A Six-Inch Tear
EmailSTS-117 has safely docked with the Space Station, the astronauts have started installing the new parts they’ve brought…and there’s a little bit of obsessing going on over a six-inch tear in the thermal blankets near the rear of the shuttle Atlantis. More HERE. You’ve perhaps seen the picture already at the upper left. The small gap is in a cover on the left OMS (as in Orbital Maneuvering System) pod. There are two OMS pods, one on either side of the shuttle’s tail fin. They contain thrusters and plumbing for the thrusters that point the shuttle when it’s in space. On re-entry, the outer layers reach a temperature of 700-1,000 degrees F (compared to about 3,000 degrees for the shuttle’s nose and the leading edges of its wings). Underneath the thermal blanketing, the body of the OMS pod is made largely of a graphite epoxy composite. NASA’s John Shannon at first said he was of divided mind over whether to have astronauts fix the rip during a spacewalk; then, when asked again by Gina Sunseri of our staff, he said he was leaning a little in favor of checking it out, but he’d wait to hear from engineers in Houston. On what is, frankly, a routine-sounding flight, this tear has been the one issue to attract any attention so far. But here’s a view of the same area of the shuttle, from STS-1, the very first mission, back in April 1981. Look familiar? (Both pictures from NASA, taken from the Shuttle flight deck, looking toward the rear of the orbiter.)
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Better to be safe than sorry, I would think. The astronauts should examine the tear more closely and repair it if necessary.
Posted by: chuck | June 11, 2007, 10:16 am 10:16 am
Of more pressing concern is what caused the tear in the first place. I hope that the engineering staff is thinking about ways to keep it fromn happening again. I agree with Chuck that it should be repaired before re-entry. I’ll bet they could come up with a sewing kit that would do the job. Duct tape, anyone?
Posted by: Andy | June 11, 2007, 10:28 am 10:28 am
You know, in the Army we had something called 90 mile an hour tape. It is used to patch up bullet holes in helicopters. But on re-entry, I think they exceed 90mph. So I don’t think duct tape would be the best bet.
I do however, believe that our remaining shuttles need to be put in a museum. They are old and in serious need of replacing. If not by a completely new design, at least build one to two new shuttles and fuel tanks. I know NASA was looking at replacements prior to Bush becoming president, then he cut funding for NASA. Shame really. All the money for furthuring man-kind is being sent to the military to kill ourselves. Not that I don’t support the troops, they need all the support they cant get. Just sad that money that can and was being spent to enhance man, is being used to kill man.
Posted by: Lawrence | June 11, 2007, 11:10 am 11:10 am
Right on, Lawrence. Did you know that the shuttle was a totally different animal in the original design phase? Of course, that’s before the politicians got hold of it and made it into the behemoth it is now. That’s where the corner-cutting began, and it hasn’t ended yet. It’s amazing the amount of money we spend on the military, that would be better spent on the betterment of the race. If we’d teamed up with the Russians at the end of WWII, we’d have a manned colony on Mars now. Sigh.
Posted by: Andy | June 11, 2007, 11:49 am 11:49 am
Yea thats sort of my stance on it. We are too bigoted and afraid of losing what ever power we have to use the money on what would be better for all of us in the long run. It’s even worse now that we have a rogue president who thinks we are in WWIII,or as he put it, a crusade, and doesn’t care what the American public,(his employers by the way) have to say about his policies. I truly hope that the next president will see what the people really want and do what we wish, not run off and start another war.
Back on topic, I didn’t know that about the shuttles. Now you’ve peaked my interest. I’ll have to go and learn more about the design of the shuttles.
And Ned, that last photo looks to have a small tear in it as well. I wonder if there was a big to-do about it then as it is now. I wasn’t around when the first shuttle flew, I was born in ’83.
Posted by: Lawrence | June 11, 2007, 2:42 pm 2:42 pm
Note from Ned–
Hello, Lawrence. Yes, there was some head-scratching during STS-1, as well as on six other flights on which astronauts reported damage on the OMS pods. Each time they did nothing, and landed safely.
NASA’s John Shannon says the issue isn’t whether the astronauts are in danger, it’s whether the shuttle itself would need repairs after landing. They’d like to be able to turn Atlantis around and launch it again in October.
Posted by: Ned Potter | June 11, 2007, 5:32 pm 5:32 pm
FYI, I believe the photo from STS-1 is sitting on it’s side. You should rotate it 90 degrees to the left to get an accurate representation of the positioning of the damage. The reason the tiles were missing on the pods early in the shuttle’s life was due to the pod “flexing” a bit during launch.
There was quite the big to-do about the missing tiles on STS-1, with the rumor mill saying that some unmentionable national assets were brought into use to check out the underside of the orbiter and that copies of the photos were personally delivered to the President Reagan. Remember, or maybe not depending on your age, when Columbia was delivered to NASA via a 747 ferry flight about half the tiles fell off in flight!
The upper part of the OMS pod is a low temperature area which is why they were able to replace many of the tiles in that area with blankets. Back in the day Columbia was all tiles, too.
I may be wrong on this one, but I believe the OMS pods on Columbia were metal, not composite like the pods on Atlantis, thus more prone to flexing and popping off the tiles. With the absence of flexing, I’m curious as to why the blanket came loose.
Ever wonder why they are paranoid about those itty-bitty gap fillers coming loose on the bottom of the orbiter? From John Young’s mouth:
” “The other day I was eating breakfast and Chris Kraft was sitting in the dining room and he told me that we buckled the right main landing gear on STS-1,” he said. “Come to find out they had a gapfiller sticking out and it ducted hot gas into the wheel well.” ”
Go here for the whole thing:
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/15/1
Posted by: Greg | June 12, 2007, 10:06 pm 10:06 pm
Ok So they repaired the Thermal Blanket with Staples…Good Job! Now what is going to keep the STAPLES FROM MELTING when they enter the earths atmosphere???
I sure hope them STAPLES came from KRYPTON and not some medical supplies
Posted by: Chris Costello | June 17, 2007, 9:35 pm 9:35 pm