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Author
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Topic: STS-101/Atlantis: Cause of damaged tile seam
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SpaceAngel
Member Posts: 307
From: Maryland
Registered: May 2010
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posted 09-29-2017 03:10 PM
   
As mentioned on Wikipedia and Spacefacts websites, it was said that Space Shuttle Atlantis was nearly lost on mission STS-101, when superheated gas penetrated through a damaged tile. However, the gas didn't go deeply enough and the orbiter was able to re-enter normally, as well as make a safe landing at the Kennedy Space Center.Did NASA ever determine what caused the tile damage, probably a debris strike during launch (in which foreshadowed the events of Columbia in 2003)? |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 09-29-2017 03:49 PM
Per a 2003 Associated Press article: NASA blamed the Atlantis damage on improper installation of a seal between two protective panels on the shuttle's left wing, "called a butterfly gap filler," at the Boeing Co. plant in Palmdale, Calif., during an overhaul of Atlantis in late 1997. The mistake went unnoticed during subsequent inspections because the part could not be seen without removing protective panels, NASA said. | |
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