The severe weather that hit NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla., this week caused delays to shuttle Endeavour's launch dress rehearsal and left minor damage to the vehicle's external fuel tank.
Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
Strong wind, rain and lightning kept teams off of Pad 39A, prevented them from conducting a thorough survey of Endeavour and the pad following Wednesday's strong storm that passed through the region.
No one was injured and initial assessments indicate there was only some minor foam insulation damage to Endeavour's external tank. No other obvious damage has been seen, but the team's survey, which picked up again on Friday, will verify there is no additional damage.
The U.S. Air Force 45th Weather Squadron reported that during the storm the pad briefly saw sustained 57 mph wind (50 knots), with a peak gust of 90 mph (79 knots). Small hail was spotted near the pad, and there was a lightning strike recorded about a half mile from the pad's center.
Again, there was no indication of damage from the strike, but that will be assessed by the teams during their on-going pad walkdown.