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NASA Test Shows Foam Could Be Culprit

Posted by michael on from the 0.5mv^2 dept.

Ben Hutchings writes "The BBC has a report on an impact simulation that aimed to recreate the impact of insulating foam on Columbia's wing. The result was a large hole that probably could not be repaired in orbit even if it was known about."

5 of 525 comments (clear)

  1. happens often by jnguy · · Score: 5, Informative

    I was watchinbg something on channel 7 about this, and they mentioned that this happens at almost every shuttle launch. Apparently it happened, but didn't create such a large hole on another shuttle a few months before columbia. I guess they better fix their stuff before they go off blasting into space again. It also showed how everything melted down because of that hole, scary how such a minor thing can cause such disaster

  2. Longer Article by Unknown+Relic · · Score: 5, Informative

    A slightly more detailed article is available from fox news. A couple interesting things noted here that aren't in the BBC article is that this was the seventh and final test, and that in addition to the camera lens popping off, several other guages which were measuring the experiment were damaged from the impact.

  3. Minor curiosity... by Jin+Wicked · · Score: 5, Informative

    I've been following this pretty closely since I live relatively near the Johnson Space Centre here in Houston, and quite a few NASA people come in where I work. I've heard a lot of talk about training the astronauts all to spacewalk, and be able to repair minor damage to the shuttle, but what exactly would they do if the damage was too severe to be repaired? Would a second shuttle have to be launched as a rescue mission? Would they have to just abandon the damaged shuttle in space, since it would be unfit for re-entry? There's a lot of talk of repairs but I haven't heard any predictions for scenarios where repair was impossible.

    Perhaps NASA should start looking at new designs with potentially fatal flaws. Have they not been using this design for something like 15-20 years now?

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  4. Re:i have often wondered by sparkie · · Score: 5, Informative

    No, the Columbia could not have docked with the ISS. The space shuttle was launched into a much lower orbit and would not have been able to propel itself high enough to reach the ISS. That is one of the 'problems' that has been brought up. I believe they are going to put more restrictions on where in orbit the shuttle can go. However, don't take my word for it. It's been all over the news and on Nasa's website.

  5. Come on get some better links to the story ... by HerringFlavoredFowl · · Score: 5, Informative

    A quick check on Spacetoday.com points to several good articles ...

    SpaceFlightNow article
    Florida Today article and it has three video's of the test
    Orlando Sentinel article
    Washington Post article
    Houston Chronicle article

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