NASA engineers are evaluating the loss of a large piece of insulation foam from the Space Shuttle Discovery’s external fuel tank during Tuesday’s launch. Based on initial assessments, the foam — which ...

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The engineers who built the massive external fuel tank that will power the shuttle Discovery into orbit this spring used sophisticated X-ray detectors developed by UF researchers ...

The external tank for Space Shuttle return-to flight-mission STS 114/Discovery has entered a critical phase - application of insulation to the intertank area using enhanced procedures intended to ...

Recently discovered cracks in a foam "ramp" on the space shuttle's external fuel tank may present an "unacceptable safety threat" to the orbiter, raising the possibility that NASA could delay its next ...

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – The fretting about Discovery’s liftoff focused on foam insulation covering its fuel tank. But in the end, poor weather scotched Saturday’s much-anticipated space shuttle launch ...

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – NASA gave the green light Monday night for a Fourth of July shuttle liftoff despite worries about a piece of foam that popped off Discovery’s external fuel tank while the ...

In a major step toward resuming launches of the space shuttle, NASA officials said Tuesday they have completed improvements that will prevent the falling debris problem that destroyed the space ...

As crews fix small cracks in Discovery's external tank, engineers are carrying out a detailed analysis to justification, for proceeding with another launch attempt. Bill Harwood has been covering the ...

Windtunnel tests in February will help NASA decide if it can launch a Space Shuttle with an external fuel tank (ET) that does not have a foam-covered protuberance air load ramp. The ramp provides ...

NEW ORLEANS — The foam that struck the space shuttle Columbia soon after liftoff was improperly applied to the shuttle’s external fuel tank, NASA said Friday. The official investigation into the ...