Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 5, 1995 TAG: 9502060064
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: CAPE CANAVERAL, FLA. LENGTH: Medium
Discovery later sprang another thruster leak, this one even bigger, but the crew got that seepage to stop by late Saturday.
Russian officials were concerned the leaking fuel might damage their orbiting Mir station if Discovery came too close during Monday's rendezvous. NASA flight controllers scrambled to provide as much information about the leaks as possible to their Russian counterparts.
Mission operations director Randy Stone said NASA will do whatever the Russians want. In the worst case, the Discovery and its crew of six will have to fly around Mir from a distance of about 400 feet, he said. The original plan called for the shuttle approaching as close as 35 feet as practice for the first shuttle-Mir docking in June.
Shuttle commander James Wetherbee said that he would be disappointed if he couldn't close in all the way, and that much information would be lost involving navigation and shuttle handling.
``There are a lot of unknowns, uncertainties with a rendezvous like this,'' Wetherbee said. If Discovery is limited to 400 feet, ``then we'll give them what we can.''
National Aeronautics and Space Administration officials insist the June docking by Atlantis will proceed no matter what happens on this mission. At least seven Atlantis-Mir dockings are planned through 1997.
The first steering thruster to leak, located at the rear of Discovery, began spewing nitrogen tetroxide shortly after Discovery reached orbit Friday. The second leak popped up Saturday afternoon in a thruster at the front of Discovery. In all, the shuttle has 38 of the type of thrusters that leaked.
Wetherbee said there's no way to shut off the leaking thruster without disabling the two other jets in the same cluster, one of which is critical for a close approach.
by CNB