Posted: Tue, May 13, 2003, 8:53 AM ET (1253 GMT)
A series of tests where foam like that used on the shuttle's external tank is fired at shuttle tiles shows that the impacts cause only minor damage. The tests, carried out using a powerful air cannon at the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, were designed to simulate the impact of a falling external tank insulation on the landing gear door on the underside of the shuttle's wing. CBS News reported last week that the tests on a landing gear door taken from the shuttle prototype Enterprise revealed that in, most cases, a glancing high-speed impact of foam on the door caused little or no damage. Researchers plan to perform similar impact tests on reinforced carbon-carbon panels from the leading edge of the wing — the location where investigators now believe a hole allowed hot plasma into the shuttle during reentry — next month.
