SPACEPHOTOS

(01/20/2001) -- Near the bottom of the solid rocket booster, a United Space Alliance SRB technician in the Vehicle Assembly Building detaches the SRB system tunnel cover of the 36 cables inside. Above and to the left is the bottom of the external tank. The SRB is part of Space Shuttle Atlantis, rolled back from Launch Pad 39A in order to conduct tests on the cables. A prior extensive evaluation of NASA’s SRB cable inventory on the shelf revealed conductor damage in four (of about 200) cables. Shuttle managers decided to prove the integrity of the system tunnel cables already on Atlantis before launching. Workers are conducting inspections, making continuity checks and conducting X-ray analysis on the cables. The launch has been rescheduled no earlier than Feb. 6.