NASA engineers are apparently unconcerned about the three inch gouge in the Shuttle Endeavour’s underbelly:
Experiments conducted last night at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston indicated that temperatures inside a gouge on the underside of the space shuttle Endeavour were not likely to become dangerously hot during reentry.
Coupled with computer simulations that also indicated that the shuttle’s aluminum frame would stay under 350 degrees Fahrenheit, mission managers may decide today to forgo any type of repair and allow Endeavour to fly home as is.
Judging from how serious it looks in the pictures, here’s hoping the experiments are right.
