Launchpad Damaged During Saturday's Shuttle Launch

By Nancy Atkinson - June 1, 2008 at 10:23 PM UTC | Space Exploration
debriswater.jpg

The launchpad at Kennedy Space Center was damaged during Saturday's space shuttle launch. Pictures taken during Discovery's launch show debris raining down into the waterway just behind launchpad 39A. Additional images show debris that appears to be broken concrete littering a nearby road as well as damaged and buckled concrete on one side of the launchpad.

CBS News' Bill Harwood

reported that the damage to the pad occured on the north side of the "flame trench" wall. The trench is used to divert exhaust from the shuttle's solid rocket boosters.

The damage is "unusual," Harwood quoted NASA spokesman Bill Johnson, who verified the damage was serious and tomorrow (Monday) a full report on the incident will be issued. Harwood also reported that a NASA manager said part of the pad's base was repaired following a previous launch, but possibly something was either missed or not repaired correctly.

The debris appears to come from the lauchpad itself, and not the shuttle. And whether any of the debris hit the shuttle is currently unknown. The astronauts on board Discovery have not yet been able to conduct the usual inspection of the shuttle nose cap and wing leading edge panels because the 50-foot-long boom equipped with laser scanners and high-resolution cameras was unable to fit into the shuttle's payload bay due to the large size of the Japanese Kibo laboratory that Discovery is bringing to the International Space Station. The last shuttle crew left the orbiter boom sensor system at the ISS, and the crew of Discovery will retrieve it while docked to the station. ISS crew members will take high resolution pictures of the shuttle as it approaches the station on Monday. Docking is scheduled about 2 pm EDT.

Both launchpads at KSC, 39A and 39B were originally built for the Apollo spacecraft/Saturn rockets and were modified for the space shuttles. During launches the pads must withstand both high heat and extreme pressure.

Original News Source:

CBS Space Place

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com