query: how many heat tiles on a space shuttle

pos: Space Shuttle thermal protection system in a given area. However in some cases a heavier type was used if additional impact resistance was needed. The FIB blankets were primarily adopted for reduced maintenance, not for thermal or weight reasons. Much of the shuttle was covered with LI-900 silica tiles, made from essentially very pure quartz sand. The insulation prevented heat transfer to the underlying orbiter aluminum skin and structure. These tiles were such poor heat conductors that one could hold one by the edges while it was still red hot. There were about 24,300 unique tiles individually fitted on the vehicle, for which the orbiter

neg: Space Shuttle thermal protection system free by hand, and caused no damage to the TPS on "Discovery". , with the impending Space Shuttle retirement, NASA is donating TPS tiles to schools, universities, and museums for the cost of shipping; each. About 7000 tiles were available on a first-come, first-served basis, but limited to one each per institution. Space Shuttle thermal protection system The Space Shuttle thermal protection system (TPS) is the barrier that protected the Space Shuttle Orbiter during the searing heat of atmospheric reentry. A secondary goal was to protect from the heat and cold of space while in orbit. The TPS covered essentially

neg: Criticism of the Space Shuttle program tiles on the Shuttle fleet only became an issue following the loss of "Columbia" in 2003, as it broke up on re-entry. In fact, Shuttles had previously come back missing as many as 20 tiles without any problem. STS-1 and STS-41 had all flown with missing thermal tiles from the orbital maneuvering system pods (visible to the crew). This image from the NASA archives shows several missing tiles on the STS-1 OMS pods. The problem on "Columbia" was that the damage was sustained from a foam strike to the reinforced carbon-carbon leading edge panel of the wing, not the heat

neg: Aerodynamic heating for the Mercury spacecraft had a coating of aluminum with glassfiber in many layers. As the temperature rose to the layers would evaporate and take the heat with it. The spacecraft would become hot but not harmfully so. The Space Shuttle used insulating tiles on its lower surface to absorb and radiate heat while preventing conduction to the aluminum airframe. The damage to the heat shield during liftoff of Space Shuttle "Columbia" contributed to its destruction upon reentry. Aerodynamic heating Aerodynamic heating is the heating of a solid body produced by its high-speed passage through air (or by the passage

neg: STS-123 caulk-gun-like tool named the Tile Repair Ablator Dispenser to dispense a material called Shuttle Tile Ablator-54 into purposely damaged heat shield tiles. The sample tiles will be returned to Earth to undergo extensive testing on the ground. The STS-123 crew performed the final inspection of space shuttle Endeavour's heat shield using the shuttle's robot arm and the Orbiter Boom Sensor System (OBSS). Gorie, Johnson, and Doi surveyed the orbiter's wings and nose cap to ensure that no damage had occurred to the tiles that protect Endeavour from the heat of reentry. The crews spent the remainder of their day configuring

neg: STS-3xx STS-3xx Space Shuttle missions designated STS-3xx (officially called Launch On Need (LON) missions) were rescue missions which would have been mounted to rescue the crew of a Space Shuttle if their vehicle was damaged and deemed unable to make a successful reentry. Such a mission would have been flown if Mission Control determined that the heat shielding tiles and reinforced carbon-carbon panels of a currently flying orbiter were damaged beyond the repair capabilities of the available on-orbit repair methods. These missions were also referred to as Launch on Demand (LOD) and Contingency Shuttle Crew Support. The program was initiated following

neg: Thermal insulation a heat pump and a thermally insulated compartment. Launch and re-entry place severe mechanical stresses on spacecraft, so the strength of an insulator is critically important (as seen by the failure of insulating tiles on the Space Shuttle Columbia, which caused the shuttle airframe to overheat and break apart during reentry, killing the astronauts onboard). Re-entry through the atmosphere generates very high temperatures due to compression of the air at high speeds. Insulators must meet demanding physical properties beyond their thermal transfer retardant properties. Examples of insulation used on spacecraft include reinforced carbon-carbon composite nose cone and silica fiber tiles

neg: Space Shuttle thermal protection system tail, and the OMS/RCS pods. These tiles protected areas where reentry temperatures are below . The LRSI tiles were manufactured in the same manner as the HRSI tiles, except that the tiles were square and had a white RCG coating made of silica compounds with shiny aluminum oxide. The white color was by design and helped to manage heat on orbit when the orbiter was exposed to direct sunlight. These tiles were reusable for up to 100 missions with refurbishment (100 missions was also the design lifetime of each orbiter). They were carefully inspected in the Orbiter Processing Facility after

neg: Ceramic engineering nose cones. Its products are often made from materials other than clay, chosen for their particular physical properties. These may be classified as follows: Ceramics can be used in many technological industries. One application is the ceramic tiles on NASA's Space Shuttle, used to protect it and the future supersonic space planes from the searing heat of re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere. They are also used widely in electronics and optics. In addition to the applications listed here, ceramics are also used as a coating in various engineering cases. An example would be a ceramic bearing coating over a titanium

neg: STS-3xx available for a rescue mission. A different rescue plan was devised, involving the four crew members remaining aboard the International Space Station, and returning aboard Soyuz spacecraft one at a time over the next year. That contingency was not required. STS-3xx Space Shuttle missions designated STS-3xx (officially called Launch On Need (LON) missions) were rescue missions which would have been mounted to rescue the crew of a Space Shuttle if their vehicle was damaged and deemed unable to make a successful reentry. Such a mission would have been flown if Mission Control determined that the heat shielding tiles and reinforced

neg: STS-114 tiles, simply functions to reduce the gap size between tiles, which in turn reduces heat transfer to the shuttle. Even without this filler NASA did not expect the increased heat to cause a problem during reentry (it is present to avoid a level of heating which would only be problematic if experienced many times over a vehicle's design life). Since the gap fillers are not necessary for re-entry, it was acceptable to simply pull them out. An overview of the situation, including procedures for dealing with the protrusions, were sent electronically to the crew and printed aboard the shuttle. The

neg: Space Shuttle thermal protection system TUFI tiles came in high temperature black versions for use in the orbiter's underside, and lower temperature white versions for use on the upper body. While more impact resistant than other tiles, white versions conducted more heat which limited their use to the orbiter's upper body flap and main engine area. Black versions had sufficient heat insulation for the orbiter underside but had greater weight. These factors restricted their use to specific areas. White in color, these covered the upper wing near the leading edge. They were also used in selected areas of the forward, mid, and aft fuselage, vertical

neg: Space Shuttle thermal protection system silica fibers. Ninety percent of the volume of the tile was empty space, giving it a very low density () making it light enough for spaceflight. The uncoated tiles were bright white in appearance and looked more like a solid ceramic than the foam-like material that they were. The black coating on the tiles was Reaction Cured Glass (RCG) of which tetrasilicide and borosilicate glass were some of several ingredients. RCG was applied to all but one side of the tile to protect the porous silica and to increase the heat sink properties. The coating was absent from a small

