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NASA Tests Shuttle Skin To Gauge Strength
Houston TX (UPI) Jan 20, 2005 The U.S. space agency says bits of insulating foam less than half an ounce can damage the space shuttle's skin, the New York Times said Thursday. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has spent $50 million testing what size foam fragments, which typically dislodge on takeoff from the spacecraft's external fuel tanks, can be deflected safely by the shuttle skin. Two years ago a 1.67-pound foam fragment hit one of Columbia's wings, creating a hole through which super-heated gases entered, destroying the wing and then causing the shuttle to break apart. NASA's tests showed a piece of insulating foam just 2.3-hundredths of a pound, or 37-hundredths of an ounce, falling off the top of the external tank and striking the leading edge of a wing could cause enough damage to bring down a shuttle. The agency expects to continue testing smaller and smaller bits of foam to see exactly where the shuttle skin's limits are. Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links SpaceDaily Search SpaceDaily Subscribe To SpaceDaily Express Space Shuttle News at Space-Travel.Com
Heads Up, Space Station, Discovery Is Ready To Blast Off
Cape Canaveral (AFP) Jul 12, 2005A plastic and foam cover fell off a window of Discovery, but damage to the space shuttle was rapidly fixed and will not cause any delays, NASA said Tuesday on the eve of the planned launch. |
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