NPR: To Goo or Not to Goo: Will NASA Fix the Shuttle's Hole?

To Goo or Not to Goo: Will NASA Fix the Shuttle's Hole?

This handout photo provided by NASA gives a close-up view of the damaged tile on the underside of the Space Shuttle Endeavour.

NASA via Getty Images

The news of a hole about 3 1/2 inches by two inches in the bottom of Space Shuttle Endeavour is not so good. And the memory of what happened to the last teacher to try to go into space makes it even more unsettling.

At least NASA found it in time and has options, which include: do nothing and hope for the best (not the one I would personally choose), using something called "goo" to plug the hole, putting a protective plate over it or just keeping everyone on the International Space Station until a rescue mission could be mounted -- by October.

October is a long way from now, and nine people (seven shuttle folks and two Russians already on the space station) living for two months in a space designed for three or maybe four sounds like some new reality TV show.

These days it seems every shuttle launch has a problem like this, caused by falling ice or foam on liftoff. A friend and I were musing this morning on how often this happened before Columbia was destroyed. It's my guess that it's like the dangerous intersection that needs a light or stop sign but doesn't get fixed until someone gets killed. There must have been times in the years before Columbia when there were holes in the protective shield, but no one got killed, so nothing was done.

12:58 PM ET | 08-13-2007 | permalink

Comments (Send a comment)

Fix it.
Question:
Why don't they develop a new way to return to earth, one that doesn't heat up ships so much? Like, slower? I'm no expert, but it seems there should be another way.

Sent by J. Rhinehart | 2:07 PM ET | 08-13-2007

the best (and only) way to get these kinds of vehicles through the atmosphere is to teletransport them, and obviously that technology is not here yet.
*WILL* NASA fix the hole is a pretty dumb question. I dont think anyone that has any knowledge at all about the history of NASA would think about that answer more than 3 seconds. There is no option BUT to fix it. They brought the patches, they can do the spacewalks. An obvious answer to a silly question.

Sent by tim | 12:57 PM ET | 08-14-2007

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