neg: Space Shuttle thermal protection system deflections and expansions. HRSI tiles (black in color) provided protection against temperatures up to . There were 20,548 HRSI tiles which covered the landing gear doors, external tank umbilical connection doors, and the rest of the orbiter's under surfaces. They were also used in areas on the upper forward fuselage, parts of the orbital maneuvering system pods, vertical stabilizer leading edge, elevon trailing edges, and upper body flap surface. They varied in thickness from , depending upon the heat load encountered during reentry. Except for closeout areas, these tiles were normally square. The HRSI tile was composed of high purity

neg: Space Shuttle thermal protection system burned off during reentry, and require significant maintenance to reapply after each mission. (Unfortunately, TPS tile, which was originally specified never to take debris strikes during launch, in practice also needed to be closely inspected and repaired after each landing, due to damage invariably incurred during ascent, even before new on-orbit inspection policies were established following the loss of Space Shuttle "Columbia".) The TPS was a system of different protection types, not just silica tiles. They are in two basic categories: tile TPS and non-tile TPS. The main selection criteria used the lightest weight protection capable of handling the heat

neg: Space Shuttle thermal protection system to a reusable shield against this type of heating is very low-density material, similar to how a thermos bottle inhibits convective heat transfer. Some high temperature metal alloys can withstand reentry heat; they simply get hot and re-radiate the absorbed heat. This technique, called "heat sink" thermal protection, was planned for the X-20 Dyna-Soar winged space vehicle. However, the amount of high-temperature metal required to protect a large vehicle like the Space Shuttle Orbiter would have been very heavy and entailed a severe penalty to the vehicle's performance. Similarly, ablative TPS would be heavy, possibly disturb vehicle aerodynamics as it

neg: Atmospheric entry is a part of almost all TPS schemes. For example, an ablative heat shield loses most of its thermal protection effectiveness when the outer wall temperature drops below the minimum necessary for pyrolysis. From that time to the end of the heat pulse, heat from the shock layer convects into the heat shield's outer wall and would eventually conduct to the payload. This outcome is prevented by ejecting the heat shield (with its heat soak) prior to the heat conducting to the inner wall. Typical Space Shuttle TPS tiles (LI-900) have remarkable thermal protection properties. An LI-900 tile exposed to

neg: STS-123 station's Quest airlock for the standard "camp out". Mission Specialists Robert L. Behnken and Mike Foreman completed the fourth STS-123 spacewalk at 04:28 UTC, spending six hours and 24 minutes on the excursion. The two shuttle crew members replaced a failed Remote Power Control Module — essentially a circuit breaker — on the station's truss. However, there were difficulties removing a power connector from the Z1 truss. With Mission Specialist Rick Linnehan coordinating their activities from inside the orbiting complex, the spacewalkers also tested a repair method for damaged heat resistant tiles on the space shuttle. This technique used a

neg: Solid a continuous matrix, and a dispersed phase of ceramic particles or fibers. Applications of composite materials range from structural elements such as steel-reinforced concrete, to the thermally insulative tiles that play a key and integral role in NASA's Space Shuttle thermal protection system, which is used to protect the surface of the shuttle from the heat of re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere. One example is Reinforced Carbon-Carbon (RCC), the light gray material that withstands reentry temperatures up to 1510 °C (2750 °F) and protects the nose cap and leading edges of Space Shuttle's wings. RCC is a laminated composite material

neg: Space Shuttle made Space Shuttle thermal protection system tiles available to schools and universities for less than US$25 each. About 7,000 tiles were available on a first-come, first-served basis, limited to one per institution. On April 12, 2011, NASA announced selection of locations for the remaining Shuttle orbiters: In August 2011, the NASA Office of Inspector General (OIG) published a "Review of NASA's Selection of Display Locations for the Space Shuttle Orbiters"; the review had four main findings: The NASA OIG had three recommendations, saying NASA should: In September 2011, the CEO and two board members of Seattle's Museum of Flight met

neg: Space Shuttle retirement NASA's new Space Launch System); the windows were given to project engineers for analysis of how materials and systems fared after repeated space exposure; the communications modules were removed due to national–security concerns; and hazardous materials such as traces of propellants were thoroughly flushed from the plumbing. The total cost of preparation and delivery via a modified Boeing 747 was estimated at $26.5 million in 2011 dollars. NASA ran a program to donate thermal protection system tiles to schools and universities for $23.40 USD each (the fee for S&H). About 7000 tiles were available on a first-come, first-served basis, but

neg: Borosilicate glass from cracking, causing cuts and burns that can spread Hepatitis C. Most premanufactured glass guitar slides are also made of borosilicate glass. Borosilicate is also a material of choice for evacuated-tube solar thermal technology, because of its high strength and heat resistance. The thermal insulation tiles on the Space Shuttle were coated with a borosilicate glass. Borosilicate glasses are used for immobilisation and disposal of radioactive wastes. In most countries high-level radioactive waste has been incorporated into alkali borosilicate or phosphate vitreous waste forms for many years, and vitrification is an established technology. Vitrification is a particularly attractive immobilization route

neg: Space Shuttle thermal protection system Space Shuttle thermal protection system The Space Shuttle thermal protection system (TPS) is the barrier that protected the Space Shuttle Orbiter during the searing heat of atmospheric reentry. A secondary goal was to protect from the heat and cold of space while in orbit. The TPS covered essentially the entire orbiter surface, and consisted of seven different materials in varying locations based on amount of required heat protection: Each type of TPS had specific heat protection, impact resistance, and weight characteristics, which determined the locations where it was used and the amount used. The shuttle TPS has three key characteristics

neg: Jet blast deflector aircraft tires to roll over it. To mitigate the heat problem, active cooling systems were installed in the 1970s, tapping the fire mains (fire suppression water systems) to use seawater circulating through water lines within the deflector panel. However, the water cooling system adds more complexity and failure points, and requires additional maintenance. The most recent method tried by the United States Navy for solving the heat problem was introduced in 2008 with USS "George H.W. Bush" which uses heavy-duty metal panels covered in heat-dissipating ceramic tiles similar to those used on the Space Shuttle. The tiled panels can be

neg: HYFLEX HYFLEX HYFLEX ("Hypersonic Flight Experiment") was a National Space Development Agency of Japan reentry demonstrator prototype which was launched in 1996 on the only flight of the J-I launcher. It was a successor of OREX and was a precursor for the Japanese space shuttle HOPE-X. HYFLEX tested the carbon-carbon heat shielding tiles that were intended to be used on HOPE, as well as having the same body shaping in order to gather data on hypersonic lifting. HYFLEX flew in space at altitude and succeeded in re-entry, but sank in the Pacific after splashdown before it could be recovered. HYFLEX was

