Damage to Shuttle Worst in 16 Missions

Discovery landed safely Friday with a senator and six others aboard, but the fiery reentry burned a wing flap and there was extensive breakage of its heat-shield tiles--the worst damage in 16 shuttle missions.

In addition, one of the landing gear brakes locked because of a previously unseen type of failure and one 44-inch tire blew up shortly before the ship rolled to a stop. Three others must be replaced.

The damage could set back preparations for Discovery’s next blastoff June 12, but launch director Robert Sieck said the wing flap damage has not yet been fully assessed.

“We could be looking at some delay, no question about it, but I would say it’s too early to speculate,” said Jesse Moore, associate NASA administrator in charge of the shuttle program.

Sen. Jake Garn, the 52-year-old Utah Republican who flew as a congressional observer, was the last of the crew members off the shuttle. He smiled and waved but appeared a bit unsteady after seven days without gravity and was helped into the crew’s “astro van.”

But five hours later, as he prepared to fly on to Houston with his wife, Garn said he felt “great” and danced a little jig to prove it.

“After being in zero G (gravity), all this weight’s a little heavy,” he explained to reporters, waving a fly swatter resembling one that his crew mates used in a futile attempt to activate the stricken Syncom satellite.

“It was just an incredible experience--one that I will never forget.”

Accompanying the senator to Houston in a NASA jet were Discovery commander Karol Bobko, co-pilot Donald Williams, space walker Jeffrey Hoffman and McDonnell Douglas engineer Charles Walker.

Discovery arm operator Rhea Seddon, accompanied by her husband, astronaut Robert Gibson, and space walker David Griggs flew to Houston an hour and a half later in a shuttle training jet.

Despite the damage to Discovery, Sieck said preparations remained on schedule for the April 29 launch of its sister ship, Challenger, with a Spacelab module containing two monkeys and two dozen rats. Challenger also will be flown by a crew of seven.

Sieck said Discovery’s damage will be reviewed to make sure Challenger will not run into similar difficulties.

Loss of Insulation Tile

Ken Colley, orbiter systems manager, said the wing flap damage was caused by the loss of an insulation tile that allowed atmospheric friction heat of 1,200 degrees or more to melt some of the underlying aluminum structure.

“There’s a sizable hole in there,” he said at a late afternoon briefing, equating the size to that of a dinner plane. “It is a fairly deep hole that goes up into the structure.”

In addition to the loss of tiles on the wing flap and the resulting heat damage, Sieck said Discovery sustained other gashes and nicks to its tiles “which may be more than we have seen in the past.” Colley said 123 separate tile hits were counted.

‘Swat Team Is Home’

Discovery’s crew had to wait an extra orbit before beginning the descent because of a few threatening clouds over the Kennedy Space Center Friday morning. The sky cleared and Discovery swooped back to Earth, announcing its arrival with the customary twin sonic boom salute.

The four main landing gear wheels touched down at 8:53 a.m. EST, and Discovery rolled to a stop with 3,000 feet left on the concrete landing strip.

“The swat team is home,” said Brian Welch in mission control in Houston, referring to the name the astronauts gave themselves when they prepared for the attempt to activate Syncom with a snare resembling a fly swatter on the end of Discovery’s robot arm.

Discovery left behind two satellites--a Telesat Canada communications spacecraft now in its normal 22,300-mile-high orbit and the Syncom communications satellite that failed after being ejected in an orbit more than 200 miles high.

The mission was lengthened two days to give the astronauts a chance to return to the satellite and try to fix it.

“In my judgment this has been truly a remarkable mission demonstrating many flexibilities and attributes of the space shuttle,” Moore said at a news conference 90 minutes after the landing.

“It also demonstrated very vividly once again the value of men and women in space. I also hope it would demonstrate to our customers that NASA cares about their systems and is willing to take extra steps in order to ensure our customer goals are met.”

Moore said NASA would bill Hughes Communications Inc., for the extra costs incurred in the salvage operation. But he said the bill had not yet been prepared and the charge would be “fair.”