Yesterday I linked to an analysis written by NASA engineer Gregory Katnik about damage sustained to the Shuttle’s heat shielding tiles following the use of a newly formulated, freon-free insulation. The New York Times has more this morning with a story about Katnik’s eventual report which foudn that over 300 tiles were damaged from the break away insulation after the launch of STS-87.
Moreover, according to the New York Times,
The Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., later concluded that the absence of Freon led to the detachment of the foam.
While the formulation was later improved, the episode revealed potentially dangerous new ways in which tiles could be damaged.
I suspect one of the questions that will be raised soon is just how improved that later reformulation was.
Source:
Engineer’s ’97 Report Warned of Damage to Tiles by Foam. James Glanz and Edward Wong, The New York Times, February 4, 2003.