neg: Space Shuttle thermal protection system result in much higher heating, potentially damaging the orbiter. The cloth was removed during a spacewalk during the mission. While RCC had the best heat protection characteristics, it was also much heavier than the silica tiles and FIB blankets, so it was limited to relatively small areas. In general the goal was to use the lightest weight insulation consistent with the required thermal protection. Weight per unit volume of each TPS type: Total area and weight of each TPS type (used on Orbiter 102) (pre-1996): Tiles often fell off and caused much of the delay in the launch of STS-1,

neg: 2.01 (Buran-class spacecraft) was seen on the Moskva River. , it remained at the Ramenskoye–Zhukovsky Airport As of July 2017, heat-tiles from orbiter 2.01 are for sale online, indicating that it may have been scrapped or otherwise disassembled. 2.01 (Buran-class spacecraft) 2.01 is the designation of the third space shuttle to be produced as part of the Soviet/Russian Buran program. It carried the GRAU index serial number "11F35 K3" and is - depending on the source - also known as "OK-2K1", "Orbiter K3", "OK 2.01" or "Shuttle 2.01". Its construction was not complete when the Buran program was ended (30-50 percent done), so

neg: STS-131 and mission specialist Naoko Yamazaki to complete the inspection of the shuttle's Reinforced Carbon-Carbon (RCC) panels on the wings and nose and the heat-resistant tiles. The scan which takes about 7 hours was completed 3 hours ahead of schedule, and was done while still docked to the International Space Station (ISS) due to the loss of the shuttles K-Band antenna. Space Shuttle "Discovery" successfully undocked from the International Space Station (ISS) at 12:52 UTC (08:52 EDT). "Discovery" was docked to the ISS for 10 days, 5 hours and 8 minutes. After "Discovery" departed from the ISS, pilot Jim Dutton took

neg: HL-42 (spacecraft) the launch pad (and as an alternative exit after landing, especially after parachuting to an emergency ocean splash-down). Aluminium frames extended from either side of this strong cylindrical core to support the rest of the structure. The whole lower surface of the lifting-body was protected from the heat of re-entry by Toughened Unipiece Fibrous Insulation (TUFI) tiles, a tougher, more impact-resistant version of the Shuttle's HRSI tiles; the upgraded TUFI tiles came into use in 1996. These tiles, matt black like those on the Shuttle, were bonded directly to a multi-piece titanium heat-resistant skin mounted on the aluminium frames. The

neg: International Space Station length of the station's main truss. It serves as a mobile base for Canadarm2 and Dextre, allowing the robotic arms to reach all parts of the USOS. To gain access to the Russian Segment a grapple fixture was added to "Zarya" on STS-134, so that Canadarm2 can inchworm itself onto the ROS. Also installed during STS-134 was the Orbiter Boom Sensor System (OBSS), which had been used to inspect heat shield tiles on Space Shuttle missions and can be used on station to increase the reach of the MSS. Staff on Earth or the station can operate the MSS components

neg: LI-900 and then immediately plunged into cold water and suffer no damage. Black and white tiles were used on the Space Shuttle to control the temperature of the vehicle while in orbit. There are typically 20,000 HRSI LI-900 tiles on a Space Shuttle, and 725 LRSI LI-900 tiles. As a result of optimizing its thermal properties, overall strength was reduced. The tile was therefore not suitable to be used in high-stress areas such as around the landing gear doors and windows. To solve this, a higher strength version of the LI-900 material was produced, with a bulk density of 352.4 kg/m³

neg: John Houbolt wind tunnel testing, which Kraft reluctantly agreed to do. While the tiles had been an ongoing concern since the original development of the Shuttle, the teams involved believed it was safe to fly by that point. Upon jettisoning, the External Tank did show heat damage around the forward strut area, as feared. On reaching orbit some tiles were visibly missing around the tail of the Shuttle, and fears that the more-critical tiles on the underside of the vehicle were damaged led to a hastily-arranged effort to use KH-11 KENNEN spy satellites and the Kuiper Airborne Observatory to acquire imaging of

neg: Sharp Edge Flight Experiment at the DLR Institute of Aerodynamics and Flow Technology in Göttingen explains the fundamental advantage of the concept: "A space shuttle has more than 25,000 differently shaped tiles. The simple shape of Shefex tiles should lower the maintenance costs of the thermal protection system and a simple replacement of tiles in space would be possible." Additionally, the project is aimed at improving aerodynamics. General Project Manager Hendrik Weihs said: "The capsule almost achieves the aerodynamic characteristics of a space shuttle, but is smaller and does not need wings." Programmatically the DLR said: "Judging from experience in the development of thermal

neg: Space Shuttle America and the ride ends. The fictional events take place in 2094. The movie was shown for a short while at Six Flags Over Texas, and was made by DreamQuest Images. Outside the building that houses the queue and the ride itself is a fiberglass mock-up of a Space Shuttle orbiter that has authentic "tiles" used in actual space shuttle orbiters. The shuttle was built to the exact scale of the real STS craft , but is neither an official NASA shuttle nor capable of spaceflight. The building that shows Space Shuttle America also showed: High operating costs and dwindling popularity

neg: Space Shuttle thermal protection system of "Columbia" and first used on the OMS pods of "Challenger". This white low-density fibrous silica batting material had a quilt-like appearance, and replaced the vast majority of the LRSI tiles. They required much less maintenance than LRSI tiles yet had about the same thermal properties. After their limited use on "Challenger", they were used much more extensively beginning with "Discovery" and replaced many of the LRSI tiles on "Columbia" after the loss of "Challenger". The light gray material which withstood reentry temperatures up to protected the wing leading edges and nose cap. Each of the orbiters' wings had 22

neg: Atmospheric entry (also called the "afterbody" or "aft cover") and the "cruise ring" (also called the "cruise stage"). SIRCA was also the primary TPS material for the unsuccessful Deep Space 2 (DS/2) Mars impactor probes with their 0.35 m base diameter aeroshells. SIRCA is a monolithic, insulating material that can provide thermal protection through ablation. It is the only TPS material that can be machined to custom shapes and then applied directly to the spacecraft. There is no post-processing, heat treating, or additional coatings required (unlike Space Shuttle tiles). Since SIRCA can be machined to precise shapes, it can be applied as

neg: Space Shuttle Columbia International Space Station, though modifications were made to the Shuttle during its last refit in case the spacecraft was needed for such tasks. Externally, "Columbia" was the first orbiter in the fleet whose surface was mostly covered with High & Low Temperature Reusable Surface Insulation (HRSI/LRSI) tiles as its main thermal protection system (TPS), with white silicone rubber-painted Nomex – known as Felt Reusable Surface Insulation (FRSI) blankets – in some areas on the wings, fuselage and payload bay doors. FRSI once covered almost 25% of the orbiter; the first upgrade resulted in its removal from many areas, and in

