NASA busy trouble-shooting

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- NASA on Tuesday traced fuel gauge failures in shuttle Atlantis' tank to a bad connector, and a top manager said he didn't know how long it would take to repair.

The erratic shuttle fuel gauges -- part of a critical safety system -- forced back-to-back launch delays this month. Until Tuesday's test, NASA was aiming for a Jan. 10 liftoff of Atlantis with a European space station lab.

"We're going to follow this trail where it leads us and we're going to solve this problem, and then we'll go fly ... whether it's Jan. 10 or Feb. 10 or March 10," shuttle program manager Wayne Hale said.

Two of four fuel gauges at the bottom of Atlantis' external tank failed during Tuesday's test, and another did not work right.

"We are not going to be driven by schedule on this one," he said at an afternoon news conference. "We need to get to the bottom of this, fix it and make sure it's fixed once and for all."

In orbit, astronauts. including Lombard's own Daniel Tani, helped pinpoint a problem with the international space station's power system. They unearthed few clues, though, to an even bigger issue with a fouled rotating joint for the solar wings.

Spacewalking Astronauts Peggy Whitson and Tani inspected the station's two crippled power components. While not related, the power generation issues threaten to delay future shuttle flights.

Their first stop was a solar wing-tilting mechanism that tripped a circuit breaker Dec. 8 and shut down power. Engineers initially thought a piece of space junk damaged it, but the duo found no such evidence. A test exonerated some parts, leaving a motor likely at fault.

NASA's space station program manager, Mike Suffredini, said a spare motor already on board will be installed during Atlantis' visit.

Repairs to the damaged solar rotary joint, on the other hand, will be massive requiring as many as four spacewalks and likely not attempted until next fall, he said. It will take that long to figure out what's wrong and train a crew, he said.

The joint should rotate 360 degrees so the solar wings can follow the sun. It's been used sparingly for three months since it started vibrating and showing electrical current spikes.

Whitson and Tani spent most of the seven-hour job inspecting the clogged joint, removing covers and peeking inside with a dental-style mirror on a rod. They collected more of the grit first detected by Tani in an October spacewalk, prompting one small mishap.

As Tani was transferring a piece of Kapton tape from bulky suit glove to another while collecting debris, it whipped around a corner and floated away.

"I see it. I see it. I see it," Tani said. "OK, I've got eyeballs on it."

"Let me see if I can go around the back side," Tani said, quickly grappling along the railings in an attempt to catch up to it.

"Nothing heroic here, it's not worth it," mission control said.

"Ok. Yep, OK, it's gone," Tani said.

"Say goodbye. It'll get home before you do," mission control teased.

"Yep rub it in," said Tani, who had been scheduled to return with Atlantis this month.

The 100th walk in space

The mission Tuesday was the 100th spacewalk for construction of the International Space Station, a fact to which Lombard native and astronaut Daniel Tani gave a nod.

"One hundred EVA's during station assembly. That's an amazing record of resounding success. One hundred safe EVA's is fantastic. Even though we lose a piece of tape here or there I think we've done incredible work, and I know we couldn't have built the space station without it," the Glenbard East High School graduate said. "It couldn't be done without absolutely everybody's involvement. Everybody who makes the suits and the gloves and the procedures and the tools. Everybody we work with every day and everybody that we haven't met who works on this program, we thank them all. So it's fantastic to be the fortunate people to be out here doing the space work but we know that all the hard work happens on the ground, so thank you very much."

Getting in a good family plug before the holidays, Tani quickly added "And I've got to say 'Hi to Jane, my wife, I love you and I know you're watching so I'll be home sometime. Sometime soon, I hope."

Mission control acknowledged the gesture.

"Oh, major points scored."

- Catherine Edman