Air Force imagery confirms Columbia wing damaged

Spaceflightnow.com ^ | 02/07/03 | CRAIG COVAULT

[Lancey Howard]

how could it be foam damage? that's not where the debris hit on launch.

If I swing a baseball bat at the top of a fence post, it will probably break off, or crack, at the bottom.

[DoughtyOne]

Thanks for the Enterprise comparison.  I agree with you that we are the preeminant can-do nation in world history (although you didn't say that, I believe you agree).  If we set our minds to it, it gets done.

To my way of thinking, not appreciated by some (smile), the same problem that has seen us unable to develop a space plane, has now seen us unable to develop a back-up fix to save our crew.

If we are to be successful in any endeavor, the words "that will not work" must be changed to "that might not work, but this will".  Until we recognize and implement this policy change, all other policies will suffer.

[null and void]

Isn't there a camera on the end of the Canada robot arm?

Yes.

Is the arm in place on every mission?

No. And not on this mission.

[null and void]

(I) Do not know make up of the foam but it's surely not what comes in your sterio carton.

I'm not sure either, but suppose a patch was saturated with condensation/rain water then frozen solid by the cyrogenic propelants. The expansion on freezing might start to jack it off the external tank, and the stresses of lift off break in free.

The wing could have been struck by a heavy chunk of foam reinforced ice...

[Fixit]

Thank you for your answers.

[null and void]

The decision to leave the orbiter and tanks exposed to nearly two weeks of rain while on the pad will be looked at... Did water penetrate the insulation during the rain and then freeze as it ascended causing it to fracture and dislodge.

Great minds...

[null and void]

If there was a bad spot of foam insulation on the tank could moisture have built up underneath it on the tank skin an froze in to a good size chunk of ice

Bad foam insulation on the tank could be the root cause but in its self not the cause of damage on the bulk of the wing...

I.E. Bad foam insulation in tank... alows ice to form on tank... ice and foam insulation come of tank and hit wing... hard ice causes bulk of the wing damage

Lots of great minds...

[isthisnickcool]

The wing could have been struck by a heavy chunk of foam reinforced ice...

Something that supposedly happened two missions back and hit one of the SRB's hard enough to put a good dent in it. After that mission the rumor is that some people were calling for a grounding of the shuttle fleet until the external tank "sloughing" problem could be addressed.

[Gracey]

You want NASA to be perfect...but these days, it's just another politically correct agency, especially after the Clintonista's got into power. There is a point system for black, female, hispanic, asian, but no points for white males. There are extra points if you are a black female manager, or hispanic, handicapped and female, etc., ad nauseum.

NASA was at its best when it did not have to succumb to PC, hired the brightest and best engineers....

[Vinnie_Vidi_Vici]

anyone have a web page I could upload some pics to so I could link them here?

[The Right Stuff]

you are right, the crew did know. NASA had one astronaut take a video of the damage.

[coloradan]

Here is a quick analysis of what the scope could have seen.

[spunkets]

". NASA had one astronaut take a video of the damage."

How did the astronaut take a video of the underside of the wing?

[DoughtyOne]

FWIW

Ron Dittemore stated that this insulation foam was waterproof.  I don't know if that's accurate or not.  I do tend to doubt water traveled from the surface to the interior booster wall.  I don't think it's absolutely impossible that enough penetration occurred to create weakness, and thus a peel off.

I would suspect that water penetration or absorption was a very high priority in design specifications.  If this insulation were to become waterlogged, the additional weight to the boosters would be massive.  Cracking and separation would be very critical, as we can see.

The water issue is a bit iffy for me either direction.  This may have been a factor.  It may not have been.  I'd suspect rain fell on other missions on the pad.  It should be quite insightful to do a detailed study of several of the missions that experienced a significant amount of rain on the pad, and how that affected the insulation before and after launch.  Preferably, those missions would involve low temperature conditions.

[null and void]

It was the Hornet that was damaged at Coral sea and repaired at Pearl.

It went on to retreve the first astronauts returning from the moon, and is now a floating museum at the Alameda Naval station in San Fransisco bay.

It's well worth a visit...

[DoughtyOne]

Well, I imagine you've touched on a valid issue there. Once again, Affirmative Action has nothing to do with excellence.

[null and void]

Something that supposedly happened two missions back and hit one of the SRB's hard enough to put a good dent in it. After that mission the rumor is that some people were calling for a grounding of the shuttle fleet until the external tank "sloughing" problem could be addressed.

Oh s#it! Heads WILL roll.

[unspun]

It looked to me that the impact was pretty forceful. Is it too much of a stretch to say it could have flexed the wing, causing damage?

[MindBender26]

Doe anyone have a hard time line re: Time from the last verbal comm from Columia, until vehicle was seen breaking up over Dallas area?

[Gracey]

re AA... You're correct!

Hope to meet you on the cruise... will probably sign up later on, if I find a roomie.