poulos.

"We have a very clean orbiter," said Wayne Hale, chairman of the shuttle program management team.

Discovery is currently docked at the International Space Station, onto which the crew continued to move supplies and equipment Sunday.

NASA's head administrator admitted Sunday that the US space agency had "goofed" on key safety checks prior to Discovery's launch last Tuesday.

"Our judgment at the time was that it was okay. As everyone has said without any attempt to hide it ... we goofed on that one," Michael Griffin told NBC television.

Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links SpaceDaily Search SpaceDaily Subscribe To SpaceDaily Express Space Shuttle News at Space-Travel.Com Memory Foam Mattress Review SPACE MEDIA NETWORK PROMOTIONS Solar Energy Solutions Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison ... Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News SHUTTLE NEWS Hurricanes Delay Shuttle Launch Washington (UPI) Sep 22, 2005 NASA Administrator Michael Griffin says Gulf Coast hurricanes will delay the next space shuttle launch until May - putting it two months behind schedule.