| Bi-pod redesign
The front attachments which join the orbiter to its external fuel tank (the bi-pod) have been redesigned to incorporate electric heaters, so they no longer need to be covered in insulating foam.
Before the Columbia accident, foam was applied to prevent ice, itself potentially hazardous debris, forming. The outer parts of the external tank are prone to icing once it is filled with freezing liquid hydrogen and oxygen propellants.
Analysis of images from Columbia's launch showed a chunk of foam striking the spacecraft's left wing. A similar incident was also observed during the launch of the shuttle Atlantis in 2002.
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