Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!uflorida!gatech!gitpyr!ccoprmd From: ccoprmd@pyr.gatech.EDU (Matthew T. DeLuca) Newsgroups: sci.space.shuttle Subject: Re: What if... Message-ID: <7833@pyr.gatech.EDU> Date: 4 Apr 89 13:45:46 GMT References: <18730@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu> <29106@sri-unix.SRI.COM> <7802@pyr.gatech.EDU> <376@cbnewsl.ATT.COM> Reply-To: ccoprmd@pyr.UUCP (Matthew T. DeLuca) Organization: Georgia Institute of Technology Lines: 29 In article <376@cbnewsl.ATT.COM> sw@cbnewsl.ATT.COM (Stuart Warmink) writes: > >But there *were* problems with the tiles (front of OMS pod), and the tile >kit *was not* used; the same for later flights. I remember (from TV coverage) >that the whole tile situation was quite an unknown factor for re-entry; and >that I was amazed that the tile kit was not on that flight. > >Without handholds on the outside of the Shuttle, it would be impossible to >do any repairs outside the reach of the robot arm (Newton's 1st and 2nd laws). I don't have my thermogram handy (it's 40 miles away), so I can't supply exact temperatures, but the OMS pods are fairly low-temperature areas of the Shuttle during re-entry. In addition, the bonding compound was still on the orbiter, and this compound can take up to 900 degrees Farenheit with no problem.Ergo, the kit was not used. Hmmm, the underside might be a real trick, that's true. There are holds all along the sides of the bay, but I have no clue as to how to fix the bottom. Fortunately, there were no problems. The Teal Blue telescope/camera setup in Hawaii looked at the ship, and I'm fairly sure (I'm still tracking down references) that a KH-11 took pics of Columbia, too. Since these are both fairly secret installations (as far as imaging capability goes), the results were not released immediately. -- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------Matthew DeLuca : Georgia Institute of Technology : Remember, wherever you go, there you are. ARPA: ccoprmd@pyr.gatech.edu :