Space Shuttle Thermal Blanket Hole

It was reported this morning that a 3" triangular hole was discovered in one of the Atlantis' thermal Blankets. This is not a hole in a tile, but right where the white tiles meet the blankets. The hole is located on the top of the orbiter, near the tail at the area near the rear thrusters. The blankets, while necessary, don't receive as much re-entry heat as the black tiles do, and NASA does not seem too concerned (yet).

A slight concern about an exposed area in the shuttle's delicate heat-protection system arose overnight when engineers examined photos taken by the shuttle's crew after launch. The photo showed a small exposed area in thermal blankets on the left side of the shuttle near the thrusters Atlantis uses to move about in orbit, said NASA spokesman Louis Parker.

That area is not a usual focus for potential heat problems when the shuttle returns to earth, but normal day-after-launch inspections will assess it, Parker said.

"There's not a whole lot of concerns just yet," Parker said Saturday morning.

The whole article:
www.washingtonpost.com...

[edit on 9-6-2007 by Soylent Green Is People]

You can view the mission on line at this web site from NASA
www.nasa.gov...
CHEERS

It's my opinion the shuttle fleet is worn out. Challenger was the first sign that the system had seen its better days. A mechanical failure - a defective “O” ring seal - coupled with the overconfidence that comes from too many successes, and we all watched the Challenger blow itself apart. The managers had put behind them the fact that the astronauts were riding a bomb that we hoped to keep under control. Hubris drove us to go against our own rules - no low temps launches - and warnings from men on the ground. In just 63 seconds, scratch 1 shuttle and 7 lives.

Then came the shuttle Columbia. A large chuck of insulation on the main fuel tank broke away during the heavy vibrations of lift-off and smacked the leading edge of the Shuttle's left wing, dislodging a heat resistant protective tile molding. That missing piece left the wing unprotected from the scorching heat and it fnially failed under 3,000 degree F. heated air on the shuttle's re-entry. The wing’s aluminum frame failed. As the first parts failed the 3,000 degrees F. super heated air began to consume the plane! Only bits and pieces made it to earth. As in a mereorite.

The shuttle fleet was projected to be able to complete more missions than experience now tells us is safe. The earlier estimates were optimistic in part no doubt driven by budgetary consideration. Cost per mission and all that. Our leaders still don’t want to abandon the shuttle, but we should. IMO.

One shuttle should go to Wright Patterson AF Museum in Dayton, the remaining shuttles should be auctioned off to anyone who wants to put it on display. Admittedly America would be out of the 'man in space' game for a decade or two. But I regard that the better alternative than risking the lives of 7 or 8 people every time we fly one of those old and weary shuttles!

[edit on 6/9/2007 by donwhite]

Originally posted by donwhite
...One shuttle should go to Wright Patterson AF Museum in Dayton, the remaining shuttles should be auctioned off to anyone who wants to put it on display. Admittedly America would be out of the 'man in space' game for a decade or two. But I regard that the better alternative than risking the lives of 7 or 8 people every time we fly one of those old and weary shuttles![edit on 6/9/2007 by donwhite]

The shuttle fleet is being disbanded. The entire Shuttle fleet is scheduled to be retired in about 3 years, and replaced with the Ares I rocket and the Orion Crew capsule. I believe there will be a bit of a gap between the time the shuttle fleet is retired (in 2010) and the time the Ares becomes operational (around 2014 or earlier), but the U.S. already has plans to use private U.S. space firms to fill that gap (the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services Program, or COTS) to resupply the space station, plus continue to use the Russian Soyuz.

By the way, the Ares I and the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle are vital parts of NASA's plans to return to manned exploration of the Moon (scheduled for 2018 to 2020). I think they are planning the first test launch of the Ares I this year.

So the United States won't be out of space "for a decade or two" since they have vehicles in design that will be ready to take the place of the shuttle in about 5-7 years , and the U.S. is returning to exploring the Moon in about 11-13 years. Plus they are talking about setting up semi permanent bases there in preparation for a manned mission to Mars.

And on top of all that -- as I stated above -- they are getting private companies involved with space exploration through the COTS program -- namely RocketPlane Kistler and SpaceX. It's good to see the U.S. government helping to get private companies into space.

COTS wiki article:
en.wikipedia.org...