- Site Announcement -

Space shuttle Atlantis was hit by golf ball - sized hail during a storm with winds 60 miles per hour. Over two dozens heat tiles on the shuttle were damaged. The worst impacts were on the top of the main external fuel tank, where hail bombarded it with thousands of small holes in the foam insulation.

Engineers will roll the Atlantis off the launch pad during the first weekend in March. If the damaged tank can be repaired at the Kennedy Space Center, a late April launch is possible. If the fuel tank has to be replaced, a June blastoff appears more likely.

-- VFG

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American Eagle Airbus A300b4 - 600R from Sky Harbor Airport - Phoenix, Arizona approaching Norman Y. Mineta Airport - San Jose, California, USA.

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