neg: R:Base was written on a Heathkit CPM computer that Erickson built at home. On November 13, 1981, Erickson and his brother, Ron Erickson, incorporated the company, MicroRim, Inc. to sell the database, MicroRIM. (RIM was an acronym for Relational Information Management, a mainframe database developed by the IPAD project team, which included Erikson, at Boeing Computer Services, as part of NASA's IPAD project for which the team and NASA colleagues received a NASA award, was used by NASA to track Space shuttle heat shield tiles). The earliest version released by Microrim was called R:Base 4000 and was released in 1983. It

neg: Evaporative cooler permit open-cycle evaporative cooling. Examples include the Space Shuttle, the Apollo command and service module (CSM), lunar module and portable life support system. The Apollo CSM and the Space Shuttle also had radiators, and the Shuttle could evaporate ammonia as well as water. The Apollo spacecraft used sublimators, compact and largely passive devices that dump waste heat in water vapor (steam) that is vented to space. When liquid water is exposed to vacuum it boils vigorously, carrying away enough heat to freeze the remainder to ice that covers the sublimator and automatically regulates the feedwater flow depending on the heat

neg: Totem Acoustic so every other company doesn't bother but it increases cabinet strength so it's almost invulnerable to warping, maintaining its acoustic and cosmetic integrity for literally decades. Totem's enclosures have either very little or no internal damping materials, which results in better transient response, but some models feature yet another Totem exclusive. A thick, multilayer borosilicate paste, similar to compounds used on the space shuttle to prevent its heat resistant tiles from breaking up due to vibration, is applied to the interior of selected cabinets. If you applied a layer of this to an egg you would not be able to

neg: Space Shuttle Atlantis next 20 months. These included the installation of a drag chute, new plumbing lines to configure the orbiter for extended duration, improved nose wheel steering, more than 800 new heat tiles and blankets and new insulation for main landing gear and structural modifications to the airframe. On 5 November 1997, "Atlantis" again arrived at Palmdale for OMDP-2 which was completed on 24 September 1998. The 130 modifications carried out during OMDP-2 included glass cockpit displays, replacement of TACAN navigation with GPS and ISS airlock and docking installation. Several weight reduction modifications were also performed on the orbiter including replacement of

neg: Space Shuttle thermal protection system light, lighter than a same-sized block of styrofoam. As expected for silica, they are odorless and inert. HRSI was primarily designed to withstand transition from areas of extremely low temperature (the void of space, about ) to the high temperatures of re-entry (caused by interaction, mostly compression at the hypersonic shock, between the gases of the upper atmosphere & the hull of the Space Shuttle, typically around ). The black FRCI tiles provided improved durability, resistance to coating cracking and weight reduction. Some HRSI tiles were replaced by this type. A stronger, tougher tile which came into use in 1996.

neg: Rutgers University developed water-soluble sustained release polymers, tetraploids, robotic hands, artificial bovine insemination, and the ceramic tiles for the heat shield on the Space Shuttle. In health related field, Rutgers has the Environmental & Occupational Health Science Institute (EOHSI). Rutgers is also home to the RCSB Protein Data bank, 'an information portal to Biological Macromolecular Structures' cohosted with the San Diego Supercomputer Center. This database is the authoritative research tool for bioinformaticists using protein primary, secondary and tertiary structures worldwide.' Rutgers is home to the Rutgers Cooperative Research & Extension office, which is run by the Agricultural and Experiment Station with the

neg: Space Shuttle Enterprise March 13, 2013, reference number 13000071, in recognition of its role in the development of the Space Shuttle Program. The historic significance criteria are in space exploration, transportation, and engineering. Space Shuttle Enterprise Space Shuttle "Enterprise" (Orbiter Vehicle Designation: OV-101) was the first orbiter of the Space Shuttle system. Rolled out on September 17, 1976, it was built for NASA as part of the Space Shuttle program to perform atmospheric test flights after being launched from a modified Boeing 747. It was constructed without engines or a functional heat shield, and was therefore not capable of spaceflight. Originally, "Enterprise" had

neg: Space Shuttle Columbia later flights it was only used on the upper section of the payload bay doors and inboard sections of the upper wing surfaces. The upgrade also involved replacing many of the white LRSI tiles on the upper surfaces with Advanced Flexible Reusable Surface Insulation (AFRSI) blankets (also known as Fibrous Insulation Blankets, or FIBs) that had been used on "Discovery" and "Atlantis". Originally, "Columbia" had 32,000 tiles – the upgrade reduced this to 24,300. The AFRSI blankets consisted of layers of pure silica felt sandwiched between a layer of silica fabric on the outside and S-Glass fabric on the inside,

neg: Criticism of the Space Shuttle program foam had not been designed or expected to break off, but had been observed in the past to do so without incident. The original shuttle operational specification said the orbiter thermal protection tiles were not designed to withstand any debris hits at all. Over time NASA managers gradually accepted more tile damage, similar to how O-ring damage was accepted. The "Columbia" Accident Investigation Board called this tendency the "normalization of deviance" – a gradual acceptance of events outside the design tolerances of the craft simply because they had not been catastrophic to date. The subject of missing or damaged thermal

neg: Silicon boride Both SiB and SiB become superficially oxidized when heated in air or oxygen and each is attacked by boiling sulfuric acid and by fluorine, chlorine, and bromine at high temperatures. The silicon borides are electrically conducting. The hexaboride has a low coefficient of thermal expansion and a high nuclear cross section for thermal neutrons. The tetraboride was used in the black coating of some of the space shuttle heat shield tiles. Silicon boride Silicon borides (also known as boron silicides) are lightweight ceramic compounds formed between silicon and boron. Several stoichiometric silicon boride compounds, SiB, have been reported: silicon triboride,

neg: Space Shuttle Enterprise Space Shuttle Enterprise Space Shuttle "Enterprise" (Orbiter Vehicle Designation: OV-101) was the first orbiter of the Space Shuttle system. Rolled out on September 17, 1976, it was built for NASA as part of the Space Shuttle program to perform atmospheric test flights after being launched from a modified Boeing 747. It was constructed without engines or a functional heat shield, and was therefore not capable of spaceflight. Originally, "Enterprise" had been intended to be refitted for orbital flight to become the second space-rated orbiter in service. However, during the construction of , details of the final design changed, making it

neg: Criticism of the Space Shuttle program case of "Challenger" to risk the lives of seven astronauts and nearly one-fourth of NASA's launch assets to place in orbit a communications satellite." There are some NASA spin-off technologies related to the Space Shuttle program which have been successfully developed into commercial products, such as using heat-resistant materials developed to protect the Shuttle on reentry, in suits for municipal and aircraft rescue firefighters. Criticism of the Space Shuttle program Criticism of the Space Shuttle program stemmed from claims that NASA's Shuttle program failed to achieve its promised cost and utility goals, as well as design, cost, management, and safety

