Astronaut Successfully Plucks Out Filler From Shuttle’s Belly
Astronaut Steve Robinson successfully pulled out the protruding gap fillers from between the shuttle’s thermal protection tiles during his 7 hour spacewalk yesterday. The gap fillers came out with a simple tug; Robinson didn’t need the makeshift hacksaw he’d brought with him. NASA officials were worried that the Nextel fabric could lead to overheating in the area during Discovery’s re-entry. The filler material keeps the shuttle’s heat tiles from bumping into each other during launch, but aren’t necessary during landing.