posted 05-02-2001 06:01 PM               

One item is a heatshield fragment from Discovery, some thermal insulation from Columbia, and a horse collar ring from Endeavour.

Now, my question is...what exactly is a "horse collar ring"?

Thanks in advance

posted 05-07-2001 04:49 AM               

To answer your question, a horse collar ring is a type of thermal protection gap filler which protects carrier panels under the wings of Shuttle Orbiters from the intense temperature changes in space. During the fabrication of a horse collar, it must pass crucial standards; including exact weight thickness, heat cleaning and waterproofing. Upon completion of these processes, the horse collar fits the panels and is coated with an epoxy resin for added protection.

If anyone is interested in getting a COMPLETE Horse Collar assembly--FLOWN with complete NASA paperwork and documentation--my company has a few available from most of the Orbiters if. Prices usually range between $150 to $350 depending on sizes, Orbiters, etc., and mush less for a cut- section of a horse collar.

Florian's Spacefori has purchased horse collar(s) from us before in addition to heat protection tiles and other thermal insulation hardware...so I can certainly verify the authenticity of such material re-
cently becoming available to collectors.

posted 05-07-2001 11:31 AM               

Ken...just curious...do you guys have a website? Or a catalog?

posted 05-10-2001 05:35 AM               

Re: Website and/or catalogs from SCCS -- There is just too much space material to properly maintain a catalog or price list; you might want to check the "Stamps & Covers" forum under the topic "Covers" as I did try to explain why there is no available catalog of all the many space covers, etc.

A website for SCCS has seriously been considered and I've already had several proposals from others in getting a site online and maintained, but nothing concrete at this time, but hopefully in the future.