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new External Tank coating - more suitable for ET space station?
Dear all: As you may have heard, one of the difficulties in using the
Space Shuttle's External Tank as an orbiting space station or factory (rather than allowing it simply to reenter to destruction) has been thought to be the orange outer coating that insulates the cryogenic propellants, which would slowly disintegrate (from micrometeors and the exosphere's monatomic oxygen) and choke the vicinity with fine debris. The outer coating of the ET has now been modified (I'm not sure exactly how) to avoid the problem that doomed COLUMBIA - relatively large chunks of the coating falling off during ascent and striking the orbiter's vulnerable tiles. Would this recent modification help the on-orbit disintegration problem in any way? - Owen Zurhellen (New York) |
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Owen Zurhellen wrote in
: Dear all: As you may have heard, one of the difficulties in using the Space Shuttle's External Tank as an orbiting space station or factory (rather than allowing it simply to reenter to destruction) has been thought to be the orange outer coating that insulates the cryogenic propellants, which would slowly disintegrate (from micrometeors and the exosphere's monatomic oxygen) and choke the vicinity with fine debris. The outer coating of the ET has now been modified (I'm not sure exactly how) to avoid the problem that doomed COLUMBIA - relatively large chunks of the coating falling off during ascent and striking the orbiter's vulnerable tiles. Would this recent modification help the on-orbit disintegration problem in any way? I'm not aware of anything that alters the bulk properties of the insulation, just the manner in which is it applied in certain areas. It's otherwise irrelevant because the tank will never, ever be used on-orbit for anything. --Damon |
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In article ,
Damon Hill writes: Owen Zurhellen wrote in : Dear all: As you may have heard, one of the difficulties in using the Space Shuttle's External Tank as an orbiting space station or factory (rather than allowing it simply to reenter to destruction) has been thought to be the orange outer coating that insulates the cryogenic propellants, which would slowly disintegrate (from micrometeors and the exosphere's monatomic oxygen) and choke the vicinity with fine debris. The outer coating of the ET has now been modified (I'm not sure exactly how) to avoid the problem that doomed COLUMBIA - relatively large chunks of the coating falling off during ascent and striking the orbiter's vulnerable tiles. Would this recent modification help the on-orbit disintegration problem in any way? I'm not aware of anything that alters the bulk properties of the insulation, just the manner in which is it applied in certain areas. It's otherwise irrelevant because the tank will never, ever be used on-orbit for anything. Why not? Dale |
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