Storm batters shuttle Atlantis

0 Comments | USA TODAY, February, 2007 | by Traci Watson

Hailstones as big as golf balls put more than 7,000 dings into space shuttle Atlantis' fuel tank Monday night and may delay the ship's launch from March until June, NASA officials said Tuesday.

The news of the fuel tank problem came the same day a safety panel released a report warning that the International Space Station faces a "high safety risk" from small space rocks and space debris.

Wayne Hale, the shuttle's program manager, said the storm did "the worst damage we've ever seen from hail" on the tank, which is covered in foam insulation with roughly the texture of a picnic cooler.

Not all of the thousands of dings in the foam will need to be fixed, said John Chapman, the tank manager. The deeper holes will be filled, and abrasions to the...

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