The next flight of the American ferry Atlantis for the last mission of maintenance of the orbital telescope Hubble in October will be more dangerous due to the greater amount of orbital rest that are that altitude, indicated Monday a person in charge of the Basket.

The risk of which the trasbordador suffers in this mission a catastrophic damage due to the impact of a micrometeorite or an orbital rest is considered in 1 in 185 compared with typical the 1 in 300 in the flights towards Estación Espacial Internacional (ISS), needed John Shannon, director of the program of the trasbordador, in a press conference.

Insofar as the director of this program cannot only assume a risk superior to 1 in 200, the decision to accomplish this mission will have to be taken by the highest people in charge of the Basket, like the director Michael Griffin, added, explaining who waits for in any case a green light.

The Hubble telescope orbit to about 563 kilometers of the Earth, against about 354 km in the case of the ISS.
“The orbital micrometeorites and rest (MMOD) represent the greater risk for all the flights of ferrys” and more to the altitude than Hubble is placed that to the one of the ISS, emphasized Shannon. It explained that the surroundings still more became hostile in the last year after a Chinese test to destroy a satellite, the unavoidable destruction on the part of the American Air Force of a satellite that was outside control and the dismemberment of a Russian rocket.

But after the accident of the trasbordador Columbia when it returned to the atmosphere in February of 2003 - brought about by the impact of an insulating foam piece that was come off the external fuel tank and perforated the heat screen of its left wing the Basket started up effective systems of inspection and repair in orbit, it emphasized Shannon. “Our capacity to diminish these risks increased, which offers more confidence us”, it emphasized.

The engineers have developed material who can cover in the space emptiness a fissure in the thermal shields or a hole in the reinforced carbon plates which they protect the wings and the nose of the trasbordador, said Shannon. In those parts of the ship the temperature is lifted (1,500 Celsius degrees) with the friction at a high speed with the atmosphere during the return to the Earth.

Anticipating the worse thing, the Basket will have a second trasbordador, the Endevour, with two crew, in the airdrop platform of the Space Center Kennedy, in Cabo Cane plantation (Florida, Southeast), ready to be sent to aid to the seven astronauts of the Atlantis of being necessary. Unlike other missions towards the ISS, the Atlantis it will be too much far from the station to be reconciled to her in case of a serious failure.

“It would be necessary that the Atlantis suffer an important and rare damage caused by a micrometeorite or an orbital remainder in a vital area to undertake a mission of rescue with one second ship”, needed Shannon nevertheless. This considered option mainly in case of serious damages caused by the impact of a piece of ice or insulating foam during the launching, assured. Nevertheless, the risk strongly has been reduced by means of modifications and technological development from the catastrophe of Columbia, said Shannon.

The Atlantis will realise his fourth and last mission of maintenance of the telescope Hubble, first space telescope, sent in 1990 and that revolutionized astronomy. His successor, the space telescope James Webb, will be placed in orbit in 2013 to taking more.