Space shuttle Discovery blasted off on its 12-day flight on 27th July from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida. This was the first flight for two and half years following the re-entry disaster of Columbia in 2003.
It was a spectacular sight as it roared up into a bright blue sky to the cheers of spectators, astronaut families and US space agency staff. The aim of Discovery’s flight will be to test safety measures brought in after the Columbia accident and re-supply the International Space Station.
This would have been good news for the gas companies that supply NASA and especially the Shuttle Series. Air Products has an exclusive contract to supply liquid hydrogen to the Shuttle series (in Cape Canaveral) and is a duel supplier of hydrogen with Praxair to the Engine Testing Centre in Louisiana. Air Products supplies liquid oxygen to the Space Centre in Florida while Air Liquide has a contract to supply nitrogen gas from its Merrit Island ASU in Florida.
However, concerns about debris or rubber cladding falling off the main rocket support tank and damaging the protective heat shield resulted in NASA postponing future flights until the situation is resolved. This put a dampener on the space programme’s activities and for the gas companies who supply the Shuttle Series.
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