Discovery loses main antenna during launch

by Stevie Smith - Apr 6 2010, 05:27

Without falling foul of inclement weather conditions or any troublesome technical glitches, the space shuttle Discovery has successfully blasted clear of Florida's Kennedy Space Center on NASA mission STS-131 to the International Space Station (ISS).

Although the launch itself went without a hitch at around 0620 (ET) on Monday, NASA later revealed that Discovery's main antenna suffered a malfunction shortly after the vehicle departed – an issue that could prove problematic during the ISS docking procedure.

However, officials from the U.S. space administration have said Discovery carries other instruments that will enable the crew to complete the intricate coupling process.

NASA also confirmed that three pieces of foam insulation were seen falling from the external fuel tank during take-off, but are not thought to have caused any damage to the protective heat-shielding tiles coating Discovery's underside.

The crew is scheduled to perform a routine visual inspection of the shield later today. AP reports that the antenna failure will likely mean beaming the resulting images back to mission control for evaluation will have to wait until the crew has access to equipment aboard the space station.   

Discovery and its team of seven astronauts (consisting of four men and three women) are expected to arrive at the $10 billion USD orbiting science facility on Wednesday, at which time the shuttle will offload various supplies and equipment, including new science racks and much-needed ammonia tanks.

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