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The space shuttle's thermal protection system is a combination of Reinforced Carbon-Carbon (RCC) on the wing leading edge, thermal blankets on the fuselage and thermal protective tiles covering the underside of the vehicle and nose cap. This system protects the spacecraft and its human occupants from the extreme heat of reentry into the Earth's atmosphere. Without the RCC, blankets, and tiles covering the shuttle--the space shuttle Endeavour has more than 24,000 tiles--the structural integrity of the aluminum frame on the shuttle would be compromised. In 2003, the world witnessed a devastating disaster after the RCC on the port (left) wing of the space shuttle Columbia was damaged during launch. The damage went undetected and the shuttle, left with a compromised heat-resistant shield, lost structural integrity and broke apart during reentry.
NASA engineers used six 3-D scanners for their prelaunch inspections of Endeavour and plan to use them again when the shuttle returns. They will also use them for the ground maintenance of other spacecraft. The next step for the new scanner, says Lavelle, is to redesign it so that its components can withstand operations in space, and astronauts can use it to inspect the space shuttle during missions. Lavelle also says that there are many companies, which he declines to identify, interested in the 3-D scanner.
Aside from inspecting the space shuttle, the scanner is being used to evaluate thermal protection materials for a new crew exploration vehicle that NASA is developing. Engineers use the 3-D scanner to measure the materials both before and after they are tested in extreme environments; the difference between the two measurements indicates how well the material performed. Planetary rovers could also use the scanner to map the space around them in 3-D, helping them avoid collisions and better maneuver in unknown environments.
NASA researchers capture thermal images of the shuttle's reentry to design better heat shields.
The Space Shuttle Discovery's upcoming mission will include a spacewalk to try out a technique for repairing damaged thermal tiles.
Manufacturing in the United States is in trouble. That's bad news not just for the country's economy but for the future of innovation.
This document is part of the “How-To Guide for Most Common Measurements” centralized resource portal. This tutorial provides a detailed guide for measurement and device considerations to take temperature measurements using thermocouples. Get an introduction to thermocouples, which are inexpensive sensing devices widely used with PC-based data acquisition systems. Also review some specific thermocouple examples and learn how thermocouples work and ways to integrate them into a data acquisition measurement system.
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190 Comments
Columbia cause
It wasn't damage to the thermal tiles that caused the Columbia disaster. The damage was to a wing's leading edge. The damage allowed hot gases to enter the wing during reentry and weaken the structure sufficiently to cause the shuttle to break apart--it didn't catch fire.
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