Word: foams
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 2000-2009
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Only hours before the docking, NASA announced that the entire shuttle fleet was being grounded again, after evidence that four pieces of insulating foam--the largest the size of a skateboard--had spun off the ship's external fuel tank during lift-off, just the kind of debris that damaged Columbia's wing and doomed the ship. Only one small piece may have struck the shuttle this time, glancing off a wing with so little force it didn't register on impact sensors. But a camera mounted on the shuttle's 50-ft. arm as well as photos taken from...
...knows why the foam flaked off in such large chunks. Since 2003, engineers have improved the way it's applied and contoured, and they eliminated it altogether in some tricky spots. That was supposed to ensure that no debris heavier than 0.03 lb. broke free. Cameras aboard Discovery suggest that the biggest chunk this time weighed just under a pound--nearly 30 times the limit. "The cameras worked well," said NASA chief Michael Griffin. "The foam...
...chipped thermal tiles could be an even more serious problem. It's not certain whether foam caused any of that damage, but it's bad news all the same, particularly the 1.5-in. ding that is located on the edge of the door covering the nosewheel well. Any breach there could cause superheated gases to stream into the enclosed space where the landing gear is stowed, forming a vapor bomb inside the ship. NASA, however, is confident that all the chips are minor and is saying so with uncommon certainty. "It looks extremely good," says Shannon. "We don't have...
...clear how NASA is going to fix the other birds in the shuttle flock. The tiles on Discovery seem relatively clean, with 80% fewer chips than shuttles usually sustain--a tribute to the strides the engineers have made. But had the big piece of foam broken off lower in the atmosphere, it would have slammed into a wall of thicker air and could have crashed far harder into the ship. NASA doesn't want to rely on luck again...
...Well, there is some cause for concern, but it remains minimal. And not as a result of the large piece of foam that spun off relatively safely. The photographic inspection has revealed three divots on the underside of the craft, one of which is 1.5 inches long, adjacent to the wheel-well where the front landing gear is stored. If superheated gases stream into that open space during reentry, it can create a kind of vapor bomb inside the ship. But the photography suggests the divot isn't deep enough to cause that danger. So far, it looks like they...