Space Shuttle’s Earth Mapping May Be Cut Short
Space shuttle Endeavour’s astronauts on Sunday pelted the Earth with more radar signals as NASA struggled to understand a thruster problem that could cut short their mapping of the world.
A valve on the end of the 197-foot radar antenna mast jutting out of Endeavour’s cargo bay was not providing thrust, despite a constant flow of nitrogen gas. Engineers suspected a leak somewhere in the gas line.
To compensate, Endeavour’s pilots had to fire the shuttle thrusters more than usual to steady the mast, the longest rigid structure ever flown in space.
The thruster firings did not interfere with the crew’s radar scanning or the quality of data being collected, but the additional firings meant more fuel was being used than anticipated.
Flight director Leroy Cain said the mapping, scheduled to continue through Sunday, might have to be halted as much as a day early.
More than 17 million square miles of terrain had been charted as of Sunday afternoon.
The crew is trying to produce the most precise and complete 3-D map of Earth.
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