neg: Space Shuttle thermal protection system fall NASA realized that the speed of tiling would determine the launch date. The tiles were so problematic that officials would have switched to any other thermal protection method, but none other existed. Because it had to be ferried without all tiles the gaps were filled with material to maintain the Shuttle's aerodynamics while in transit. The tile TPS was an area of concern during shuttle development, mainly concerning adhesion reliability. Some engineers thought a failure mode could exist whereby one tile could detach, and resulting aerodynamic pressure would create a "zipper effect" stripping off other tiles. Whether during ascent

neg: Space Shuttle thermal protection system discontinued development. There were unresolved problems with the repair tools and techniques; also further tests indicated the tiles were unlikely to come off. The first shuttle mission did suffer several tile losses, but they were in non-critical areas, and no "zipper effect" occurred. On February 1, 2003, the Space Shuttle "Columbia" was destroyed on reentry due to a failure of the TPS. The investigation team found and reported that the probable cause of the accident was that during launch, a piece of foam debris punctured an RCC panel on the left wing's leading edge and allowed hot gases from the

neg: Criticism of the Space Shuttle program tiles. The first Shuttle mission, STS-1, had a protruding gap filler that diverted hot gas into the right wheel well on re-entry, resulting in a buckling of the right main landing gear door. While the system was "developed" within the original cost and time estimates given to President Richard M. Nixon in 1971, the operational costs, flight rate, payload capacity, and reliability by the time of the February 2003 "Columbia" accident proved to be much worse than originally anticipated. A year before STS-1's April 1981 launch, "The Washington Monthly" accurately forecast many of the Shuttle's issues, including an overambitious launch

neg: STS-30 to work removing and replacing all of the damaged Thermal Protection System (TPS) tiles that Atlantis sustained during her prior flight. They also took detailed inspections of the shuttle while simultaneously preparing Atlantis for STS-30. The shuttle was rolled over to the Vehicle Assembly Building and mated with ET-29 and an SRB set on 11 March. Eleven days later on 22 March, Atlantis was rolled out to launch pad 39B. Space Shuttle "Atlantis" lifted off from Pad B, Launch Complex 39 at Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Florida, at 14:46 EDT on 4 May 1989. The primary payload, the "Magellan" spacecraft

neg: Rendezvous pitch maneuver continued along the V-bar line to close in on the space station and eventually complete the docking. The rendezvous pitch maneuver was developed by NASA engineers Steve Walker, Mark Schrock and Jessica LoPresti after the Space Shuttle "Columbia" disaster. "Columbia" had sustained damage to its heat shield due to insulating foam breaking off the external tank and hitting the shield at liftoff. The damage was too great for the heat shield to protect the shuttle from the heat and structural strain of atmospheric reentry, causing it to break apart. For this reason, the integrity of the heat shield had been

neg: STS-92 STS-92 STS-92 was a Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS) flown by Space Shuttle " Discovery". STS-92 marked the 100th mission of the Space Shuttle. It was launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, 11 October 2000. STS-92 was an ISS assembly flight that brought the Z1 truss, Control Moment Gyros, Pressurized Mating Adapter-3 (PMA-3) (mounted on a Spacelab pallet) and two DDCU (Heat pipes) to the space station. The Z1 truss was the first exterior framework installed on the ISS and allowed the first U.S. solar arrays to be temporarily installed on "Unity" for early power during

neg: STS-118 interest was discovered on the underside of the Shuttle; an area behind the right landing gear door covered with black silica tiles. The tile directly aft of the door had a by gouge in it. While the tile was penetrated, the underlying felt backing was not. NASA noted in the press conference that launch-time video confirmed a foam strike. This area is less critical than the leading-edge reinforced carbon-carbon tiles that were damaged in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, but did cause concern for the Mission Management Team. A focused inspection was scheduled for 12 August 2007 to determine whether

neg: STS-27 STS-27 STS-27 was the 27th NASA Space Shuttle mission, and the third flight of Space Shuttle "Atlantis". Launching on 2 December 1988 on a four-day mission, it was the second shuttle flight after the Space Shuttle "Challenger" disaster of January 1986. STS-27 carried a classified payload for the U.S. Department of Defense, ultimately determined to be a Lacrosse surveillence satellite. The vessel's heat shielding was substantially damaged during lift-off, impacting the right wing, and crew members thought that they would die during reentry. This was a situation that was similar to the one that would prove fatal 15 years later

neg: Space Shuttle thermal protection system each mission, and damaged or worn tiles were immediately replaced before the next mission. Fabric sheets known as gap fillers were also inserted between tiles where necessary. These allowed for a snug fit between tiles, preventing excess plasma from penetrating between them, yet allowing for thermal expansion and flexing of the underlying vehicle skin. Prior to the introduction of FIB blankets, LRSI tiles occupied all of the areas now covered by the blankets, including the upper fuselage and the whole surface of the OMS pods. This TPS configuration was only used on "Columbia" and "Challenger". Developed after the initial delivery

neg: Space Shuttle the foam insulation of "Discovery"'s external tank. Since then, NASA has installed commercial plastic owl decoys and inflatable owl balloons which had to be removed prior to launch. The delicate nature of the foam insulation had been the cause of damage to the Thermal Protection System, the tile heat shield and heat wrap of the orbiter. NASA remained confident that this damage, while it was the primary cause of the Space Shuttle "Columbia" disaster on February 1, 2003, would not jeopardize the completion of the International Space Station (ISS) in the projected time allotted. A cargo-only, unmanned variant of the

neg: STS-131 control of the shuttle and performed a fly around of the space station. The undocking was preceded by a farewell ceremony, where shuttle commander Alan Poindexter and station commander Oleg Kotov said farewells on behalf of their crews. After undocking the shuttle crew stowed the Orbiter Boom Sensor System (OBSS) and the Shuttle Remote Manipulator System (SRMS) since they will not be needed for the rest of the flight. The crew was also informed that "Discovery"'s heat shield was cleared for re-entry into Earth's atmosphere. On flight day 14, the crew of space shuttle "Discovery" began their final preparations for

neg: Criticism of the Space Shuttle program and payloads into low Earth orbits. It would afford the opportunity to conduct science experiments on board the shuttle to be used to study the effects of space flight on humans, animals and plants. Other experiments would study how things can be manufactured in space. The shuttle would also enable astronauts to launch satellites from the shuttle and even repair satellites already out in space. The Shuttle was also intended for research into the human response to zero-g. The Shuttle was originally billed as a space vehicle that would be able to launch once a week and give low launch

neg: Loop heat pipe The patent for LHPs was filed in the USA in 1982 (Patent № 4515209). The first space application occurred aboard a Russian spacecraft in 1989. LHPs are now commonly used in space aboard satellites including; Russian Granat, Obzor spacecraft, Boeing’s (Hughes) HS 702 communication satellites, Chinese FY-1C meteorological satellite, NASA’s ICESat. LHPs were first flight demonstrated on the NASA space shuttle in 1997 with STS-83 and STS-94. Loop heat pipes are important parts of systems for cooling electronic components. Loop heat pipe A loop heat pipe (LHP) is a two-phase heat transfer device that uses capillary action to remove heat

