Return to Flight external fuel tank after being jettisoned by the space shuttle Discovery during its launch. The Return to Flight mission (STS- 114) w
Return to Flight external fuel tank after being jettisoned by the space shuttle Discovery during its launch. The Return to Flight mission (STS- 114) was the first flight of the space shuttle since the Columbia disaster on 1st February 2003. The launch was more closely monitored than any other in order to prevent a repeat of that mission, in which a falling piece of insulating foam during launch damaged Columbia's heat shield, leading to it exploding on re-entry. During Discovery's launch there was some debris loss from this tank (white dot left of centre), but it did not hit the shuttle. STS-114 launched on 26th July 2005.
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Photo credit: © NASA/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 2005, 21st, 26/07/2005, 26th, century, debris, discovery, external, falling, fuel, hit, impact, jettisoned, july, launch, manned, mission, shuttle, single, space, spaceflight, strike, sts-114, tank
