Small hole found in Space Shuttle Atlantis



October 6, 2006

A small hole has been found on the Space Shuttle Atlantis on the right hand payload bay door radiator, NASA officials have stated and it is not known what exactly caused the hole.

"The impact occurred sometime during the STS-115 mission last month. The nature of the object that hit the shuttle radiator isn't known. The hit, which left a hole about one-tenth of an inch in diameter, didn't endanger the spacecraft or the crew, nor did it affect mission operations," said NASA in a statement on their website.

Monsters and Critics.com reports that a small rock or meteroid may have hit the shuttle "when returning from its mission" and CBS News reports that "space debris" are to blame. The hole did not cause any damage to any of the vital instruments or systems on Atlantis.