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  Tellus Science Museum (GA): Columbia's nose

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Author Topic:   Tellus Science Museum (GA): Columbia's nose
Robert Pearlman
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Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 03-04-2014 07:54 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
The Examiner reports that one of space shuttle Columbia's nose caps will go on display at the Tellus Science Museum in Cartersville, Georgia.
The gray nose section was flown as a part of Columbia during eleven of her twenty-eight missions, and was removed only a few years before her ill-fated 2003 flight which saw the spacecraft break apart during atmospheric re-entry.

...the NASA Historical Artifacts Program donated Columbia's nose to Tellus, and the museum plans to have it on display in it's expanding space flight section beginning March 14.

dabolton
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Posts: 419
From: Seneca, IL, US
Registered: Jan 2009

posted 03-05-2014 08:28 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for dabolton     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Any idea why the nose cone was switched out mid-career? Did the other shuttles receive new nose cones as well?

Robert Pearlman
Editor

Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 03-05-2014 09:10 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
The linked article notes the reason for the nose's installation and replacement:
The specially flown nose was part of a NASA experiment known as Shuttle Entry Air Data System (SEADS), and was based out of Langley Research Center. SEADS looked at the air pressure surrounding a space shuttle's nose section from an altitude of 300,000 feet through touchdown.

Fourteen sensor holes in the reinforced carbon carbon coated nose cap lined up in a cross and recorded measurements of Columbia as she plunged through the earth's atmosphere. The NASA Langley experiment was activated minutes prior to the shuttle's deorbit burn.

...Columbia first flew with her scientific nose in January 1986 during mission STS-61C. Eleven flights later, it was used for the final time during STS-65 in July 1994.

Joel Katzowitz
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Posts: 808
From: Marietta GA USA
Registered: Dec 1999

posted 03-05-2014 06:42 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Joel Katzowitz   Click Here to Email Joel Katzowitz     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
OK Atlanta area spacegeeks, looks like it's time for a long overdue road trip.

p51
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Posts: 1642
From: Olympia, WA
Registered: Sep 2011

posted 03-05-2014 11:22 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for p51   Click Here to Email p51     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Hmm. You'd think, given the later loss of the orbiter, that a more high profile museum would have gotten that.

Robert Pearlman
Editor

Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 03-05-2014 11:36 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
NASA can only choose from the museums that request a particular artifact through the GSA screening process. Decisions are based on the recipient's financial ability to cover transportation and handling fees, as well as display capability, among other criteria.

Gilbert
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Posts: 1328
From: Carrollton, GA USA
Registered: Jan 2003

posted 03-09-2014 08:44 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Gilbert   Click Here to Email Gilbert     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
As a charter member of the "Atlanta Space Geeks" I'm ready for the road trip to Cartersville.

OV-105
Member

Posts: 816
From: Ridgecrest, CA
Registered: Sep 2000

posted 03-09-2014 11:11 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for OV-105   Click Here to Email OV-105     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Now the big question is, what happened to the nose cap that flew on Columbia for the first 6 flights? Did that one get put back on or held in spare?

sprocketship
Member

Posts: 72
From:
Registered: Feb 2014

posted 03-12-2014 08:51 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for sprocketship     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Cool artifact to have in our backyard. Now if we can just get more astronauts to visit...

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