So the folks at NASA are trying for a spring launch of the shuttle... That's great as far as I'm concerned, pending they can get a handle on what's going on with the foam on the external tank... From what I've read since the last flight, they are pointing to the foam falling off due to repeated contact by employees doing work in that area... They're not talking about employees smashing it with a sledge hammer, just possibly leaning, or inadvertent contact... Now this foam has to stay put during lift off when everything is vibrating heavily, and there is god knows what kind of turbulent air whipping over it, and they're trying to tell me that an employee leaning on it would cause it to fail?... Ya know what, if the foam I put on my scenery fell off, or got damaged by someone leaning on it, I'd be out of business... These guys are actually rocket scientists, and they can't come up with a more durable system?... How about some ribbing on the tank exterior so you end up with a mechanical interlock for the sprayed on foam?... How about an elastic coating for the foam?... I mean come on, there has to be something they can come up with that will make the shit stay in place... Yea, it was really only a little chunk that came off when you look at the tank as a whole, but apparently it was enough to do in Columbia...
They are talking about reusing the tank, boosters, and engines in future equipment, so its not a waste of time to solve this now...
They need to get off their asses and fix this... They've only got a few years left to fly the shuttles as it is...
You nailed the problem there at the end. NASA wants to reuse the boosters and main tank for the next-generation bird, and those are the two parts that have had the most trouble.
Posted by: Ted at October 16, 2005 08:26 AM