KSC-2009-4218

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – In the Vehicle Assembly Building's High Bay 1 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers are doing "pull plug testing" on foam adhesion from the intertank of space shuttle Discovery's external tank. At right is David Buras, a Material and Process engineer from NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility near New Orleans where the fuel tanks are built. They are collecting 26 foam samples an inch-and-half in diameter for analysis to confirm the foam is bonded well to the metal primer underneath. The testing was prompted by the foam loss during launch of space shuttle Endeavour on the STS-127 mission July 15. Samples are being sent to Michoud for study. Photo credit: NASA/Tim Jacobs