NASA Sends Wreckage To Aerospace Corp.
The first pieces of Space Shuttle Columbia debris, loaned to a
non-governmental agency for testing and research, are on their way
from NASA's Kennedy Space Center (FL) to The Aerospace Corporation
in El Segundo, (CA).
The Aerospace Corporation requested and will receive
graphite/epoxy honeycomb skins from an Orbital Maneuvering System
pod, Main Propulsion System Helium tanks, a Reaction Control System
Helium tank and a Power Reactant Storage Distribution system tank.
The company will use the parts to study re-entry effects on
composite materials. NASA notified the Columbia crew's families
about the loan before releasing the items for study.
Earlier this year, Dr.
Gary Steckel, senior scientist in the Materials Science Department
in the Space Materials Laboratory at The Aerospace Corporation,
viewed the items. "We believe these items are representative of the
structural composite materials flown on Columbia. They will enable
us to successfully meet our objective of calibrating analytical
models for predicting reentry behavior of composite structures,"
Steckel said.
Researchers believe the testing will show how materials are
expected to respond to various heating and loads' environments. The
findings will help calibrate tools and models used to predict
hazards to people and property from reentering hardware. The
Aerospace Corporation will have the debris for one year to perform
analyses to estimate maximum temperatures during reentry based upon
the geometry and mass of the recovered composite.
"NASA's mission includes the development of technologies that
improve the safety and reliability of access to space," said NASA's
Deputy Administrator Fred Gregory. "By allowing the scientific
community to study Columbia debris, researchers will have the
opportunity to gain unprecedented knowledge about the effects of
reentry."
The request from The Aerospace Corporation was one of several
"Request for Information" applications NASA received to study
Columbia debris. The eight pieces of hardware were inventoried
inside the KSC Vehicle Assembly Building, where Columbia's debris
is stored and prepared for shipment.
"The idea of studying pieces of Columbia came to me in the
debris hangar soon after the accident," said Shuttle Launch
Director Mike Leinbach. "It was clear to me we could learn a lot
from it, and that we shouldn’t bury the debris as we did with
Challenger's."
"To see the plan come together is personally rewarding,"
Leinbach said. "I hope the technical community will learn as much
as possible and put that knowledge to use to improve spacecraft and
flight crew system designs in the future," he said.