[theDentist]

... "we made a mistake" in not addressing the area of the external fuel tank where a piece of foam broke off shortly after Discovery's launch on Tuesday.

Let's see... tanks connect to shuttle. Form facing shuttle not tested. Foam at furthest point of tanks tested.. something here smells wrong.BTW, does color of foam really matter?

[KarlInOhio]

BTW, does color of foam really matter?

The foam was always orange. Before the early launches the foam and tank were painted white, but that added about a ton of weight which was better used for payload.

I don't know if painting the foam would make it hold together better.