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at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in

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Florida technicians in the Vehicle

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Assembly Building make modifications to

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34 support beams call stringers on Space

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Shuttle Discovery's external fuel tank

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to increase the structural support of

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the stringers crews fit pieces of metal

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called radius blocks over the tops of

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the stringers edges at the external

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tanks thrust panel area the thrust panel

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areas which see the most stress during

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the flight into orbit are located at the

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attachment points between the tank and

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the solid rocket boosters teams are also

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performing scans on all of the tank

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stringers using a backscatter device

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that bounces radiation off the tank

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allowing engineers to see beneath the

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foam insulation and crews are repairing

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small cracks on three stringers on the

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side of the tank opposite discovery that

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were detected in late December the

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repairs are similar to those made

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earlier on cracks found on two stringers

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after Discovery's November fifth launch

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attempt managers and engineers will

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review the test data to determine the

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next course of action Discovery's next

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launch opportunity for its sts-133