Thursday, July 28 2005 17:05 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Houston: NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) has grounded further flights of the US space shuttle fleet after a large piece of insulating foam broke off the external fuel tank of the Discovery shortly after liftoff, the same problem that doomed Columbia shuttle killing seven astronauts.

The space agency said the mysterious object that came flying off the space shuttle Discovery's fuel tank during liftoff was a large piece of foam insulation, which might have doomed the spacecraft had it made contact.

While there is no indication of the foam having contacted the Discovery orbiter, the incident should not have happened in the first place and is reason enough to put a hold on future flights, NASA officials said.

Images taken of the external tank in orbit identified the foam separation, and also detailed additional areas where the material pulled loose from its tank, they said.

"You have to admit when you're wrong. We were wrong. We need to do some work here, and so we're telling you right now, that the ... foam should not have come off. We've got to go do something about that," shuttle program manager Bill Parsons told reporters at Johnson Space Center.

"Until we've fixed this, we're not ready to fly, You could say that we're grounded, " Parsons said.

Engineers believe the foam piece was only somewhat smaller than the chunk that smashed into Columbia's left wing during liftoff in January 2003.

The damage Columbia sustained that day caused the orbiter to break apart during re-entry, killing all seven astronauts aboard including India-born Kalpana Chawla.

NASA expected some debris to fall off during Tuesday's launch, but officials said they wouldn't know for a few days whether any of it would mean a risk to the crew.

The loss of a chunk of debris, a vexing problem NASA thought had been fixed, represents a tremendous setback to a space program on which over one billion dollars have been spent.

Parsons said, "We won't be able to fly again" until the hazard is removed. Meanwhile, it's docking day for the STS-114 crew aboard Space Shuttle Discovery and the Expedition 11 crew on The International Space Station.

The terminal initiation burn, which aligns the Shuttle with the Station's docking port, is set for about 4:40 am (local time). Before docking, Commander Eileen Collins and Pilot Jim Kelly will send the orbiter into a back flip maneuver, enabling the Station crew to photograph Discovery's outer protection system. The imagery will focus on areas of missing tile pieces.

Discovery is scheduled to dock to Station at 7:18 a.m. Mission imagery continues to provide NASA with valuable data for the safety of this flight and future flights.

A team of about 200 people across the country is working to analyze Discovery's first photos. Foam loss from the external tank indicates a need for more improvements to the tank's insulation.

NASA's Mission Management Team Chair Wayne Hale said yesterday that, according to current data, Discovery is in good shape for a safe return home. More detailed analysis will follow over the next few days.