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Online NewsHourSpace Shuttle: Return to FlightNewsHour Science Reports
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Return to Flight -- Shuttle Upgrades
In the two years since the space shuttle Columbia disintegrated as it re-entered the Earth's atmosphere, NASA engineers have worked to modify more than 41 areas of the shuttle before the three remaining orbiters return to flight.
Click on the various parts of the shuttle below -- the orbiter, the external fuel tank and the solid rocket boosters -- to view some of the major changes intended to improve shuttle safety.
EXTERNAL TANK
SOLID ROCKET BOOSTER

ORBITER
EARTH		 Cameras and Tracking
NASA technicians have installed a new digital camera on the rear underbelly of the shuttle to take photos of the orbiter's separation from the external fuel tank and send them back to mission control for analysis. Additional enhanced imaging equipment on the ground will include nine portable cameras and a high-definition television to provide detailed recordings of shuttle launches for analysis.
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