Posted on 07/30/2003 5:27:14 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -
NASA (news - web sites) needs high-resolution pictures of the external fuel tanks that boost shuttles into orbit, and these images should be taken during any future launch and ascent, investigators probing the Columbia disaster said Wednesday.
The Columbia Accident Investigation Board said these sharp images, made available to ground controllers soon after the external tank separates from the orbiter after launch, would help engineers troubleshoot any problems during shuttle missions.
"Imaging the space shuttle system during launch and ascent provides necessary engineering data including the ability to examine the space shuttle system for any unexpected debris or other anomalies during ascent," the board said on its Web site, www.caib.us.
The board has said previously that debris falling from the external tank during Columbia's launch damaged the leading edge of the spacecraft's left wing. This allowed superheated gas to penetrate the ship when it re-entered the atmosphere and ultimately caused its breakup over Texas on Feb. 1. All seven astronauts were killed.
The three other space shuttles have been grounded since then, while the investigators put together a final report on the accident. This report is expected at the end of August.
ON-BOARD CAMERAS
All shuttles have two on-board cameras that can take pictures of the external tank, but images made by these cameras can only be seen on the ground after the shuttles land. That would be useless in detecting and fixing any problems caused by falling debris while the shuttles are in flight.
The board recommended that one of the existing on-board cameras could be modified to take sharp pictures that could be beamed to engineers soon after the images were made.
Investigators also recommended that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration get high-resolution images of the underside of the shuttle, especially the heat-shielding materials installed along the leading edges of the wings and elsewhere.
The debris from Columbia's external tank struck the leading edge of the left wing, which was made of material known as reinforced carbon-carbon. This material was severely damaged.
Wednesday's set of recommendations are the fifth in a series released by the board as they have studied the accident. They have also said NASA needs to determine the structural integrity of reinforced carbon-carbon before the shuttles fly again and should always get in-flight images of the shuttles from spy satellites and other assets.
Beyond that, the board has recommended using the International Space Station (news - web sites) as an orbiting repair shop for damaged shuttles, and said NASA needs to upgrade its imaging system to get at least three "useful views" of the shuttle starting at liftoff and continuing at least until the solid rocket boosters separate during ascent.
That means every shuttle will have to launch toward the space station on its orbital plane whether it's scheduled to dock with the ISS or not.
Or give up some payload, probaby quite a bit, and put in bigger tanks for the OMS.
The cameras would help with other problems even after the foam problem is fixed. There will be other problems. Murphy is alive and well, and getting fat at NASA.
Chances are, another part of the report, not included in this story, recommends fixing the foam. What this article doesn't state, but I recall reading elsewhere is that the also recommend cameras on the external tank to image the bottom of the shuttle during ascent and just after separation from the tank. That way it someting falls off, even just ice, and damages the underside and leading edges of the wings, they'll at least know it.
Personally I think they ought to have a rescue capsule on a solid fueled rocket, ready to go, maybe even put it in one of the holes in the ground that the Air Force is not longer using, so that the readyness could be easily maintained out of the environment. It wouldn't need any long term life support/consumables, but it would need to have room for a maximun possible size shuttle crew, or you'd need more than one, which might end up being more cost effective, since you could probalby launch a smaller one on a solid fueled booster that would fit into a silo designed for Peacekeeper. You'd have to keep several on "standby" but that would be no different than the SAC guys keeping their birds ready to fly in the bad old days. Since no one would be onboard during ascent, the booster would not need to be man rated. It could be used for both the shuttle and the space station, even though the station has a Soyuz capsule docked at all times.
They show one dimensional pictures. Tile damage requires depth in order to gage it's importance. While severe structural damage could likely be seen, (big chunk missing)one dimensional cameras are almost useless and that is likely why they turned down the NSA sat help.
For example, if a tile three inches thick were gouged, there is now way to tell how deep. It might be possible to see a scratch but that is all.
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