[First_Salute]

Bump.

[skinkinthegrass]

They used the new EPA Approved insulation....so go back to the old (more resistant) insulation and save time/$$$$/lives. To hell w/ the political correctness of the insulation.

[dead]

Hippies killed the astronauts.

(I wish I was looking for a good name for a punk band.)

[Darksheare]

Egads.
They're indirectly stating that envirowacky policy is at fault, but not coming out and saying so.
I do hope they get whatever application process down to a perfect science quickly.

[UnbelievingScumOnTheOtherSide]

This is an obvious whitewash of the environmentalists who destroyed the shuttle. If the original foam, using standard application methods, would have worked without having breakoff-causing voids, then the fault of the disaster still lies strictly with them for forcing the use of an inferior product to save a miniscule amount of pollution. The article does not address the difference in efficacy at all while attempting to change the focus from the material itself to procedures.

[ChefKeith]

So it takes nasa over a year to figure out what FReepers told them during take off- what a bunch of govt jerks!

[nuconvert]

bump

[mtbopfuyn]

we did not have a real understanding of the process

That's not much of an excuse.

[Cboldt]

There are other design changes around the bipod area, as well. More particularly, it is fitted with heaters to keep ice from forming. My recall is fuzzy on the matter (I get, skim then delete NASA news -- freebie maillist, some interesting tidbits)

[Wacka]

I think I read something a while back that the original application process involved Freon and that they changed it because of the envirowackos.

[DoughtyOne]

The foam didn't kill our astronauts. Negligence did!

[Unknowing]

"The damage went undetected during the shuttle's 16-day mission. . . "

I recall that some have said that the damage was observed through telescopes, but was ignored.

[Thud]

ping

[ken in texas]

Ping in case you haven't seen this one.

Brings back some bad memories.

[upchuck]

† † † † † † †

God rest their souls.

[tubebender]

Ping...

[solitas]

Recertification is now the biggest obstacle for the tank program. New standards require that no foam pieces heavier than about half an ounce can come off the tank during the first 135 seconds of flight. That is much smaller than the divots that have routinely popped off.

So, then, like, what are they gonna do? Wrap the environmentally-friendly foam with environmentally-friendly chicken wire to hold it all in place?

[sweetliberty]

Ping!

[ovrtaxt]

The fault apparently was not with the chemical makeup of the foam, which insulates the tanks and prevents ice from forming on the outside when 500,000 gallons of supercold liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen are pumped aboard hours before liftoff.

I'm not sure how true this is. Apparently, the conpound was changed from the original formula to satisfy environmental whining. Foam shearing off has been an issue ever since.