Foam Mystery

Shortly after the launch of space shuttle Endeavour, long strips of insulating foam came off the external tank, and some of it struck the underbelly of the orbiter. NASA is studying the situation, but so far sees no danger for this mission.

Engineers are puzzled, however. Foam has never come off the external tank in the area this stuff did, or when it did, or in strips. NASA wants to understand what happened before the next launch, which could mean-- you guessed it-- another delay in the program.