Posted on 03/28/2009 2:59:50 PM PDT by bd476
This is a fascinating story. It was a miracle that Shuttle Atlantis carrying the five man crew including five time Shuttle Astronaut and Veteran Top Gun Navy Pilot Commander Robert "Hoot" Gibson, Viet Nam Air Force pilot Mike Mullane, pilot Guy Gardner, Jerry Ross and William Shepherd, survived re-entry considering the amount of damage to the heat tiles and melted metal. It also demonstrates how much technology has advanced from 20 years ago.
The limited communication between NASA and the Shuttle imposed by the top secret status of the mission added to the already incredibly dangerous situation. There had been over 700 heat tiles damaged when insulation broke off a solid fuel booster during launch December 2, 1988.
Commander Gibson would tell NASA about the amount of damage the Shuttle crew had viewed on their video yet ground control would only see a grainy encrypted version of the same video. From that grainy video NASA then attributed shadows and poor lighting to what Gibson and crew had viewed as extensive damage to the heat tiles. Yet NASA ground crews didn't share with the Shuttle Crew the faulty conclusions NASA had derived from the poor quality video, probably due to the top secret status of the mission.
Here's the link to the referenced book written by Astronaut Mike Mullane on his life as an astronaut. Mike Mullane was an Air Force Pilot who flew 134 missions in Viet Nam. After reading the reviews, his book goes on my "Hurry, Must Read This" list.
Riding Rockets: The Outrageous Tales of a Space Shuttle Astronaut (Hardcover)
by Mike Mullane (Author)
Riding Rockets: The Outrageous Tales of a Space Shuttle Astronaut
YIKES!
I have Mullane’s book, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I bought it at KSC, and just missed meeting him and asking him to sign it, last may when I was down in the Orlando area.
These tiles are super hi tech ceramics of some kind?
Yep. Agree with you, Nully, "Yikes!" indeed.
My prayers are extended for the safety of all our Pilots, Astronauts and for the continuation of our extremely important Space Program.
Thanks for the further recommendation, Riley. It would great to meet him, that would be so cool.
Great post.
Hoot is a home boy and graduated HS 2 years before I did, 1 town over from me.
then he went to the same 2 year community college and left the year before I started.....
He is TOP GUN.
Not really..they were even selling off spec ones for industrial use in the late 80's-90's. We had some at work. They were just a glorified zirconia fiberglass-like refractory wool molded and fired into lightweight "Fire Bricks". Some were glazed. They were very good insulators. You could hold on in your hand and torch braze small parts on the upper surface.
That looks a LOT like “The Right Stuff” What I read of it makes me want to read more, looks like a great book!
/mark
Don’t underestimate the ignorance of NASA, they’re trying to sell us global warming right now.
Dennis, here's a short article from How Stuff Works which gives a fairly good explanation:
Meteors burn up when they hit the Earth's atmosphere. Why doesn't the space shuttle?
When a small meteor enters the Earth's atmosphere, it goes from traveling through a vacuum to traveling through air. Traveling through a vacuum is effortless -- it takes no energy. Traveling through air is another story.
A meteor moving through the vacuum of space typically travels at speeds reaching tens of thousands of miles per hour. When the meteor hits the atmosphere, the air in front of it compresses incredibly quickly. When a gas is compressed, its temperature rises. This causes the meteor to heat up so much that it glows. The air burns the meteor until there is nothing left. Re-entry temperatures can reach as high as 3,000 degrees F (1,650 degrees C)!
Obviously, it would not be good for a spacecraft to burn up when it re-enters the atmosphere! Two technologies are used to allow spacecraft to re-enter:
Ablative technology
Insulating tile technology
In ablative technology, the surface of the heat shield melts and vaporizes, and in the process, it carries away heat. This is the technology that protected the Apollo spacecraft.
The space shuttles are protected by special silica tiles. Silica (SiO2) is an incredible insulator. It is possible to hold a space shuttle tile by the edge and then heat up the center of the tile with a blow torch. The tile insulates so well that no heat makes it out to the edges. This page discusses the tiles:
Aerobraking tiles are produced from amorphous silica fibers which are pressed and sintered, with the resulting tile having as much as 93% porosity (i.e., very lightweight) and low thermal expansion, low thermal conductivity (e.g., the well known pictures of someone holding a Space Shuttle tile by the corners when the center is red hot), and good thermal shock properties. This process can be readily performed in space when we can produce silica of the required purity. These tiles keep the heat of re-entry from ever reaching the body of the shuttle.
Meteors burn up when they hit the Earth's atmosphere. Why doesn't the space shuttle?
Many thanks.... I have a large box of lightweight firebricks from 1970 or so. We made a quicky kiln with them by stringing nichrome wire inside. Held down by nails or two prong wall fasteners
I'm willing to bet that the men who fly and crew the hardware aren't buying it. Unfortunately, like any group that does the real work in an organization they have to bite their tongues to keep their jobs while the "politicians" wreak havoc.
NASA's ignorance killed my friend Rick Husband and his crew. Rick's wife may forgive them, but I never will......red
Did’ja all catch that they knew the instrumentation signature of burn-through and “that is one of the things we always watched on re-entry anyhow.”
good catch bd. I saw this one close up, but it was not the closest safe landing nearly resulting in disaster, there was one worse that I saw.
McMaster Carr sells somehting close to it, alumina based, if you ever want to build another one.
Temperature Range: 0° to 2300° F
Heat Flow Rate (K-factor): 0.85 Btu/hr. x in./sq. ft. @ 1112° F
Density: 19-20 lbs./cu. ft.
Thick. Size Each Each
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