neg: Saturn-Shuttle tiles, the five-engine variant of the Saturn-Shuttle would require the center engine to be shut down 45 to 50 seconds after launch, while two of the outboard engines would have to be shut down prior to staging. Once the S-IC was jettisoned, the three onboard high-energy Space Shuttle main engines would then propel the orbiter into LEO, shutting down 6.5 minutes after ignition. The external tank would then be jettisoned, as on the actually flown shuttle configuration, and the orbiter would then perform its mission. But because of the need to keep costs down and to allow President Richard Nixon

neg: Rendezvous pitch maneuver Rendezvous pitch maneuver The R-bar pitch maneuver (RPM), popularly called the rendezvous pitch maneuver, was a maneuver performed by the Space Shuttle as it rendezvoused with the International Space Station (ISS) prior to docking. The Shuttle performed a backflip that exposed its heat-shield to the crew of the ISS that made photographs of it. Based on the information gathered during the rendezvous pitch maneuver, the mission team could decide that the orbiter was not safe for re-entry. They may have then decided either to wait on the ISS for a rescue mission or attempt extra-vehicular activity to repair the heat

neg: Space Shuttle Independence SCA with interiors of both vehicles accessible to visitors. A competition to name the shuttle opened on July 4, 2013, and concluded on September 2, 2013, with over 10,000 entries received. The winning entry was submitted by Timothy Judd, and the new name, "Independence", was revealed on October 5, 2013. "Independence" underwent extensive renovation in 2013 and 2014 to repair damaged components and update its appearance to more closely match that of the modern shuttle fleet. Modifications include a re-skinning of the exterior, replica thermal tiles, publicly accessible mid-deck and payload bay, a glass cockpit on the flight deck, and

neg: Orbiter Boom Sensor System captured during lift-off or the rendezvous pitch maneuver, then additional regions could be scanned. The OBSS was introduced to the shuttle fleet with STS-114, the "Return to Flight" mission executed by "Discovery", and was flown on every mission after that until the retirement of the Space Shuttle fleet in 2011. It was used to inspect the shuttle for damage to the heat shield, officially called the Thermal Protection System (TPS), that could jeopardize the shuttle during re-entry. The decision to perform focused inspections of the TPS was prompted by the Space Shuttle "Columbia" disaster, in which "Columbia" was destroyed due

neg: Space Shuttle Challenger of STA-099, including the payload bay doors, body flap, wings, and vertical stabilizer, also had to be returned to their individual subcontractors for rework. By early 1981, most of these components had returned to Palmdale and were reinstalled on the orbiter. Work continued on the conversion until July 1982. "Challenger", as did the orbiters built after it, had fewer tiles in its Thermal Protection System than "Columbia", though it still made heavier use of the white LRSI tiles on the cabin and main fuselage than did the later orbiters. Most of the tiles on the payload bay doors, upper wing

neg: STS-2 launch, were effective; no tiles were lost and only 12 were damaged. "Columbia" was flown back to the Kennedy Space Center on 25 November 1981. STS-2 was the first shuttle flight where O-ring blow-by was observed. After the damage was discovered, another O-ring was intentionally damaged to a further degree. It was then put through a flight simulation at three times the flight pressure. It survived the test, and was endorsed as flightworthy. This same problem would occur on fourteen more shuttle flights, before contributing to the loss of orbiter "Challenger" in 1986. STS-2 was the last shuttle flight to

neg: Charles Camarda Structures Branch, he was responsible for demonstrating the viability of a heat-pipe cooled leading edge for the Space Shuttle. Camarda then headed up the High-Speed Research and Reusable Launch Vehicle programs and oversaw several test facilities such as the Thermal Structure Laboratory, where he worked on numerous Shuttle component developments. Camarda holds seven patents on various innovations, including NASA's Heat-Pipe-Cooled Sandwich Panel, named one of the top 100 technical innovations of 1983 by Industrial Research Magazine. After more than 20 years of experience in diverse Shuttle technology applications, he made a career change that put him closer to his work

neg: Space Shuttle thermal protection system has been called "the flying brickyard". Researchers at University of Minnesota and Pennsylvania State University are performing the atomistic simulations to obtain accurate description of interactions between atomic and molecular oxygen with silica surfaces to develop better high-temperature oxidation-protection systems for leading edges on hypersonic vehicles. The tiles were not mechanically fastened to the vehicle, but glued. Since the brittle tiles could not flex with the underlying vehicle skin, they were glued to Nomex felt Strain Isolation Pads (SIPs) with RTV silicone adhesive, which were in turn glued to the orbiter skin. These isolated the tiles from the orbiter's structural

neg: SpaceX Dragon flights, with an overall minimum of of cargo to be carried to the ISS. On 23 February 2009, SpaceX announced that its chosen phenolic-impregnated carbon ablator heat shield material, PICA-X, had passed heat stress tests in preparation for Dragon's maiden launch. The primary proximity-operations sensor for the Dragon spacecraft, the DragonEye, was tested in early 2009 during the STS-127 mission, when it was mounted near the docking port of the Space Shuttle "Endeavour" and used while the Shuttle approached the International Space Station. The DragonEye's Lidar and thermography (thermal imaging) abilities were both tested successfully. The COTS UHF Communication Unit

neg: STS-66 Research Satellite launched aboard "Discovery" in 1991. CRISTA-SPAS is a joint U.S./German experiment. Other payloads in "Atlantis"’s cargo bay included the Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet (SSBUV-7) payload and the Experiment on the Sun Complementing ATLAS (ESCAPE-II). Payloads located in the middeck include the Physiological & Anatomical Rodent Experiment (PARE/NIR-R), Protein Crystal Growth-Thermal Enclosure (PCG-TES), Protein Crystal Growth- Single Locker (PCG-STES), Space Tissue Loss/National Institute of Health (STL/NIH-C), Space Acceleration Measurement System (SAMS) and the Heat Pipe Performance-2 Experiment (HPP-2). STS-66 further advanced comprehensive effort to collect data about sun's energy output, chemical makeup of the Earth's middle atmosphere, and how

neg: Space Shuttle in 2011 after 135 missions, with "Atlantis" making the final launch of the three-decade Shuttle program on July 8, 2011. The program ended after "Atlantis" landed at the Kennedy Space Center on July 21, 2011. Major missions included launching numerous satellites and interplanetary probes, conducting space science experiments, and servicing and construction of space stations. The first orbiter vehicle, named "Enterprise", was used in the initial Approach and Landing Tests phase but installation of engines, heat shielding, and other equipment necessary for orbital flight was cancelled. A total of five operational orbiters were built, and of these, two were destroyed

neg: Reaction control system are located at the wingtips. The X-20, which would have gone into orbit, continued this pattern. Unlike these, the Space Shuttle Orbiter had many more thrusters, as it was required to carry out docking maneuvers in orbit. Shuttle thrusters were grouped in the nose of the vehicle and on each of the two aft Orbital Maneuvering System pods. No nozzles interrupted the heat shield on the underside of the craft; instead, the nose RCS nozzles which control positive pitch were mounted on the side of the vehicle, and were canted downward. The downward-facing negative pitch thrusters were located in the

