Foam impacts cause damage in latest shuttle test
Posted: Tue, Jun 17, 2003, 9:22 PM ET (0122 GMT)
In the latest test of the effects of foam debris on the shuttle, a chunk of foam created gaps between fiberglass panels in the leading edge of the shuttle's wing. The test, performed Monday at the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, was similar to two other recent foam impact tests. A chunk of foam weighing about 0.75 kilograms, fired from a nitrogen gas cannon, struck a fiberglass panel on a mockup of the leading edge of the shuttle's left wing. The impact created gaps between Panel 6, the struck panel, and the two adjoining panels. Another impact test, this time with greater force, is planned for Wednesday. A final impact test, using an actual RCC panel from the approximate area of the shuttle's wing where foam hit Columbia during launch, is scheduled for late this month.
In the latest test of the effects of foam debris on the shuttle, a chunk of foam created gaps between fiberglass panels in the leading edge of the shuttle's wing. The test, performed Monday at the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, was similar to two other recent foam impact tests. A chunk of foam weighing about 0.75 kilograms, fired from a nitrogen gas cannon, struck a fiberglass panel on a mockup of the leading edge of the shuttle's left wing. The impact created gaps between Panel 6, the struck panel, and the two adjoining panels. Another impact test, this time with greater force, is planned for Wednesday. A final impact test, using an actual RCC panel from the approximate area of the shuttle's wing where foam hit Columbia during launch, is scheduled for late this month.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
Friday, April 18
NSF-Funded Research Heads to the International Space Station on NASA’s SpaceX CRS-32 Mission
CASIS — 7:44 am ET (1144 GMT) Manufacturing Nanomaterials in Space to Treat Disease on Earth
CASIS — 7:44 am ET (1144 GMT) Research finds evidence of a carbon cycle that operated on ancient Mars
Univ. of Calgary — 7:44 am ET (1144 GMT) SwRI-led PUNCH mission instruments collect first images
SwRI — 7:42 am ET (1142 GMT) NRL’s Narrow Field Imager Captures First Light
NRL — 7:41 am ET (1141 GMT) |