neg: American Space Museum in 2014. The American Space Museum, located nearby at 308 Pine Street, illustrates America's history in space exploration by displaying hundreds of artifacts, including photos, hardware, flight suits, shuttle tiles, space patches and pins, and other memorabilia from personal collections of space workers. The museum also features several launch consoles from Launch Complex 36. The museum was the U. S. Space Walk of Fame Museum until the name changed in 2016 to the American Space Museum. In 2016, the museum updated exhibits, focusing on new interpretive signage, new artifacts and interactive displays. The museum is adding 3D printers, computers, and

neg: Thermal insulation of the Space Shuttle. See also Insulative paint. Internal combustion engines produce a lot of heat during their combustion cycle. This can have a negative effect when it reaches various heat-sensitive components such as sensors, batteries and starter motors. As a result, thermal insulation is necessary to prevent the heat from the exhaust reaching these components. High performance cars often use thermal insulation as a means to increase engine performance. Insulation performance is influenced by many factors, the most prominent of which include: It is important to note that the factors influencing performance may vary over time as material ages

neg: Space Shuttle thermal protection system the first shuttle mission, which was originally scheduled for 1979 but did not occur until April 1981. NASA was unused to lengthy delays in its programs, and was under great pressure from the government and military to launch soon. In March 1979 it moved the incomplete "Columbia", with 7,800 of the 31,000 tiles missing, from the Rockwell International plant in Palmdale, California to Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Beyond creating the appearance of progress in the program, NASA hoped that the tiling could be finished while the rest of the orbiter was prepared. This was a mistake; some of the

neg: Fondu fyre 39A during the launch of the Space Shuttle "Discovery" on mission STS-124. After subsequent launch of Space Shuttle "Atlantis" for mission STS-125 on May 11, 2009 a 25 square metre section of the Fondue Fyre on pad 39A was found to have been damaged by exhaust from the Solid Rocket Booster. Fondu fyre Fondu Fyre, sometimes called Fondue Fyre, is a concrete developed for specialist application. Fondu Fyre is a heat-resistant concrete developed during the Apollo space program. The concrete is used in 2 different mixtures called WA-1 and XB-1. The XB-1 is used as a more fire and erosion

neg: Space Shuttle Independence Space Shuttle Independence Space Shuttle "Independence, formerly known as Explorer", is a full-scale, high-fidelity replica of the Space Shuttle. It was built by Guard-Lee in Apopka, Florida, installed at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in 1993, and moved to Space Center Houston in 2012. It was built using schematics, blueprints and archival documents provided by NASA and by shuttle contractors such as Rockwell International. While many of the features on the replica are simulated, some parts, including the landing gear's Michelin tires, have been used in the Space Shuttle program. The model is long, high, has a wingspan, and weighs

neg: Space Shuttle design process closely related to weight, so this meant the overall vehicle cost would be very high. Both booster and orbiter would have rocket engines plus jet engines for use within the atmosphere, plus separate fuel and control systems for each propulsion mode. In addition there were concurrent discussions about how much funding would be available to develop the program. Another competing approach was maintaining the Saturn V production line and using its large payload capacity to launch a space station in a few payloads rather than many smaller shuttle payloads. A related concept was servicing the space station using the Air

neg: Astronautical hygiene the same, the concept uses the flow of air, rather than water. In the case of the space shuttle, waste water is vented overboard into space, and solid waste is compressed, and removed from the storage area once the shuttle returns to earth. The current toilet model was first flown on STS-54 in 1993, and features an unlimited storage capacity, compared to only 14-day capacity of the original shuttle toilets, and the new model has an odor-free environment. Toxic gases are produced as an off-gassing from the astronauts and non-metallic materials e.g. surface coatings, adhesives, elastomers, solvents, cleaning agents, heat

neg: STS-2 on "Columbia" was replaced with one from new Space Shuttle "Challenger", which had been shipped overnight from Palmdale, California where "Challenger" was still under construction. Originally, the launch had been set for 9 October, but it was delayed by a nitrogen tetroxide spill during the loading of the forward Reaction Control System tanks. The spill necessitated the removal, decontamination and reapplication of over 300 thermal tiles. The tiles could be reached from platforms at Launch Pad 39A, allowing the work to take place without destacking "Columbia" and returning it to the Orbiter Processing Facility. It was next scheduled for 4

neg: Space capsule capsule. This keeps the reentry heat from getting inside the capsule. Capsules see a more intense heating regime than spaceplanes and ceramics such as used on the Space Shuttle are usually less suitable, and all capsules have used ablation. In practice, capsules do create a significant and useful amount of lift. This lift is used to control the trajectory of the capsule, allowing reduced g-forces on the crew, as well as reducing the peak heat transfer into the capsule. The longer the vehicle spends at high altitude, the thinner the air is and the less heat is conducted. For example,

neg: VentureStar which had to be hauled out of the ocean and then refurbished after each launch. Furthermore, design specifications called for the use of linear aerospike engines that maintain thrust efficiency at all altitudes, whereas the Shuttle relied upon conventional nozzle engines which achieve maximum efficiency at only a certain altitude. VentureStar would have used a new metallic thermal protection system, safer and cheaper to maintain than the ceramic protection system used on the Space Shuttle. VentureStar's metallic heat shield would have eliminated 17,000 between-flight maintenance hours typically required to satisfactorily check (and replace if needed) the thousands of heat-resistant ceramic

neg: Space Shuttle thermal protection system or reentry, the result would be disastrous. Another problem was ice or other debris impacting the tiles during ascent. This had never been fully and thoroughly solved, as the debris had never been eliminated, and the tiles remained susceptible to damage from it. NASA's final strategy for mitigating this problem was to aggressively inspect for, assess, and address any damage that may occur, while on orbit and before reentry, in addition to on the ground between flights. These concerns were sufficiently great that NASA did significant work developing an emergency-use tile repair kit which the STS-1 crew could use before

neg: North American DC-3 booster released the orbiter at Mach 10 and 45 miles altitude. This required the booster to carry a complete thermal protection system in order to re-enter for landing. Both the orbiter and booster were to be protected with the LI-1500 silica tiles similar to those eventually used on the Space Shuttle, a design that had recently been introduced by Lockheed and quickly became a baseline design for all of the shuttle contenders. As a result, both airframes were able to be built out of aluminum, greatly reducing airframe cost. Both craft carried just enough JP-4 for landing go-around. Both could

neg: 2.02 (Buran-class spacecraft) the tiles from orbiter 2.02 were sold and auctioned on the Internet. 2.02 (Buran-class spacecraft) 2.02 is the designation of the fourth built Soviet/Russian space shuttle orbiter to be produced as part of the Buran program. It carried the GRAU index serial number "11F35 K4" and is (depending on the source) also known as "OK-2K2", "Orbiter K4", "OK 2.02" or "Shuttle 2.02". It was never officially named. In 1993, when the Buran program was stopped, orbiter 2.02 was in an early stage of construction (10-20 percent). The incomplete 2.02 was later partially dismantled at its construction site and moved to

neg: Shuttle Radar Topography Mission with two radar antennas. One antenna was located in the Shuttle's payload bay, the other – a critical change from the SIR-C/X-SAR, allowing single-pass interferometry – on the end of a 60-meter (200-foot) mast that extended from the payload bay once the Shuttle was in space. The technique employed is known as interferometric synthetic aperture radar. Intermap Technologies was the prime contractor for processing the interferometric synthetic aperture radar data. The elevation models are arranged into tiles, each covering one degree of latitude and one degree of longitude, named according to their south western corners. For example, "n45e006" stretches from

neg: Space Shuttle Columbia disaster engineers suspected that the damage to "Columbia" was more serious. NASA managers limited the investigation, reasoning that the crew could not have fixed the problem if it had been confirmed. When "Columbia" re-entered the atmosphere of Earth, the damage allowed hot atmospheric gases to penetrate the heat shield and destroy the internal wing structure, which caused the spacecraft to become unstable and break apart. After the disaster, Space Shuttle flight operations were suspended for more than two years, as they had been after the "Challenger" disaster. Construction of the International Space Station (ISS) was put on hold; the station relied

neg: Wally Funk 1995, Eileen Collins became the first woman to pilot a space shuttle into space; Funk was too old to qualify to become a space shuttle pilot by the time Collins became one. She has over 19,000 flight hours. She has taught over 3,000 students how to fly. Funk has continued to dream of going to space. In 2012, she put money down to be one of the first people to fly into space via Virgin Galactic. The money for the flight came from Funk's own book and film royalties and family money. She learned how to fly a Black Hawk

neg: Space Shuttle Discovery of the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum. "Discovery" weighed roughly 3600 kg (3.6t) less than "Columbia" when it was brought into service due to optimizations determined during the construction and testing of "Enterprise", "Columbia" and "Challenger". "Discovery" weighs heavier than "Atlantis" and heavier than "Endeavour". Part of the "Discovery" weight optimizations included the greater use of quilted AFRSI blankets rather than the white LRSI tiles on the fuselage, and the use of graphite epoxy instead of aluminum for the payload bay doors and some of the wing spars and beams. Upon its delivery to the Kennedy Space Center

neg: Space Shuttle retirement limited to one per institution. Each orbiter incorporated over 24,000 tiles. About 42 reusable SSMEs (Pratt & Whitney RS-25/26) have been part of the STS program, with three used per orbiter per mission. The decision was made to retain all engines with plans to make use of them in future launch vehicles. Worn out engine nozzles are typically considered scrap, although nine nozzles were refurbished for display on the donated orbiters, so the actual engines can be retained by NASA. Three Shuttle arms were used by NASA; the arms of both "Discovery" and "Atlantis" will be left in place for

neg: Vegreville egg at angles ranging from 1° at the center to 7° at the tips. These are held together by an internal framework of radiating spokes, which connect the egg's "shell." The "pysanka" leans at a 30° relative to the base, and turns with the wind similar to the motions of a weather vane. The software created to guide the lasers which cut the Pysanka's tiles was eventually purchased and used for the cutting of the exterior tiles of the space shuttle. Vegreville egg The Vegreville egg is a giant sculpture of a pysanka, a Ukrainian-style Easter egg. The work by Paul

neg: STS-51-C STS-51-C STS-51-C was the 15th flight of NASA's Space Shuttle program, and the third flight of Space Shuttle "Discovery". It launched on January 24, 1985, and made the fourth shuttle landing at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on January 27. STS-51-C was the first shuttle mission to deploy a dedicated United States Department of Defense (DoD) payload, and consequently many mission details remain classified. STS-51-C launched from Kennedy Space Center (KSC) on January 24, 1985 at 14:50 EST, and was the first of nine shuttle missions that year. It was originally scheduled for January 23, 1985, but was delayed because of

neg: STS-135 side of the LMC. Also, a problematic Common Cabin Air Assembly (CCAA) Heat Exchanger (HX) was expected to be returned inside the MPLM. The shuttle also brought back material, including experiments, in its middeck lockers. Since STS-135 only had four crew members, astronauts did not occupy the middeck and as a result compared to previous shuttle missions to the Space Station, it had additional storage space. An iPhone was used by astronauts to log experiments, and was left on the ISS for future use. Two Nexus S smartphones were also installed inside Synchronized Position Hold, Engage, Reorient, Experimental Satellites (SPHERES)

neg: Space Shuttle Columbia stitched together using pure silica thread in a 1-inch grid, then coated with a high-purity silica coating. The blankets were semi-rigid and could be made as large as 30" by 30". Each blanket replaced as many as 25 tiles and was bonded directly to the orbiter. The direct application of the blankets to the orbiter resulted in weight reduction, improved durability, reduced fabrication and installation cost, and reduced installation schedule time. All of this work was performed during "Columbia's" first retrofitting and the post-"Challenger" stand-down. Despite refinements to the orbiter's thermal protection system and other enhancements, "Columbia" would never weigh

neg: Space Shuttle main engine the rim to an absolute pressure between , and prevents flow separation. The inner part of the flow is at much lower pressure, around or less. The inner surface of each nozzle is cooled by liquid hydrogen flowing through brazed stainless steel tube wall coolant passages. On the Space Shuttle, a support ring welded to the forward end of the nozzle is the engine attach point to the orbiter-supplied heat shield. Thermal protection is necessary because of the exposure portions of the nozzles experience during the launch, ascent, on-orbit and entry phases of a mission. The insulation consists of four

neg: Project POSTAR integrated all the experiments into the GAS canister. NASA grounded the Space Shuttle program after the explosion of Space Shuttle "Challenger" during the launch of mission STS-51-L on January 28, 1986. This action meant that Project POSTAR might not ever fly. Due to the hard work of many, an albeit smaller Project POSTAR was launched on Space Shuttle "Endeavour" on September 12, 1992. The final seven experiments and their sponsors were: Project POSTAR Project POSTAR was the first space experiment created entirely by members of the Boy Scouts of America. On September 12, 1992, Space Shuttle "Endeavour" mission STS-47 carried

neg: Sodium sulfate advantageous phase change temperature of 32 °C (90 °F) makes this material especially appropriate for storing low grade solar heat for later release in space heating applications. In some applications the material is incorporated into thermal tiles that are placed in an attic space while in other applications the salt is incorporated into cells surrounded by solar–heated water. The phase change allows a substantial reduction in the mass of the material required for effective heat storage (the heat of fusion of sodium sulfate decahydrate is 82 kJ/mol or 252 kJ/kg), with the further advantage of a consistency of temperature as